Posted: 4/26/2013 9:11:01 AM EDT
| Are they worth a damn or not? no experience with them whatsoever. everything i have ever shot has been metal. May make a trade depending on your answers! |
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Are they worth a damn or not? no experience with them whatsoever. everything i have ever shot has been metal. May make a trade depending on your answers! Nope. I wouldnt touch one ( Only exception: if I was building a dedicated .22LR, and it was FREE, a poly/carbon lower might be accdeptable ) |
| Had a few, no problems with them. Currently have one that also has a poly upper as a dedicated 22 LR gun. Lightweight and no problem. Most folks aren't going to use and abuse their guns enough to be able to tell. Totally up to the individual as to whether or not think it's okay. It's a lot like the difference between forged and cast lowers to me. To each their own. |
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My experience has only been with the Carbon-15 pistol... A buddy bought one that has been nothing but trouble. Parts breakages repeatedly in the bolt / carrier group (most likely caused by the odd recoil buffer setup).
The upper and lower seem to be holding up ok, but given an option, I'll stick with aluminum. |
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at one point it was a cheap readily available alternative.
you could get a complete lower with buttstock assembly and fcg for $99 the one I have hasn't given me any problems and is a nice lightweight gun. There is really no reason to go poly now the prices went up... |
I've currently got a New Frontier Armory lower and have had no problems. When assembling I had to sand a few spots in order for things to fit better but that's no big deal to me. It is extremely lightweight and well built IMO. Is it a combat ready rifle? Absolutely not. But for home defense and plinking at the range, it holds up just as well as an Aluminum lower. 
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I was more than happy with the two CavArm lowers is used. I have one of the GWACS lowers that are made using the CAV Arms technique and molds. They are not in the same league as the current crop of weak polymer lowers. The original CAV-15, and the GWACS CAV15 mk II have much thicker walls and the integral construction makes them stronger. Failures are relatively rare. It is the only AR15 polymer lower I would own. I still prefer forged aluminum, but if you wanted polymer in an AR15 lower, this would be the way to go. |
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Are they worth a damn or not? no experience with them whatsoever. everything i have ever shot has been metal. May make a trade depending on your answers! Are you looking at one for about $90 on a 4x4 forum? Just curious. Saw an ad on a local forum and thought about it for about 2 seconds and thought better of it due to pics like the ones below. |
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I'm planning on buying one to free up an aluminum lower that is presently on my dedicated .22LR AR. I figure that it should last forever (or at least a long long time) on the .22LR. For firing, sure. However you still have to be careful how much stress and torque you put on the buttstock/receiver extension. This is a weak point for the polymer because of lower strength of materials, made of the same shape and design as stronger forged aluminum. I would not use the rifle in tactical drills where you place the buttstock on the ground to break the fall to your knees for example, like you can do with a forged lower built rifle. In my opinion they are not worth spending any money on. |
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I used to LOVE them for lightweight builds - until I learned how they become brittle & break in cold weather!
Mine fell about 3.5 feet off the icy trunk of my Camry and hit the concrete garage floor when the buffer tube separated from the lower receiver. Won't waste money on anything like my plum crazy again. |
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I used to LOVE them for lightweight builds - until I learned how they become brittle & break in cold weather! Mine fell about 3.5 feet off the icy trunk of my Camry and hit the concrete garage floor when the buffer tube separated from the lower receiver. Won't waste money on anything like my plum crazy again. Yeah temperature extremes are a whole different consideration, so are chemicals that can degrade polymer. |
