I’ve never been a huge fanboy of the AR-15. My ambivalence isn’t based on the comparative hypothetical merits of gas guns versus piston guns, or the teething pains of the M16 in Vietnam. Nope: my decidedly “meh…” attitude toward Eugene Stoner’s Greatest Hit comes entirely from my own experiences with the gun itself . . .

The first one I ever fired had a failing disconnector and a tendency to pretend it was an M16A2 firing 3-round bursts. Hella fun, but wickedly unsafe and calamitously illegal, too. Don’t get antsy, ATFE guys: it was repaired tout de suite, and it all happened so long ago that the applicable Statute of Limitations has run.

The other ARs I’ve shot were also high-maintenance girlfriend’s, but it was Armalite’s M-15 that (eventually) started to bring me around. It had a superb trigger and outstanding accuracy, and once it was running properly I started to understand why “America’s Rifle” is selling hotter than Justin Bieber albums. Baby, baby, baby…

Lots of middle aged guys have expensive hobbies, and the back pages of Popular Mechanics are full of plans and kits for Tesla coils, Shelby Cobras, and even helicopters. Since my expensive hobby is shooting, I’ve always thought it would be cool to build my own rifle. I could pick the caliber (within reason) and customize everything about the gun exactly the way I wanted it, with nothing but the skill of my hands and the funds in my debit card. M203 cuts on the barrel? Hell, No! Stainless barrel? Hell, maybe…

With their almost-universally interchangeable uppers and lowers, buffers and barrels, ARs are as modular as LEGO kits these days. I know what I would buy if I wanted an off-the-shelf AR and price were no object (I’m lookin’ at you, Rock River). But I’m a babe in the woods when it comes to rolling my own.

So here’s my question: would you build yourself a custom AR from hand-picked components? If so, what kind of rifle would you assemble, and which components would get the nod? If any of our Armed Intelligentsia have already built their own AR, was it an experience you would recommend to the rest of us?