Building and selling AR-15 uppers.

[Brandon-k]

A buddy of mine has been asking me for some ideas for a start-up company. I'm going to school to get my Associates of Applied Science in Gunsmithing. I've been mulling over the prospect of getting my 07 FFL for a while now and start building AR's to sell. In the meantime (paperwork and capital) I was curious if it would be economically feasible to build AR uppers in different trims (varying lengths and variations ie AR-10 DPMS 308) and sell them online and at shows. Any thoughts?

Also, is there anything firearm related that you would like to see that you can't find or is not available in public markets?

[bronco71]

some things that are hard to find are bolts and matching barrels chambered for the WSSM rounds and the Remington .30 AR round, also upper receivers which have the ejection port cut larger for the rounds.......

[GAP]

I'm in for a belt fed 5.56 upper for use with a slidefire.

[John -- '02 HAWK]

There is no market for it alone. Anyone can assemble an AR, and your competing against other mfrs who are looking for some cash as well

[propellerhead]

Your best bet would be to cater to first time AR buyers. Everyone else is upgrading with brand name parts. Delton has affordable kits and halves. Lots of first timers buy there. Outside that, the competition is probably really tough.

[David]

I'm in for a belt fed 5.56 upper for use with a slidefire.

There's plenty of 5.56 beltfed AR uppers.

[Bassics]

magazines for LAR Grizzly run about $200 a pop if you can find them.

There are others out there like that too, AMTs, Coonans, whatever.

They are generally just nicely made stamped 1911 style single stacks. I bet some of them are dead patents in one way or another.

I know longer really need any, but i have in the past been ready to shell out and not been able to find anything. I mean nothing at all.

[Moose242]

There are so many players in the AR upper game that you would probably need to market your stuff as ultra premium custom uppers. A one or two man operation simply couldn't compete against companies like model 1 sales or del ton.

IMO, do something that a bunch of people don't and find a niche that isn't filled. You could build cheap G3s, AKs, galils, do saiga conversions, etc.

[Brandon-k]

magazines for LAR Grizzly run about $200 a pop if you can find them.

There are others out there like that too, AMTs, Coonans, whatever.

They are generally just nicely made stamped 1911 style single stacks. I bet some of them are dead patents in one way or another.

I know longer really need any, but i have in the past been ready to shell out and not been able to find anything. I mean nothing at all.

There are so many players in the AR upper game that you would probably need to market your stuff as ultra premium custom uppers. A one or two man operation simply couldn't compete against companies like model 1 sales or del ton.

IMO, do something that a bunch of people don't and find a niche that isn't filled. You could build cheap G3s, AKs, galils, do saiga conversions, etc.

A niche market is what we are looking for. The AR upper idea was just my idea to make some scratch in the meantime. We are going to go to a few 3-gun/skeet matches and ask around about things people would buy but can't find...same at the gun shows. We really want to make something that is in short supply or non-existent in today's firearm market.

[CJ]

You need to have an FFL if you plan on assembling even uppers. Vendors will not sell to you without an FFL, even if it's unregulated parts. It's a prerequisite for most all vendors and a requirement for all manufacturers. The only real money in AR-15's right now is high volume manufacturing, or precision CNC machining accessories. Neither is cheap for a start up.

[Bassics]

A niche market is what we are looking for. The AR upper idea was just my idea to make some scratch in the meantime. We are going to go to a few 3-gun/skeet matches and ask around about things people would buy but can't find...same at the gun shows. We really want to make something that is in short supply or non-existent in today's firearm market.

At the gun shows ask the resident mag trader what they have for an AMT automag, LAR Grizzly, Coonan 357 longslide, Wildey, or any of those. Then ask what they would cost if they could find them. Then ask what would they pay and how many they would consider if you found a bulk stash somewhere.

If you could throw together 50 in a week and turn them for $5k wholesale that would be a niche alright.

[Brandon-k]

You need to have an FFL if you plan on assembling even uppers. Vendors will not sell to you without an FFL, even if it's unregulated parts. It's a prerequisite for most all vendors and a requirement for all manufacturers. The only real money in AR-15's right now is high volume manufacturing, or precision CNC machining accessories. Neither is cheap for a start up.

Roger that. How about magazines? I just can't justify the FFL + ITAR yearly fees while I'm in school.

[CJ]

Roger that. How about magazines? I just can't justify the FFL + ITAR yearly fees while I'm in school.

Also to get an FFL you're going to need a storefront. That's almost exclusive nowadays. The home FFL thing is very difficult to get anymore. Just about any wholesale price on anything relating to guns will require an FFL, even if you buy in large quantities.

[GAP]

How about an upper that is fed from a hopper like a paintball gun.

[Marss]

I'm unsure of the legalities but you could find a service niche like budget trigger jobs (not just AR), or even coatings like cerakote or dipping.