Build or Buy - Sweating the Details

"God is in the details." - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

The quote is from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It’s often misquoted as “the devil is in the details.” He was an architect and he got it - sweating the details makes the difference between good and great.

In this and following articles, we’ll examine the decisions and trade-offs of building an AR-15 platform weapon. I recently saw a tweet from Fenix Ammunition that said “Guys – your ‘custom build’ is a piece of shit, most likely.”  This article series will help avoid that for your custom build. Based on the “custom builds” I’ve seen at tactical shooting competitions, there is more than a grain of truth in the statement.

The series will be multiple articles. Each article will cover a single component topic. The first article will cover “what are you building”. You can build a rifle, a carbine, a short barrel rifle (SBR), or an AR pistol.