Rifle Parts to Upgrade on Your AR-15

If you build an AR15 from a kit, chances are it comes with some standard rifle parts that are what we might call pretty vanilla.

Therefore, there are some stock AR15 parts that, while serviceable, don’t really go above and beyond. If you’re looking for some good upgrades you can make to your AR with relatively available rifle parts that will significantly boost handling and performance, this is where to start.

The Sights

Let’s start with the AR15 sights, only because this is the easiest and most affordable upgrade you can make on this list. 

Granted, you might want to look into outfitting the rifle with an optic like a scope or a red dot, but the truth is, you can’t go without iron sights. They have optics beat just for their reliability alone.

But most AR15 build kits will come with plain old iron sights. There are AR15 night sights out there that can vastly improve handling and proficiency in the dark, and unlike a WML, night sights for your AR15 will help keep you concealed, which is worth something.

The Barrel

Next let’s take a look at the AR15 barrel, which all things considered is one of the biggest impactors of the rifle performance.

Probably the two most common barrel sizes for AR15 rifles are 16 and 20 inches. A 16 inch barrel will be lighter and offer better handling in tight spaces, as well as less barrel whip.

A 20 inch barrel, by contrast, will be heavier and not as light in the hands in tight spaces, but it will offer a longer sight radius, which will make it easier to shoot accurately over iron sights.

On top of that, there is barrel material to consider. Some barrels are made of high-strength, corrosion resistant CMV alloys that offer excellent accuracy and performance and which are fairly easy to maintain.

That something to look into if your rifle came with a plain carbon steel barrel.

The Muzzle Device

If you built your AR15 from a kit, there’s a good chance it came with a specific type of muzzle device known as a flash hider.

The purpose of a flash hider is to obstruct your muzzle flash, which keeps your sight picture clear and helps prevent temporary blindness. This in turn helps encourage faster, more accurate follow up shots.

Unfortunately, flash hiders offer very limited value as a muzzle device. A much better option is an AR15 muzzle brake.

Muzzle brakes can help contain your muzzle flash (depending on how they are ported) but much more importantly, they can significantly counteract felt recoil.

Good ones can cut felt recoil by as much as 50% if not more, which will drop the felt recoil of a 5.56 AR to nearly nothing.

This will enable much faster and more accurate follow up shots, and much better than a flash hider.

Alternatively, if you are interested in a muzzle device that’s an alternative to an AR15 muzzle brake, consider a suppressor.

Suppressors will also cut felt recoil and boost the muzzle velocity of the shot, but they also cut the noise significantly, too. The only caveat is they are NFA items which makes them a bit harder to get.

The Handguard

Hopefully, your AR15 kit did not come with a tropical handguard, as these, though they were once common, do not offer any mounting points for shooting attachments like optics or lights.

Chances are it came with a Picatinny AR15 handguard, which will offer a number of mounting points for these platforms.

This is, however, another rifle part worth upgrading. Both M-LOK and KeyMod AR15 handguards are lighter than Picatinny rail systems, and they’re a lot more comfortable to grip with bare hands as well.

The BCG

Lastly, consider the AR15 BCG as a good candidate rifle part for upgrading. Many AR15 build kits will come with a mil-spec, phosphate-coated BCG.

Mil-spec AR15 BCGs are alright, but that’s it. The phosphate coating is non-reflective, which is nice, but they have a bit more tooth which means not only that fouling sticks to them like a magnet, it means you’ll need to apply more liquid lubricant over time.

There are AR15 BCGs with advanced, modern coatings like black nitride, titanium nitride, diamond-like carbon (DLC), and nickel boron, all of which offer excellent permanent dry lubricity. 

This means that they’re not only easier to clean; you will also need to apply as much oil to keep them BCG running smoothly.

Here for Rifle Parts?

While SARCO Inc.’s bread and butter is rifle parts for historical firearms, we also carry a variety of AR15 parts as well as complete AR15 build kits. We carry a wide range of parts for upgrades and these are just a few of them. Take a look through our collection and see if what you need is here, and if not, get in touch with us directly at 610-250-3960 and we’ll let you know what your options are.