Anyone had any luck with polymer lowers

[Nacelle]

They have polymer lowers at Tennessee Arms for $40 with Free Shipping. I was about ready to get one, but decided not to. I had filled out all the info but stopped right at the end. So today I get an email from them saying if I order it now they'll knock off another 9.95%. But it's going to cost me another $20 at my FFL to pick it up, which is a pawn shop that has an Anderson lower sitting there for $69. Should I take the deal or just spend extra money and get the Anderson?

 

[indiucky]

Only bad I am afraid....

 

[Sniper 79]

I thought about scabbing a cheap light weight blaster together. I too have no idea on the quality.

See if anyone else chimes in.

 

[Tactically Fat]

There are lots of people happy with them over on Reddit. They're (just one guy, the owner, I believe) active in the AR forums as well.

I can see where it'd be tempting to load up on them... But I don't know if I'd want a polymer lower. Especially if I had any thoughts of SBR'ing the thing. (Same with a magnesium alloy lower)

 

[Bang-bang]

I got a 1 on trade, and have used it ALOT. No problems . It's on a 7.62 upper

 

[Nacelle]

I suppose the question might be moot since Rural King has an Anderson lower in their ad for $43.98. I wonder if they are actually in stock though?

 

[SEIndSAM]

I had one, made by American Tactical. Fitting where the buffer tube screws in broke on a .22lr upper.... Even with the lifetime warranty it would be replaced with another piece of crap so I never did anything with it...

I'll never buy another one..

 

[Nacelle]

Then you'd still have to pay the FFL get the replacement.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Then you'd still have to pay the FFL get the replacement.

Exactly, after paying the $20 transfer I would still have a piece of crap, and couldn't sell it with good conscious...

I bought the ATI lower during the Panic when that's all you could find. Never again..

 

[THE BIG SITT]

I've never bought one simply because they didn't fit the type of build I was going for. With that being said, they seem like a good product with great customer service. The owner is an active member on the gun forums on Reddit and routinely posts sales for Reddit members only.

As for using one on an SBR, I actually contacted him about using one of his lowers for a pistol/SBR. Here was his response when asked if he would use one:

Yes, because the Nylon 6-6 has great wear and UV qualities . I was reading a material data .pdf the other day and it talked about the long molecular chain of Nylon 6-6 and it's unique ability to take a lot of pounding over a long period of time. The pdf was about 30% fiber reinforced nylon where we use 50% fiber which is even stronger. The same material is used in Rough Country suspension bushings. So if it can take miles and miles of off road use and abuse through the seasons, I think it can handle regular use in a firearm. There is a instructor on here that has over 15,000 rounds of almost all 300 Blackout on one of our lowers. He wanted to exchange it because he thought it was just time to get a new one because so many rounds had been through it. I asked him if it showed any signs of wear and he said No...so he kept the lower with my promise to replace it IF it ever wears out, which i do with all my lowers. When Dave gets back in the office, Ill get him to call our ATF guy and see what the procedure is for returning an SBR lower if it ever happened. We might be able to just swap it out since we keep track of all serial number exchanges. Long post short, we havent had one wear out yet, not saying they won't eventually..but we haven't seen any signs of wear from our receivers yet.

I then sent him this:

According to this: Registering an SBR lower - AR15.Com ArchiveIf something were to happen I could have you guys replace the lower with another identical lower that would have to have the same serial as the original. The new lower would have to be re-engraved.

His response:

For the SBR engraving? Yes, we just make multiple passes with the laser to get down to the correct debth. And yes, we can reproduce serial numbers if need be for an SBR , we would just have to fit it in on the next run of that particular color, so no trouble whatsoever, it might take a couple weeks before we have another run of receivers though. So you wouldn't be out of a stamp . Just a little time. And that's just in the off event that the lower does break. Which still hasn't happened.

 

[DanVoils]

I have an ATI that sits under a dedicated .22lr upper. Never had any problems with it but I wouldn't put it on anything with any real recoil. Get the Anderson. I've not had any problems with the ones I have.

 

[PGRChaplain]

+1 for an Anderson or any other Aluminum lower. I've bought several for around $50.00. I think the weak point in the Polymer would be the Thread Insert.

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

Only poly lower that I have used is the CAV-15 lower. Used to be sold by Cavalry Arms. Now manufactured by GWACS. Home of the CAV-15 MKII Rifle | GWACS Armory | AR-15 Lower Receivers

 

[ArmedProgrammer]

I have one of the New Frontier ones that has a TacSol 22lr upper on it. Does its job just fine. As others have said - that's JUST a 22lr. I haven't put it on anything REAL.

 

[other dave]

For the minimal difference in price I'd take the aluminum over the polymer. Polymer for a rimfire build or occasional plinker maybe but not for a SHTF rifle.

 

[churchmouse]

Had 1.....it broke before I ever fired it. Not a good idea IMHO

 

[Lee11b]

polymer is good for certain handguns (like Glocks, Sigs, S&Ws, etc) I just don't think it works well to support all the steel and anodized aluminum above in a rifle, firing projectiles at 2500+ fps. Longevity is certainly got to reduced.

 

[Psode27]

While I don't have much to offer, I think the quality varies quite a bit in the ones I've handled. Some of the cheap ones I've seen at gun shows have been very under-welming, frankly just crap IMO. I've handled some though that seem like they'd be just fine.
I havent shot it yet, but I have a lightweight build with an 80% Polymer80 lower that seems to be pretty beey for what it is. They beefed it up a bit more than the other polymer ones i've seen. Once I get a gas block and handguard I should be good to go.

 

[halfmileharry]

There's too many decent quality aluminum lowers for sub $50 to even think about polymer.

 

[disGRUNTld0311851717]

I have a cheap poly lower that i am starting a build with but if you ask me the following link is the way to go after all the research i have done on polymer AR's

https://www.kaiserus.com/product/517/