Lee PrecisionWidenersRepackboxTitan Reloading
MidSouth Shooters SupplyInline FabricationSnyders JerkyLoad Data
RotoMetals2
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 21

Thread: Bcm lowers

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy ROCKET's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    127

    Bcm lowers

    I have a bcm upper and I'm trying to complete with a bcm lower. They run about $450 in my neck if the woods .

    Are they worth it the $$$ or should I go with a stripped lower and get a palmetto kit?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Kingsport TN
    Posts
    944
    In my opinion the upper and lower CASTINGS are the least important part of the build as long as they mate correctly. The barrel, bolt carrier assembly and the trigger group are what REALLY matters. I have 4 AR's of different configurations and none of them have the same brand of upper and lower castings. What they DO have in common is Colt bolt carrier groups, a premium barrel (1 Kreiger, 2 Daniel Defense and 1 Black Hole Weaponery) and Gessele (sp?) triggers.

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master

    dragon813gt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Somewhere in SE PA
    Posts
    9,989
    I would never pay that much for a lower. I have three Andersons and a DelTon lower. The only difference I found is that the anodizing was a little thick on the Anderson's which made the roll pin installations a little harder. Other than that they are all MOA rifles it I do my part. People put to much stock in brand names when it comes to ARs.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master


    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    TN
    Posts
    1,895
    Quote Originally Posted by Houndog View Post
    In my opinion the upper and lower CASTINGS are the least important part of the build as long as they mate correctly. The barrel, bolt carrier assembly and the trigger group are what REALLY matters. I have 4 AR's of different configurations and none of them have the same brand of upper and lower castings. What they DO have in common is Colt bolt carrier groups, a premium barrel (1 Kreiger, 2 Daniel Defense and 1 Black Hole Weaponery) and Gessele (sp?) triggers.

    ^^^^^Exactly.

    A stripped upper or stripped lower is just a part, and there's virtually no difference between a $49 part and a $300 part.

    The trigger parts and springs in the Lower Parts Kit can have an impact on reliability. Quality bolts, carriers, and barrels are critical (with a 'quality' barrel defined by the intended purpose of the rifle).

  5. #5
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    San Antonio
    Posts
    90
    Palmetto has a sell right now on completed lowers. Good deal. Picked up a father's day special lower with Magpul CTR stock, magpull trigger guard, mappul grip, palmetto lower and lpk complete for $179 shipped.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


    Ickisrulz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Shawnee, OK
    Posts
    2,951
    $450 does seem high. A stripped lower and parts kit (or even upgraded trigger) and receiver extension should be cheaper. The only thing you'd need to get locally is the stripped lower. Everything else is available online so you can shop for the best price.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy ROCKET's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    127
    Spikes lowers gtg? My lgs has them for 80 bucks on sale...


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Boolit Master


    Ickisrulz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Shawnee, OK
    Posts
    2,951
    Quote Originally Posted by ROCKET View Post
    Spikes lowers gtg? My lgs has them for 80 bucks on sale...


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
    From what I understand they are fine, but I have never used one. Check out the information on M4carbine.com.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Kingsport TN
    Posts
    944
    I have a Spikes lower on my competition rifle. It worked out well and absolutely no problems with it.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Clarkston, Wa.
    Posts
    816
    If you want a billet lower I'd look at Seekins precision. Much less money than that. And premium quality.

  11. #11
    Moderator Emeritus


    MrWolf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    NE West Virginia
    Posts
    4,949
    Anderson lowers are usually offered at $50 on sale. Not hard to find online. 4th of July sales should make it easier.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    CLIO Michigan, formerly Detroit
    Posts
    206
    Do you have the money to spend? Are you a liar?

    If the answer is yes to both, then buy it. The finished rifle will have matched uppers and lowers and you can get more money for it if you ever sell it by lying your *** off and saying it was bought as a complete rifle.

    If the answer to both is neither, then no. You're paying a significant chunk of change for a name. It's a good name, I've got a plethora of BCM blem uppers I use for my builds. But Anderson lowers, or Delton. I've got a couple of essential arms which are my favs. But I don't think they sell stripped any more.
    "Just try to remember which end makes the bad guys go away."

  13. #13
    Boolit Grand Master
    Shiloh's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Upper Midwest
    Posts
    6,770
    You should be able to get stripped lowers for around $100 or a bit more. Laser etchings or name brand more money.
    http://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15-05/lowers.html

    Palmetto had blem lowers for $49.99 a few years back. I saw some. A tool mark, botched anodizing, a nick where it was dropped or something.
    Good lowers with minor blemish.
    Look around. Buy before the election or next incident.

    Shiloh
    Je suis Charlie

    "A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves."
    Bertrand de Jouvenel

    “Any government that does not trust its citizens with firearms is either a tyranny, or planning to become one.” – Joseph P. Martino

    “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there would be a shortage of sand.” – Milton Friedman

    "Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas?" - J. Stalin

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy zubrato's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    415
    Most forged lowers are produced by a few manufacturers in the US that add roll marks or whatnot and theyre mostly all the same.

    However, I would say I've seen garbage lowers with improper specs. Most importantly, the buffer retaining pin being out of spec, and the buffer beating the ever loving snot out of the pin leaving marks all around the buffer edges until the pin breaks and seizes up the gun. No fix except to melt it down and forge it again.

    With a better roll mark I'd say comes better QC. On one hand, I want a cheap lower, on the other I dont want "MOLON LABE COME AND TAKE IT REBEL FLAG PUNISHER SKULL DYNAMICS INCORPORATED TACTICAL MANUFACTURING" roll marked on the side of it. When I buy a gun, I expect to be buried with it and frankly I'd be embarassed to be stuck with that on the side of my guns, no offense if that's your thing.

    edit: btw I havent RECENTLY seen any garbage lowers for sale, but not saying they dont exist. Last time I saw or heard reports of **** lowers was several years ago. Today the AR market is brutal and pretty competitive, so I'd probably say even the cheap bunks are pretty darn good. A negative review can kill a company these days.
    Recycle, Reuse, Reload.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master


    Ickisrulz's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Shawnee, OK
    Posts
    2,951
    Quote Originally Posted by Shiloh View Post
    You should be able to get stripped lowers for around $100 or a bit more. Laser etchings or name brand more money.
    http://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15-05/lowers.html

    Palmetto had blem lowers for $49.99 a few years back. I saw some. A tool mark, botched anodizing, a nick where it was dropped or something.
    Good lowers with minor blemish.
    Look around. Buy before the election or next incident.

    Shiloh
    Aero Precision is selling blemished lowers for $63 each. I could be wrong, but I doubt you'd notice anything wrong with the lowers once they are assembled into a rifle. Pick up 3 or more and put them in your safe. They will never go down in value.

    http://aeroprecisionusa.com/ar15-str...lack-blem.html

  16. #16
    Boolit Master dkf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Pa
    Posts
    1,555
    You can get complete BCM lowers with their lower parts kit, trigger, stock, grip etc for under $400 online. If you like the stock, grip and trigger that comes with it is not too bad a deal and you'll have matching rifle. Some companies like G&R Tactical will put together a BCM lower with the parts you want. Stripped BCM lowers are hard to come by. BCM usually pays more attention to fit than some other companies. Spikes lowers are good I have used them.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
    garym1a2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Green Cove springs Florida
    Posts
    2,015
    I built two of them (Aero) when I got them on sale $45 each in 2014. They where not blemished and worked fine. I would save money for a good trigger, barrel and bolt.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ickisrulz View Post
    Aero Precision is selling blemished lowers for $63 each. I could be wrong, but I doubt you'd notice anything wrong with the lowers once they are assembled into a rifle. Pick up 3 or more and put them in your safe. They will never go down in value.

    http://aeroprecisionusa.com/ar15-str...lack-blem.html

  18. #18
    Moderator Emeritus


    MrWolf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    NE West Virginia
    Posts
    4,949
    Picked up an AR10 Aero blemished lower. LGS guy and I could not find the blemish and he said all the Aero blems are like that.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    nw Ia
    Posts
    100
    Today Brownells has Anderson lowers listed at $49.
    The two I got are perfect.

  20. #20
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Apr 2016
    Posts
    42
    Here's a plug for Palmetto State! I've owned 3 lowers, all blems, and haven't found a blem yet.

    Good hardware. You will need to add an aftermarket trigger, but you were going to do that anyway.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check