Frequently Asked Questions

ARPartsFinder.com is the original live availability and price-comparison search engine for AR-15 and AR-10 parts, online since February 2013 (here is what it looked like a whole week after launch). We scan retailers throughout the day and surface what is actually in stock RIGHT NOW, with current prices. We do not sell parts. When you find something, you click through to the retailer to buy direct.

No. ARPartsFinder.com is a search and comparison tool. When you click a product, you are taken to the retailers own website to complete the purchase. We never handle checkout, payment, or shipping.

Three things. First, we have been doing this since 2013, when we created the category. Second, the kit builder: add parts to a build as you browse, see the running total and price history, and save it to a shareable link, not just a static parts list. Third, speed: our scanners are built to catch restocks within minutes, which matters most when a part you want has been out of stock and suddenly comes back.

Scanners run continuously throughout the day across all tracked retailers. The Recently New / Recently Out of Stock lists surface the last 7 days of stock changes.

We cover parts for the AR-15 and AR-10 platforms, including many that work across both, listed under the same categories. The cutoff is the platform, not the caliber: AR parts come in everything from 5.56 and .308 to 9mm and .22LR, so rimfire AR uppers and conversion kits are in.

What we leave out is parts for non-AR firearms, such as bolt-action rifles, traditional handguns, or a non-AR rimfire rifle like a 10/22. If you spot something that clearly is not an AR part, the flag on its card lets you report it so we can clean it up.

Use the category sidebar on Browse to narrow by type (Barrels, BCGs, Triggers, etc.), then use the filter bar at the top of the result list to refine by keyword, price range, or retailer. The result count updates as you filter.

The Recent links in the sidebar are pre-built slices of the catalog:

• Newest In-Stock: parts that just came back in stock or were seen for the first time
• Sales / Price Drops: in-stock parts whose price recently dropped
• Popular: the most clicked-through parts
• Recently OOS: what just went out of stock

They are handy to refresh during a restock or deal hunt.

That is a "report wrong category" link. If a part looks miscategorized (a pistol magazine showing under AR-15 magazines, say), click the ⚐ and pick where it should go. We review the suggestions and move parts that are clearly misfiled, which keeps the categories cleaner over time.

That is a sparkline: a small chart of the parts price over the last 90 days. A downward line means the price dropped recently, flat means it has held steady. When a parts price has moved, the exact amount and date show next to the price (for example, "↓ $2.50 since May 26"), so you can tell a genuine deal from a price that just bounced back up.

Product images come from each retailers own website. If a retailer doesnt publish one, or temporarily breaks the link, we show a "No Image" placeholder. The products availability and price are unaffected.

A working build is a kit you are assembling in your browser. It is scratch space: parts you have added with "+ Add" but have not saved yet. Working builds live in THIS browser only and are not permanent, so clearing your browser data loses any you have not saved.

You can keep a few working builds side by side and switch between them from the build chip in the header. When you click "Save as build", the working build becomes a saved build with a stable share URL, and the working slot frees up for new work.

Yes. You can keep a few working builds going side by side, each in its own slot, and switch between them from the build chip in the header. Handy for comparing two configurations, or keeping a budget build and a dream build going at once. Save the ones you want to keep; the rest stay in your browser until you clear them.

When you click "Save as build", your working build is written to our servers and gets a permanent, public share URL like /b/AbCd1234. You do not need an account to save or to get that link.

Because the build lives on our side, not just in your browser, the link keeps working forever, for you and for anyone you send it to, even if you later clear your browser.

Click "Save as build" on the build page and you get a short, stable link like /b/AbCd1234. Post it on a forum, send it to a friend, or bookmark it. Anyone with the link can view the full kit, current prices, and what is in stock; they do not need an account.

If you saved it while signed in, yes: open it, click Edit to load it into your working area, make your changes, then click "Update saved build" to save a new version. Each update creates a new version, so you can always look back at what the build was at an earlier point.

A build you saved anonymously is not tied to an account, so it cannot be updated in place. You can still open its link and "Use as a starting point" to continue it as a new build of your own.

Updating a build into new versions is something you do while signed in (it is part of having an account). Doing so does NOT change the link you already shared: it creates a new link for the new version, and the old link keeps showing the build exactly as it was.

Here is why that matters: say you post your build to a forum for feedback, and people reply with suggestions. You swap some parts and click "Update saved build", which gives you a brand-new URL for the revised build, and you post THAT link for round two. The first link still works and still shows your original, so the early replies in the thread still make sense.

If we reused one link that always showed the latest, every earlier reply would suddenly be commenting on a build that has changed since they posted. Each version keeps its own permanent link, so a conversation built around a build never falls apart.

No. Saved-build links are permanent, and older versions keep their own URLs working forever, so a link you posted months ago will not break even after you have updated the build.

Yes. Open any saved-build link and click "Use as a starting point". That copies all of its parts into a new working build in your browser, which you can change and save as your own.

This works for a build someone shared with you (a nice way to riff on their setup) and for one of your own after you switched computers or cleared your browser: as long as you have the link, the parts come back. It always makes a fresh copy, so the original link stays exactly as it was, and your copy becomes a new saved build with its own link.

When the parts in your build look like they will not work together, we show a soft warning, for example a .308 magazine with a 5.56 upper, or a 9mm lower with an AR-15 upper. We detect this from the product descriptions, so it is a helpful heads-up, not a guarantee, and it never blocks you from saving or sharing. If you know the parts are fine, or we got it wrong, you can ignore it.

No. The core of the site works without an account: browsing, comparing prices, saving a build, and sharing its permanent link. An account just adds a few things on top.

	No account	With account
Browse and compare prices	✓	✓
Save a build, get a permanent link	✓	✓
Share the link	✓	✓
Use any link as a starting point	✓	✓
Edit a saved build into new versions	✗	✓
My Builds list, on any device	✗	✓
Restock alerts (coming soon)	✗	✓

Without an account, the link to each saved build is your handle to it, and each save is a single snapshot rather than an editable build with version history. The build is never lost as long as you keep its link: open it and "Use as a starting point" brings the parts back as a new build. Signing in from the same browser where you saved lets you adopt those builds into your account.

Your email is used for two things only: emailing you a single-use sign-in link each time you log in on a new browser or device (we use links instead of a password, so signing in on your phone, laptop, and desktop each sends its own link), and sending restock alerts when you subscribe to them (opt-in, coming soon). We do not send unsolicited messages, marketing, or promotions. We do not sell, rent, or share your email with retailers or third parties. See the Terms & Privacy page for the full picture.

For certain retailers, we may earn a small commission when you click through and buy, at no extra cost to you. It is part of what keeps the site free to use. Not every retailer has an affiliate program, though, so it is a sometimes thing, not a sure thing, and it never changes which products we show or how we rank them: availability and price come straight from the retailers, and we surface everything we track regardless of commission.

For now, the best way is to wait. The contact path is being rebuilt as part of the site refresh. If you spot something broken, the ⚐ flag on any product card opens a quick "wrong category" report that lands in the reviewer queue.