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Posted: 3/19/2008 5:34:37 AM EDT
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http://www.essentialarms.com/catalog2-3.html $86 for a stripped lower reciever seems too good to be true, are these any good? why are they so much cheaper than anything else i have seen? thanks for the help. |
They rock. I've built up at least ten of them. They are built by a guy that runs a shop with just him and his wife. (nice guy too ) When you call you will get the actual owner on the phone. I don't think they advertise. I imagine their overhead is low. |
It's a mom and pop shop in northern Louisiana; they make everything inhouse so there is very low overhead. Functionally, their lowers are as good as any out there, and the last batch that I got seems to have a nicer finish that what they used to have. I seem to recall that their prices have gone up a bit, though. |
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My understanding is that at one time they were Olympic Arms receiver supplier. My full auto gun is built up on one of their cast receivers from 1984. It was a hideous light gray color before I coated it with Brownells Black Baking Lacquer (it was even lighter than Colt gray, ugh). But all the tolerances were perfect so the parts went in great and the receiver is totally solid. I have enough faith in them that I am going to use one of their new forged receivers as the base for my SBR project. As a bonus, their "Essential Arms" logo on the mag well is a lot less stupid looking to me than some of the big name logos everybody else seems so partial to. They are without a doubt one of the best, if not the best, receiver values out there. |
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I rodered 2 of their lowers about 1.5 years ago. Absolutely no complaints here! I have another lower that I bought at the same time,consecutive numbers and all. I'm gonna order 2-3 more just because. Well,I'm gonna build my nephew a rifle so that's at least one MORE lower I'll need! Buy with confidence,they are good to go. The owner seems like a stand-up guy when you speak to him,also. I highly reccomend them for the value-minded consumer. I'm not partial to those other,more expensive guys with the fancy,over-sized logos anyway. 
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They are built in Krotz Springs, LA, about 60 miles due west of Baton Rouge, give or take. I have seen their lowers and by visual inspection, their fit and finnish is ever bit as good, if not better than my RRA. Their stripped lower is about $30 less than a RRA. I may purchase a few and wrap up and put away for a "rainy day". 77Bronc |
he he he| I got some of my buddies together last week and we ordered 8 of them so we could split the shipping and get a lower price. It was a nicely machined and finished lower. I have a Bushy upper on it and it is a tight fit. I will buy more. Can't beat it for the money. |
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I have bought several of their lowers and they work great. I like their tough coat versions. They use to be in the high $70's and then earlier this year they raises their prices. They are in the same price range as others. Most of the time they have them in stock. |
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Are most of you guys buying the anodized or tough coat versions? Some pics to compare the two finishes would be helpful. I am in need of some more lowers (plan to order several in one swipe) and would like to buy the type that would be most likely to best match the finish of the kits I'll be using. Oh, one other question. Is shipping included in their listed prices or is that extra? I scoured their website from top to bottom and cannot find any info about shipping at all. |
| awesome man, thanks for taking the time to post those pics. It looks really nice, thats very similar to what i want my final outcome to be. Are you glad you went with EA and that finish? Or if you had to do it over would you go with another brand and try to paint it yourself? thanks again. |
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EA is great! Don't expect to email him though...he is very old school, pick up the phone, call the owner. He will copy down your info and read it back to you twice, you then receive your product in a timely manner. He prices his lowers as they should be priced, they are not low because they are cheaply built, they are low because he is not ripping anyone off. Not much overhead for sure...he even deals with us Southern born yankees  A real gentleman! |
| Well, I decided to go ahead and call today to get the process started. I think I'll order 3 of the lowers for now. Once they have my FFL's license on file, I can always get more later without much in the way of effort. The glowing reviews (with absolutely no complaints) when combined with the low prices won me over. |
Shipping on my lower was $15 and it shipped within 2 days, I am really happy with mine and even the FFL i used commented on how clean it was when it came in, I think he might be considering doing some builds on them after seeing mine |
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WOW, I hadn't hear of EA until someone posted a reply to my question on buying a lower from a gun show. From reading all of the positive posts on them and looking at their website, very old school, but easy to find what I wanted, I think I have decided on buying from them. Heck, at their prices, I'll take the advice of others and buy 2-3 so come Nov. when the Dems take over and say you cannot buy any more of them, I'll have a few in reserve. Thx Guys! |
I plan on doing the same thing here in a few months when I get some funds freed up, I have to wonder if you shouldn't toss them together with spare parts (swap the upper and stock between them to save costs)) and photograph them so you can prove they were completed prior to the ban. I believe with the original federal AWB that it wasn't preban if it was manufactured before the date, but only if it had been assembled before the date. |
Not a bad idea Noaccount, I think I'll do it. THX! |
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