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SOG Donations@Giantspeed what courses do you recommend for building?
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Honestly it depends on what you want to work on
I went to Pennsylvania gunsmith school for a lil over a year and learned basics but itās a hands on school
Lots of folks do the sdi online stuff witch Iām not a fan of at all
Honestly the best way to learn is to just start and accept that your going to make mistakes
And go from there
Also a great way is to apprentice with a smith or spend some time in a shop watching and asking questions
There is also YouTube but be careful with that one
There are dudes that call themselves gun smith and try to teach people how to and they donāt know how to themselves
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@Giantspeed, thanksā¦Iām definitely interested in pursuing that after I grad but will look into thatā¦I always have to stay busy, plus I have a history with metalā¦used to work in a steel mill
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Go to a good schoolā¦ I took 2 years. Still in training and that is after 30 years of doing this.
Anywayā¦ I do NOT recommend plastic AR lowers.
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Not a bad idea. Then you could have ar style bolt acion weapon. I kind of like it. I prefer metal to polymer.
Couldnāt one just use everything stock just remove gas system.
Here you go!
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isnāt a single shot AR considered broken?
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Itās a matter of ergonomics. At least one of the British makers of AR-15s has developed a handle for their side charging bolt modification, that supposedly allows you to pull the bolt back with your trigger finger, without completely taking taking your hand off of the pistol grip. Using such a handle on a normal AR upper would be dangerous, due to the chance that it could hit your hand during normal semi-auto cycling.
I had been planning to make a handle for the side charging upper that would work better for a straight-pull bolt action, but I finally went ahead and put the side charging upper together with the manufacturerās handle. It looks just like a regular side charging upper with a float tube that extends out over a low-profile gas block, but if you look closely, you can see that the gas tube and gas block are missing.
It does function as a left-handed, straight-pull bolt action rifle, but the unmodified side charging handle could definitely be improved (a project for when I have more time to spare). There are rifles used in biathlon competitions that are straight-pull bolt actions, and their advantage is that the handle is made so that the bolt can be operated without completely removing your hand from the grip, allowing the rifle and your grip to stay closer to a shooting position (less moving around).
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Thereās a company that has apparently been making money by selling single shot AR uppers. ā¦chambered in .50bmg.
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Itās an interesting take on an AR pistol build, but probably not for me since Iād have no practical use for it whatsoever.
Andā¦ anyone else besides me wanting to see the guy in the video stop talking and just shoot the dang thing already? 
I really wonder about recoil and accuracy. For the latter, everything Iāve ever read states 300BLK requires an 8" barrel to fully stabilize.
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This, Donāt want any plastic uppers or lowers on my arās
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Just found devil dog side charger
Best price https://deadfootarms.com/products/hard-charger-tactical-drop-in-ar-15-side-charging-handle-by-devil-dog-concepts/
More info
The only issue I have is if you eliminate gas to via taking gastube out and rotate gas block to cover hole. The charging handle may come back fa enough that you would.have to take face off rifle while cycling
I wander if you could shorten either of those setups?
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After going down the rabbit hole for hours doing some research.
I think the devil dog set up is the best for charging handle stability and least expensive way to convert to built action if ever needed.
Yes the handle may force you to adjust head position but for me cost and effort out way it.
Looks like I may have to give this a try
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$150 is a lot of coin. Why not just buy a side charging upper and be done?
Or save money on a blem:
Also, the video in the OP stated he had to cut the bolt in half. Might want to make sure the Devil Dog would work with that kind of setup before dropping hard earned cash on one.
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My question here is why would you want to make a semi auto gun a bolt or single shot? Now I can see it where a semi is not legal. but then I would have to get the heck outta that place. Unless nobody wanted me then I might stay and suck it up. and I understand if nobody wants me. I am pretty putrid to look at 
so iāll just stay here where nobody wants me anyway. but least we have semi autos.
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New Zealand or Great Britain where evil full semi auto black rifles are ābannedā, this now allows the owner to keep the money invested and still enjoy their sport.
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I have two of the hard chargers, one on a PSA AR9 and one on a PSA KS47ā¦nothing but awesome, works great on the AR9 due to stiff spring because itās a blowback action, works great on the KS47 also because of stiffer 30 cal. springā¦several friends have now bought them and they are well worth the moneyā¦
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Some places do restrict semi-autos, and the solutions that people came up with to meet those restrictions, ended up being a āhmm, interestingā thing that bounced around in the back of my head for probably at least two years.
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Some people like to tinker with various things, and a bolt action AR is something different.
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Itās a special application sort of thing. Some people may build one as a long range rifle, trying to squeeze every bit of long range performance out of the AR platform that they can. Some may be trying some odd loads/calibers that wonāt reliably cycle the ARās gas system, and decide that itās easier to just do away with the gas system and focus on getting everything else right.
In my case, itās 2 and 3, plus the fact that I am left-handed and left eye dominant. In the last 30+ years, Iāve only been in one store that stocked left-handed bolt action rifles, and in that particular case, they were rifles that were priced in the $1400 and up, range. Even if I had a shop order a left-handed Savage at a reasonable price, the upgrade parts would have some limits on what is available. Building a left-handed bolt action based on an AR with a side charging upper, only requires finding a left-handed side charging upper (ejects to the left, and charging handle on the left), and leaves you with various upgrades (and 30 round mags) available.
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My intention is to have side charger.
The option of being able to convert to bolt action style style weapon if ever needed with out severe modification is a bonus to me. 125.00 for the hard charger is not as much as 225.00 for a new receiver and having to rebuild my AR.
Letās say ā¦ God for bid semi autos get bannedā¦ I can take the gas tube off , turn my gas block enough to block gas port and have a bolt action ā¦easy . Then in a SHTF situation just reverse and all is good. In the mean time I get to enjoy side charging without have to do anything other than switch charging handles. I like those options.
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If itās a low profile gas block with set screws in the bottom and dimples in the barrel that match up with those set screws, you can just remove the gas block and reinstall it so that the front of the gas block is facing aft. Keeps the set screws in the dimples, and blocks the gas port.
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I just like options. LOL
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