I've recently found that about these beasties - for those who haven't had to worry about such things it's a California legal AR-15 lower. It basically dispenses with the removable mag.  For reloading it, you break the rifle shotgun-style and feed it from a stripper.  It's not pretty, but it probably works.  I'm thinking of buying one, so I'm curious if anybody has experience with them - good or bad?

http://www.gogogadgets.net/

Welcome to the club! [wave]
I have four FAB's, and I haven't had any, receiver based, issues. One of the good things is that, by definition, they are not AW's and not controlled by the AW ban, so you can use real flashhiders and tele-stocks.



And for the coming "peanut gallery" comments, I got over "detachable penis envy" a while ago. [banana]

Glad to hear it - this is probably my only shot at owning an AR-15 for the forseable future.  The manufacturer site doesn't make it clear if the magazine can be topped off in ready condition, or is breaking it first mandatory?  Also, some people on rec.guns mentioned that it's difficult to reload - apparently the take down pin is hard to extract.  Could you comment on this?

Yes, you have to "shotgun" it to load. [url=watsonsweapons.com]Watson's Weapons[/url] makes a take down pin with a pull ring, and [url=gogogadgets.net]Shoeless Venture's[/url] should carry them, also.
I bought extras of the longer front pivot pins and WECSOG'd them with a dremel tool. This gives and extra length to push from the left, and pull from the right.

Thanks for the pointer - I'll be sure to order the pin with ring from Shoeless Ventures.  How are the stripper clips, in terms of sturdiness? Since they seem to sell them only with the nylon guide for $12 each, I'd be concerned about bending them.