building from parts

[boogiebot]

can all gun be bought in parts, eg upper and lower receivers. and then be built from the ground up? I know that you can mod a gun like crazy; but what about just taking random parts from various manufacturers and slap something together?

[Danke]

Maybe yes, maybe no. It depends a lot on what you're making.

As a rule there will always be a few little minor but utterly critical parts that are impossible to find.

[nstahl.19]

Originally Posted by boogiebot

can all gun be bought in parts, eg upper and lower receivers. and then be built from the ground up? I know that you can mod a gun like crazy; but what about just taking random parts from various manufacturers and slap something together?

Depends what your building, take note that not everything is compatible. Also not the cheapest solution, unless you have a bunch of parts lying around that you'd like to make use of. Or you could just buy one of those drop in gearboxes.

[m102404]

Yes...and no.

It's doable but when you mix/match a lot of brands together you can get issues with things fitting together as they "should". They'd probably work fine with similar parts from the same manufacturer, but there's only loose standards between manufacturers.

Also depends on what specific model you're building. If you're looking to make an M4, sure...they've been done to death. If you're scratch building an L85 or Thompson...good luck.

[Hectic]

Ya it is definately alot easyer said then done lol andbyoir always beter to start with a base gun then youll have all the lil bits that make it tic some of them that are nearly imposible to find on their own lil springs and such
Decide what youd like to build buy a base gun that has the most expensive of the parts alrdy.ie if u wanna build a full metal and wood ak buy a cyma or somethin that alrdy has a full metal and wood body and beef up the innards to where you want or start with a kraken and buy a wood kit and metal body dun it till somethin breaks then replace/upgrade as needed then you wont have to put out all the cash at once. Or you can just buy a realsword ak do some minor tweaking and have arguably ond of the nicest arisoft aks in production. For comparison buyin a metal body wood kit a drop in gear box a hop up an inner barrel a motor wiring sights will cost prolly doubble a realsword and tripple a cyma and even if you can get all the parts to mesh together nicely you will still be missing some lil bits to get it in running condition.
Id say start with either the cheapest plastic body gun with ddcent internals ie a jg/echo1 and buy the externals you want. Or do the oposite grab a gun with great externals you want and biuild up the internals as the need it. I guess a cyma or even a full metal echo 1 or a realsword or even a g&g or king arms. Dependant on what modle of gun u are after.
I just used the ak as an example diffdrent companies make some guns nicer then others and all.

[boogiebot]

i had an m4 in mind. hectic i was thinking of going the route you suggested before i made this post. perhaps buying a cheaper gun (full metal) and then just upgrading the heck out of it. this is really more of a fun side project. will keep you guys posted if i move forward.

[Hectic]

So for an m4 buy a vfc king arms or even an echo1 and maybe change the inner barrel and maybe the hop rubber or whole unit. Once the gearbox breaks or something inside it does then decide what u want high speed, high power or whisper quiet and build from there.

[boogiebot]

Good call hectic. Man this sport is gonna get expensive lol

[Hectic]

Its not all that expensive theese days but its a lil like crack once you start u jjst cant stop and want more and more lol

[L473ncy]

Originally Posted by boogiebot

i had an m4 in mind. hectic i was thinking of going the route you suggested before i made this post. perhaps buying a cheaper gun (full metal) and then just upgrading the heck out of it. this is really more of a fun side project. will keep you guys posted if i move forward.

I'm actually about $500 into a "from scratch" project and it's still not done (I had to put it on the backburner when I left BC).

What I suggest is start off with a basegun and customize that. It's easier to have a "3D instruction guide" than it is to build off a bunch of parts.

Don't mix and match upgrade parts and find things you like.

So for example my custom AR15 is something unique that I like, it's a varminter/match rifle. I've got an 18" "Stainless Steel" barrel (aluminum with a "steel finish") with a Bushmaster "Varminter" handguard. It looks really cool. And for the rear I've got a skeleton style stock on it.

[pestobanana]

Just start with a functioning gun. I've run in to too many problems using crossbrand parts, everything from the tappet plate being too thick and blocking the trigger carriage to the anti reversal latch being too long and getting stuck.

[RaisinBran]

I bought a WE and put all lonex internals anyway instead of buying the Lonex AEG.

I also have a franken M4 made from the Ares metal body, TM gearbox and ICS barrel from my previous guns that I didn't feel like fixing.