the uppers you buy are only cheap because they are made in such high quantities its almost ridiculous to think about, if any legislation was passed and those factories were churning them out like they are now, prices would rapidly go up.. theyre not simple to machine but they have a plethora of specialized equipment to do it quickly in high numbers
so theyre only cheap right now because theres so many being produced... take the AK rifles for example, a few years ago they were a few hundred bucks because the parts were economically available because they were being produced at such high quantities overseas, but with those starting to dry up you now see that same quality AK costing you about $800
It's called economy of scale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economies_of_scale
And, the situation being what it is, that's not gonna change any time soon. The upper is just a machined part anyway; legislation banning ARs (highly unlikely in and of itself) would control the lowers, not the uppers. That's why 80% lowers are so popular.
dont confuse whats easiest and cheapest to buy with whats easiest and cheapest to make
Preaching to the choir, bud.
a quality printer can be had for <$1000......and can produce fully functional parts that are ready for use.
The printer DefCad (Cody Wilson) was using to make receivers that still proved too weak without substantial changes and additional bulk was a $60K machine. You're not gonna turn out usable polymer AR uppers on a $1K Robo 3D or Dremel Idea Builder.
The prices are dropping, but we're still a ways from homeowner grade machines being able to produce high strength parts that even come close to what can be done with injection molded parts. At this time, a good used vertical knee mill is still the most economical way to make strong parts with complex shapes.
you could get a grizzly G0704 for about the same price and make real parts
If you're thinking about a mill, I'd advise you to get the largest unit you can fit in your workshop/garage. You'd be utterly disappointed with the constraints of the small machines, including "medium sized" units like the Jet JMD-15. You can certainly make some things on them, but there have been times I've needed almost all of the knee travel on my Lagun FTV-2 to deal with a relatively small part, because that part had to be mounted on fixture, which was in turn mounted to my rotary table, and then I needed to be able to plunge a 6" LOC end mill 8" deep.
well, to the average person wanting a weapon that doesnt require all this equipment to make, the first step is to quit thinking AR-15, or AK, understand these weapons are made in factories, they have the backing of the industrial complex of entire nations behind them, the average joe clearly does not
Bingo.
Something more along the lines of the M3 or Sten.