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Picture of creslin
posted
One thing that confuses me somewhat...
The price disparity for stripped lowers.
You can get an Anderson stripped lower for like $30
But then you go and hunt down like an aero precision or lwrc or something... and you're easily into the 3 digit range.

Why? What do these other brands do that others do not?
It's a lower... there's not any moving parts to it. It is literally there just to hold stuff in place.





This is where my signature goes.
 
Posts: 1523 | Location: Kernersville, NC | Registered: June 04, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Armed and Gregarious
Picture of DMF
posted Hide Post
While the number of AR manufacturers has gone up a lot in the last decade, the dirty little secret is that many of the "high end," receivers are made by someone other than the brand marked on the receiver. Often the actual manufacturer is making the receivers and marking them for other companies too, and the only difference between the receivers is 1- the markings, and 2- the price.

However, some folks will still insist on paying two or three times as much for a lower that has a particular brand marked on the receiver.

IMO, buy from a company that has a rep for quality, but don't pay a huge markup just to have some "cool" brand marked on the gun.

When it comes to stripped lowers, you can get a quality lower for $40 to $50, and the ones going for $100+ won't be any better.


___________________________________________
"He was never hindered by any dogma, except the Constitution." - Ty Ross speaking of his grandfather General Barry Goldwater

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Posts: 12591 | Location: Nomad | Registered: January 10, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of creslin
posted Hide Post
Well that's my point.
I have a few of the Anderson ones.
I've had exactly zero issues with them.
Can't really go wrong with $30 lol...





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Posts: 1523 | Location: Kernersville, NC | Registered: June 04, 2015Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of CandyMan.45
posted Hide Post
All about having more money than sense ! And the other is Status and if it ain't "X" then it's no good...
 
Posts: 1242 | Location: The Edge of Nowhere... | Registered: April 05, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by creslin:
Well that's my point.
I have a few of the Anderson ones.
I've had exactly zero issues with them.
Can't really go wrong with $30 lol...


Anderson are one of the people that are making lowers for other people with their roll mark.

I have several AR 15's built on Anderson manufacturing, my SBR is built on one I trust it that much.

Plus, Anderson Manufacturing is semi home town, being only 70 miles away from them.

Anyways, mil spec is mil spec. If they are in spec I give a rats patoot who's name is on the lower.

Arman
 
Posts: 3146 | Registered: May 19, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
"Member"
Picture of cas
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ARman:

Anyways, mil spec is mil spec. If they are in spec I give a rats patoot who's name is on the lower.


They're missing some holes to be mil spec. Wink


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Posts: 21052 | Location: 18th & Fairfax  | Registered: May 17, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
If you're gonna be a
bear, be a Grizzly!
Picture of Todd Huffman
posted Hide Post
I've got 7 of the Andersons, aka Poverty Ponies, and they all work just fine. I save a few bucks and don't worry about a "name brand" roll mark.




Here's to the sunny slopes of long ago.
 
Posts: 3633 | Location: Morganton, NC | Registered: December 31, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Gracie Allen is my
personal savior!
posted Hide Post
I'm starting to think that it's based on the expectation of eventually reselling the complete rifle. A top-end upper on an Anderson lower may work just fine, but a top-end upper on a same-brand lower may be easier to offload just because it's not a 'bitsa'.
 
Posts: 27291 | Location: Deep in the heart of the brush country, and closing on that #&*%!?! roadrunner. Really. | Registered: February 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
"Member"
Picture of cas
posted Hide Post
Sometines you just want something different, or a little "nicer" like some of the billet lowers.

On the other end... I think the first stripped lower I had was a Double Star, and it was "sloppy", everything seemed on the large size, nothing fit tight in the thing.


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Posts: 21052 | Location: 18th & Fairfax  | Registered: May 17, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
quarter MOA visionary
Picture of smschulz
posted Hide Post
Like anything else produced it is not only the function vs price.
IF that is all you are concerned about (and it is a legitimate view) then go with the low cost item.
Otherwise plug in the value-to-you item and get that lower accordingly.
 
Posts: 22858 | Location: Houston, TX | Registered: June 11, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Unmanned Writer
Picture of LS1 GTO
posted Hide Post
I dunno...

Having one with "Made in San Diego CA" is pretty cool.

(Also having one with my driver's license number and one with my initials and DOB as serial numbers is also cool)







Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



Only in an insane world are the sane considered insane.


The memories of a man in his old age
Are the deeds of a man in his prime


 
Posts: 14020 | Location: It was Lat: 33.xxxx Lon: 44.xxxx now it's CA :( | Registered: March 22, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Plowing straight ahead come what may
Picture of Bisleyblackhawk
posted Hide Post
I'll toss my two cents in (it's just "my" two cents...and it's just worth that Wink)...
For myself, I've built five lowers...three Aero, one Ballistic Advantage and one Anderson...

I've loaned my "oversight" (trust me on this...I'm FAR from being an AR guru) and tools (I've always been a tool freak) to about a dozen shooting friends building their own AR (I won't build it for them but will give advice and show them what worked for me)...

Of those that used an Anderson or PSA lower for their build almost every one "apologized" for their choice in lowers..."I know I shoulda used a (insert the "brand of choice"), but the Anderson/PSA was on sale so I ordered one...I know you prefer Aero"...

The reason I used Aero/Ballistic Advantage was the fact that Aero was the only reasonable priced lower my local brick and mortar had in stock at the time (under $70 with tax and the background check compared to $130 for a Spike's with a Spartan helmet or some such engraved on the side)...

That being said, I do like the screw snuggy doohickey that Aero/Ballistic Advantage uses to take up play between the upper and lower (as if that really matters...it doesn't)...the Anderson lower I used on my last build (it was what my go to LGS had in stock at the time) was as good with the fit and finish as the others (it is a perfect match to the Aero upper I used in my .300 Blackout build)...it has been flawless...

I personally don't see any disadvantage/advantage using an Anderson lower, especially if the price is right...its a lower (don't get me started on trigger groups..."I like that trigger, it's crisp, what did you use?"..."me, it's the nickel Teflon from Tom's Tactical for $39 shipped")...

But like I said...it's just my two cents...and I'm no "guru Smile...this is supposed to be fun Big Grin


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"we've gotta roll with the punches, learn to play all of our hunches
Making the best of what ever comes our way
Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition
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Posts: 10580 | Location: Southeast Tennessee...not far above my homestate Georgia | Registered: March 10, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Go ahead punk, make my day
posted Hide Post
When you make 10 ARs and only shoot them once, Anderson makes perfect sense, because you have money for your next budget build safe queen. Wink
 
Posts: 45798 | Registered: July 12, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Blackmore
posted Hide Post
Buy cheap, stack deep; whether it's 80% or 100% lowers. The salad days will not last forever,


In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act
 
Posts: 3435 | Location: W. Central NH | Registered: October 05, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Sigless in
Indiana
Picture of IndianaBoy
posted Hide Post
Anderson had some teething issues early with some lowers that weren't tapped properly for the grip screw.

That has been rectified.


I have used DPMS, PSA, LRB, Aero, Stag, and Anderson.

Not a single one does anything any different than the other.

The DPMS has far and way more rounds on it than any of the others as it was my first build that morphed into a 3-gun rifle. In the neighborhood of 20k rounds at this point. No discernable wear other than how smooth the exterior finish is.


Spend the money on better barrels and optics.
 
Posts: 14114 | Location: Indiana | Registered: December 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Picture of kimberkid
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
I dunno...

Having one with "Made in San Diego CA" is pretty cool.

(Also having one with my driver's license number and one with my initials and DOB as serial numbers is also cool)

I've bought a couple just because they were "made" in Kansas.

I've own/seen sloppy lowers too. On the other end of the spectrum I had an Olympic lower that the lower to upper fit so tight I hand to put it on the corner of the bench or table and exert pressure on the upper to get the rear pin to slide through. It was this way with every upper I had and some I couldn't get a pin through.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that likes a cool logo ... I'm espically fond of the Bushmaster, the Colt and the FSA ...



And the preban BOHICA (acronym for "Bend Over Here It Comes Again"), produced just after Bill Clinton was elected president ... The M-16-SA



If you really want something you'll find a way ...
... if you don't you'll find an excuse.

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Posts: 5700 | Registered: January 11, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
That rug really tied
the room together.
Picture of bubbatime
posted Hide Post
I received a brand new Anderson upper that was FUCKED! The metal, prior to machining, was short 1\2 an inch or so. The upper was missing 1\2 inch from the rear. Craziest shit I ever saw. No quality control. They must have boxed that one up as a funny prank.


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Posts: 6660 | Location: Floriduh | Registered: October 16, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I have 3 Andersons, all assembled now with no issues.

I can see paying extra for a brand name you like for something like your primary AR or an SBR etc, but for most builds why spend extra?

I bought a 90's era Colt LE marked assembled lower for a semi-clone "CAR-15" build, so there's an example of spending more for a reason. It also has the best GI trigger I've ever felt so that's a bonus!




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Posts: 5043 | Location: Oregon | Registered: October 02, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Wait, what?
Picture of gearhounds
posted Hide Post
All my home brewed guns are on PSA lowers. That said, I won’t look down my nose at folks with the disposable income to pay for triple digit lowers.




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Posts: 15501 | Location: Martinsburg WV | Registered: April 02, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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posted Hide Post
I have a couple PSA lowers and they are fine but all of my uppers fit a bit better on my Aero lower. The difference in fit for me is enough to spend the extra money for AP lowers.

The finish on the Anderson lowers I’ve seen looked like thin spray paint. An extra $20-$40 for something that looks better is worth it to me, even for a the budget rifles I shoot.
 
Posts: 506 | Location: Salt Flats | Registered: April 27, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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