AR lower opinion needed

[pjcalla]

Hey folks,

I have a choice between 3 different lowers, and need your opinions. They are all the same price, and was wondering which, if any, you would buy. Rock River, Hughes Precision, or Yankee Hill? Has anyone had experience with Hughes Precision or Yankee Hill? Thanks.

 

[shooter521]

Hey folks,

I have a choice between 3 different lowers, and need your opinions. They are all the same price, and was wondering which, if any, you would buy. Rock River, Hughes Precision, or Yankee Hill? Has anyone had experience with Hughes Precision or Yankee Hill? Thanks.

RRA or YHM; flip a coin. Never heard of Hughes.

 

[cosermann]

Hmm. I don't have any personal experience with Huges or YHM lowers, nor do I know anyone who has one, nor have I ever heard either of these vendors' lowers discussed in a forum. YHM has been around the AR scene for some time (lots of accessories); just don't have any experience with their lowers. I'm with Shooter521; never heard of Hughes.

RRA is the best known of the three you listed which will help your resale value if you ever want to sell. Outside of the AR community, few people have heard of YHM, but anyone looking at ARs online for 10 minutes had heard of Colt, Bushmaster, RRA, Armalite, DPMS, and Olympic.

FYI - AR Lower Receiver FAQ (56k beware) MMS, CMT, LAR, LMT compared... - AR15.COM

As suggested, you can flip a coin to pick between most lowers machined from forgings.

 

[pjcalla]

Thanks for the info. Are there other manufacturers that I should consider? Spikes, CMMG, Double Star, Colt, Bushy.......? If you were going to build an AR, what stripped lower would you start with? This will be my first AR and wanting to know opinions before I get the BRD.

 

[Don]

A lower is a lower, made at one of 5 foundries. It all comes down to what roll mark you like. I build mine on Double Star lowers due to the teflon finish, nice and slick.

 

[antsi]

I don't think it makes a lot of difference. I just built my first one on a Stag lower with a RRA parts kit.

There may be something to what they said above about brand name recognition. If you ever wanted to sell it, people have heard of RRA.

 

[dave29]

Out of those three, I would go for the RRA if they are all the same price.

 

[r6vr6]

i like rra but would probably get the one that fit my upper the best

 

[cosermann]

Thanks for the info. Are there other manufacturers that I should consider? Spikes, CMMG, Double Star, Colt, Bushy.......? If you were going to build an AR, what stripped lower would you start with? This will be my first AR and wanting to know opinions before I get the BRD.

In addition to all those mentioned, Anvil Arms and Essential Arms supply decent lowers if you're interested in comprehensively surveying all the lowers out there.

As mentioned earlier, however, there should be little difference in quality between lowers made by machining forgings. That said, work with a reputable mfg/dealer who will make things right if you happen to get a defective lower that made it through the QA process somehow. Other than that, another difference between the lowers is the color/finish used. It's important to some folks that their lowers "match" their uppers cosmetically. Some folks don't care.

You can put together a serviceable AR from any of the usual lowers out there.

 

[csaws]

Spikes has theirs on sale until the end of Sept for $89.95

I had a pair of them, they are nicely "built" pieces

 

[smitty12b]

Spike's is having a sale
Lowers : Spikes Tactical

I have 2 spike's lowers and love em, didn't get em for 89 buck though.

 

[bigcraig]

While Don is correct that most lowers all come from the same few foundries, the companies that do the machining can vary greatly.

Over the years these are my personal observations with the lowers that I have owned or built up for friends.

1)RRA, never had an issue with these and they are usually tight fitting to most upper recievers.

2) Superior Arms, I had two issues with the lowers being out of spec. (Front pivot pin location was a bit low.) That said they did replace them, but the fact that the "bad" lowers made it out to the public shows lack of QC.

3) STAG, personal favorite of mine, all that I have ever seen have shown great craftsmanship. (I built two of these into SBRs.) Although the roll mark is something to be desired.

4) Essential Arms, I have 4 of these lowers on the shelf from a group buy in which I purchased 5 total. The one lower that I built up into my 3-gun rifle was in spec and well made. I actually have a LaRue billet upper reciever on this gun and the fit is very good.

5) Doublestar, dont own any currently but I have built up a few of the for friends. No issues to report.

6) Sun Devil, again, don't own one personally but have built one for a friend. No issues to report.

There have been others over the years, the above are only the ones that come to mind quickly.

 

[motoman]

if the lowers are to mil specs they should all work fine. like previous posters stated, they all are made from a few companies.

 

[remymartin]

I like my DPMS, but for 89.95 I'd vote for the Spike's

 

[sporter]

As others have said I would get the RRA.

 

[Shep79]

I personally prefer RRA or Stag. Never had a quality issue with these two!

 

[50bmgshooter]

If you want to try something different....call REO Engineering in Galveston. pretty sure its billet aluminum. Bit pricey but .003 of an inch thicker all the way around and about 1/8" longer where the buffer tube screws in. plus the trigger guard is cut into the lower and is solid. I have one for my 50bmg upper. runs about 300.

 

[smitty12b]

If you want to try something different....call REO Engineering in Galveston. pretty sure its billet aluminum. Bit pricey but .003 of an inch thicker all the way around and about 1/8" longer where the buffer tube screws in. plus the trigger guard is cut into the lower and is solid. I have one for my 50bmg upper. runs about 300.

 

[Rick983]

Armalite all the way!!!!