Over the past few months I have received numerous inquiries as to my impressions of the FAB-10 receiver.
In a nutshell, I like 'em. A lot. Hey, it's not an evil pre ban baby killin' assault rifle machine gun, but in California ya' takes what ya' can gets.
I have tried the FAB-10 lower receiver with:
Pre ban Colt 20" HBAR Blue Label R6700DC upper
Pre ban Colt A1 w/16" lightweight barrel upper
Pre ban Colt SP1 upper
Bushmaster 16" HBAR upper
Rock River Arms LEGP 16" M4gery upper
I have used the FAB-10 receiver with an A2 stock and a fake telestock.
I have had exactly ZERO problems. Function and reliability have been 100%. Loading from the stripper clips does take some getting used to, but is not hard to learn. I did install the extended takedown pins from Watsons Weapons to aid in opening the rifle. When you tilt the upper to the open position, it helps to cock the hammer, this gives you more room to maneuver the stripper clip guide and get your hand in there. Watch out for the bolt, that chunk of metal can get hot.
I have not timed myself, but if you can get the weapon open smoothly, don't fumble the clip guide and your strippers are sufficiently loose you can reload fairly quickly. However this is not your SHTF tactical reload zombie killing machine, so you should have a little time to reload.
When I first obtained the receiver, I noticed the rear takedown pin was tight. I deburred the pin detent and lightly polished the pin to solve the problem. The front pin is not as tight and just needed a little lube.
However the front lugs were extremely tight on the RRA upper, a little bit looser on the Bushmaster and fit the Colts very well. And one of my uppers (the Colt A1 16" lightweight) seems to fit slightly off to the left. This does not seem to affect function or point of aim AFAIK. All the other uppers seem to be aligned and centered correctly.
The finish has held up well so far. But I have not used Gunscrubber or similar products on the lower. And I probably never will.
The rifle went bang w/every squeeze of the trigger. All bullets impacted at point of aim.
Sorry, but I don't have any more pictures right now.
If I think of anything else, I'll post it here. Feel free to e-mail me if you need any more info. Or post here, I'll respond.
And, no, I do not work for or even know the guy who builds these things. I have talked to him on the phone. He seems like a nice, friendly gentleman who is very concerned with the erosion of our rights in this state.
One other thing. The list price for a stripped lower, as I recall, was about $165.00-$170.00 according to the website. An assembled lower was approximately $230.00. Expect some dealer markup, hey the dealers gotta' eat too. If you are paying more than $300.00 for an assembled lower you need to negotiate a better deal.
Haggle and do cash deals. The dealer wants your business. Haggling can pay off.