I just recieved several 80% lowers from National Ordinance Company.  For those of you who aren't familiar with them, they are the bunch that is filling in for the guy that owns Tannery Shop while he is deployed.

I'm pretty disappointed with the apparent quality of the castings.  Maybe I'm missing something, so someone please clear it up for me if you know something I don't.  The surface is extremely pitted.  Will the finishing stop fix this?  I didn't buy the 80% forgings, as I just wanted a cheap hobby to fool around with.

Also, they charged $22.30 for S&H.  Ok, I ordered it over the phone, and I didn't ask how much it was, but I really didn't expect it to be that much.  Oh, I might add that it was sent priority at an actual cost of $4.79.

Anyway, anyone who is thinking of purchasing from them, just be aware of the issues.  I'm not knocking them, it is just waaaaay different from what I expected.

On the poor surface finish:  2 options,

1.  you can fill with JB Weld, and sand smooth. Then put the final finish on.

2. Sand blast (not bead blast), then annodize, and apply a final finish.

I found you can not apply a "color annodizing" to the alloy used in the castings, so one of the bake on finishes is the way to get it black.  John Norrells products work great.

The surface can be hardened with annodizing, though.  Will make it somewhat more resistant to wear.

The quality of the castings is not what I would call top notch.  I have seen a dozen or so of them, and no 2 are exactly alike.  Some were way off as to square of the buffer attach area relative to the top line.

I was under the impression the Tannery Shop GI was still getting some incone from the NO sales, if not, they are ripping his customers off.

[url]http://www.lesbaer.com/pricnga.html[/url]

Les Baer has 0% forgings for $23.  That is pretty damn resonable if you ask me.  Or for $80 you can get a forged lower with a broached magwell.

Try http://www.ktordnance.com/kto/order.php for top quality lowers.