I cannot find much about these lowers on the net, but I picked one up today at the PSA on Fernandina Road, and figured I’d share some pictures.
With one of their standard lowers. The machining and finish on the SC serial numbered lower looks like it’s higher quality than the standard PSA lower.
The lower came in a bag marked Cage# 3S679, which leads me to believe it is manufactured by FN.
Any thoughts?
Keyhole = Cerro Forge
What to make of the cage #? Perhaps Cerro is forging for FN, and then FN does the finish work on them? The machining is better than the other Cerro Forge lowers I’ve seen.
PSA has strongly hinted on ARFCOM that their SC numbered lowers are FN lowers.
Is there a price difference between PSA’s “SC” and “LW” lowers?
The SC lowers are $50 more than the LW lowers. I went ahead with one because the finish is so much nicer, and I want to Cerakote it.
Yes, made by FN. CAGE Code 3S679 is FN Manufacturing LLC.
It really doesn’t matter. You still don’t have a FN lower, you would still have a PSA lower made to their (PSA) specs.
If you are going to Cerakote it then why do you care what the finish looks like…/comfused
Sent with a Gen 2 Nexus 7
Its a lower. As long as the mag goes in and drops free your GTG. A lower is a lower.
I’ve Cerakoted a regular PSA lower, and blemishes that are not readily apparent become very visible after the Cerakote coating is applied. This one should be great looking from the get-go.
This simply is not true. Please read more before posting further.
A lower is pretty much a lower save for a lowered shelf for a RDIAS and billet lowers Who gives a shit. No difference in function between a bushmaster, Colt, FN, Noveske, BCM, Barrett, PSA, DD, and Rock River. I have shot all of these and they were all the same. Other than the Magwell on the barretts were tight and mags wouldn’t drop free. The LPK on the other hand…
I think you are missing the mark! The OP is simply informing and substantiating (with pictures) the fact that Palmetto State Armory indeed offers two different lowers. They offer the “LW” prefix and the “SC” prefix lowers. The “SC” prefix has a better finish. To those that are brand loyal this may be important. It has also been pretty much determined that FN may be the supplier of the “SC” lowers.
Over the years, there have been numerous problems with various lowers. Olympic Arms, for example, cast their lowers for quite a long time and they were literally falling apart. Other companies, like High Standard, were manufacturing their lowers out of spec, and numerous LPKs would not work in them and they had tight magwells. RRA lowers were so tight once that you had to use a hammer to get the takedown pins out, and some uppers wouldn’t fit at all.
So, no, a lower is not “pretty much a lower.” QC and desired specs from the vendor play a big role.
PSA has used a couple different lowers. Anderson, Aero, LW and FN. The pics of the FN ones do look like they have a better finish on them.
SC=FN Manufacturing
AP=Aero Precision
LW=LW Schneider
When I bought mine in the Greenville store, the sales guy specifically said that the “SC” lowers are made by FN in their Columbia facility.
Really? I guess you’ve never had to deal with improperly located hammer/trigger pin holes, out of spec bolt catch slot, mag catch, extension threads, etc. There’s a ton of critical dimensions involved in the proper manufacturing of a lower.
Maybe the guy meant to say as long as the lowers were manufactured by reputable manufactures.
There isn’t going to be much of a difference between a lower coming from FN or Aero Precision other than how much black dye they use in there Anodizing.