TH3180 wrote:Norsesmithy wrote:Of course, assembling the lower half from a kit that includes an assembled upper and a box of parts is not terribly challenging either.
This is very true, but being new at this I don't want to take off a bigger bite then I can chew. I look at these web sites and I'm not even sure what I am looking at.
I assembled my first AR from a kit without ever having seen one even broken down into upper and lower halves. It's lego difficulty here.
that said, my biggest regret was not sampling lots of different ARs in different configurations, and therefore ending up with a 10 lb rifle with a carry handle (which I still have, and probably would have gotten eventually, but I'd have been better off with something different for a "first" AR).
Try lots of guns, in lots of different configurations.
Then buy or build what you like best/what best meets your needs.