Talk to me about lowers

[mr ed]

Not a lot, unless you go to sell them.

Buy a $300 one and in 6 months when your tired of it I'll give you $50 for it.

 

[O4L]

Buy a $300 one and in 6 months when your tired of it I'll give you $50 for it.

I would go as high as $60.

 

[tRidiot]

I use the $50 ones. They have always done fine for me. I've read a few small problems with a few, none of which amounted to major problems - things like the Anderson grip screw hole not being drilled all the way through. So you can use a 3/4" grip screw, or tap it the rest of the way for a standard one. I think I ran into one like this out of the dozen or so I've used. You don't have to spend EITHER $50 OR $300. A decent Aero or Spikes lower would be sub-$100 and you would be pretty much assured of perfect fit and function right out of the box. Going with the more expensive billet models is mainly aesthetics/bragging rights. I have a couple of these. They look nice.

 

[adamsredlines]

I know there's everything inbetween...just never really looked into what the actual differences were.
I have one Anderson, one Aero and one S&W lower...pretty much used whatever was around when I decided to put something together.

 

[POKE1911]

People pay more for a brand name despite it being essentially the same product in almost everything we buy. Its essentially the same as buying a Under Armor polo for $60 as opposed to the "store brand" for $19.99, when all that is different is the logo. It's not a bad thing to want to spend more for a logo or particular brand, especially if there is a certain look you like. If you like the billet look, spend the extra money if it is worth it to you.

 

[tulsacrittergetter]

Great question. POKE1911 is absolutely correct. I liken this to car stereos — while you can buy a great working in-dash CD player on eBay for $100 that works perfectly, Kenwood, Alpine, or Clarion could slap their name on the EXACT same unit, and you're going to pay 2 or 3 times as much because of the brand. Basically, you're paying for the name. MANY manufacturers like Spikes Tactical, Palmetto State Armory, Aero Precision, Anderson Manufacturing, etc....they all will typically get their mil-spec lowers from the SAME small handful of U.S. manufacturers and then slap their name on it and mark it up. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, and that would be when there are cosmetic variations on a lower receiver that distinguish itself from standard mil-spec lowers. For example, there could be a flared mag well, or built-in finger grooves on the outside end (closest to the muzzle) of the mag well. These are functional cosmetic differences, and you should expect to pay more for those types of lowers. Other than that, a mil-spec lower is a mil-spec lower is a mil-spec lower. If you are mechanically inclined at all, I would advise you to go the 80% route and take a stab at completing a lower receiver yourself. I did that on my first AR build, and I'm so glad that I did. I did choose a polymer 80% lower, because I knew that a polymer lower would be easier to finish that an anodized aluminum 80% lower would be to complete. I got mine from www.polymer80.com, and it is actually my favorite lower, because it is much lighter than my other lowers (Spikes Tactical, Black Rain Ordnance, and an Anderson lower) My polymer lower is on my 300 Blackout build right now, and I love it. If you don't go the 80% route, I would recommend getting a lower with an open trigger guard so you can customize the trigger guard based on your preferences. This is the only thing I don't like about my polymer lower. If you know you're going to "dress up" your AR like I do mine [pictures of mine below]....with lots of aftermarket "bling" parts, then get a mil-spec lower with an open trigger guard.

That's my two cents. Hope that helps.

This is my Spikes AR build. It has all the blingy stuff on it.

 

[lasher]

until just lately all of my builds have been Mega Arms uppers/rails/lowers. a couple i bought billet lowers, Mega uses the stronger 7025 aluminum in their billets, i bought them because i could and i wanted the ambi features. i've since built several using the Mega forged lower. The Mega Arms stuff has all fit perfectly with absolutely zero "gotchas", the finish is superb. of late i've been using Aero, while the Aero is very high quality the fit and finish is not as good a Mega Arms. i have used Anderson and PSA lowers for trading goods and gun show sales as well, but for my personal stuff i really like the Mega parts with Aero being in second place, and almost always use PSA LPK altho the Aero is nicer but more expensive. i like to have matching parts, i.e. uppers and lowers, on my personal stuff. i try to keep a few lowers around for parts and emergency use, they all fit and make a nice boom when the trigger is squeezed

 

[Pokinfun]

until just lately all of my builds have been Mega Arms uppers/rails/lowers. a couple i bought billet lowers, Mega uses the stronger 7025 aluminum in their billets, i bought them because i could and i wanted the ambi features. i've since built several using the Mega forged lower. The Mega Arms stuff has all fit perfectly with absolutely zero "gotchas", the finish is superb. of late i've been using Aero, while the Aero is very high quality the fit and finish is not as good a Mega Arms. i have used Anderson and PSA lowers for trading goods and gun show sales as well, but for my personal stuff i really like the Mega parts with Aero being in second place, and almost always use PSA LPK altho the Aero is nicer but more expensive. i like to have matching parts, i.e. uppers and lowers, on my personal stuff. i try to keep a few lowers around for parts and emergency use, they all fit and make a nice boom when the trigger is squeezed

Aero makes most of PSA's lowers, from what I understand.
what is the difference between 7075-t6 and 7025 aluminum?
I also think DPMS make a nicely finished lower, they do something with Teflon.

 

[lasher]

I don't know who machines PSA's lowers now. the foundry mark is the Square now, used to be the A . sorry about the typo, Mega is the 7075, many of the billet lowers are the 6061 aluminum which gets the bad rap for being weaker, i think juggernaut tactical uses 6061 as do some other shops

wonder if the old A foundry mark on the PSA is for Aero. here's an incomplete list of foundry marks, the square isn't included. i had some new armalite carry handles that had the square foundry mark like i found on the new PSA upper, i have one PSA upper in 6.8 that is the A mark. all the usgi take off handles i've had recently have been the cardinal mark

A (splintered) = Anchor Harvey Aluminum
AF = Alcoa Forge
C AF = Colt Alco Forge
C MB = Colt / Mueller Brass
Cardinal (stylized) = Cardinal Forge
CH = Colt Harvey Aluminum
CK = Colt / Kaiser Aluminum
Circle/Crooshairs w/"AR" = ArmaLite
CM = Colt / Martin Marietta
D (stylized) = Diemaco
DK = Diemaco / Kaiser Aluminum
E = Emco
EK = EMCO/Kaiser
E MB = EMCO/Mueller Brass
F keyhole = FNMI / Cerro Forge
FA = FNMI / Anchor Harvey
FK = FNMI / Kaiser Aluminum
FM = FN/Martin Marietta
FMB = FNMI / Mueller Brass
Keyhole = Cerro Forge
L = Lewis Machine & Tool
LK = LAR / Kaiser Aluminum
LM = LAR / Martin Marietta
M (under diamond) = Mueller Industries
PA = Capco / Anchor Harvey
PM = Capco / Martin Marietta

 

[Pokinfun]

From Aero website:
Q. Are your receivers forged or cast?
A. Our receivers are machined from 7075 T6 aluminum forgings.
Q. What brand of forgings do you use?
A. We use several different sources but our forgings are primarily from Anchor Harvey and Cerro. We have found both of them to offer the highest quality forgings.