It arrived! It's an XM-16E1 style and its beautiful. I've never done an 80% so I've got a few questions.


First off can someone PM me bracemans contact info? That seems to be how everyone contacts him.

Second is HKILLER doing anodizing? I remember a thread he started about it awhile back but I seem to have lost it. If so can I contact him through PM here or is there another way?

Now as for actually machining it I have a portercable router and a bench top drill press. Whats is the best jig to use? Also is there any guidance on drilling the safety detent hole?


I hate to bombard people with questions but this is by far the most involved build I've done. I appreciate all the help.

Thanks!

I use the 5d tactical for my 80% lowers and love it. As far as the safety detent hole I had JT at retro arms works do mine with some other parts he was working on for me.

Did you send it to JT before or after you machined the lower?

It was sent after I machined the lower because the selector hole had to be drilled first.

I'm typing faster than I can think this morning. That makes sense.


Did you get yours anodized somewhere or decide on another coating?

another vote for the 5D Tactical router jig.  

It's still in the white. I'm not sure I want to wait a few months so I'm probably gonna Duracoat it. US Anodizing is still a few months out yet so maybe I'll wait.

What router did you use for it? I have a porter cable router. I don't think its a "compact style" router. Their site doesn't provide much guidance on what routers will fit the base plate.

I used a Ghost Gunner mill to do mine.  At the time, the GG didn't have a file to mill out the take down pin pocket since this pocket is usually already there in other 80% lowers. Unfortunately, in the NDS 80% lowers it's not there. I think the GG group on FB now has a file that you can use to mill out that pocket.  So I also purchased the 5d tactical router jig which I used to mill out that small pocket. No one ever said this hobby is cheap.  The router jig worked great for that little pocket. I haven't used it for the entire FCG pocket since the GG does it rather effortlessly but I think it would work great. As far as the safety detent hole I think I should have sent the 3 NDS lowers I had out to get that hole drilled when I sent them to Braceman for engraving (except they were in the raw then as Braceman wants them). Instead I called NDS and asked them why they don't have this hole pre-drilled as is the case with the other 80% lowers.  They gave me a song and dance about how easy it is to do and that they don't do it for liability reasons.  Well, I found a "how to" on the internet that shows the 2-step process used to drill this hole.  Let me just say it may be easy to do on a modern drill press that you can set with depth-of-cut stops.  But I was using my dad's old drill press from the 60s.  Not so good. I managed to get 2 of them done fairly well and screwed up one a little by drilling the first hole too deep. When I put the detent and spring in, the detent poked out too far into the selector hole and basically stopped it from rotating. I had to add JB weld and re-drill the hole.  I'd say the better way to go if you don't have the equipment is to have JT do the safety detent hole (or Braceman if he'll do it after you've drilled the selector hole). Now I'm in the same boat as far as annodizing. I talked for a long time with Braceman about this.  Seems no one's doing it right now. I've just sent some emails to HKKiller to see if he'll do them but I haven't got a definite from him. So I'm on the fence as to annodizing or using some other method like Cerracote. EDIT: I also bought a compact router, the same one they show on their site.  It's a DeWalt. It worked great. I too had an older Porter Cable full router but the more compact one is really the way to go.

My router is a Dewalt DWP611.

I've used the 80% Arms Universal Easy Jig and the 5D Tactical. Make sure your router is on the 5D compatible list though. I thought mine was, but the model number of mine was off by a single letter and I couldn't quite get the endmill high enough in the router for the first couple of passes. I had to jury rig it with some washers to make the adapter plate sit lower. That worked, but it's not ideal.

For the selector detent hole, I took an A2 grip that I had sitting around, and I cut the handle off at the base so that it left the base of the grip with the selector spring hole there. Then, after I finished the milling and drilling, I put the base of the grip onto the lower and carefully drilled the detent hole. Of course, there's the risk that you'll go too deep with the second, stepped hole. So if you're not comfortable doing that, it's best to have someone else do it for you. If you screw up the lower on the final step, you've blown what, almost $300 (Lower and engraving).

About the jig's, I love that the 5D only required 2 holes to be drilled pre-milling. I'm not sure it was any easier than a more 'traditional' jig, when all was said and done though and I'm honestly not sure which jig I prefer.

Anodizing is the #1 choice, of course, but go with Moly Resin over Duracoat.

That's what I bought and used. 

When I bought my 5D Jig, it was about a week before Memorial Day. The total cost, with tool kit, was $250 ($200 for the jig, $50 for the tool kit). A week later, the price of the jig dropped to $175 and then was put on sale for $25 off, making it $150. I don't know if that sale price is the permanent price or if it'll go back up at some point. So keep that in mind.

Luckily, I had used my Citi card for the purchase and one of my benefits with that card is the ability to submit a claim when I find a lower price. So I submitted my claim and wound up getting a $100 refund from Citi.

Also, look at the link for their 'Discount Program'. If you do a video review, you can get a discount on a future purchase from them.

I did mine with the 5D tactical jig using a DeWalt router and it was super easy. I cut a old A2 group to use as a drill guide for the safety detent hole but haven't worked up the confidence or had the time to drill yet, I may farm it out to JT now that I know that's a option. I am planning on finishing it with moly resin after everything else is finished with it.

I'm on the fence about the 5D jig.

It seems like a good setup but I know my router is too big to fit the base.

I"m weighing the cost of a more expensive jig+router which hopefully equals a better finished product

                                                 vs.

Using the 80% arms jig with my current router for an overall lower price but a higher chance of a mistake.

Not sure if the extra $200 is worth it for a new router and more expensive jig.

Another good jig is the Modulus Jig, I have one and I like it, but I don't do the router, I have a mill which works out quite well, but it is a good quality jig and they have had it on sale quite a bit this year.

Which router do you have?

The compatible routers (from 5D's instructions) are:

Bosch PR20EVSK and the PR10E
Craftsman 28212
DeWalt DWE6000 and DWP611
Makita RT0701C
Porter Cable 450, PCE6430 and PCE6435
Ridgid R24012

Also just curious what you guys did for the serial on the engraving.

I know I can put anything right?  

Random numbers? Meaningful numbers? Something in between? Left it blank?

I have a porter cable 691. Its not one of the compact ones and it has a fixed speed.

For my XM16E1 lower, I used the date that I joined the Army. When I do my A1 Lower, I'll use the date that I started basic training (unless I can find my old weapon card, then I'll use the serial number of that rifle).

Pick something meaningful to you and see if you can make it fit the serial number range for the rifle that you're making. For instance, suppose your birthday is April 15th, 1988. You could make the serial number be 150488 or 1541988, or some variation of that sort.

Or you could make it 000001, since this is the first rifle that you 'manufactured'.

Do you plan to do more than just this one lower? If so, spending $100 for a new router may be worth the expense.

I don't know if that router will work with the 5D adapter, but part of the instructions are to start milling at a slow speed and then increase it as the hole opens up some. So if you can't adjust the speed, you may have issues there. Especially if you've never done this sort of thing before.

I wasn't planning on more than one lower but at this point the router might be worth it. I'm pretty sure my router is too big for the 5D jig. I might see if I can beg or borrow a smaller one first. I wasn't aware of the speed changes. Porter cables site says the 691 runs at 27,500 rpm which seems ridiculously fast for milling metal.

This thread may be one to check out, it's for loaning/borrowing tools here on ar15.com: https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_4/696435_The-TOOL-LOAN-Thread.html
I have no idea how successful that thread has been in borrowing or loaning tools, but it's worth checking out.

I have the Modulus Steel Jig. It's more pricey, but if you plan to do a bunch, it's well worth it.

I like that one. The way the router plate sits above the buffer tube area means I could definitely use my router without and clearance issues.