I was looking around this post and couldnt find a definitive answer as to what ar lower would be the best starting point for a build...I met the 21st century guy at gun show..got to talk to him for a min..but I was pressed for time.(I was supposed to be fixing a tire) he he...
Generally speaking there are only a few companies in the US that make the actually raw forging, from there they are sent to individual machine shops where the are finished machined. When it comes to lowers you mainly just choose which "rollmark" you like the best, pony, spider, snake etc... Some machine shops are also making raw billet lowers instead of using raw forged lowers.
LaRue makes some nice Billet ones... Of course you have to buy their Upper to be able to buy their Lower.
Noveske makes some really nice ones as well.
I think you'd get better recommendations if you gave a price range or more detail on what you have planned for your build. Otherwise you might as well title this "What's your favorite AR Lower?"
I'm a huge fan of Firebird Precision lowers and second favorite is the Sun Devil parts. For normal Mil-SPec lowers I suppose Spikes or whoever's cheapest...
Really, as long as you avoid Blackthorne/Hesse/vulcan you should be ok. Though there have been some recent reports of Roggio being way out of spec, and another one, was it Doublestar? the one that's the same as JT distributing?
I got a complete DPMS lower at Indy gun show last fall, I think I spent $225 for it.
Indy gun show is this week end I'm going to try to pick up some upper parts and do a upper build.
Rock River seems to have the best for the price. I have AR's that have Rock Rivers, Nodak, Doublestar, Stag, and Colt.
They all work great with no complaints on any of them. In the past I have had Bushmaster, Eagle Arms, EA, Armalite with no problems.
Like an above post said, anything with Hess, Vulcan, or Blackthorn stay away from. I have tried a few of the plastic lowers (Armalite, Cav Arms) and have had problems.
I personally like the inexpensive ones I picked up during the group buys that were going on. Got one with and AF logo. Got one with a Marine Eagle Globe and Anchor that I plan on building for my daughter someday. She likes the standard A2 20" like the one she trained on so that will be cheap if I buy one of the rifle kits.
I have a DPMS complete that has never failed me in a few thousand rounds. I bought a Spike's Tactical lower for 89.95 +ship +transfer, went together like butter. You'd be hard pressed to find a lower of that quality for the $$$. IMHO opinions on lowers, or AR's in general, is just a Ford vs. Chevy arguement unless you are going into battle.