Anyone here into firearms?

MacCool

Actually I'm a doctor (not a gunsmith, Jim...) Anyway, no gunsmithing required, rather I "assembled" it from various parts bought separately from various manufacturers. I registered that particular lower receiver with ATF as a short-barrel-rifle and paid the $200 for the tax stamp so I could use it with the 11.5 inch barrel in the photo, but I could have just as easily have used a completely legal 16-inch barrel and skipped the registration. If a person assembles a Title II weapon like that, ATF defines them as the "maker" of the weapon.

The M16/AR15 platform is highly modular and lends itself well to that kind of construction. Although some special tools are necessary, it's a pretty straightforward assembly and well within the capability of anyone with even modest tool-using skills. The hard part is knowing what parts are good, and work well with each other. Earlier in this thread, I made reference to so-called "tier 3" weapons like Bushmaster and DPMS based on their manufacturing specs and QA process, or lack thereof. Those are the kind of parts and brand of parts that most serious rifle "makers" avoid, based on a known history of what works and what fails on these weapons when they're put into hard use.