Reddit reviews Fixxxer Hollow End Stainless Steel Starter Punch Set

Super helpful, especially with those tiny bolt stop pins, if you're building an upper or lower. At $5, its just good to have.

ETA - 21 left at 3:38 CST

ETA 2 - What kind of savage downvotes $5 shipped tools?

ETA 3 - $5 set is OOS @ 3:57 CST

ETA 4 - Stainless is $8 shipped if you have Amazon Prime

If you buy from PSA, I'd recommend using a pre-paid credit card, as they've had site security issues in the past.

I think by "80% lower" you may have been thinking of a stripped lower, where all you have is the aluminum lower, with none of the controls installed. A stripped lower is s great place to start! YouTube has a bunch of easy how-to videos. I recommend /u/nsz85 videos, which I used for my first build.

Some other things you'll want to have handy:

Vice Block for Lower

Vice Block for Upper

Roll pin starter kit

Rubber Mallet

Torque Wrench

These are the basics, and once you buy them, you'll never have to buy them again for future builds. There's other tools out there to consider, but get you started.

Best of luck!

EDIT: shit, how could I forget the AR Wrench!

I bought one of these a while ago from an Amazon vendor. It's heavy as fuck, but does the job.

EDIT: Don't know if you need other tools, but this seems like a pretty good deal too, since it also includes vise blocks and a front sight tool for not much more.

EDIT #2: You'll also want a roll pin punch set if you don't already have one. A roll pin starter set and a rubber/plastic mallet are nice to have but not absolutely needed.

Fixxxer Hollow End Stainless Steel Starter Punch Set https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0191RFK4I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_n9bvybCFXCASK these hollow roll pin punches. You simply insert them in the end and hammer away.

I just built exactly what you're describing. I can share some of my experiences.

• Torquing things:
  
  
  • An AR-15 armourer's wrench is a dedicated device for AR-15 assembly and will be needed to attach the barrel, buffer tube, and flash hider. I initially got a super cheap one that couldn't take the torque and the tool's teeth snapped off while stripping a few of my barrel nut's teeth. I now use a TAPCO-brand model and it's very well made.
    
    
  • A torque wrench ensures you are tightening the barrel, flash hider, and castle nut to the correct minimum amounts using an objective indicator of applied torque. The minimum values are in the 25-35 ft.-lb range, so get a wrench that can exceed this by a healthy margin.
    
    
  • You need a vise to hold your upper and lower receiver at the individual stages where you're attaching parts, especially anything that needs to be tightened to a specified torque level. C-clamps and speed clamps are also helpful here.
    
    
  • A pair of plastic blocks clamp your upper receiver tightly to your vise. A block of magazine-shaped plastic goes into your magwell to hold your lower receiver in place on your vise. Get a combo pack of both.
    
    
  • Molybdenum-based anti-seize (greasing) compound is necessary when attaching your barrel to your receiver. It makes things easier when torquing the barrel nut and prevents the barrel from chemically bonding to the receiver. I made the mistake of attaching the barrel without it, had great difficulty tightening the nut, found that I couldn't align the gas tube properly, and then couldn't remove the nut again. Had to toss the thing into a freezer overnight to allow thermal contraction to separate the parts.
    
    
• Pushing in roll pins:
  
  
  • You want a mallet with a non-marring head for driving in roll pins without damaging your weapon's finish.
    
    
  • A roll pin starter set will save you so much trouble getting the pins aligned for the first few hammer hits. Buy it.
    
    
  • For most of my roll pins, I used a roll punch set instead of a standard punch set to drive in the pins. Roll pins are hollow and a roll punch has a small indentation that fits inside the hollow area which makes driving the pins much easier.
    
    
  • A standard punch set came in handy to keep high-tension parts aligned while I punched in roll pins from the other side.
    
    
  • A bench block is useful in holding your parts in place while hammering in roll pins, but it's not needed if you have a friend to provide spare hands at some stages of assembly. I started off using it, but a roommate's hands plus a roll of tape (to rest the work piece on) worked just as well.
    
    
• Specialty / miscellaneous
  
  
  • If you're installing a handguard that uses the standard delta ring, you will want snap ring pliers to manipulate the snap ring part of the delta ring assembly. I initially tried using improved tools. Save yourself the cursing and just get the pliers.
    
    
  • I saw a video guide to installing the front pivot pin using a clevis pin. It looks like a good technique to use and would have saved me a lot of trouble.
    
    I'm super happy with the results of my build. The process is fraught with a lot of cursing and you're probably going to lose a couple of the tiny parts (like detent pins and tension springs) but the end result will be totally worth it. You'll be intimately familiar with the insides of your AR-15 and share a sentimental connection with your firearm thanks to its DIY nature. Enjoy!

I would recommend not only the roll pin punches, but also the Hollow End Starter Punch Set.

and

a Utility Knife to get the pivot pin detent in.

loctite blue and aeroshell 33ms for the barrel install, also great for installing a freefloat handguard and scope mounts. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012AXR4S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ive found luck with this punch set, although the 3/32 did bend a smidge when I was pounding the hell out of it when pinning my gas block. also a rollpin starter punch set is a nice addition.

https://www.amazon.com/Fixxxer-Hollow-Stainless-Steel-Starter/dp/B0191RFK4I/ref=sr_1_4?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1480117372&sr=1-4&keywords=starter+punch+set

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012TKY0VI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Punch set - http://www.amazon.com/Mayhew-Select-89032-Short-3-Piece/dp/B0060H8O0K
Roll Pin STarter Set - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0191RFK4I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Castle nut Wrench - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008H7PSUA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Vice Block - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PHEIW18/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1