this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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[–] grue@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (2 children)

Neat, I would've assumed you'd need a mill or a lathe, not just a drill press. Kinda want to know how to do it myself, since I own the former but not either of the latter.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

It won't be accurate or be a long baller w/o a lathe to make a rifled barrel. Not that you couldn't mke a barrel with hand tools, it just would be very difficult.

And like others have said, only the lower receiver is the controlled item. You goto Brownels and can buy 98% of an AR w/o a background check.

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

The upper reciever is the load bearing part on an Armalite, but it's also not the regulated part. The lower receiver is, and all you need for that is a box that holds the trigger components in vaguely the right place, a hole that lines up the magazine, a hole to stick the buffer tube into at the back, and some way to nail the upper receiver to it.

You could carve an AR lower out of wood if you were dedicated enough.

[–] grue@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Guess I ought to go find a set of machining schematics.

[–] TIEPilot@lemmy.world 1 points 59 minutes ago

If you're near me I'll loan you the gig, the end mills,and support to make an AR lower in about 2 hours.