AR Lowers Questions

[CCPatriot]

Hello Fellow Shooters,
I have been shooting and collecting for years. I have just made my first AR purchase. RRA LAR15. I have some knowledge about revolvers, pistols, bolt action and semi-auto rifles but I'm very new to the AR. I would like to build a couple more for myself before the dreaded Oct 1st catastrophe. My question is what type of lower am I looking for? What brands? My Rock River seems nice but I was looking for something a little nicer (if that makes sense). Should I get a stripped or complete lower? What are the advantages of each? What type of material... i see different materials used for different brands? What are the advantages of each? I saw a couple of Spikes Tac that seemed to have good reviews. Any info would be helpful

 

[drking2]

I am buying spikes lowers, putting in safe then putting together whenever.

 

[lennyk]

Hello. I prefer stripped lowers since I am picky on the fire control group (trigger and safety). The Geisele triggers are amazing, along with Timney. The AR is a remarkable platform in that it is standardized. There are basically 2 types of lowers, forged and billet. Forged lowers universally look identical short of the roll marks that denote the manufacture. The billet ones are a bit fancier with the milling. Preferred material is 7075 over 6061 (it is stronger), but realistically probably makes no difference. 6061 is easier to machine. I have not seen significant differences among forged lowers only to the extent of the anodizing and the finish. They are all "mil-spec." Billet lowers have a unique look. My most favorite billets are Seekins and CMT tactical, along with Mark at Precision Firearms (he is local). Hope this helps.

 

[MauiWowie]

Can't get any "Nicer" than this

http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=1511

 

[MauiWowie]

Cheaper Forged version...

http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=3446

 

[MonkeyPunch]

Can't get any "Nicer" than this

http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=1511

Cheaper Forged version...

http://www.rainierarms.com/?page=shop/detail&product_id=3446

I've heard things on MDS about problems with stolen credit card numbers after shopping with Rainier Arms. May want to check it out before shopping with them (at least in the short-term).

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=127282&highlight=rainier+arms

 

[MauiWowie]

I've heard things on MDS about problems with stolen credit card numbers after shopping with Rainier Arms. May want to check it out before shopping with them (at least in the short-term).

http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=127282&highlight=rainier+arms

I wasn't saying buy from them I was just showing the lower.
Check joebobs he might have them

 

[CCPatriot]

Thanks for all of the info guys. It has been very helpful. Please keep posting replies. I'm an information sponge

 

[eruby]

Aero still has the $85 blemished lowers (looks pristine to me) with free shipping.

Use Bollinger's (I. P.) in Taneytown for the $30 MDShooters 8 day release.

Win!

http://aeroprecisionusa.com/shop/ar15-stripped-lower-receiver-w-cosmetic-blemishes

 

[pwoolford]

I have a variety of forged lowers from at least 5 manufactures and they are all fine. Any of them can be built into whatever I dream up for an AR build. I do prefer my Seekins and Adcor billet because they look cooler and have built in trigger guards but they all esentially function the same. Some may have ambi bolt catches or mag releases and that is really neat but I prefer to train with a standard mil-spec type AR.

My advice is buy a few if you can afford it and put them away until you know what you want to build. It may be a longer range precision gun or an SBR or something in between. Either way the stripped lower world ends on October 1 so I'm shopping appropriately!

 

[buzzsaw]

I've been enjoying my two safe queen Palmetto State Armory stripped lowers. Buy at $100 each, pay for a transfer (if Bollingers is doing $30, that's the best price I've heard since I started my first paperwork in January), sit in the safe until you're ready to piece together.

Anything Forged or Billet will work nicely. My understanding is there's little difference between the two, but I've noticed Billet has the trigger guard already in place, and I see more "fanciness" on the Billet lowers than I do on Forged. I've got no personal problem with the two Forged lowers I have though, so it's all taste.

Not too many actual manufacturers of lowers - just a lot of "Roll Marks" (labels), similar to how you'll see thirty brands of light bulbs at Home Depot which all actually only come from one or two manufacturers.