I suspect someone cranked up their injection moulder and went heavy on these lowers in anticipation of a Clinton dynasty. Either that or theyre just really, really sketchy lowers:
I freely admit that a plastic AR lower kinda makes sense….all the heavy lifting takes place in the upper half, and I’ve seen guys make AR lowers outta all sortsa materials. But….while I have a lot of faith in the durability of polymer handguns, I am less confident in polymer rifles. Nonetheless….MGE Wholesale is selling these things and a case of them might not be a bad hedge against the future.
I have an ATI Hybrid lower and it has been great so far. It’s been flawless and i’d trust it with my life. I don’t plan on buttstroking anyone or mortaring the thing. It does have a aluminum block that the buffer tube and rear pin goes through which helps in strength. The only problem that i’ve run into is that I had to take a tiny drill bit to take the flashing out of the front pivot pin spring hole. I’d buy another and have no fear
I too an skeptical of poly AR pattern lowers however just as with the handguns, all the heavy stress parts have a steel re-enforcement in place.
I am warming to these poly lowers as I purchased a JMT 80% DPMS pattern AR-10 lower. I’ve put not a great amount of rounds downrange with it yet (less than 150) but these were full power 168 GR bullets pushed by 42 GR of IMR 4064. No cracks, no wear and the only noticeable difference was there the upper pushed a bit on the buffer tube ring (steel re-enforcement).
I’m ttrying these lowers but will not by any means throw them on my front line rifles until I have tortured them to past what I expect to do and they pass without question.
$30? I might have to get a few just torture and see.
I’d rather have one $300 lower than ten $30 lowers, but that’s me.
And yes, I get that you’d be buying them mostly for future sales/barter purposes, but still.
Agreed. A whole case full of crap is still crap.
A $300 lower is isn’t better, merely more expensive. You’re paying for decorative touches on a machined billet — an inferior material to a forging.
Other than the markings on the side, there is little real difference between any of the lowers machined from forgings. Some claim to be machined to “tighter” specifications, some have prettier finishes, but the reality is that the machining is almost entirely done by CNC mills running the same program, and the prettiness is simply someone spending more time on a polishing wheel before anodizing and dying.
I built a wickedly lightweight carbine on a Cavalry Arms one pice polymer complete lower; absolutely rocked! Even though I know the lower doesn’t hold any real pressure, I still like metal lowers. I’d really like to see someone make a stainless steel lower. It would last forever!
I’ve got a hunch we’ll be seeing Anderson aluminum forged lowers at the $30 price point in the not-too-distant future.
Not unlikely. They’re at $45 currently and have been as low at $40 in the past.
And they’re as good as any of the $120 or $180 or more forged “mil spec” lowers. Machined from a Cerro Forge 7075-T6 forging, good job of cleaning up the forging die “seam,” accurately machined, good job on the finish. The only reason to pay more is if you dislike the name and/or logo on the side.
I suspect the $36 Tapco lowers Copes had a while back were also well-made. But some people confuse spending more money with getting a better product.
yeah, i already picked up an anderson metal lower for 49 bucks. too much diff in quality to cheap-out on.
Went to the gun show this past weekend. Windham were as low as 499.00. A lot of ARs in the 500 to 650 range. Even saw a Rock River for 649.00. I had one dealer tell me he lowered his prices to the point, he was just breaking even. Serves them right, they were think Hillary would win and were planning on making a killing in selling those 500.00 ARs for 2,000.00!!!!! So, its a buyer market right now!!!!