A New Project Or A Noob’s Folly…
They say there’s a thin line between bravery and stupidity. If a guy jumps off a giant bridge with nothing but a rubber band tied to his ankle, some people would say he’s brave while others would call him a blithering idiot. I fear that, over the next few months, I will be trying to decide which term to apply to myself.
You see, I have this problem. It seems that whenever I try to save up my money for something big that I want, life always steps in at the last minute and says “Hahaa!! Foolish Noob, I have something better for you to spend that money on!” and then throws some kind of curve ball at me (i.e. medical expenses, major home repair, business expenses for my still new freelance company, etc). Every now and then, when the stars align, I can swing a couple hundred bucks for a new gun. When it comes to a big ticket item like (just pulling an example off the top of my head) an AR-15, it becomes very difficult to justify it.
If only there was some way, outside of financing, where I could pay for an AR-15 a little bit at a time whenever I have some extra cash. If only there was some way.
As it turns out there is!
I’ve been building computers from scratch since I was 6 (seriously) so I figured “computer…semi-automatic rifle…what’s the difference?” I just took ownership of this little hunk of metal from Spike’s Tactical (pictured below). That strangely shaped piece of aluminium is the lower receiver for an AR-15. Over the next undetermined amount of time I will be documenting my attempt to build my own AR-15. As I put each part together and progressively build it, I will be reporting on the process and documenting it on video.
Starting with this. This isn’t just a lower, it’s what is called a “stripped lower”. No, that doesn’t mean I stuck a bunch of dollar bills into its garter belt. It means that it is nothing more than a milled hunk of metal. No parts at all on it. It is up to me to install the springs, pins, buttons and more just to make this a functioning lower. That parts kit is sold separately. I went with Spike’s Tactical for a few reasons. One, they’re made in Florida. More specifically the city of Apopka which, as it just so happens, is the same city my mother was born in. Secondly, Spike’s churns out some amazingly high quality components for equally as amazing prices and their stuff has a lifetime warranty. This particular lower came in at about $90 at the gun show (not counting tax, tag and title). Finally, have you seen the logo that they etch on their lowers? It’s freaking awesome.
There’s a small detail that kills me here, by the way. That hunk of metal in the pictures? As it stands right now, it is 100% useless. The only thing you could do with this is bludgeon someone to death with it. Even so, I had to go though the background check in order to buy it. On the surface, that just makes the logical side of my brain melt while screaming. I mean, I understand why. It’s because it’s the part with the future gun’s serial number on it. I get that. Still, there’s just something about having to fill out paperwork in order to buy a useless piece of aluminum that makes me shake my head.
Anyway, the bright side is that this is the only piece that I will have to fill out paperwork for. Now that this is over, I can order every piece I need from the Internet from this point forward. Heck, I can even get components from Amazon.
They say there’s a thin line between bravery and stupidity. Considering I’m undertaking this with no gunsmithing experience whatsoever, I’ll let you know in a few months what category this project falls under. How hard can it be?
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