The other day I was visiting my LGS and noticed they had some Lancer L15 AR lower receivers in stock. I was interested in the L15 when it came out but haven’t seen one in stock anywhere. Since then Lancer has dropped the price to around $200 and now they’re machined from forgings instead of billet, both good things.
I also considered one of Noveske’s Flared Forged Lowers but purchased the Lancer instead. The Noveske is nice but the Lancer, which is similarly high quality, has a few extra features and is $100 cheaper. You can get an L15 with two extra mag wells for about the price of a Noveske FFL and have the option of three different interchangeable mag wells. The Lancer includes an ambi mag release which appears to be a well engineered, robust design. Finally, the L15 comes with with one of Lancer’s excellent AWM magazines: icing on the cake.
I thought I’d post some pictures and provide information that I couldn’t find easily on the web for a short review. This first post will cover the receiver itself before I complete the lower.
Here’s the receiver without any mag well installed. The mag wells attach with a pin similar to the receiver take down pins. They slide back an catch on a lip at the front of the receiver (seen in the second picture). They also have front-back running rails on the sides that increase rigidity of the system and reduce play.
Here you can see all three rails side by side. The mid sized one is a little bit more flared than a Noveske FFL. The small one is about the same as a standard USGI lower.
The overall machining and finish of the L15 is flawless. I like the integral trigger guard. This receiver is a little beefier around the receiver extension than a standard USGI lower. The interchangeable mag wells and ambi bolt release are understated, no nonsense designs. I think the L15 strikes a happy medium between a standard USGI lower and some of the overly stylized billet lowers out there.
That’s about it for part one. I’ll be assembling the lancer in the next few weeks update as I go. In the meantime if anyone has questions I’ll do what I can to answer them.
Grant thanks for the link, that’s a hell of a build.
Here are some pics of the ambi mag catch and mag release. A standard mag release looks like it would interfere with the ambi catch which is probably why Lancer is using their own version. The controls aren’t actually installed in the second pic just set into the receiver to give an idea how they fit.
Instead of starting a new thread, have you guys had a hard time with the M3 Pmags? The over insertion tabs are hitting the magazine well before it is fully locked into place. you can see the marks.
This confuses me. It would seem that if I needed a flared lower, I should get one. It would seem that if I don’t need a flared lower, I wouldn’t get one. I’m not sure why I would want to change back and forth.
It looks nice and all, and the ambi stuff is understandable, but I don’t understand the mag well flare modularity. If it swapped magazines, it would make sense.
The changeable magwell is there for people that use the same lower for multiple purposes. I have two for these and they are excellent. The fact the new mags won’t work properly is disappointing but I have lots of other mags.
