Which AR15 lower to buy?

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clutch

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I want to build a AR as a project rifle from parts this time instead of just ordering an upper and lower half.

Which stripped lower should I look at. Wideners has a LRB AR-15 Stripped lower receiver for $69.00 and I have someone that will do the transfer.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Clutch
 
That deal sounds too good to pass up. Once you have the lower you might consider a rifle kit from Del-ton for a cheaper rifle or any of the more expensive brands if you want close to "mil-spec".
 
I don't think there is a whole lot of variation in forged lowers, so $69 sounds good to me. I've used doublestars for builds and they were great. LRB makes some great m14 receivers and they seem to be following spec on the AR lower... if I didn't have a spare lower already I'd be looking at the same deal.
 
they're pretty much all the same. get teh cheap one. take a look at delton for the rest like rshooter said.
 
The Spikes are very nice. But like stated, not much variation in stripped lowers. Problem with the good deals are you will most likely have to pay $25 for the FFL transfer, granted you don't have the license yourself. I found a couple deals when I started building mine but after shipping and the transfer fees, I saved money by just stopping in at Bud's and picking up a stripped Double Star without having to pay the transfer.

Good luck on your build.
 
The general rule is they are all the same. Different logo basically unless you get into composite stuff. I have had Doublestar, Stag, and Dpms and except for slightly different finishes they are the same. Some of the Colts have different pin sizes. No need to waste money on a colt IMHO.
 
I see these $69 lowers and I'm sure most do work well. But I kick in $30 or so more to get what I really want. It's just a drop in the bucket compared to the overall cost of an AR and you'll be more proud of it. Sooner or later you'll show off your build to someone and they're more likely to be impressed if it has a classy rollmark.

Of course it will shoot the same no matter if it has a pony or a deer or a snake or a spider or Joe Bob's logo. What really counts is the upper.
 
Most, but not all, lowers are comparable. I would recommend the Aero Precision lowers as a best buy right now, and I own some so this is from personal experience. You can find them for $70 or less sold by:

Surplus Ammo and Arms
Surplus Ammo and Arms, badged as "Surplus Ammo and Arms" for $5 less
AIM Surplus, badged "Surplus Ammo and Arms"
Palmetto State Armory, badged "Palmetto State Armory"
 
CMMG, Spike or YHM lower.

i own a spike and yhm, my dad uses a cmmg, great lowers.

out of those 3, i favor the YHM because is the best looking and better finish.
 
I would probably avoid CMMG, only because the one upper I have from them is machined out of spec and will only fit on 2 of my lowers without extreme force (a bad idea). It didn't have enough metal removed at the flat surface under the ejection port, so it only works on a lower that was machined a bit small in the corresponding area.

If you want to spend extra, Mega makes one of the nicest lowers currently in production, and they're not outrageous at $125 or so (Rainier Arms). But you don't really gain any function compared to the $70 Aero Precision.
 
Palmetto State is running a group buy of their lowers for $64.95 on ARFCOM right now.
 
Palmetto State Armory lowers are some of the least expensive offered currently, and are apparently made by Aero Precision.
 
Aero Precision lowers can be found for $70, AP makes lowers for many other retailers, like Spikes and others. Some well have a different finish. AP lowers are forged 7075 aluminum. I just built two lowers using them and fit is perfect
 
I bought one of those lowers from widener's. It was well made except for a little ridge inside the trigger guard area. I don't know if that was unique to the one I bought or if mine is like all others. I payed $100 for mine a couple years ago during the crazy rush on AR stuff.
 
Lowers are all very similar. Unless you get into billet. As one poster stated before, check out Palmetoarmory. I just picked up some parts from them for my lower built. The deals from them were great. Less than 100 for a Magpul CTR stock with buffer tube, spring and H buffer. Plus their lower parts kits already have Magpul stuff rather than regular AR15 parts.
 
I posted this earlier in another thread about lowers. Might be helpful to you and others. It shows that there are many brands and not so many manufacturers. So if you find one cheap you can see which manufacturer made it and the others they make and compare between costs etc. There are a few brands that I noticed that are missing. Such as the Aim surplus lower, Surplus Arms and Ammo brand. But most are here. I hear that Aero makes the aim surplus brand.



Lewis Machine & Tool

* LMT
* Lauer
* DS Arms
* PWA
* Eagle
* Armalite
* Knights Armament
* Barrett

Continental Machine Tool

* Stag
* Rock River Arms
* High Standard
* Noveske
* Century (New)
* Global Tactical
* CLE
* S&W
* MGI
* Wilson Tactical
* Grenadier Precision
* Colt

LAR Manufacturing

* LAR
* Bushmaster
* Ameetec
* DPMS
* CMMG
* Double Star
* Fulton Armory
* Spike's Tactical

JVP

* Double Star
* LRB
* Charles Daly

Mega Machine Shop

* Mega
* GSE
* Dalphon
* POF
* Alexander Arms

Olympic

* Olympic
* SGW
* Tromix
* Palmetto
* Dalphon
* Frankford
* Century (Old)

Sun Devil

* Sun Devil forged billet receivers

Superior

* Superior Arms
* Lauer (New)


Aero Precision

* Aero Precision
 
A few years ago I drove to Freeport, Il to pick up a bridgeport mill that I bought on ebay. when I got there they let us back the truck and trailer inside to wait which was nice since there was a full blown storm in progress.

While waiting, uncle and I started to take note of what the place did. Racks and racks of 8" or so diameter 7075, crates and crates of forgings, some containing uppers, others lowers, and others I suspect were going to Trijicon.

I tried to get them to give me a couple of the reject forgings but no dice :(

Company was Anchor Harvey iirc. Later I noticed we had some aluminum forgings for an automotive product we further machine at work, made by the same company. I bet I could have worked a deal to have my bridgeport put on a truck coming to my facility and saved almost 830 miles of driving in one of the worst winter storms in years. :banghead:

I wonder how many other companies make forgings for the ar?

Clutch
 
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There's something like 4 companies that do the actual forging of "platters" that are later machined by others into actual receivers. I believe they are:
Anchor Harvey
Pigeon Forge
Cerro Forge
Martin Marietta (??)

None of those do machining, only forging. I'm not aware of any quality differences between their forgings. All the quality is made or lost in the machining work. You can buy raw forgings from some places (DSA is one) for $30 or so if you want to see what the middle-stage is. A raw forging, unmachined, is not a firearm or even regulated at all.
 
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