Favorite Lowers

fxred

New member
I am thinking about ordering a 204 upper from Ritch. 204 simply because of the velocity and less chances of a ricochet. I just wanted opinions on what everyone's favorite lowers are. I can assemble one if need be so all options are on the table. Just looking for opinions. Thanks in advance.
 
My favorites are the ones that are on sale the most. Really, the parts you put in the lower matter much more than the lower itself...so long as the receiver itself is within specs.

I have built a lot of very accurate ARs off of Anderson blem'd lowers. A few other brands as well, but Anderson seem to work just as well and one can typically find them for ~$40.
 
My first lower was a Mega. Then a couple of years ago, I bought four 80% lowers and a friend had the jig. They have been flawless.
 
Originally Posted By: varminter .223I can't find anything wrong with my $40 Anderson's. spot on.... i have 6 AR's built on these.
 
Originally Posted By: Catdog1Originally Posted By: varminter .223I can't find anything wrong with my $40 Anderson's. spot on.... i have 6 AR's built on these.

I'm glad the Andersons are working out for you guys... But before I would recommend them I would tell people to search "issues with Anderson lowers"
There has been a lot of issues coming from these lowers, I tried one once and never again, their quality control leaves a lot to be desired
 
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Aero has come up with a "gen 2" lower now as well, it has a milled integrated trigger guard and a set screw under the pistol grip so you can adjust the screw and get rid of the common "wiggle" between upper and lower.

I have one of their original milspec lowers and it's been great for me. I even screwed up some hand loads and exploded my Aero upper once, upper destroyed, BCG destroyed, 30 round magazine was destroyed and ballooned, the mag spring and all ammo shot out the bottom of the mag. All I did was put another upper on the lower and a new magazine and it was shooting like new.

Aero now gets all of my business when it comes to uppers, lowers and handguards.
 



Most of mine are old Bushmaster or Rock River.
My newest one is a Spike, with a solid larger trigger guard.
I have the Spike for my pistol.
I even have a Plum Crazy around here, some where.
I have two DPMS AR-10's
 
i just put a Bushmaster Varminter upper on a new complete Anderson A2 lower...It has absolutely Zero play, i was able to shoot 1" groups @ 100yds, with 4 diff factory loads and favtory trigger....I have since replaced 90% of the parts in the lower with upgraded items, and now almost have enough parts to builsd a 2nd lower
 
Originally Posted By: fxredWow... what's the trigger quality on the aeros?

The trigger quality of any lower depends on the trigger put in it. The Aero lowers can be ordered with a milspec trigger, there may be other options from the factory that I am not aware of.

I am still using the milspec trigger but I have done a lot of work on it and I would be danged if just about anyone could tell me it's still just a plain ole' milspec trigger. My lower kit from Aero came with a light weight trigger spring but stock hammer spring which is just how I kept it. But I polished everything and put in a trigger adjuster screw and adjusted the set screw to the point I no longer have any noticeable take up or over travel and the reset is probably a couple thousands of an inch from keeping hold of the disconnector. That level of adjustment was beyond recommendations for the trigger adjuster screw and my safety no longer travels the full 90 degrees but even better, it only travels 45 degrees, so I drilled a tiny spot in the safety for the safety detent to catch.

So my milspec trigger still has a heavier pull than most aftermarket triggers, but lighter than milspec, I shoot a lot and with practice the weight doesn't bother me at all. But for the cost of a milspec lower parts kit and a $15 trigger adjuster screw I no longer have take up, over travel and a tiny reset with the added bonus of being polished smooth and now having a 45 degrees safety throw. And I still have the stock heavy hammer spring so I don't have to worry about any problems with light primer strikes(unlike some of the fancy spendy triggers.)

In all honesty the level of adjustment I have done on my factory trigger should come with a disclaimer, it's not necessarily safe but it's not permanent and can be reversed. I put a real beating on my gun(to the point I was worried about smashing something up) trying to get my trigger to both go off without the safety on and bang it around enough that my safety would disengage itself, it's been flawless so far and I've had a couple accidents that banged up the gun enough that the Leupold had to be sent back to the factory but the trigger held tight.
 
If you're not in a hurry you can build a nice lower fairly cheap with a good trigger in it. I just keep an eye on all my hunting forums and watch for deals on ar parts. Guys are selling stuff all the time so it shouldn't take much time.
 

Rock River
Bushmaster
DPMS
Spike
Plum Crazy

The last one I bought was a Spike, very nice.
Over size trigger guard, made a pistol.
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guess I got lucky. I bought 3 anderson lowers when PSA had them for $40 -3 or so years ago now- and all 3 have turned into good rifles without any issues.
 
I really like my aero lower. It fits up right to my upper don’t know if that’s a combination of good lower and upper or just just one of them. I did put the red wedge deal in and there is no play now. My buddies Anderson lower with the red wedge is still sloppy.
 
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