AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/9/2012 1:31:18 PM EDT
| been looking to build another ar. but the more i look i see 100s of stripped lowers made more or less the same. so my question is what makes 1 better than the other and is the price difference like anything else where your just buying the name or what? if there is one better than the rest lets hear why and if not which ones would be the ones to look at thanks |
|
Majority are the same in my opinion.
There are some exceptions of course, and some companies have stricter quality control ect... But I say buy whats in your price range and has the rollmark you like buy a known manufacturer, not some fly-by-night lower and youll be fine |
Most standard mil-spec lowers are 99% the same. For me the differnce is customer service just incase I get the 1 defective one. It also helps that PSA is an hour away from me 
Back when buying and building AR's still got you labeled as "One of those crazy anarchy milita types" a few good companies made a name for themselves and a few other companies turned out crap that was not mil-spec so you did have to watch what you bought, but with them being very mainstream now most companies have good QC. |
|
Yep. The only thing that separates them are the machine and paint finish. Some will use an endmill and smooth out the middle "seam" area. Some machine the magwell much better than others. Some areas are rounded a little more/better. For the most part...They are all about 90% the same.
Billet? To each his own, and I think they are nice looking - I just can't get past the price. Lots of money for something that has to be thicker because it's weaker. Also, some things don't bolt onto the billet due to it being thicker since parts are mostly devloped for the standard lowers. Billet is "pretty" - To me, an AR-15 is a TOOL. I like useful tools. I would buy an AR-10 lower before a billet AR-15 lower. |
|
Assuming the manufacturer buys an in-spec forging all kinds of errors can slip into the CNC process.
Finishes can vary in quality. Also in a perfect world no one would ever have to lap the face of the upper to true it up. Lapping may be a necessity in some cases, but it also strips away the protective anodizing. |
AR Sponsor