I’m getting ready to pull the trigger on ordering my first AR…don’t want to screw it up.
I’m going with the BCM 16" Stainless Mid length upper and want to go with the LMT Sopmod lower.
Will this work ok?
Or should I go with the BCM lower?
I think I like the SOPMOD stock better then the standard BCM stock and I can pick up a complete LMT Sopmod lower for $439 versus the $350 for the BCM lower.
Will this “snap” together ok, or is there something I need to be aware of?
I don’t know a darn thing about AR’s other then I’ve wanted one for many years.
After spending…many, many hours, researching this Carbine, I feel like prom night.
I told the “new” wife the other night that we need an AR, she responded by telling me we need a new garage door opener.
I’m selling three other guns…to fund this AR project. Man I hate selling three to get one…not to mention going from 22-250 to .223, but that’s the way it’s been lately.
I think you’ll be more than pleased with the trade off. I had to do the same thing and don’t regret it for a moment. Your wife sounds just like mine. Now the fun begins as you try to explain/justify why you need to upgrade that brand new AR with all that cool stuff!
LMT lowers are top quality, and if its any concern of yours I think they are a better fit and color match to BCM uppers than BCM lowers are. Mine mates up like they were made together.
Respectfully I disagree with that statement. I have seen some truly horrible looking lowers from Sabre Defense and Bushmaster. Colt has made a few dogs. A lower is a lower is a lower is not true. Some have better workmanship and overall finish and fit. Tool marks and uneven finish are things I try to avoid. They may not impact function but its my $ and I want it the way I want it.
You could never compare a Magpul or Larue lower to an Oly Arms or no name brand lower. They are not in the same leaque. Yes the do the same thing but come on.
you just compared two billet lowers, one of which isn’t even available, to two forged lowers…
fact of the matter is, most lowers have toolmarks and forge flash. those are not on most manufacture’s lists of QC checks. LMT and Colt both generally leave toolmarks and forge flash- but they’re two of the best complete lowers money can buy. why? because their parts work and dont break.
IF you want a “clean” lower- smooth lines and no flash, you’re gonna have to buy from a manufacturer that puts an emphasis on this. Mega Machine Shop produces flawlessly machined lowers, but you have to build them yourself. use good parts. Noveske Rifle Works also prides themselves on PERFECTLY machined lowers- they use CMT parts, which are perfectly good parts… but they’re not “the best” parts, and they’re more expensive than they’re worth to me.
It all too often boils down to people paying more simply for a rollmark. I have a BCM upper on a Del Ton lower. There’s nothing wrong with it. Vast majority of companies are just taking CMT lowers and branding them as their own so why not get the cheapest and put the money towards a better trigger? And for the love of God don’t get something as utterly pointless as a billet lower.
Good point about the forged versus billet lowers. You would definately know better than me. Why do top tier makers like Colt and LMT leave forge flash and tool marks on their lowers? Does it cost that much more to remove them?
Who makes the best “compromise” of clean and quality lower? LMT, BCM, Mega, or another brand?
I got a BCM upper on the way and I do want the color to match as close as possible (It matters to me even though it doesnt impact function)?
The BCM lowers appear to be hard to find currently but the LMT lowers are available locally now.
Since I bought a good quality upper like the BCM I want to put a lower of equal quality on it. Buy once cry once right.
Just my opinion but i think S&W lowers are the best quality at a reasonable price. I have several lowers and they are the nicest workmanship second only to my Noveske. I have a RRA and it is in spec and all the parts fit nicely but the finish is not that great. I think the Spike’s lower is nice too, looks better than the RRA.
these guys’ parts and assembly standards are inherently more expensive- to stay within the price range of the competition which uses lesser quality parts and lesser QC standards, and still make money, they probably opt to skip things that don’t effect function. fortunately, their target markets dont pay much attention to purely and barely cosmetic issues- so they arent issues. keep in mind, most of their competitors dont do any better on the finish machining.
Who makes the best “compromise” of clean and quality lower? LMT, BCM, Mega, or another brand?
the compromise must be made by the buyer… what are your priorities? best function? cost effectiveness? prettiest? if finish machining matters to you, for some reason, then buying the LMT or Colt lower would be the compromise for you- you sacrifice some OCD for solid parts.
for whatever reason, sometimes these guys put out perfectly machined lowers… probably when they get busy and sub from CMT or something (Stag lowers are very cleanly machined)… but i’m only speculating. and the degree of toolmarking and flash can range between barely noticeable to wow-thats-alot-of-flash…
here’s one i happen to have uploaded already:
this is an LMT, and this is pretty typical for the kind of finish “imperfections” you’ll see on these tier 1 weapons… the trigger well, the front of the magwell, and the backstrap radius.
I got a BCM upper on the way and I do want the color to match as close as possible (It matters to me even though it doesnt impact function)?
you’re probably gonna be disappointed. exact anodize matches are rare, even on complete weapons straight from the manufacturer.
Forge/flash marks are pointless to remove. It doesn’t serve a purpose other than to look good to the few people who care. Personally I think it adds character to each gun but Im a weird one.
I care more about the lower being made to spec, and the no-name brands seem to have a lot more inconsistency as far as mag well specs, trigger pin holes, pistol grip hole being off center, etc.
Little corners cut that may not matter or even pop up to 95% of the users. People like to bash Colt for some aesthetic reasons, and RARELY for anything functionally wrong with the gun. Other makers have problems with function but I guess they look prettier for some little flash marks inside the trigger cutout. I think its a huge testiment to their functional quality that they sell so many guns and you hear of so few functional problems with them. Other brands don’t even sell 1/10th the guns they do, and yet you hear about them 10X as much having truly function related issues.
I also am not too happy with the two Stag/CMT lower parks kits I got this week, and am replacing key components with Colt parts. I built a Noveske lower, and ran into several issues. The mag release button was too large to fit in the lower, and the mag catch itself was binding on the lower. I got that replacement Colt part set in today, and boom it works fine. Then the bolt catch is very wide, and barely fit into the lower. The safety/selector has about 10-15 degrees of loose rotation on safe which means the detent to safety is not good. The 2nd kit will be going into a LaRue lower so we’ll see if I have the same issues with this time. I already have the same Colt parts on order to put in there… Another thing to note is most LPK’s come with cheap plastic A2 grips. Colt uses more of a polymer material that is more rubbery. I still use them occasionally other than Magpul grips but its just another sign of increased quality in their parts.
Another thing to note is most LPK’s come with cheap plastic A2 grips. Colt uses more of a polymer material that is more rubbery. I still use them occasionally other than Magpul grips but its just another sign of increased quality in their parts.