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Sound and Fury
Picture of Dallas239
posted
Has anyone here used one of the DIY polymer AR15 kids like the Freedom15 ? Any thoughts about how durable they are? I just think it'd be cool to actually roll my own but I'm wondering if I'd wind up with a useful rifle or just a novelty.




"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here." -- Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address, Jan. 11, 1989

Si vis pacem para bellum
There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
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Posts: 18039 | Registered: February 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I have not, but I have done several in al. I don't see that the work involved is much different nor the tools and skill. So I can't see any reason to do a polymer one. I didn't have any trouble doing an al one the first time.


“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
 
Posts: 10966 | Registered: October 14, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Certified All Positions
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The lower of an AR, sees very little stress in semiauto.

About the only way a lower wears out, is someone over-tightening something, or in auto, the trigger pack pin holes elongating.

You could probably make one out of rock candy.


Arc.
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Posts: 27000 | Location: On fire, off the shoulder of Orion | Registered: June 09, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Seems like a neat project for a one off. But with Anderson lowers in the $35-$45 range.

I'd just grab a cheapy there. At least its a forged aluminum lower.




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Posts: 8837 | Location: Woodstock, GA | Registered: August 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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At $339.99, the kit is kinda expensive unless you plan on making a whole bunch.
If you want a super lightweight lower, Joe Bob Outfitters sells a Carbon Fiber lower for $39.95. It weighs 3.65 oz.
New Frontier Armory LW-4 stripped lower
 
Posts: 2322 | Registered: January 15, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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The only reason I can see doing one is for the fun of it ... Not even criminals would spend that much money on a receiver, then take hours to finish it!


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
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Someone should make one out of Lego Technic pieces.


Arc.
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"Like a bitter weed, I'm a bad seed"- Johnny Cash
"I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel." - Pee Wee Herman
Rode hard, put away wet. RIP JHM
"You're a junkyard dog." - Lupe Flores. RIP

 
Posts: 27000 | Location: On fire, off the shoulder of Orion | Registered: June 09, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Funny thought. I have a friend who is actually a machinist who has made numerous lowers from scratch (you know big blocks of al ==>to working lower). he decided as a project to see if he could make a working lower out of simple commercial pieces and shapes. you know blocks, squares, tubes, etc. No machining. Yup it looked like crap and there were a zillion fasteners, but it ran just fine. So some glued lego's might be workable.


“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
 
Posts: 10966 | Registered: October 14, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
The Joy Maker
Picture of airsoft guy
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I dunno if it's a kit, or just plans, but there's AR lowers that are just bolted together, like Erector sets. Disassemble it and it's just a collection of flat sheets with some holes, and a handful of bolts and nuts.

quote:
Originally posted by arcwelder76:

You could probably make one out of rock candy.


I could go for a Jolly Rancher AR.



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Originally posted by Will938:
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Posts: 16995 | Location: Washington State | Registered: April 04, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Frangas non Flectes
Picture of P220 Smudge
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quote:
Originally posted by airsoft guy:
I could go for a Jolly Rancher AR.


You know, all it would take is a mold, a candy thermometer, a double-boiler, and a bunch of crushed Jolly Ranchers. You’d apparently have to get the candy to almost 300 degrees, so care in handling and a mold that will handle high temps.

I’ve seen videos of people making lowers with investment casting and molten beer cans, so I don’t see why a Jolly Rancher lower can’t happen.


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Posts: 17055 | Location: Sonoran Desert | Registered: February 10, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by xl_target:
At $339.99, the kit is kinda expensive unless you plan on making a whole bunch.
If you want a super lightweight lower, Joe Bob Outfitters sells a Carbon Fiber lower for $39.95. It weighs 3.65 oz.
New Frontier Armory LW-4 stripped lower


That is not a Carbon Fiber lower.
It is a polymer lower with some carbon fiber reinforcements. Roll Eyes
Nothing but a marketing ploy. Much like the super fast speedy fiber backed internet. Nonsense you still are limited to the speed of the copper wire running to your house.


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Posts: 25353 | Registered: September 06, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Hop head
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quote:
Originally posted by arcwelder76:
Someone should make one out of Lego Technic pieces.



that would be interesting,


I do recall seeing one somewhere that was made in the style of the brazed together M1 Carbine trigger housings,

basically just a bunch of plates stacked up and brazed together,

fugly, but worked



https://www.chesterfieldarmament.com/

 
Posts: 10409 | Location: Beach VA,not VA Beach | Registered: July 17, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Bolt Thrower
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I have always wanted to make one from a 2x6, CAV arms style integrated stock, press/glue in cut tube for bushings, rod stock for pins. Just to shut up anyone who is hysterical over the 3D printed lower.
 
Posts: 9947 | Location: Woodinville, WA | Registered: March 30, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Sound and Fury
Picture of Dallas239
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Yeah, they are pretty expensive considering you can only make them for yourself. Maybe I'll invest in a 3D printer instead.




"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here." -- Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address, Jan. 11, 1989

Si vis pacem para bellum
There are none so blind as those who refuse to see.
Feeding Trolls Since 1995
 
Posts: 18039 | Registered: February 22, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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quote:
Originally posted by arcwelder76:
About the only way a lower wears out, is someone over-tightening something, or in auto, the trigger pack pin holes elongating.


The greatest point of stress for a lower is where the receiver extension threads into the receiver. I'd be very reluctant to pogo a stuck round out of an upper attached to a polymer lower.

I've seen some polymer lowers with metal reinforcement brackets embedded in that portion.

But at this point, with how cheap aluminum lowers are, it doesn't make a lot of sense unless you're doing it for the DIY value.
 
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