21's M4 Project

One of the more enjoyable undertakings in my life has been modifying some of my firearms. This particular project has been both enlightening and a whole bunch of fun for me. While sitting in my car at work one night, I decided to look up gunbroker.com on my laptop. It had been well over a year since I had perused the site and I had an itch that needed scratching. While I was unemployed I sold one of my most prized possessions, that being my M4 Bushmaster assault rifle. It was time to replace it. So, I proceeded to bid on and win a DPMS Lo-pro Classic flat-top M4 type AR-15. This is a rather low priced model but it lends itself well to modification. My winning bid was $685.00 which is right around dealer cost. Now, consider this, the average retail price for a decked out M4 is well north of $900.00. So, I figured on buying lots of accessories for it. I believe I got a little carried away, but what the hell you only live once and might as well enjoy yourself.

The list of accessories and mods is as follows:
1. Magpul M.O.E. handguard in Flat Dark Earth (FDE)                        $29.95
2. Magpul M.O.E. pistol grips both front and rear in FDE                     $40.90
3. Magpul M.O.E. telescoping butt stock in FDE                                  $59.99
4. Daniel Defense front and rear iron sights                                           $122.00
5. Yankee Hill Machine half inch riser for installing the front sight           $15.95
6. BCM Gunfighter charging handle                                                      $44.95
7. BCM mil-spec buffer tube                                                                $36.95
8. CMC tactical trigger group                                                               $229.99
9. Spikes Tactical  ST-T2heavy  buffer                                                 $29.95
10. Magpul P-Mags 30rd 4 ea                                                             $59.96
11. Magpul trigger guard                                                                       $8.99
12. Magpul B.A.D battery assist device                                                $28.45
                 (not installed yet)

Grand Total:  $1,393.03    See I did go a bit overboard, didn't I?  And this is not counting the cost of ammo which I haven't purchased yet. Sheesh.  This is quite an investment I admit. But if you pay full retail price for a flat-top, heavy barreled M4 that comes with all the Magpul stuff and then add the trigger and stuff from BCM and Daniel Defense you will pay much more than I did. And to top it all off, I did all the installs myself. If you had a gunsmith do it for you, well add in a few more hundred to the grand total.

The installation of parts was done using nothing more than a 1/8" punch and a screwdriver. Care must be taken, you must watch for small springs that may pop out. Other than that, I really had no problems whatsoever installing any part on this rifle. I've got to find another job at a gun shop, this was too easy.



Henchman 21  aka The A