AR Sponsor
Posted: 9/22/2009 4:53:27 PM EDT
| I'm about to start my first build (i own an ar already). I'm having trouble finding the difference in quality lowers. I've seen all the pics of all the good companies out there but I'm not seeing any that stand out (in the pics). What do you look for? Are there any specific ones that have extra features? The price variance is very high, ranging all over the place. What would you get with your blank check? The one I've seen that stands out the most is the Magpul but that might be because its a unicorn.... |
| RRA can be tight,ive built on essential arms,RRA,smith&wesson,Bushmaster,LAR they have all taken parts kits well I just dont like the extra tightness of the RRA lowers at the rear when you close the upper and the lug needs a mallet to seat the upper....but open and close it about 200 times and once it works in its GTG.As long as the lowers are forged theres really no difference except who machines it. |
|
I like that.... "Best Lower" thing. Many of them are made by the same company and you would be surprised which ones fall into that category.... Lower directions: Step 1: Add rollmark, lol. Step 2: Sell it as if you made it, lol.
I don't know which is "Best", but I can tell you that the best upper to lower fit I have experienced is from my Tactical Machining lowers. They fit snug with every upper I have tried. They are relatively inexpensive ~$109. I have a Colt, had a Bushmaster, and had several Doublestars and none of them compare to the TM lowers when it comes to fit. Some people don't like a snug upper to lower fit, but I do. If you like things "loose" then don't get a TM. If you like something that was made to fit nice, hit their site and call them up. It's about time a company figured out that "upper to lower" fit thing. They machine their own lowers from forgings, in house. +1 for Tactical Machining. However, they have no shopping cart on their site yet, sucks.... I know, their lowers are well worth the time it takes to make the phone call to order them and the 109 bucks. Enjoy. 
Alright someone chime in about how great Vulcan lowers are....
|
|
Spikes Tactical
/thread Edit: Completed Lowers Stripped Lowers |
|
You will have a hard time finding a better deal than the above. |
| For stripped lowers -pick the rollmark you like and you'll probably be ok. For complete lowers I would go with BCM or LMT. I have built a few and don't really see the need to put them together myself anymore. My next one would most likely be a complete lower or a complete rifle. |
| Find a lower you like and go with it. Just do a little bit of research and make sure it has some good reviews. If you don't care too much about what it looks like then I'd say go with Spikes. They look great but more importantly are excellent quality at an unbelievable price. I've just ordered a great looking small name billet lower so I'm a bit anxious to see what it ends up being like. |
|
Pretty lowers: POF GIII is hard to beat––- billet looks awesome. General lowers?––- Go for w/e u like for a rollmark––- I like Doublestar's and Noveske's logos... But I own LMT, BCM, Noveske, POF, and Doublestar lowers... the POF gen 3 looks awesome... but is DEFINATELY not worth the money unless you are -really- into the look or REALLY need that ambi bolt-release (I did for High-power style shooting, which is why i dropped the $$$) Basic LMT lowers assembled can be had for $330...though damn, Spikes for $250 assembled can't easily be beat... |
|
^This And like others have said, a lower is a lower unless it's billet or Vulcan/Hesse (STAY AWAY!) But you can't beat Spikes. Mega would be a close second |
|
$250 for an assembled lower is damn good... and it comes with their tungsten buffer, which is damn nice... as far as mega being 'ahead of the pack'... how so?... trying to defend your own purchases?... I have no stock in spike, I only own 2 of their .22lr conversion kits... no lowers. I hate that they charge so damn much for shipping on small items... Yet I'll say they're a good product. A lower is a lower... as stated––> people like spikes because at $70-90 (depending on sales/coupons) for a stripped, it's hard to beat... and hell, you can get a calico jack laser engraved for $5?.... |
|
<––-another Mega-whore.
That being said, I have other brands of lowers, and they're great too (Stag, Spikes, etc). Now that the prices have normalized, just pick a roll mark you like (Mega is my current favorite), and buy away. As long as it's from a quality company, you can't go wrong. (I'd LOVE a KAC lower, but they're hard as hell to come by and expensive  )
|
| I'll add Aero Precision lowers- they have been highly spoken of by others. They have made some of the uppers for Spikes (like the recent group buy), and make uppers for other companies as well. I just picked one up- looks very nice, beautifully finished, hard coat anodized, Multi-caliber marking, handsome engraving. There's an article about them posted on one of the threads- describes some of what their manufacturing process is and so on. You can get them for $99.99 right now if you shop around. They are definitely worth a look. |
| I've had an Aero Precision lower. They're quite good, and I appreciate the bare anodized finish, versus the black Teflon that so many are doing. Right now, I've only two carbines, and they're on Spike's Tactical, and AGP receivers, both of which are great. Next one I get will be Mega, simply because I like the atom logo, and every Mega I've had in my hands (many) have looked perfect. The only thing I don't like about Mega is the goofy "Gator Grip" checkering on the front of the magwell, but that is offset for me by the atom logo, which I'm nerdy over, because I'm from Secret City. |
|
I like the POF Gen-I lowers better than the 2 & 3 because you don't have the funky looking trigger guard(Magpul looks better) and none of the ambi bolt catch crap either, I built my last rifle on one and simply love it. JMO
I would consider something built by Mega or Sun Devil for my next purchase though since they are top notch and cheaper. |
|
Iv'e had around 7 or 8 lowers , ended up keeping 2 Bushmaster factory M4A3 carbines and 1 Bushmaster factory 20in Predator. All were a little tight at first but now after a K of rounds thru each they work great.
My recent thing was getting a RRA A4 20 in. ss upper from RB Percision (Thanks) and picked up a RRA lower on the EE to mate it to and was very tight , but after a 100 rounds the pins are starting to move with just my thumb. Great rifle by the way. The 2 AR10 factory Armalites lined up great as did the AR15 20 Armalite SPR that I ened up selling because I needed to thin the herd. Nothing wrong with the AR10s, just were not for me right now. All fit well and were tight untill a few hundered rounds were shot thru them. Moral of story is I have not had a bad one so far
|
AR Sponsor