Vulcan Armament Plastic AR-15 Lower

vulcan armament is hesse arms. stay away.

That lower could come in handy if you want to start a fire.

Actually burning it would be the best thing that you could do with it.

BSW

You hear about other brands and the like but that is usually isolated cases. All you hear about Vulcan is bad.

Andrew Wyatt said:

vulcan armament is hesse arms. stay away.

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SECONDED! Hesse has been sucking out LOUD since at LEAST the mid-'90's!

Here is a fine example of the Hesse lower after one (1) round fired:



Well circulated picture, and I was the shooter that ended up with a butt shock in my lap a bolt carrier behinded a loaded chamber right in front of my nose. Hesse would not warranty the reciever. Guess we need to put it in a shadow box on the coffee table!

All you ever hear is bad things about Vulcan/Hesse.

I'd wait for a sale on PSA lowers. They seem to have sales on them fairly regularly and are very well regarded.

I love how their website says:

"Vulcan Group Inc., in business since 1991, specializes in producing firearms and accessories for special operations forces and Law Enforcement agencies here and abroad."

I'd like to see a list of their special operations forces customers!

That lower could come in handy if you want to start a fire.

Actually burning it would be the best thing that you could do with it.

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I was thinking you could smash it with a rock and then use the shards as miniature spears.

OP, cheapest lower I would want to own would be PSA, Aero Precision or Surplus Ammo and Arms. Note that SAA is made by Aero Precision, and PSA has used a mix of Aero Precision and I think (?) LRB Arms product, both of which are fine. The only plastic lower I would consider is the out of production Cavalry Arms MKII, and even that is with some reservations (btw I own one).

I handled a Vulcan AR-15 at a friends house once. I wasn't really impressed with it, and I'd personally stay away.

Vulcan supplies (or did previously) Century with their line of AR rifles.

Check the warranty page of the Vulcan website and that should tell you everything you need to know about Vulcan products.


Don

Do not know about the Vulcan products but I do have a couple of Plumcrazy lowers on some AR .22s. Have used them both on the 223 and 7.62x39 just to see....No problems but prefer Aluminum on the heavy calibers for balance....... The weight is perfect for the .22s. and I think I paid less than 120 each.

If Vulcan does in fact mean Hesse, then it's no in the strongest way imaginable.

I'm *NOT* defending them, but I am responding specifically to the point about warranties....

RCArms.com said:

Check the warranty page of the Vulcan website and that should tell you everything you need to know about Vulcan products.

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Here's what their website says: Based on the Magnuson-Moss Warranty act, Vulcan Group Inc. offers no warranty on its product line. Vulcan Group Inc. is extremely concerned with its customers' satisfaction and stands behind its products. Vulcan Group Inc. has in the past and will continue to offer service on its products for a period of one year from the date of purchase by the original purchaser for defects in materials and workmanship

And Ruger's website: The Magnuson-Moss Act (Public Law 93-637) does not require any seller or manufacturer of a consumer product to give a written warranty. It does provide that if a written warranty is given, it must be designated as "limited" or as "full" and sets minimum standards for a "full" warranty. Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. has elected not to provide any written warranty, either "limited" or "full", rather than to attempt to comply with the provisions of the Magnuson-Moss Act and the regulations issued thereunder. There are certain implied warranties under state law with respect to sales of consumer goods. As the extent and interpretation of these implied warranties varies from state to state, you should refer to your state statutes. Sturm, Ruger & Company wishes to assure its customers of its continued interest in providing service to owners of Ruger firearms.

Browning offers no published warranty either. I'd imagine many firearms companies don't... Vulcan may be guilty of a lot of things, but this isn't one of them.

Vulcan may be guilty of a lot of things, but this isn't one of them.

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At first I thought the same, for the reasons you mention. HOWEVER, Ruger, Glock and many other companies that don't have any written warranty also don't impose a whole bunch of difficult conditions on their not-a-warranty, which Vulcan does as below:

"All returns MUST have a return authorization number on the OUTSIDE of the package. All returns are subject to a 12% restocking fee. Please email Vulcan Group Inc. at [email protected] to obtain a return authorization number BEFORE shipping. Please observe the following procedure to ensure efficient service:

All returns for service MUST be sent to Vulcan Group Inc., NOT to the dealer. Each return MUST include a DATED RECEIPT.

Immediately upon purchase fill out and mail the REPAIR POLICY card found in this manual. This card must be on file at Vulcan Group Inc. before any service is performed and BE SENT NO LATER THAN 10 DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PURCHASE. Failure to submit the card within 10 days voids the warranty, DO NOT WAIT TO SEND IT!! Ignorance of these conditions is no excuse!

Should you require service, email Vulcan Group Inc. at [email protected] explaining the problem and request a Return Authorization number.

The Return Authorization number must appear on the OUTSIDE of the package, without the RA number on the outside of the package, the package will be refused. Enclose a letter explaining the problem, include the name and address of where you would like the item returned, and include your phone number in case of questions. Pack the item securely to avoid damage and insure it for the proper amount."

You can be the 8th owner of a Ruger that has been worked on by several smiths and usually Ruger will still repair a gun and send it back to you without charge (although their written policy allows them to charge in such cases). Likewise, Glock gives no warranty, but usually sends your pistol back fixed and without charge, without requiring proof that you sent them some dumb card within 10 days of purchase. When I see a policy like the one above I assume the company is trying to prevent people from using their service.

z-michigan said:

When i see a policy like the one above i assume the company is trying to prevent people from using their service.

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bingo

SCAM! Vulcan, Hesse, Freedom Arms is a scam company STAY AWAY!

If they offered a quality product that wasn't a scam they wouldn't have to change thier name every year. The warranty says it all.



It's a scam.
If your after a plastic lower, get the Plum Crazy lower. I think there's another out there as well.

Might actually consider the New Frontier Armory complete lowers, 99 bucks shipped from joeboboutfitters.com. I bought one to try, it ain't half bad, and the trigger it pretty good as well!

Stay away from their Polymer junk

I have done almost 100 AR lower builds with all types of receivers. Wanted to see how inexpensively I could build a lower with spare parts and a purchased lower receiver (for a .22 upper). Enter Vulcan Polymer lower. LWRCI trigger guard would not fit. Magpul trigger guard would not fit. All of 37 seconds later the lower broke while inserting the pin for a straight alum trigger guard (only one I could get the pin holes to line up for). Stay away from polymer it's bad news. I'm skeptical as to if I can even get the other components in without making the lower unusable.

Let's not leave out JoeKen to the Hesse/Vulcan list of names the company has gone by over the years. Just do a google search on those names and make your decisions based on what you read.

My experience must be the one in a million that is good with Vulcan/Hesse/whatever the name of the month is. My brother has an ar-15 from them he picked up used for a good deal. That rifle has sent more than 2500 rounds downrange with only one issue. The issue was that the bolt carrier slammed into the gas tube and mushroomed the end enough to not seal. This lead to some feeding issues, and failure to extract issues.
The problem was corrected by me ordering a new gas tube, new front sight/gas block assembly, and roll pin from brownells. I believe the entire order came out to less than $60 for a new tube and an upgraded gas block assy.

I would buy one as a range toy IF and only IF it was a good price, otherwise I would run away. The only reason my brother owns it is because it was a great deal and we both know how to "turn a wrench." I have no problem with a polymer lower receiver, as long as the polymer is of good quality. I don't put much faith into Vulcan as to having a good quality polymer process, hence the cheap pricing normally found on their products.

The warranty issue is one that makes me laugh, I owned two H & K pistols, and they have a similar warranty statement. If the manufacturer wants to be a pain then they can do that. The average warranty statement says the only thing they cover is manufacturing defects, this gives them leeway to say that the "options" you installed caused the problem, or that you abused the item and caused the problem. I have been burned by that same issue, and now will not do business with a certain large manufacturer of electronic goods.

Companies that have to change their name to escape the messes the make are best avoided. Vulcan/Hess/Blackthorne/velocity arms should be avoided. Another company like that is Magnolia State Armory now Texas AK design. I wouldn't buy form either of them unless I liked getting screwed over.

That repair policy isn't exactly unique. I've seen it for other companies, not all gun-related.

You purchase their product, you send in the post-card or some other form included within the packaging on your own dime(s). This isn't unheard of. Heck, I think my last Glock came with a "warranty card" to be mailed back.

If you need repair, being asked by the manufacturer to send it directly to them and not to the dealer may seem surreptitious in nature, but it isn't an uncommon request. It streamlines the repair process and reduces the dealer's knowledge of any defective goods, perceived or otherwise.

You must call to obtain a return authorization number and write it clearly on the box that will contain the item. Again, not unusual. I had to do this for EAA, Kahr Arms and Marlin over the years. PITA? Perhaps. Unorthodox? No

It's also not too much to ask for a concise note to be included explaining the problem. Unless it's an obvious catastrophic fail as shown in DougW's post, then providing a brief note as to why it's being returned isn't necessarily a bad idea. I have been asked to do so when returning various things, including firearms.

And for the contact info, that's just common sense. If the included note is overly brief to the point of being obscure (IE "this POS doesn't work"), then they may want some clarification.

When returning my Marlin 94 for modification, I forgot to include such a note.
They found it cycled fine; no hang-ups with feeding, firing, ejecting, etc.
What I had accidentally neglected to tell them was it would lock up with .44 Specials. A brief exchange over the phone led them to the culprit (the elevator), the rifle was modified and returned.

Bottom line, I doubt there is any kind of scam going on here. It appears to be a company with a horrible reputation for manufacturing sub-par product.
Avoiding them would be your best option, but I doubt there's a Nigerian prince behind the scenes.

Just to let the OP know, PSA is selling blemished lowers now for $60 and they are guaranteed to function. Prolly picking one up myself.

I saw the blemished lowers and just went to buy one, however, they are already sold out.