Ar's
Yes I built mine piece by piece. On the first one I built, I bought a complete upper and used it. After I did I thought that was cheating, so the next one I built, I built the upper as well. Again, I would suggest AR15.com. It has pictures of each step.
Believe me If I can do it you can do it. As far as special tools you will need an action block and an armorer’s wrench, (about $50.00 total if you shop around) and that is it. Rabid Rabbit and Ravenvt100I have the illustrated book "Building Your Own AR15". If either of you want that I would sell it to you for the price of shipping, say $5.00 (I paid $12.00 + shipping). $3.85 for postage, and $1.15 for the padded envelope and my time. I have only the one copy.
Ravenvt100 - you can put a lower together in less than 1 hour on your first attempt. It is that easy.
I can't encourage you enough to try this yourself. I am far from being an expert, but so far I have built 2 AR and both run exactly like they are supposed to.
I would be willing to give any help I could, just let me know.