Greetings all. My first post here and I am looking for info on billet uppers and lowers.
First off let me say I don’t claim to know much about AR’s but have had at least one most of my adult life. Shot some NRA highpower a few years ago and have been playing with a RRA since last June. All that means is that I know which end the bullets come out of.
I have the bug to build one of my own. This will be a long term project and I will have many questions as I go.
I figure the first thing to get is the upper and lower. Not interested in anything but billets for this build.
I have been lurking around this site for awhile now and have gathered quite a bit of information I think.
Planned use for this thing will be range plinking, coyote hunting and maybe some 3 gun.
I looked at Sun Devil, and by that actually had some uppers and lowers in my hands. Really liked them but one thing bothered me. The “standard” trigger guard. I came back here and learned that there are at least some makers that have an “integral” trigger guard and I believe that is what I want.
Please tell me your opinions and pros and cons of each maker. I don’t even know how many or who makes what I want. The Magpuls look good but from what I can tell they are not available. Please post links as to where to get whatever you suggest.
The POF lowers are expensive ($300 neighborhood) but feature an integrated trigger guard. The new gen III ones also have an ambidextrous bolt catch, but it uses a proprietary part/receiver design. The $18 dollar option is to get a magpul trigger guard or the rra winter guard when avaliable.
Now I see that Sun Devil is making a lower with the integral trigger guard so I am back interested in them. I also saw another SD upper the other day that had a forward assist so I went back to their website and they had both of the above listed.
Any pros or cons from anyone who has experience with these?
I am thinking the forward assist would be the way to go.
There are a few billet threads in this section, you may get some good info from them. The trigger guards are nice, but you can drop in a Magpul trigger guard on any lower you want, so don’t let that be your end deciding factor.
Embarassed to say that I have had 3 or 4 SD uppers in my hands and did not notice they did not have M4 cuts. I guess that would be kind of a deal breaker there. Same if they are not making the integral trigger guard. I know you can put a RR or Magpul but I don’t really want to go that way. Just looks cheap on a billet part. Never saw the need for the folding TG anyway. I also realize that the billet isn’t needed either but have forged ones and want something different.
I’ve been kicking around the idea of building a rifle around a billet lower and really like the looks of the SMOS. Mostly I like the wide magwell mouth and the beveling there. At more than double the cost of a standard lower I’ve been somewhat reluctant. Yes, $150 extra isn’t much in the grand scheme of what often winds up being a $3k rifle, but double is still double and other than the wider magwell I can’t really come up with a good reason for using one.
Also, FWIW, I don’t think most billet lowers will work with a Redi-mag, if that’s your thing.
