Hey guys, finally got my camera for Christmas so I have the ability to post pictures of my issue. I recently had my FFL order me an LMT lower that I plan to make into an SBR. Ironically my FFL called me ON ELECTION DAY and told me my lower had come in so after casting my vote I went and picked it up. Fit and finish are good with the exception of one thing, the endplate. When I received the lower the lower end of the end plate has about a 2 mm gap between it and the receiver that I haven’t seen on an AR before. The reason why I am getting yalls expert opinion is I dont care how my rifle looks, I just need it to function . . . every time. So I need to know whether the end plate on my rifle is indicative of a problem that will affect functionality requiring me to contact LMT and get it fixed. If its just cosmetic I dont care and Ill leave it the way it is. Thanks for looking!
It’s not a big deal to swap the end plate out for a new one, but that’s not right and it should not have left LMT like that. It’s hard to tell if that end plate came bent, or if it didn’t fit right in the recess and bent during assembly. I’m sure LMT would fix it if you didn’t want to mess with it yourself.
Thanks Eric, I was just concerned if I replaced it myself I am not up to speed on how to correctly stake the castle nut so if it wasn’t important I didn’t want to break the castle nut loose.
It needs to be fixed. You can already see the detent spring showing and with the end plate not correctly seated, it’s more likely to slip out of place and launch the spring (and they are always a bugger to find!).
i think your best bet is just having them send you a new endplate… otherwise you’ll be without a lower for weeks. steaking the castle nut is really easy- just give it two, three hard taps per socket with a nail set. you get get a nail set set at walmart for probably 5 bucks.
No way it could have been inspected. The person that signed the checked list never checked it. LMT needs to know who he/she is. If this person worked for me, I would have no mercy on him/her.
As mentioned, I’d E-Mail those pictures to LMT
and tell them you will be expecting a new end plate in the mail.
More importantly, put yourself in the mindset of the person who assembled
that lower and let something so obvious slip by. What else did he let slip by?
I’d disassemble and thoroughly inspect each and every part on that lower
just to be sure. I wouldn’t trust it until then.
That bent end plate is obvious and they let it go. What about problems
that are not so obvious?
there’s not that much to inspect on a lower… what else could be wrong? a quick function check will show you if they forgot springs or detents.
i think LMT’s lowers kind of suck, personally. i don’t think they do a very good job, and this is just one of a few issues i’ve seen with them, including my own. their finish blows (if you care), their triggers need polishing before being functional, they barely steak their castle nuts, and apparently they buy bowed end plates from time to time. in fact, the SOPMOD is the only righteous thing about them.
i’m not saying LMT sucks- their uppers, the part that counts, are great. but i’d just as soon get a stag lower and an LMT upper, if i’m gonna two-piece a gun.
Ok sent them an email today I will let you know what they say. I plan on building my AR tool kit as these types of things occur, so next question what is yalls prefered Castle nut wrench? Im sure like most tools, grant and rob and everyone have figured out which one works best for them and I would like to hear because I like to attempt to buy the best the first time. (so far I am 0 for 1) Thanks!
For a wrench, I picked up the Rock River model from Brownells. Inexpensive and for my purposes (switching out a few stocks) it will do all I ever need it to do. Would be pretty easy to add a cheater if you felt you needed a bit more leverage.
Looking at the photos in the original post, the easiest fix would be to replace the endplate and move on given the current unavailability of parts and long waits. However, if it were me and the situation allowed I would request a new endplate, castle nut, buffer tube, takedown spring and detent if I were willing to do the work myself. To some that may seem excessive, but you payed for quality parts in new condition and that is what you should get. You should also get assurances that any warranty will be maintained if you correct the issue yourself before fixing anything. If there is any question there, you should send back the lower and have them either fix it or provide you another complete lower.
You should also withhold any kind of judgment on the quality of LMT’s product and service until the issue is resolved. I work in construction inspection and have seen situations arise where something slips past a Contractor that does not meet standards. Many times it’s simply human error which happens to every company at some point regardless of how good their reputation is. I expect they will make things right.
It just slays me to see people spend many HUNDREDS of dollars on a “top of the line brand component” and then when there is an obvious problem with it, such as in this case, they dismiss the problem and say it’s no big deal, if it is just a cosmetic issue…I say bullshit…you spend that kind of money for a “tier one” brand, then you should damn well get good quality…or the manufacturer damn well better get it fixed right, and in a very timely manner.
When the customer (us) allows major quality issues such as this to slide by and blow it off as “only” a cosmetic problem, then they, (the manufactures) MAY continue to allow such blatant errors to continue.
It is in everyone’s best interest to contact the company when Q.C. screwups like this occur!
It is always a good idea to do a full inspection. You would be surprised at how many lower receivers I have seen that had the hammer springs installed incorrectly or the spring for the safety detent was missing after someone installed a HSLD commando grip.
So LMT denied my request for a replacement endplate, detent pin, detent pin spring and castle nut (didnt see any need for a new buffer tube. Their reply was one line " Please call for a return authorization #." Since I really dont care for my lower to be out of commision for that long and pay shipping back and forth I will just order the endplate and wrench and fix it myself. Thanks guys!
i’ve got a piece of junk armor’s tool lying around here somewhere. PM your address and you can have it. it would need some dremmeling to replace barrel nuts, but it’ll handle castle nuts and muzzle devices.
hay- now would be a good time to get a fancy sling-mount endplate. bravo’s got enplates for 4 bucks, or sling-mount endplates for 15.
It’s probably company policy to do any repairs in-house. The reasoning could be warranty or insurance related (or a combination of both). Most gun manufacturers will void a warranty if anyone other than them perform work on a gun beyond routine maintenance. They simply have no way of verifying that the work will be done correctly, even on very simple repairs.
Fortunately, the affected parts are cheap and it’s an easy fix. You could probably straighten the bent endplate with a few taps with a hammer and keep it around as a spare. Since you are paying to ship new parts, I’d pick up some extra springs and detents as well. There are few things more depressing than launching the only spring you have on hand down an air conditioning vent while trying to put a gun together.
TacMedic…Sorry to hear about the hassle in getting your gun fixed. Hopefully the parts you ordered will arrive soon and everything will go together well.
Guys I appreciate all the info! For the record I have no issue with LMT wanting to fix the issue themselves instead of letting some unknown novice (me) fix it myself. The fact is that even though this slipped through their QC measures (which is indeed annoying to me) it happens to all companies, and they did reply promptly with a solution to fix my problem as quickly as they reasonably could and I have simply chosen a different course of action. Thanks again! I will post pics when completed.
This is what I would do as well, but I would use the Daniel Defense Rear Receiver QD Swivel Attachment Point. It’s expensive at $50 but IMHO it’s worth it having it there in case you want to use that attachment point later on. And they stake like a dream.
Thanks!
fix it myself. The fact is that even though this slipped through their QC measures (which is indeed annoying to me) it happens to all companies, and they did reply promptly with a solution to fix my problem as quickly as they reasonably could and I have simply chosen a different course of action. Thanks again! I will post pics when completed.