80% lowers

[turtleboy]

you can buy them no ffl required but you have to do a little machine work.

the question is has anyone on here tried this?

aresarmor.com and a few other places have them if anyone wants to check it out.

[TwoForFlinching]

Word on Armslist is all you need is a drill press and a 15 minute YouTube tutorial...

[dlbleak]

hey turtleboy, i think we may know each other. the 80% lowers look damn near impossible to finish without some serious machining tools and a lot of knowledge.

[flatwins]

The companies that offer the 80% AR uppers usually offer clamp-on guides that will supposedly allow a person to "machine" one with a drill press. I've not tried it so I can't speak on it.

[turtleboy]

we do know each other.lol they look like a fun project though?

[CASTRATE]

I have a buddy at work who has several blanks and has made several from scratch. He has a mill and a lathe at home and is an amazing machinist

[okietom]

I read a thread on ar15.com that quoted one member that had used a hand held drill and a dremel to finish one. I have a friend that has made several out of a blank forging. He did have machine equipment to use. He snuck them into his job and made them in the machine shop at the plant. He had one that looked like an 80% lower that he brought in and showed me. The 80% ones are something that I would like to try but it doesn't save any money. It just keeps the gun off the books.

[HiredHand]

UT Arms had a table at Wannemacher 4-5 years ago and they had a pretty nice 80% lower and the jigs. I don't know if I'd use a drill press but I image that a mini-mill or an old manual vertical mill would do the trick.

[okietom]

They are out of stock.

[bsmith918]

The 80% lowers are supposed to be fairly simple. The one posted here from ArmsList was a 20%, which is basically a paperweight. I haven't done an 80%, but I bought the Tactical Machining jig a few months ago when I was thinking about trying it and now can't find the 80% forging.

[arkmark]

as long as you get the jig and take your time their shouldn't be any issue finishing one up. The only thing you have to do is machine out the trigger control area. I've seen a video of a guy doing it with a drill press, I'm a machinist and would recommend a mill for the cleanest finish, but a drill press would be fine for functionality. The thing you have to keep in mind with these is that if you build it you can never sell it or give it away by law.

[HiredHand]

as long as you get the jig and take your time their shouldn't be any issue finishing one up. The only thing you have to do is machine out the trigger control area. I've seen a video of a guy doing it with a drill press, I'm a machinist and would recommend a mill for the cleanest finish, but a drill press would be fine for functionality. The thing you have to keep in mind with these is that if you build it you can never sell it or give it away by law.

I'm pretty sure that you can sell it, you just can't produce it with the intent to sell.

[arkmark]

that may be one of those grey area that I'm not willing to risk jail for.

[JxxxOxxxE]

so they're last stock update was January 9th....Has anyone placed an order and received anything from them within the last 30 days?

[JxxxOxxxE]

I'm pretty sure that you can sell it, you just can't produce it with the intent to sell.

from everything i've seen, this is correct...