Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Which lower?

I keep threatening to build an AR, ain't done it yet, but hell may as well start now.

I know its been asked before, but who makes a solid lower to build on? Are "all" of them good now? Billet or forged make a difference? Anyone to stay away from?

Looking to build a play and hunting rifle.

WTF is Bluedreaux? He still around here?

MM, I build on the cheapest forged aluminium stripped lower with forward assist I can find. Anderson, Delton, DTI, ect.

Never had an issue with any of them.

Cheapest lower I could find many moons ago, and the upper shot knots... meaning 10 shot groups at 300 yards on the order of 1-2 inches regular...

Lowers don't much matter. The barrel is the most important and how its set up IMHO. A few other things matter, but they are assembly things rather than parts issues... mostly.

I prefer Aero Precision.

As long as it's not polymer I'd just get whatever rollmark I could stand. I'm not one for bling, but I am opposed to having some hideous pirate-ninja-skull or whatever on the side of my gun.

Given the option, I much prefer an integral trigger guard. I've got two like that now, one billet and one forged. If I could find out who made the forged I'd order several of them. I don't know that the little forged "wings" or trigger guard would every break on a normal lower, but for whatever reason that's just something that I'm hung up on. We've all got our quirks I guess.

I've been around, shooting some matches that took up a lot of time, traveling with the family, new job and schedule. Busy time of year.

Mostly lurking on here. Trying to only post when I have something of value that really needs to be said....Evidently that's not very often, lol.

Plenty of options. From about $40 up to hundreds. It seems like all of them work well nowadays with maybe a couple of exceptions. I'd stick with metal, though.

Aero makes one fully ambidextrous version if that appeals to you:


http://aeroprecisionusa.com/ar15-ambidextrous-lower.html

I just had a lower built on an Anderson frame, so far so good.

Anderson..... Just as good as any lower, out there...I have built lots of rifles on Anderson lowers....I also like Stag and Spikes..Just ordered a Spikes Crusader to try something different.

Who is Anderson? How long have they been in business? How many is "lots"?

I ask because I've been around for awhile and just started hearing about them in the last year when they started selling cheap lowers. I've seen plenty of problems with brand name lowers and just won't bet the farm on a new guy selling at rock bottom prices.

Look it up...They have been in business for 50 years...I do not no How long they have been making AR parts and rifles and do not care.....They work for me and are Cerro forgings...My local Dealer is a a Friend of mine and Has sold Thousands of Anderson lowers, Has never had a complaint or one returned. He sold over 200 last week. and sold out Friday..Get them while you can Boys.



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Anderson Rifles

I've seen their stuff, never owned any. Seems to be pretty decent.

MM

who makes Spike's tactical lowers? They seem to be decent lowers. ..

40 bucks for lowers... buy 20 man... if one breaks its less than a fillup...

Folks make this way to complicated IMHO..

And to think I was going to buy a SS lower once upon a time..

Spikes in Apopka Fla....Most are Cerro Forge and Machined by LAR.

My local dealer said lowers were selling like 99cent Big Macks last Friday and Saturday... We might be able to buy some 22 Now that the Hoarders will be buying Lowers instead of 22.

I just want my damn cci subsonic prefrag that shoots so good in my 10-22 with can..... Just want a few bricks to case and I'm set for life on that one ammo...

I've got 22 ammo for just pissin away.... lol.

Why can't they just make a run of the stuff that I need. LOL.

My forged lower with integral trigger guard was made by Anderson. Bought it from PSA a few years ago.

Yep you would think with all this gun violence that gun sales would be down, odd that it has the opposite effect isn't it.

For Blue................

Aanderson Lower with closed / integral triggerguard

and that is a good price.

Lots of people buy cheap so numbers of sales don't tell the story. I prefer to go by people's experience who've built "lots" of em.

Thanks, I'll remember those. If the LPK is good, $90 is a deal for that. For a guy who wants an integral trigger guard anyway.

FWIW, as I understand it there aren't a lot of people making forged lowers. They're just made and then roll marked for whoever. In fact, we contacted several companies last year and they were willing to make us our own lowers with our "company" name and custom serial numbers if we ordered enough.

They'll even mark them BluedreauxAR&Awesomeness, with no mention of the real manufacturer if you've got the right FFL and pay for the variance.

Blue,

I've used several Anderson LPK's. Overall, good parts. For a stock LPK, the trigger pull is very good, breaking at 6 pounds. One draw back is they seem to have weak hammer springs. I've had to replace two of them with a stiffer spring.

6#'s is good for a AR triggee? I've never even shot one.

Can you get triggers more like a bolt rifle? 3-4#'s?

Yes, for a stock trigger 6 pounds is excellent.

Yes, there are plenty of other trigger options. Geissele triggers seem to be the favorite.

As I've said before, we've used about any brand out there.

And I'd think I might qualify as having built a few of them over the years.

I just dont see the difference.

Maybe if it was combat or such, but we run em hard in competition and as long as its a lower thats right, IE holes drilled right and lower milled right, its all the same...

Well PWA built some with the pins drilled crooked and broke hammers pretty often, RR put some out with the grip screw drilled at the wrong angle, made the gap wide enough to eat up your finger even with an enhanced trigger guard.

Combat or not, they have to be machined correctly. I just asked who they were cause they are a new player in the AR market. New players selling the cheapest products don't usually have a good record. They spent 40 years in the automotive business, only a few years in the gun industry.

You buy lowers with forward assist? For an AR? Who makes those?

All my lowers have forward assist...I like to call it a Trigger....It assist the bullet going forward......

Most lowers are made to accommodate a forward assist. Personally I like the forward assist. Typically the "slick sided" lower, with no provision for a forward assist are a little cheaper, which is why I qualified my statement.

I like the gator with the checkered front strap and stoway map compartment pump section.

No one ever said that any company is perfect...

My first Zeiss scope was a lemon... did not keep me from continuing to buy them though...

Point was as long as its right, its fine, no particular name is needed and not worth paying for IMHO.

Imagine my expensive Colt lower gun shooting great groups and then laying my cheap EA company lower gun next to it shoot as good if not better groups....

Parts kits have had crooked holes before too.. I saw that as early as the early 80s or late 70s sometime...

Photos please? Both FA and Non FA

On the lower.

FA

Non FA

Thanks all- I just ordered a couple of the Anderson lowers.

Did you get the forward assist model?.......I am dying to Know.

I think you caught me before I had my first cup of coffee!!

Receiver with no forward assist:



Receiver with a forward assist:




They just might not be lowers.

Yes but when companies make runs of those it's nice to know. I just asked cause they were a new company selling cheap lowers. You people act like I insulted your momma.

Yep, I agree totally, when bad runs surface, its nice to hear the chatter.

For sure!

Just that even reputable and high dollar folks have lemons, so in the end it has nothing to do with brand vs accuracy or reliability.

Momma can hold her own. LOL.

Who was it that had a bad run of Wilson barrels? IIRC they came through RRA in the 90s or early 2000s...

I swear the crown was a cordless drill and dull 3/8 bit... recrown and they shot fine...

what do you guys think? Is a Spikes lower worth more than an Anderson? I have a few spikes but a cheap Anderson to have on hand or two might be an idea.

Wilson Combat recently had a bad run. Chambers were out of spec.

I wouldn't spend the extra for a spikes.

I'd buy an Anderson and put the saving into something that mattered, barrel, BCG, trigger...

I picked up an Anderson yesterday.

Dimensionally, I give it an A+. It fits several uppers I have and it has a low shelf trigger pocket. A parts kit fits very well.

Appearance-wise, I give it a C. The lines are crisp, but the color is Black Coffee or Dark Chocolate, not a deep Colt black.

Finishes are another thing that varies greatly among cheaper receivers. But just so no one thinks I'm a lower snob with my Noveske's, my favorite lower is my Charles Daly. A cheap lower from a company known for importing junk. They really made an effort to build a great mil spec AR but couldn't out run their reputation I guess.

I guess you are a snob if you are concerned about anything other than functionality.

Wish I had grabbed one of those CD ARs. They were a fantastic deal.

I picked up my lowers today.

Gotta say they look like every other one I've seen. Granted, I never payed much attention to them but machine work on both and finish on the one looks good.

If I ever find a lower with FA I'll be sure to remember this ^^^^

Look up about 11 posts.... you are like me.. not reading the whole thread at times.... LOL

THIS is the one I used for my AR10

Rainer

I put the rest of the parts in the Anderson. The hole for the grip screw was about 1/8" shallow, so I used some nylon washers to make the grip tight.