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Genuine Question; What’s the difference between a lower receiver from a budget brand and a lower receiver from a reputable brand? Let’s say PSA compared to LMT (Defender lower), both don’t have ambidextrous controls, but only retain the standard standard mil-spec trigger, buffer tube, and other
updated 11 months, 2 weeks ago
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Genuine Question; What’s the difference between a lower receiver from a budget brand and a lower receiver from a reputable brand? Let’s say PSA compared to LMT (Defender lower), both don’t have ambidextrous controls, but only retain the standard standard mil-spec trigger, buffer tube, and other
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Fit, finish, tolerances are the big 3
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The roll Mark and the quality control. Other then that, most are the same.
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When you’re dealing with milspec lowers, an in-spec lower is an in-spec lower. That said, the higher tier brands offer peace of mind when it comes to quality control, fit, and finish.
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* Cheaper lowers tend to be out of spec more often than expensive ones. Anderson in particular has had lots of lowers turn out with bad machining and drilling. Cheap Aero M4 lowers tend to be a lot better.
* Nicer lowers tend to be finished better. Better and more complete machining, fewer burs and dings on edges. Beveling. Someone else linked nauticalmile’s side by side and you can see where Anderson takes shortcuts or skips steps in their CNC process and where Aero doesn’t.
* Nicer lowers tend to be more feature rich. Flared mag wells, mag well grip cuts, integral trigger guards, tensioning set screws, threaded pins, etc.
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Are we talking stripped lowers or complete lowers?
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Finish, mainly. I wouldn’t even buy a milspec lower nowadays, no matter the roll mark. I’d rather have something with improved features. Civilian sales are driving innovation faster than the military can adopt.
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You already know peeps will say….”Get that LMT…forget the price. You’ll be cooler, have bragging rights and maybe be accepted into the gucci AR club.” Lol! You’ll score major cool points in FB and IG as well. Now how can you say no to that!?
Bwahahahahaha!!!! -
my anderson lower was true to spec (luckily?) so it function as well as my noveske gen 3 lower. infact, the anderson is lighter
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As an owner of a complete Defender 2000 lower I bought from a Pawn Shop for $280 OTD I can tell you the quality is superb. The finish on it, for being probably 15 years old is still in immaculate condition and actually has this nice matte like finish to it, maybe from age. I don’t even know how many rounds the trigger group has seen but it still runs flawless with a cheap $300 7075 forged ATI Upper receiver that fits like a glove. I’m pretty sure it still has the trigger that came from the factory. A little gritty imho but I think that mine just needs a little polish and a lube. I’m honestly not a trigger snob but I can see why people dislike the standard mil-spec trigger, I enjoy it tbh I find it predictable. I also feel like the LMT Defender comes with higher quality metal controls such as bolt catch and safety selector. I know some cheaper options come with less quality metal for bolt catches/safeties to save cost. But are they really better metal than say an PSA kit, I don’t know objectively. Comparatively you’re not getting much else in the way of features, with a Defender lower which LMT no longer makes AFAIK because it’s a basic entry model. The tolerances on my LMT seem pretty damn good too. My front pivot pin loves to hold onto the upper receiver. Sad thing is I don’t get a retention pin but the tolerances are so tight that my upper receiver barely has any play, you wouldn’t be able to fit 2 sheets of printer paper through the gap. I haven’t held many ARs but my rifle feels pretty light and nimble, just BUIS, Stream light Protac HLX, and 30 rounders. I’d say about 9lbs or less.
EDIT: Oh and in the conversation of say PSA vs LMT. One is issued to militaries such as Estonia, New Zealand, and the UK; the other is LARPER proven with known QC issues in this year of 2021.
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Im going to say that functionally you can get away with quite a bit of play between the upper and lower receiver, but there will be wobble if you have tolerance stacking. My aero slick upper and M4e1 lower are very tight together, but the upper that came with my first AR definitely has some legroom. Not enough to cause issues, but it’s movement is audible
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QC and clout. I’m not a fan of “mil spec is mil spec” but “In spec is in spec”. As long as the receiver is made right there really isn’t a difference
