I am wanting to start a ground up build in the near future but have not decided on the final configuration.
Am looking at just assembling a stripped upper and lower and think about what to do after that.
My current rifle has an Anderson lower with an SSA-E trigger and accepts Pmag gen 2 and 3’s with no problem.
I have done a lot of reading on this forum and everything said about the Anderson lowers is good and mine has been good.
Question is, has anyone built a rifle using a stripped Anderson lower and stripped upper as a baseline ?
Have not seen or read anything about their stripped uppers on here.
Another question is the quality of their lower parts kits.
I’ve used their stripped lowers on several builds, and their lower parts kits on one. They’ve worked for their required purpose. Not sure I’d want to push their lower parts to the max, but for general use, they seem fine.
I have one build on an Anderson upper that is probably 2 years old. Everything seems fine with it. Hole for the barrel measures 1.002. I remember being impressed that it was halfway square on the face where the barrel mounted. It did have a slight burr on the edges of that face that I needed to stone off. Can’t remember how square it was but if it was out more than .002 I wouldn’t of been impressed. I’m a machinist, FWIW.
The local over rated larger gun store here in Knoxville that nauseates me to go into transitioned over to core15 as their standard shelf AR and anderson lowers as their stripped in stock option. So that said theres a lot of builds on their lowers bouncing around and I haven’t heard anything glaring about them. Seems like they put out some in spec lowers. I’m sure there’s some duds, but thats life.
That said, decent LPK’s are too easy to come by these days. Unless it’s for a run out to the range with some new shooters etc type gun, I would probably just go with something known until they are vetted. I mean its a LPK. The difference in the cheapest option and the most expensive is eating Ramen noodles over olive garden one time…
Thats the one. I Picked up a suppressor right after they changed the name/sold/whatever happened there. Have been one other time. My wife bought me a years membership to the indoor range for a christmas present last year and I haven’t even filled out the paperwork.
I got one with the integrated trigger guard last year, went together with a PSA parts kit perfectly. My buddy has his ffl and ordered a pack of five, so I picked up another from him based off my first impression. Needless to say, their quality seems to be slipping. Mine required extensive fitting in the pivot pin area and minor fitting for the bolt catch and the shelf that the pistol grip slides onto. It’s serving as a secondary/HD rifle with a hammer forged PSA upper. Shoots straight and that upper has already been confirmed as reliable so I don’t have an issue with it as is but I’d recommend that someone options up to a Aero Precision or a spikes if they can deal with the roll mark.
Why doesn’t anyone put out a lower with no markings except “Safe,” “Fire,” “5.56mm,” and the simplest and least obnoxious nomenclature legally required (like the manufacturer’s name and location)? No extra machining like the Mega Gator Grip, no silly picture of an animal or whatever, and no “Cal Multi” when most purchasers are going with 5.56/.223, one of the least expensive rifle calibers offered anywhere?
Seriously, if Colt or DD started selling stripped lowers that had nothing on them but the basic info (even in the same font as the selector markings), that’d be awesome. NoDak kinda does, but only in their Retro line (which are understandably more expensive). Crap like this (to say nothing about the Hellbreaker, Warthog, or other similar atrocities) is absolutely garish.
I bought an anderson lower a year or so back that had the magwell machined to far forward. Worked with GI mags but pmags wouldn’t fit due to the overhang from the lip on the upper. Seems like it will work as a 9mm build with the magwell insert though so its not a total loss. Sample of one however.
I have a stripped Anderson lower I’ve yet to start on.
After reading some of the horror stories I’m hoping it don’t turn into a paper weight with my name on it.
Thanks for what responses were received.
Well the lower is most likely good to go.
The upper is still in the air.
I will hold off until I decide what exactly I want to build.
At this time am wanting a precision shooter as a bench gun and prone F class shooter.
Not a beat around rifle like I have now.
The truth is I was looking to save on a stripped upper and lower at a descent price point and putting it towards the internal components and barrel.
I figure a properly manufactured upper and lower are just as good as some high dollar ones,(maybe, maybe not ?)
The Lija barrel I am looking at is over $600.
From what I’ve learned, one of the most important parts of building an accurate long range AR is going to be a squared off upper with tight barrel extension fit. If your gun shop is willing to let you test fit a few uppers to find just the right one for your barrel, you should be good to go.
I’ve put together a couple of Anderson lowers and everything fit fine and worked properly. Finish was pretty good, and they fit all of my uppers properly. For the money they’re hard to beat for a stripped lower. I have zero experience with their uppers.
I built this guy with an Andersen stripped upper from Primary Arms IIRC. Barrel fit was not sloppy at all, but I did not measure anything for data points. Everything went together real smooth, the ALG rail makes assembly pretty fool proof. Gun is very accurate fwiw. One thing, the upper I bought did not have T markings. I don’t care, I use a fixed mount and will not be removing the scope often. Just something to think about, and make sure you get if you want that.
