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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
When building a rifle, how much thought do you put into the stripped lower? Do you shop for the cheapest price, within reason, or are you willing to pay a premium for "a good one"? Let's leave out off-brands we have never heard of and stick with "known manufacturers". Is there a real difference between, say, an Aero and a Knights or Noveske? I am talking about the quality of the lower, not proprietary special features like threaded roll pins, etc. Is it just about the roll mark or is there value in paying $250 for a lower instead of $50, on sale? Thanks, Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | ||
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Hop head  |
billet can be built/milled/manufactured by anyone with a CNC machine, the forged/cast/investment cast are usually made by a handful, and the sold off to different companies that finalize the finish and rollmarks, I've put together lowers using over a dozen names, all went together with no issues, eta, everyone will have a lemon once in a while https://chandlersfirearms.com/chesterfield-armament/ | |||
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| Go ahead punk, make my day |
There are many opinions on the subject. Personally my first 2 stripped lowers were bought on this forum, Mega Forged from JC Weaponry. They are not the cheapest at $100-ish over the years, but I liked them so much I kept buying them. I also bought a Noveske (more expensive) to make a complete Noveske rifle from an upper I have had for awhile (it was on a Mega lower originally, which I SBR'ed). I also have an Aero Precision lower - it had to go back to them for an uber tight magwell but they fixed it, so alls well that ends well I guess. It completed an AP upper I got on sale. I guess what I'm saying is I build rifles so rarely that I prefer getting a Mega or one to match the upper. It might cost an extra $50, but I don't have a stack of unfired/rarely fire PSA budget build in my safe - I build what I want then I shoot it a lot. | |||
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| Member |
Receiver quality discussions can turn into a real hairball sometimes. It can be hard to quantify quality, but you should look at the cut of the magazine well (will pmags freefall?) are the holes all in proper alignment, is the threading clean? Will it mate with your desired upper? My recommendation is to find a known good manufacturer and stick with it. I've used a bunch of Stag (CMT) lowers over the years and never had an issue. I've also used a S&W(highest milage) and a Ruger lower without issue. I did have an issue with a rock river lower back in 09 that wouldn't mate with any upper I had including a Rock River one. I eventually was able to match it up with a BCM upper. For all I know it might have been the last lower made on a Friday or the first one on Monday. YMMV. | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
Good info above. I get what makes a reciever in spec or out of spec. Hard to assess that when comparing brands and prices on the internet. My gut feeling is that any well known brand of forged upper is going to be roughly equal. I am wondering if anyone has other opinions. Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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Yeah, that M14 video guy... |
I just stick with well recognized names. I personally use Spike's but I plan on using some Aero or BCM lowers in the future. I may get a few PSA's too. Tony. Owner, TonyBen, LLC, Type-07 FFL www.tonybenm14.com (Site under construction). e-mail: tonyben@tonybenm14.com | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower  |
The only out-of-spec lower I've purchased was a Mega. The hammer pin hole was drilled too high. With notched semi-auto hammers, you'd never notice the issue, but put in a full profile hammer such as the one that's part of the ALG QMS and ACT FCUs, apply the safety, then manually cycle the BCG, and it binds when you cycle it. The others I've purchased- Noveske, RRA, Anderson have no such issues. ____________________________________________________ "I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023 | |||
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| You're going to feel a little pressure... |
Likewise, I have only had one out of spec lower: an early example from New Frontier Armory with some overenthusiastic hogging out of the mag well. I brought it back and they exchanged it, no questions asked. They changed a bunch of things after and I have never had another issue. Most of my stuff is from them. I may have to look at their website for another deal on a 4-pack. Bruce "The designer of the gun had clearly not been instructed to beat about the bush. 'Make it evil,' he'd been told. 'Make it totally clear that this gun has a right end and a wrong end. Make it totally clear to anyone standing at the wrong end that things are going badly for them. If that means sticking all sort of spikes and prongs and blackened bits all over it then so be it. This is not a gun for hanging over the fireplace or sticking in the umbrella stand, it is a gun for going out and making people miserable with." -Douglas Adams “It is just as difficult and dangerous to try to free a people that wants to remain servile as it is to try to enslave a people that wants to remain free." -Niccolo Machiavelli The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all. -Mencken | |||
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| We gonna get some oojima in this house!  |
I have an Anderson (never again) that fits all my uppers like a glove. Unfortunately the magwell is too small to accept any magazines. ----------------------------------------------------------- TCB all the time... | |||
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I've used a lot of Anderson and PSA due to the low cost and had zero issues so far. | |||
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| Member |
Since you said to disregard the bells and whistles I would bet they are all close to the same, other than visual appeal. You can get a bad one from any manufacturer. I’ve got Colt, DD, Anderson, Aero, some billets from a local company, and Mega. I didn’t build the DD or Colt lowers. I can’t tell any significant differences other than price, the finish, roll mark and magwell - which is a feature not a quality issue. So I guess I’m agreeing with you. ETA. Trying to match the finish of a lower to an upper is the biggest challenge I see if you care about that. | |||
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Member |
Aero has been pretty innovative with adding some features to the basic mil-spec design. Flared mag-well, tension screw to keep the upper from rattling, threaded hole for the detent spring and pin (no more ruining springs when swapping a buffer tube), etc. The only issues I've had on lowers for TNSARMSCO poly lowers but they were excellent to deal with about it so still recommend them 100% (I just don't buy poly now) | |||
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I have built 3 rifles using Aero brand lowers. Two with the enhanced (mentioned above) and one standard. All without problems. Only have built those three, so far. PC | |||
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Plowing straight ahead come what may |
I've used AERO, Ballistic Advantage (owned by AERO) and Anderson lowers for builds with zero issues...to be honest, I purchased the AERO and BA lowers because my local LGS had them in stock at a good price OTD. I do like the set screw they use to snug up the tolerances between the upper and lower if needed (not a big deal in the real world). The Anderson lower is actually the best fit overall with the AERO upper on my latest .300 BO build and the fit and finish is spot on... This is a YouTube video from AERO from a few years back...as with many mechanical things, it amazes me that the technology exists to make something so precise in such large quantities at an affordable price point  Link to original video: https://youtu.be/kPOCDc_OSBw ******************************************************** "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 Plowing straight ahead come what may And theres a cowboy in the jungle" Jimmy Buffet | |||
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| Purveyor of Death and Destruction  |
I'm a home based dealer. I sold a lot of Anderson lowers at gun shows. I was buying them a 100 at a time during the Obama years. I never had a single complaint with any. The only lower I've seen a customer have issues with was the AR57 brand. He bought a couple from AIM. He tried to assemble them and the rear take down pin was off by a 1/4 inch. He contacted AIM. They checked all they had in inventory and said they had around 200 out of spec. I don't get how this could happen. I was a cnc machinists once upon a time. That program should never change. I understand tool wear, causing drills to walk. But 1/4 inch out of spec isn't tool wear. I like Aero precision uppers and lowers, mainly because of their finish. I picked up a couple at brownells a month ago for $42 each. As everyone has said, now is the time to stock up. | |||
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