A few lowers compared

[shepherm]

Ok first off this is just my opinion and is here to help anyone looking to buy a lower. I thought I might compare a few lowers that I had a chance to have around the place (some friends and I got together!)

Here is the list of lower I had a chance to compare:

Colt x2
Rock River Arms x1
DPMS x2
Double Star x1
Tactical Machining x3

As you can tell there are a lot of others that are not on the list, I could not make a comparison with these since I did not have them. It’s funny how so many people tell you how good a product is but if you ask compared to what, they do not know. So please this isn’t trying to sell any lower or say mine is better than yours it is just a comparison. I posted on here a last year about Bill Springfield’s trigger work and someone posted asking if I was on his payroll. Now there have been many that have used him and love his work. So I am not getting paid for this (but I could use some money).

Fit of lower to upper:

All of the lowers fit very well and tight. If all you want is a good fitting lower than any of these would be great for your build and stop reading now.

Machining:

By far the DPMS was the best on machining all the forging marks off. These marks do not help or hurt function or fit but it looks cleaner and I like them gone.

Next in line was Tactical Machining with one machine mark that I did not like. It is very small and most people would never know it but having a little machining background it drives me nuts.

Next is the RRA lower which is very nice except they didn’t fully machine out the trigger area. They did a good job cleaning it up but didn’t quite finish it (this has nothing to do with function, it is just looks). The DPMS and Tactical Machining did and that’s why they are higher on the list.

Colt and Double Star I rank together since they both didn’t even try removing the forge marks in the trigger area.

Finish:

All finishes looked very good and matched well except the Double Star which was very shiny looking like a semi-gloss instead of the more flat look. The Double Star matched a Model 1 upper very well but did not match the color of any others we had.

I would rank them as:

1 DPMS
2 Tactical Machining
3 RRA
4 Colt
5 Double Star

This is weighted with the fit 50%, machining 25%, and finish 25% and has nothing to do with cost.
The list might change a little with cost.
1 and 2 switch
4 and 5 switch

I might add some pictures later if people are interested.

 

[mmchambers06]

Interesting post.

I think pics would go a long way in describing what you're talking about...because I'm a guy with absolutely no machining experience.

 

[KurtM]

Gasp!! You will surely burn for saying anything good about DPMS on this forum! "Everyone" knows that any DPMS product is inferior, sub-standard JUNK! The chart man, the chart!

 

[mr ed]

what exactly do you mean when you say the rra was not fully machined in the trigger area. please elaborate.

 

[shepherm]

Ok here are some pictures:

First is the Tactical Machining

2nd is RRA

3rd Colt

 

[GlockCop]

Well I dont see anything that will affect function. That is some pretty minor stuff and I dont know that I would have even seen it. I went and looked and I cant see anything much on either my Colt or Mega lower.

 

[shepherm]

Glockcop
You are right. Like I said in my post if you just want a good fitting lower stop reading and buy any of them. All are milspec and will work great for anyone. Some people and companies pay more attention to details. This post was to show some details that you can look for (I know its small details but thats about all I could find wrong with them). I shot all of the lowers that I posted about and all worked great.

 

[liliysdad]

I will take the forging marks on the Colt. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to waste the machining time to remove them.

This goes to show that the AR15 has become jewelry in the vast majority of cases.

 

[ez bake]

Glockcop
You are right. Like I said in my post if you just want a good fitting lower stop reading and buy any of them. All are milspec and will work great for anyone. Some people and companies pay more attention to details. This post was to show some details that you can look for (I know its small details but thats about all I could find wrong with them). I shot all of the lowers that I posted about and all worked great.

Just out of curiosity - how did you judge fitting other than visually? With a machining background, surely you have a set of calipers laying around. The measurements of the old M-16 lower receiver are on the net - I'd love to see the differences in even just the FP/Trigger hole sizes in the receivers you've got (and which are in/out of spec).

Possibly even some of the measurements on inside/outside dimensions - that would tell you which really are/aren't mil-spec.

 

[KurtM]

Well since only 3 companies make the blank lower receiver that everyone uses to mill out their "own" lower receiver, I fail to see how Colt is sooo much better than anyone else's cause they don't "sole source" their blank...it can come from any of the 3, same for upper blanks...except there are 6 companies that make the upper blank.

For Lower blanks..Martin Marietta, Cerro Forge, and Alcoa
For Uppers... Alcoa, Kaiser aluminum, Anchor Harvey, Mueller Brass, Marten Marietta, and Cerro forge, so can anyone tell me why Colt is so much better, when they mix and match all the above, just like all the other big builders? A Bushmaster upper with a key hole mark ( Cerro Forge ) is inferior to a Colt upper with a Key Hole on it how?? A Les Baer upper with the Key Hole is worse than a Colt Key Hole How?? They all came from the same forge, but I am to be told that when Colt buys it it magically becomes better??

I think it was said best when someone pointed out that the "mil spec" of the AR is circa 1957, so you are worshiping 1957 metallurgy and technology.... basically. Great old timer but things do advance.

I for one will take the one that has the best machining cause if they are doing that right, chances are that they took the time to make sure all the important holes are in the right place too!