“Good Enough” Budget AR-15 Accessories for your Cheap Build

What did you think of the budget friendly upgrades I chose for this rifle? I wanted everything to be "good enough" for preparedness purposes without being expensive so my options (at least in my opinion) were somewhat limited. Feel free to add any suggestions down below!
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With that red dot what distance would you able to hit ???

Favorite sling is the OG USGI carry strap, then add the USGI top sling adapters, ditched the heavy magpul slings.

Gunmagwarehouse has carbine free floating rails for like $30, after buying one I bought 3 more and upgraded all my fixed front sight AR's. OTIS is manufacturer. Has an NSN# so they must have been issued at some point.

I was done when pulled out the hand guard but had hope then $118 light i said get the walking billboard outta here 😂

Guess I am kinna old school when it comes to optics, BCG's and other frivoulous items. If you can't hit your taget with an A1, then you are compensating for a small unit. Gadgets are neat, but so is a Lmboughini.

You also could have chopped down the carry handle, like what was done in early GWoT.
Would maybe need to get a lower 1/3 mount to go with it.

As far as what I’d do differently if I bought a rifle like that and keep it as budget friendly as possible?

First, I don’t particularly care for QD, they’re little rattles that add weight. There’s a cheap Amazon sling that actually works well that I’ve bought a few times for different rifles, so while I prefer a nice padded sling they do work for about $20.

Second, I would go with the UTG drop-in handguard because I am assuming changing everything to my preferred standard of a free-float hand guard is out of the budget for this setup. Also, see above regarding my opinion about QDs.

Third, Fab5 has a very lightweight and relatively inexpensive adjustable stock. It’s second only to the MFT stocks for shedding weight, and it doesn’t look like it would contribute to the rifle being nose-heavy. If it does, then no notes, keep the fixed Magpul. Or just keep the stock M4 stock if you’re really going poverty-tier.

For a bit more money, the Holosun 403B is just a nicer red dot. And I would take a plastic MBUS rear any day over the A1 rear sight. But that’s just me. Even better would be a 1x prism from PA and ditching the backup irons entirely, but that’s my astigmatism talking.

Cheap Streamlights with tape switches work fine for civilian home defense rifles. Though a mount that moves it farther forward would be nice. As would a Surefire setup, but that’s more $.

Overall, as long as you have the light, optic and sling you’re good to go. And this covered those bases adequately. Looking forward to seeing those plates get shot up.

How about don’t buy an outdated rifle from the get go

Why is it somewhat reliable? Ffs you can get a palmetto for a few hundred that runs reliably. How about building a rifle and not wasting money

I tried that optic mount solution before. The stacking tolerances (carry handle to receiver, rail to carry handle, optic to rail) bothered me. Something loctite may have cured. However, it also came with a surplus of weight. I think the carry handle and rail are 9.5oz, whereas an MBUS-2 is 2.5-3oz. EDIT: I could have chopped the front half of the carry handle off and mounted my red dot normally; there are examples of that having been done. However, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. EDIT 2: I can live with the A2 grip; I really like JP’s 3.5lb trigger spring.

I noticed with the rifle in the daylight, the rail had that old school purple color to it…

Great video friend! 🇺🇸

I'll rip off that carry handle and just get a magpul backup sights and put the romeo 5 and match the vertical grip with a magpul furniture

larue accurizer..wuld help too..lol

Save your money, barrel clamp the light on, put your money towards the light, romeo 5, larue mbt trigger and a better charging handle. You'd end up with a far better rifle – looks and performance.

Red dots suck from my experience and rails suck from my own experience. The ergonomics are not great with a gangster grip but you wanted to take a utilitarian rifle that was in its least ugly configuration with that short barrel length and short gas system and wanted it to be FUGLY, so good job. You made it useless and heavier and ugly and hard to shoot without gloves

Risky chrisky is coming with a optic ready carry handle.

Lost me on the quad rail.

For budget build the Romeo5 and Streamlight are good picks, I've got multiples of each and no issues.
Assuming someone is sticking to an upper with front sight post gas block instead of free float rail the couple changes I'd make are: swapping the sling for a Blue Force gear or SOE Tactical sling, they're still not that spendy especially for the quality and functionality and they're still $45-65ish which isn't bad at all.
I'd also use a different magpul or B5 stock for adjustability and design that already has a variety of sling options without needing extra hardware.

I have a basic moe stock that I put a strip of duct tape on the buffer tube. Now the stock doesn’t wobble and can still position it to where I want it.

This is similar to my first ar build. Romeo 5 and Streamlight hlx. Had them 4 years and never had any problems. I will say that crimson trace makes a light called CWL-102 that I’ve had for about three years that’s been great to me too. They are a little less than the hlx they also come with mounts in the box. If you’re really really on a budget buy a Streamlight polytac and duct tape it to your circle Handguards…. Another thing QD is nice but not needed if you’ve only got one rifle. Also can use Parachord to secure your sling to your rifle and Parachord doesn’t rattle/make noise.

So much deal can be had on the second market. Could have found better options..slightly used stocks, pistol grips, or vertical grips. You can find deals from places like CDNN..and a few other places.

Electrical tape works for protecting the muzzle as well and you dont have to take it off before shooting. Its much cheaper and has multi use!

i like the bipod foregrip. normally a grip, then if u push a button it becomes an okay bipod. second, u can use black electrical tape to mount ur preasure switch to the handle of the grip. alao allows to mount lite farther forward.. then u can mount a crimson trace mini under the front of ur gun. allows for engagement of targets at night. just be aware it tells whoever else is out there where ur at. lasera are bi directional.

i like the rail thata mounted to the carry handle.

in the army they add a mag holder to the magazine well. however that increases ur weapons weight. but it means u carry 2 mags everywhere.

11:18 “I still have access to my iron sites as well”

Do you? You can use irons through that? Is there sometime I’m missing? Looks like you blocked your irons vision.

I'd be curious to see a mag "shoot out", so to speak… The amount of mags a lot of guys will suggest can easily exceed the value of their host and everyone always has a million opinions.

$80 for a quad rail? I paid $10 at Monstrum.

So glad you went with the Romeo 5. Definitely the best bang for the buck for red dots. Also, gooseneck works great with the romeo 5.

Silicon rail ladders can make those pic rails very comfortable by blunting the sharp edges and providing a bit of heat insulation.

I didnt like the magpul moe carbine stock i found it was to short i swapped to the Magpul prs lite stock and the fit is perfect

If that gun was mine I would sell the Romeo red dot to a buddy and just rock the open sights. But I’ve had that red dot on my old tavor and loved it.

But hey…..

It's Tacticool

Why would I put a bunch of expensive parts on a rifle I didn’t spend that much on? Well, I got my xm15 10 years ago, it had a scope on it, I peeled that off, put a red dot on it, peeled that off, got some mag pull irons, and quad rail. It’s my B***h, shot the trigger out of it, literally, it stared to run away on me randomly 😊. Now it has an a atlas handguard, DD grip and for grip, Troy fixed irons, new mid length gas tube and low pro block, b5 stock, the original a2 break (with a bayonet from a musket from god knows when) and a stream light, and haven’t replaced the bcg or barrel yet and it’s got a lot of rounds out of it to say the least. Over the course of a decade it’s been upgraded little by little for basically personal preference (except the stock trigger failing) and the price adds up, but it’s been reliable as much as it’s frustrated me

ati metal sights excellent for 30 bucks

fyi the actual knights armament hand guard will come back into production in the future according to customer service

You already have iron sights. Light just gives your position away. Forward hand grip not needed. Sling is horrendous.
KISS…..none of these attachments made it any more accurate or usable.
Chest rig got in the way.
Use full-length sling. Learn the arm wrap to stabilize. When low light hampers the iron sights. Laser dot in place of flashlight.
Bayonet? For when the ammo runs out!

Fun build, surprised you went with a quad-rail

My ar 15 is so cheap..how cheap is it?
Its got a polymer lower receiver..and a 22 lr bolt carrier group.. because of this masshole president inflation.. food or bullets..bullets..FJB!

Slings you can get for under $10 military surplus. Stream light flashlight that can fit in your pocket and mount to your rifle is good.

I see Wolverine n Rogue ended up having a kid

Chop the carry handle.

1) I build my rifles with a mid-length gas system with a 16" barrel.
2) I prefer a green laser and light system like the PEQ style system. That way, at night the laser and night vision work hand in hand for excellent shot placement. A 36 yard zero, on a 20" barrel is good to over 300 yards.
3) I now prefer a 20" barrel for the armor piercing capability, at further effective range. I'll deal with the longer barrel, which isnt a problem for me.
4) I always carried a 20" barrel in the Army, anyways, as primary weapon. I also prefer a full butt stock with trapdoor for my cleaning kit. And since I Carried the M16A1, I built it with original hand guards and butt stock and trapdoor. I used the Moe pistol grip instead with the moe trigger guard and I'm running the Delta Elite, 3X9X40 Rubber Armored scope that Tasco provided for the Delta Rifles. I tested it on a 50bmg rifle and it survived the shooting, so I kept it. Accurate enuf for me during daylight hours.

Imo best budget optics are monstrum sights, have them on all my rifles, the prism sight I have doesn't even require battery during the day.

I like your budget set up👍 the only thing i would do a little differently is lower the red dot so my cheek bone is against the stocka little lower.👍🇺🇸