Budget AR $320/$375 with sights and flashcan

[troglodyte]

I was looking to put together a budget AR for an around the house rifle that the wife could easily shoot. Kind of the modern day "gun over the door." RunnerRunner guns had blem forged stripped lowers on sale for $30. Since I'm going to Dallas in a couple of weeks I can pick it up and save the FFL and shipping fee. Then today I see that Ceratac.com has a carbine build kit for $290. It has everything but the lower including a key mod handguard. Free shipping. Ordered late this afternoon and it already shipped to arrive Monday.

I'm not expecting to put together a high end gun with budget parts but a $320 (less sights/optics) AR doesn't hurt my feelings.

I don't know anything about Ceratac so I'll update when I get it together and range tested.

[troglodyte]

I got my budget AR put together and ran a magazine through it to see if it worked. No problems. Been a little too busy to get it on the bench to sight it in. I did dial it in a little offhand but it seems to shoot good enough for what it is intended to do.

I added Trinty Force sights and a KAK flashcan. Total cost $375.

Not the greatest picture but it's just a black AR. Nothing fancy.



Thank you to whoever was testing the tinypic. It is simple and works.

[SQLGeek]

Holy moly that's cheap. How many rounds did you put through it?

[troglodyte]

Holy moly that's cheap. How many rounds did you put through it?

Just 30 rounds. Just a trial run to see if I got everything in the right place.

The trigger is typical mil-spec gritty. I'll probably pull it back out and hit it with a little polishing compound.

[Ameer]

How was the ceratac kit other than the gritty trigger? Primary Arms sometimes has sales with $30 - $35 stripped lowers. I was looking at the PTAC build kit from Palmetto State Armory but the online consensus is to pay the extra $30 - $40 to get the cheapest PSA branded kit instead of a PTAC branded kit. Maybe I should buy the ceratac kit instead.

[Tylerscott20]

My ceratac carbine has been great so far. I've only put around 100 rounds through it, but with some magpul sights I shot about a 4moa group at 100 yards. I know it will do MUCH better than that though. When my vortex sparc ar gets here I'll see what it can really do!

[troglodyte]

I am no means a seasoned assembler of ARs having only put four together but the Ceratac went together without any problems. Everything fit as it should. The upper and lower fit with no rattle. The American Pride lower has a set screw the you can tighten against the upper if it's loose but I had no need for it.

I'd buy from Ceratac again if I wasn't looking for something special. I also like that it came with a Keymod handguard even though I prefer MLok. Not a big deal since I'm not going to hang anything on it but better than plastic.

Ceratac shipped fast and free. I got mine second day so it arrived the third day after I ordered it. Palmetto has had issues in the past with getting orders shipped. I've ordered three lower build kits from them and a lower and they always seemed like they took longer to ship.

[TreyHouston]

I am no means a seasoned assembler of ARs having only put four together but the Ceratac went together without any problems. Everything fit as it should. The upper and lower fit with no rattle. The American Pride lower has a set screw the you can tighten against the upper if it's loose but I had no need for it.

I'd buy from Ceratac again if I wasn't looking for something special. I also like that it came with a Keymod handguard even though I prefer MLok. Not a big deal since I'm not going to hang anything on it but better than plastic.

Ceratac shipped fast and free. I got mine second day so it arrived the third day after I ordered it. Palmetto has had issues in the past with getting orders shipped. I've ordered three lower build kits from them and a lower and they always seemed like they took longer to ship.

YES, every order from palmetto state has taken at least a week to ship! Good deals though...

[Aunt Eva]

If you don't mind me asking, did your kit ship from Wyoming or California?

[troglodyte]

I think it shipped from California.

[Aunt Eva]

Mine too. I thought it was strange because their website has a Wyoming address and a 307 area code phone number.