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Posted: 2/25/2013 12:03:03 PM EDT
| Are polymer lowers worth buying? I know that that majority of lowers out there are aluminium but I have seen a few companies (New Frontier and ATI) that are producing polymer lowers. Quite a few other types of guns in production have parts made from polymer so I assume an AR can also be a platform that adaptable to polymer. I've watched a bunch of YouTube clips and no one is really bad mouthing them to much. If anyone reading this has a serious regret about purchasing one let me know please. |
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I would be very careful with them. Many of them are simply copies of the same dimensions for the forged aluminum lowers but instead made from polymer. You can't simply take a design created for one material and make it out of another dissimilar material and expect it to work perfectly. All of the polymer framed handguns and most guns where polymer is used heavily were designed from the ground up to use these polymers. They weren't previously designed for being created from forged aluminum and then they replaced the aluminum with polymer. That's the big difference between polymer AR lowers and say... A glock. |
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Some polymer lowers may not be so great. As mentioned, these are the ones that simply duplicate the dimensions of the aluminum receivers.
The old Cavalry Arms lowers are excellently designed, and well made. Mine has survived much use, and even some abuse, over the years. Polymer can work for an AR lower. You just have to do it right. |
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CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. If they did a stock similar to Magpul's UBR instead of just a fixed stock they would sell a buzzillion. http://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/primary/375/375964.jpg |
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CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. If they did a stock similar to Magpul's UBR instead of just a fixed stock they would sell a buzzillion. http://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/primary/375/375964.jpg Frankly thats over rated. I'd like a length of pull equal to my stock 1-2 positions out and maybe some spacers. Like the MKIII was going to be. I rarely adjust my stocks once they are set. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. If they did a stock similar to Magpul's UBR instead of just a fixed stock they would sell a buzzillion. http://media.midwayusa.com/productimages/880x660/primary/375/375964.jpg Frankly thats over rated. I'd like a length of pull equal to my stock 1-2 positions out and maybe some spacers. Like the MKIII was going to be. I rarely adjust my stocks once they are set. I don't' have any collapsible stocks anymore. I have a1, sully and entry stocks. I think for almost all purposes I would be just fine with sully stocks. Actually entry stocks are fine except I think I have a problem because of my aging eyes using irons with that set up, not sure about that but something seems off. |
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CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. I agree in theory, I am not sure time will show you (and me kind of) to be correct. After 15 years of the CAV15 and 40 years of plastic receivers I think it'll turn out OK. Would be nice if someone wanted to make more good polymer AR receivers though. |
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Quoted: Quoted: CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. Not sure if the GWACS have the same warranty as the Cav's did, but the Cav's warranty was awesome. Break it, get a new one for $35. Yes, this included smashing it into a tree. |
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CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. Not sure if the GWACS have the same warranty as the Cav's did, but the Cav's warranty was awesome. Break it, get a new one for $35. Yes, this included smashing it into a tree. I'd imagine so, as they promised to warranty Cav lowers currently in circulation. |
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To answer your question...."Are they worth buying?".... How mucg are you paying for it? what are you wanting to do with it? I bought a New Frontier about 6 months ago for $99 out the door. Wish I had bought 10! I put a SOTA stainless upper on it. The upper make sit look cool. I have about 250 rounds through it. It shoots. I bought it with the expectation if it breaking one day, so if it does, oh well. It's a good little plinking rifle. Most likely i am going to put a dedicated .22 upper on it.
Do I want to bust someones teeth out with it no, but it goes bang when I pull the trigger. If going to battle, I would take my colt. If price is right I would get another. It was cheap at the time, and I went in expecting to get what I paid for, but so far for what I use it for, I have been pleased! So, in my opinion, it was worth it! |
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Welcome NOOB. nice first post. Heres comes the shit storm Edit. You joined APRIL 2012 and this is your FIRST post. Nice way to welcome someone. If it bothers you that damn much, try skipping the thread and not reading it. Otherwise, kindly suggest that there is a search function, where it can be found, and save the 'tude for your momma. |
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CAV/GWACS. Those and ONLY those. Have faith in this advice, it'll save you some heartbreak. Yup, they worked in reinforcements to the lower. +1 to what these gentlemen have said. I *finally* got around to ordering one and am pleasantly surprised. Very well made. Regarding the stock length, I'm a very short guy and the A1 length fits me very well. I suppose I'd want it a bit shorter if I shot with armor or something on. If you search the site w/ Google, you'll find threads where users have shortened the stock of the CAV-15 lower receiver. I've already done a grip reduction on mine. Aside from availability (GWACS Armory has them in stock, Rainier has them too), they're also very light. |
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I bought an ATI Omni Lower for $40 before the panic got started, now that project is on hold till the panic calms down. I know that there are many here that say not to use them. i went ahead and picked one up for a cheap beater build to see how it will hold up. I am not investing a lot of money in it so if it breaks it will be nothing to cry about, could always replace the lower for an aluminum one later on. |
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Some polymer lowers may not be so great. As mentioned, these are the ones that simply duplicate the dimensions of the aluminum receivers. The old Cavalry Arms lowers are excellently designed, and well made. Mine has survived much use, and even some abuse, over the years. Polymer can work for an AR lower. You just have to do it right. Most don't. I have one from NFA and its a POS. It does function (most of the time) but I definitely prefer aluminum and wouldn't trust a polymer lower that isn't modified like the Cav Arms ones were. edit: My NFA is better with real internals v. the one that came in it. It's still not worth the small savings after purchase, shipping, and transfer fees... |
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To answer your question...."Are they worth buying?".... How mucg are you paying for it? what are you wanting to do with it? I bought a New Frontier about 6 months ago for $99 out the door. Wish I had bought 10! I put a SOTA stainless upper on it. The upper make sit look cool. I have about 250 rounds through it. It shoots. I bought it with the expectation if it breaking one day, so if it does, oh well. It's a good little plinking rifle. Most likely i am going to put a dedicated .22 upper on it. Do I want to bust someones teeth out with it no, but it goes bang when I pull the trigger. If going to battle, I would take my colt. If price is right I would get another. It was cheap at the time, and I went in expecting to get what I paid for, but so far for what I use it for, I have been pleased! So, in my opinion, it was worth it! This has been my experience as well, bought a Plum Crazy complete lower years ago at a gun show for $120, used it on a BCM 5.56 lightweight upper for a few hundred rounds with no issues, later used it for a budget 7.62x39 build, so far about a thousand rounds thru it with no problems. Last year I bought a New Frontier complete lower at a show for $110 for a dedicated .22 build. Haven't found a good price on an .22 upper yet but it's been on both my 5.56 & 7.62x39 uppers, again no problems. |
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