I'm getting ready to buy a stripped AR lower receiver...

Caligater

Caligater

New member
First off, this is my first exposure to building an AR, so I'm very green. My Dad has a couple, but bought them as complete guns, so this is new to me.

I'm thinking I better buy a lower receiver while I still can in CA. There are several guys at work building them too, but I'm building mine for different reasons. They all want super short, collapsible stock jobs and I want a predator/target gun. I'm going to top this with a 24", .223, flat-top.

Here are the stripped lowers I am debating between:

[*]Spike's Tactical SL-15 Stripped Lower Receiver with Color Fill[*]JD Machine AR15 Stripped Lower Receiver[*]Mega Forged Stripped Lower Receiver[*]Stag Arms STAG-15 stripped lower receiver[/list]

These are all Forged, 7075, mil-spec receivers, so they're basically the same from what I can gather. Does anyone with more experience with these have any preference?
 
Ive built lowers with Stags/Spikes/CMMG/DPMS/RRA/Essentials, forged lowers are all pretty much the same when it comes down to it, some will have a better finnish than others.
Look at these:
http://essentialarms.com/ieLOWERSANDPARTS.HTML
http://www.rockriverarms.com/
If you plan to carry that 24" upper any distance you are goin to wish you went shorter, a 20" will be tad lighter and you wont loose accuracy with it.
Make sure you get a nice single or 2 stage trigger for varminting or targets....you will be MUCH happier!
 
Thanks guys. I was just checking out the RRA 2 stage triggers. That is one of my must haves for this gun. I also want a tactical grip and I see you can order lower parts kits from RRA with both the better trigger and grip.

I am still kicking around the idea of the 20" bbl. too.

I'm going to build this slowly over the next year or so which will give me plenty of time to research barrels.
 
a 24 inch barrel isn't effective if your going to be hiking a lot. You don't get enough velocity gain for the extra length and weight. 20 is plenty long in my opinion.

I like Spikes lowers myself. They have a super clean and smooth finish and the ability to customize them is just a plus.

I would look at something other than the RRA trigger. I have shot with them on two different guns and they are a pretty good factory trigger, but still factory. Look at Timney, Geissele or Jewel triggers. I have a Geissele high speed two stage on my latest build and it is a great trigger.

The things to put your money into on an AR build is the trigger and barrel.
 
Originally Posted By: HPWa 24 inch barrel isn't effective if your going to be hiking a lot. You don't get enough velocity gain for the extra length and weight. 20 is plenty long in my opinion.

I like Spikes lowers myself. They have a super clean and smooth finish and the ability to customize them is just a plus.

I would look at something other than the RRA trigger. I have shot with them on two different guns and they are a pretty good factory trigger, but still factory. Look at Timney, Geissele or Jewel triggers. I have a Geissele high speed two stage on my latest build and it is a great trigger.

The things to put your money into on an AR build is the trigger and barrel.


Good advice all around.

I was talking ARs tonight with a couple guys and I think you're right about the triggers, I'll look into the other options.

Since you said to put the money into the barrel too, which barrels do you like?
 
I've heard great things about Olympic barrels (though their complete rifles get ragged on), Krieger is one of the best, and White Oak Armament (WOA) barrels are also great. WOA barrels are probably up there for value, they cost some coin but they are a high quality barrel. What kind of accuracy are you looking for out of this gun? 1moa, under moa, or .5moa? Lots of barrels can fill the role of 1.5moa or less, not many can do .5moa or less. If you're looking for the most accurate barrel you will be looking for a stainless barrel, and the chrome lined bore/chamber of alot of the barrels out there is for military and high round count range use. Most hunters don't put enough rounds downrange to need the corrosion/erosion resistance of the chrome lined barrels IMO, and a slight accuracy loss is also associated with the CL barrels. If you're new to the AR, do some good researching over on ar15.com, tons of info and if you search my screen name you should find I asked some similar barrel questions.

For the lower, I have to vote Spikes just because I love mine and everything went together great for a great price. Also I love the logo.

Lastly, you might look into having an upper built for you by someone who really knows what they're doing and can get you the accuracy that you want.. Dedicated Technologies, or D-Tech, would be the perfect place to go to. Also a PM sponsor... Everyone raves about their rifles. Good luck, have fun, post pics!
 
I've used Stag and Oly lower receivers and they're both nice.

Quote:I've heard great things about Olympic barrels

I've had 3 and they all shot sub-MOA. 2 stainless 20" bull barrels and a 20" SUM. The SUM is .223 only, so you can't shoot 5.56 NATO through it. If you're going 24", though, and plan on carrying it around, you won't want a bull barrel.

Quote:Dedicated Technologies, or D-Tech, would be the perfect place to go to.

Yeah, Mike built my current upper (using the Oly SUM barrel). He could flute enough weight off a 24" bull barrel to make it tolerable to carry. You'll be waiting a good, long time for one, because he got backordered due to customer demand.
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Originally Posted By: CaligaterThanks guys. For the top end I'm probably going to go with an upper half assembly.

At this time, I'm leaning in a direction of something like this:

http://www.rockriverarms.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=271

I have an RRA upper in this configuration. It was purchased
before they gave it this name, but it is the same upper. I
hate the thing. I have such a hard time measuring the group
sizes because this stupid thing wants to shoot the bullets
into the same hole.
wink.gif
Or at least my 55 gr. Nosler BT loads
seem to go in the same hole.

In all seriousness, this is a great bench gun, or a colony
varmint gun, where you haul it to the bench, shoot it, and
haul it back to the vehicle. I wouldn't want to haul it
around the bush, for varmints/predators. I have a 16" HBar
RRA, mid-length hand guard,in 6.8mm SPC, that shoots 90 gr.
HPs into sub MOA groups, that is a much better bushwacking
rifle. And when it hits a coyote, there aren't many
spinners. And when there is one, the blood trail isn't long,
or hard to follow.
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If you are stuck on the 223
chambered upper, then I would opt for a shorter lighter barrel.
Or at least a lighter barrel. With the right loads, with fast
powders, you just won't see much difference in MV with a barrel
longer than 16". This advice is given considering this is
a walk-about hunting rifle. If you want bench accuracy, with
as I mused, one hole groups, then yes get the target barreled
upper, but start doing some weight lighting, and invest in
a good padded sling, and a good bipod.

Squeeze
 
I plan on using this gun mostly for squirrel and prairie dog hunting, maybe the occasional coyote hunt and mostly target shooting and plinking. I have a Browning A-bolt in .223 WSSM that would be much more pleasant to haul around all day, so the weight isn't too big of a deal. I also don't want it so heavy that I can't carry it from the car to the bench...lol.
 
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I have a 20" bull upper, customer build. I am very happy with it. I think I got the best of both worlds, not too heavy, and extremely accurate.

As far as lowers, I have used DPMS, Stag and Spikes, I agree with several of the comments here, they are all very much standardized, I think you would have to look long and hard to fine one that wasn't good.

If you look on the AR forum, there were a couple of posts about a new polymer lower, that sounded cool. Looks like they are new, so have a great introductory price. Hard to get a solid read though, if they will hold up, because they are so new. good luck.
 
I picked up (well, bought anyway) a JD machine stripped lower tonight. Seeing them all in person I thought that the finish on the JD was as good or better than some others, and it was $10 cheaper, so why pay more for something is virtually the same? I went into the shop expecting to walk out with a Spikes, but I wasn't impressed with all the casting areas that were still on it and the magazine well had little to no bevel to it. It's not a big deal, but I liked the JD better.

Now, I wait for 10 days.
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Well, I picked up the lower tonight, and while I had the background check paid for, I picked up a second one too. They had a pretty good deal going when you bought two anyway. Here they are just before going in the safe where they're going to stay until after my wedding this summer. That is soaking up all additional funds at the moment. I'm thinking about doing the second one in .40 S&W.

SDC10896.jpg
 
There is a lot of nice uppers around and you should be able find one that will suit your hunting/shooting style. I went Bushmaster about ten years or so ago and have not regretted it at all. Wow, I just looked at what lowers are going for now. I got 4 RRA's from a guy named Pete on AR15.com back then for about $80 each. Wished I had bought a 100 of them. Better than the stock market. Dave
 
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