Want to build my first lower, what tools do I need? Vise, wrench , etc. best place to buy from, Midway, Brownells, etc?

Plastic hammer a vice with some leather for the jaws and armorers wrench and some punches. And you should have some proper screw drivers anyway, not just for AR builds. Personally I have never bothered with a torque wrench . Just knowing that after really tight comes really loose is good enough

I ordered some roll pin punches and starters, heard they make it much easier. Look at ar15discounts.com. They have some good deals.

I have put 100's of them together. I put a mag in a vise and clamp it in.. After that small hammer, 1/8 and 1/16 punch. A needle nose pliers and a hitch pin and a baggie.

Watch some videos on Youtube and your good.

For the upper a good upper block and vise. Make sure you get a big enough vise to open up to fit upper block in.

this video does a very good job of showing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8sY5CQmlHI

+1 on roll pin starter set and punches. They will save you a lot of grief. I think I got mine at Midway.

when putting in the bolt catch pin I tape that side of the receiver with painters tape , a slip with the hammer or the punch slips off and you scratch , a little tape is cheap insurance.

buy an oops kit it is cheaper to just own one then have to wait and order one or go to a store and pay for one to finish , yes I got through 3 before my first oops but I did eventually have one with a detent spring.

+2 on the roll pin starter punch

none of it is hard just follow the video

Never had a special tool just used a brass hammer, punches and masking tape to put one together.

Roll punches where the only thing I didn’t have. That said I ended up taking the ones I’ve built in to the local gunsmith to torque barrel and torque and index the muzzle brake. Cost me $30 for the piece of mind knowing that was done properly.

Experience talking right there.

I assembled my first lower this fall, a guy really doesn't need much but I bought a decent punch set, a lower receiver mag vise block and a castle nut tool.

I wish I had known about using a hitch pin to help install the front pivot pin detent and spring. It's a good thing they sent extras in the kit lol.

You will pick up little tricks that will speed it so much it's not much of a challenge after you build several. The biggest part to over come for me is the pivot pin spring for the detent chased many a spring around.

Thats what the baggie and hitch pin are for. I have not lost a spring or detent in 10 yrs or more.

Found if you use a 2nd pivot pin to hold the spring in place you can slide the regular pin in and it goes easier.

They're not too hard. I did mine in about 20 minutes at the kitchen table with a hammer and a punch, and borrowed the neighbor's tool to tighten the buffer tube castle nut. Just take your time and make sure everything is in it's proper place and you'll do fine.

The parts are made so it’s about impossible to mess up everything has it’s place.

a center punch to stake the receiver end plate into the castle nut or it loosens up you only dimple the sheet metal end plate if you take it off later they are 4 dollars basically a special shaped washer