Comparison: Lower Receivers

[SpeedyR]

I've asked recently a friend that's a rep for Anderson if he knows who they make lowers for since they are the basic "bang for the buck" lower that you see everywhere, but I know they make a lot of lowers for other industry companies. He didn't know or wouldn't tell. Ditto for a guy that I knew that worked there. I don't mind. Again for me the main issue is resale- if you want to SBR or think you may resell a rifle, get a higher level "brand". I know for a fact that my friends DD M4V11 will retain it's value. A PSA may or may not have the same "perception" of quality.

CHF barrels are worth a premium IMHO. trigger groups are worth spending the extra money. Same issue there- do you want a no name trigger group that's 2lbs and smooth, or do you want a Geiselle SD-E? One costs a lot more than the other, but for me, I like having a company reputation behind the product.

From people that I trust and know a lot more than myself, they recommend putting money into the barrel and trigger. The rest is fluff. I have two C3 billet lowers with DD parts, one has an ALG trigger one the DD trigger (pistol lower) and i just got Aero uppers for them. When the time comes I"ll get good barrels for them (relative, probably will get Bergara or a CHF barrel) and build them up mid range parts (PWS, Seekins or Odin rails, etc). Should be solid shooters.

 

[Allsmiles]

I done builds with a lot of different makes of lowers. The biggest difference I have seen is the quality of finish (slick and smooth black to grayish easily scratched) and a few extras on certain brands. That being said, Aero is probably one of my favorites. About the only issue I have ran into is having Anderson trigger guard roll pins being oversized and not working. Well beside launching some the springs and detents into never land.

 

[Clarke123]

Well, have we "beat this dead horse" enough?

Seems to have evolved into the classic "Ford vs Chevy" / "Lincoln vs Cadillac vs Chrysler" arguments from decades past! Lots of good arguments for all sides of the fence, including the top, bottom and middle ... I appreciate everyone keeping this in the "non-personal-attack-mode" as that serves no useful purpose here or any other forum. We are all after the best information available to make decisions about one of our favorite firearms!

Thanks to all of the participants!

I will close this thread tonight.

 

[greg vess]

Have you put a high number of rounds through any of these matched sets? The spikes I mentioned got easier to take down once several hundred rounds were put through it. And I'm wondering if a perfectly fit set would become less than perfect over time?

Yes! Of course. Every gun I have is one I built and they stand the test time and rounds. Nothing has ever got so out of wack that the two begin to move so much that it is noticeable. The upper is the upper and the lower is the lower and both hold their tolerances very well.

 

[greg vess]

I've asked recently a friend that's a rep for Anderson if he knows who they make lowers for since they are the basic "bang for the buck" lower that you see everywhere, but I know they make a lot of lowers for other industry companies. He didn't know or wouldn't tell. Ditto for a guy that I knew that worked there. I don't mind. Again for me the main issue is resale- if you want to SBR or think you may resell a rifle, get a higher level "brand". I know for a fact that my friends DD M4V11 will retain it's value. A PSA may or may not have the same "perception" of quality.

CHF barrels are worth a premium IMHO. trigger groups are worth spending the extra money. Same issue there- do you want a no name trigger group that's 2lbs and smooth, or do you want a Geiselle SD-E? One costs a lot more than the other, but for me, I like having a company reputation behind the product.

From people that I trust and know a lot more than myself, they recommend putting money into the barrel and trigger. The rest is fluff. I have two C3 billet lowers with DD parts, one has an ALG trigger one the DD trigger (pistol lower) and i just got Aero uppers for them. When the time comes I"ll get good barrels for them (relative, probably will get Bergara or a CHF barrel) and build them up mid range parts (PWS, Seekins or Odin rails, etc). Should be solid shooters.

I agree with their suggestion except for one part the Bolt Carrier Group. The Barrel, BCG and trigger are what makes or breaks the gun. I like a tight fit and that's a matter of preference. The name and look is fluff. Now the resale value is a point altogether. There are guns that will command a premium over a course of time. When a gun is well made the name doesn't matter to me.

 

[greg vess]

When I talked about finding a good snug fit I was talking about what I like to see in my upper and lower. The point was the manufacturers name was second choice as long as it's a well know company that produces quality products. I don't like Anderson because of the cheesy logo. That in no way infers that their lowers and uppers won't make a decent gun. Anderson makes their own receivers and supply a lot of Gun companies with their receivers. They have a row of CNC machines that looks like a car dealer row of cars. They work around the clock producing receivers for a host of vendors. Their own logo line of receivers just happen to be very inexpensive. That's because they make their own.

 

[Robroyb]

I agree with their suggestion except for one part the Bolt Carrier Group. The Barrel, BCG and trigger are what makes or breaks the gun. I like a tight fit and that's a matter of preference. The name and look is fluff. Now the resale value is a point altogether. There are guns that will command a premium over a course of time. When a gun is well made the name doesn't matter to me.

Agreed, but I'd add one point to that. The quality of the build.

I say that since I just took a 2 day class on the proper build and diagnosis of problem areas. My Frankin-gum was not built well, hammer spring in upside down, and other minor parts backward, it was working, but over time, maybe a hard day training or a couple thousand rounds, and it would have malfunctioned.

Another area he taught us was in the proper torque of the stock and staking of the castle nut, as well as the staking done on the bcg.

These areas are overlooked regularly, or not done well both by owner builds and factory builds. Its so common in fact, that the instructor was able to predict the errors before taking my factory upper apart for inspection.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[ShooterG]

Agreed, but I'd add one point to that. The quality of the build.

I say that since I just took a 2 day class on the proper build and diagnosis of problem areas. My Frankin-gum was not built well, hammer spring in upside down, and other minor parts backward, it was working, but over time, maybe a hard day training or a couple thousand rounds, and it would have malfunctioned.

Another area he taught us was in the proper torque of the stock and staking of the castle nut, as well as the staking done on the bcg.

These areas are overlooked regularly, or not done well both by owner builds and factory builds. Its so common in fact, that the instructor was able to predict the errors before taking my factory upper apart for inspection.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

Was this class local? Can you share who?

I've had good luck with my $200 barreled uppers - but would like to take them apart and rebuild with proper knowledge and tools to make them better if possible.

 

[Robroyb]

Was this class local? Can you share who?

I've had good luck with my $200 barreled uppers - but would like to take them apart and rebuild with proper knowledge and tools to make them better if possible.

Yup, last weekend down at FMJ gun store and range in LaGrange. The instructor wasn't local tho. He takes this class all over the country to both LEO/Military and open enrollment for the public. Here's his info.

William Larson

The poster was part of the gun store hosting the class. He's on here with us in the ODT community.

Sorry the pics are sideways, if you can't read what they say, I'll post in clearer. Just let me know. I'd recommend this class, even if you need to hop a flight out of state. We had a class of 15. 2 were from out of state there to get in on the class.

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[SpeedyR]

Another area he taught us was in the proper torque of the stock and staking of the castle nut, as well as the staking done on the bcg.

These areas are overlooked regularly, or not done well both by owner builds and factory builds. Its so common in fact, that the instructor was able to predict the errors before taking my factory upper apart for inspection.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

for sure this is an area of concern and I had forgotten about the BCG. One of my factory rifles, an LMT MRP, had some issues when I got it and it took me a while to figure out it was because the factory bolt carrier had not been properly staked. Once that was fixed it ran like a top, but I was very surprised that the factory job had been botched on a "premium" brand. Looked fine but after trying a host of other fixes, we figured out what it was. Now it's been properly staked and won't come loose.