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I've got the hankering to try my hand at finishing a 80% lower. Do you guys have any advice? Recommended makes? I am not interested in the polymer route.
The polymer ones are the easiest. I know you said you weren't interested in going that way but I can take an 80% poly have it "milled and drilled", and assemble a functioning weapon in just about an hour.
Aluminum lowers will take much longer. I guess the best "advice" I could give is sharp bits and a quality jig.
It is designed to be used with a small router. Works well.
Shop around for best price on lowers. Been a while since I've shopped for them but IRCC, prices ranged from about $50 to more than twice that. Poly's can be had for about $30. Give preference to the ones with the rear pocket already milled.
Well thank you for the reply. I ended up ordering a Easy Jig from 80%, I was actually trying to decide between that one and the one you recommended. Both will allow a router. Got 3 anodized 80% lowers from an outfit called AMT (American Made Tactical). can't really find any info on em, and it appears they just started business this year. But I figured 3 lowers to start on for $150.....won't feel so terrible if if it don't go so well my first couple times. Now I've got to decide on a parts kit, trigger, but stock.....I'm gonna drive myself knuts. Definitely open to advice.
There are really only a few manufacturers that forge the lowers. Probably Cerro Forge being the most popular. All the companies buy from these suppliers and put their own names on them. That's why you need to shop around for price. All things being equal, an Anderson forged lower for $40 is no different than a RRA or Spikes forged lower for $120. You just pay more for a name.
Good luck and enjoy crafting your own. Watch plenty of YouTube videos.
I have an aluminum one laying here on my desk and will give it a shot in the next week. I have a polymer lower I was going to use with my Grendel build and was worried that it would not work well. Anyway, I will post my thoughts after I either successfully complete the lower or screw it all up.
I have used both the early version (the one raided and confiscated by ATF) and the later versions of the EP Armory poly lowers. The later ones do seem to be a denser material. Supposedly, they are kevlar reinforced. I don't think there is that much stress put on the lower that it wouldn't hold up.
I've used both Anderson Rifles 80% and Daytona Tactical. They have both worked out well for me. I just built my first Gredel with an Anderson raw upper and lower. I finished the upper and lower with Duracoat FDE. Used an Odin Works 20" barrel, bolt, 15" K Mod fore grip, gas block and gas tube. I used an H-2 buffer with a mil-spec carbine length buffer and spring. For me, 80% is the way to go. Take your time and just do it once. If you use a router don't take deep cuts. It takes longer but if you stick to taking out about .064 or 1/16 it will come out nice. Don't set the drill to deep or you will have the drill tip divets in the bottom of the receiver. They don't hurt anything but I don't like the look of them. The thing about 80% lowers is that there are really only about 5 foundries in the nation that make them and then all of the other companies machine them to their specs. Your 80% lower can be every bit as good as a Spikes, Aero, Colt etc. I know that the Anderson lowers are produced by Cerro forge. Good luck but be careful, it becomes an addiction. My wife put a short leash on me after eight of them.
Other than having an unregistered gun,what is the point. Anderson lowers are $45 and an 80%is a lot more then you have to get the jig oh and don't forget the tooling so now your lower is at $250- $300 I can buy a bunch of forged lowers or a good ambi mega billet lower. I'm sorry but unless it's a ghost gun I just don't understand paying that much for a forged lowers
I have milled about 10 lowers and all with a Modulus Arms heavy duty jig. IMO the best jig bar none. Spendy but good. Blitzkrieg Tactical usually has the best prices and quality for both billlet and forged lowers. I get alot of satisfaction and pride in actually milling and cerakoteing myself. Go for it bud! For me, I have 6 unregistered ARS. Plan on many more. Look at "Stop buying ARs" on YouTube. Great video. I messed up my 1st one, but each one is better than the one before.
if you ordered with a credit card, then you just lost that anonymity.
Not necessarily JJ. Some companies don't associate transaction #'s with cc #'s. Most don't keep records that far back either. But perhaps the internet has your purchase stored away on a server in Utah somewhere....
I stayed away from 80% lowers just because once they are finished you are married to them. If you're away from them and your wife or whom ever else maybe be around they could argue possession. I would buy the 80%, jigs and tooling for the grey day when the serial numbers and dealer logs go from soft (hidden) registration to go to hard registration/confiscation.
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