Has the President’s recent support for a renewed Assault Weapons Ban, in combination with Pollster.com’s electoral map, set you to worrying about your as-yet-unpurchased collection of Modern Sporting Rifles ™? If the answer to this question is “(Expletive of choice), Yes!”, you need to make sure your inchoate AR collection is grandfathered in before any AWB II legislation goes into effect. If you were made of money you could order a crate of Noveskes or LWRCs and put them on your Amex card. If you live with us in this universe, however, you’ll have to get creative. And you’ll have to study up on Foghorn’s Guide to assembling AR lowers too.
As you should all know by now, the ‘serialized’ part of an AR-pattern firearm is its lower receiver. This intrinsically useless lump of machined aluminum alloy is classified as a ‘firearm’ by our friends at the ATF, so it’s the only part of an AR which requires a Form 4473. Every other part (including but not limited to the lock, stock and barrel) can be ordered from wherever you like and delivered directly to your door.
You can spend as much as you want to for an AR lower, but no-name stripped lowers can be amazingly cheap. This nickel-boron model shown at the top of the article can be yours for only a buck twenty-five, and if you don’t need the fancy NiBo coating you can get a plain hard-anodized model for $65 plus shipping and transfer fees. Click here for details.
If you’d really like to know who made your AR lower, standard entry-level brands like DPMS, Stag and Spike’s Tactical can often be had for about $150 including shipping and transfer. If you buy in bulk many FFLs will give you a transfer fee discount, so call around and make your best deal.
Buying a stripped lower (or three) at these prices will let you start building your future AR collection now, without actually having to build any of those ARs now. And it puts the ‘firearm’ part of the firearms into your hands well ahead of any possible Assault Weapon Ban Part Deux, all for less than the price of a new Glock and a couple of magazines. Unless all sorts of legislative shit hits the fan (in the form of outright prohibition or confiscation of Evil Black Rifles) you’ll be able to purchase the remaining components and attach them to your ‘pre-ban’ firearm as and when you like.
But that reminds me: if you’re worried enough to stock up on AR lowers, you’re an idiot if you don’t stock up on normal-capacity 30-round magazines also…