Something I never really thought about was reviewing the lower receiver very very closely before doing a form one. I submitted a couple Form 1 AR's. One was already a pistol and was just getting a stock added to it. It came together nicely in a few seconds after having the form 1 in hand.

The second one however.... Shit. I got the paperwork and then started assembling and NOTHING went right. The handguard was clearly aligned with the barrel. Swapped out the handguard, both are PSA handguards and the second one also had an angle to it. Well, okay. Process of elimination says that the barrel nut, barrel, or upper receiver is the issue. More to come with that later after I do some more trial and error. So I grabbed a spare pistol upper I had that had a 10-1/4 barrel. and the push pins wont go in. front pin only goes in about 1/16 the way in. Shit. Not having a good day now. well lets keep trying here. Start taking things apart to make something that does fit. I'll probably have that working by the end of the week/month/whatever.

Remembering I have an 8.5" 556 pistol that I bought a long time back and never fired. Digging through the safe and find it in a box. AWESOME. took it out and it's a complete ALL PSA gun. It has one weird thing about it though that I have never seen on a PSA gun. The tolerances on EVERYTHING on it are AMAZING. The upper to lower fit is better than on any other gun I have seen. I've seen some nasty gaps and wobble but this... is perfect. Then it hit me. Why not just submit a form on this one and slap a stock on it and call it good? I'm going to try a few other uppers on that lower and just do an overall check to see how it all goes. but it did make me laugh a bit as it fit amazingly well. Better than some other PSA items I have had. Even then I am looking at this thing and thinking. Why would I SBR a cheapo PSA pistol, and not just build up something nicer. That thought is still going through my head. It's not one of their CHF premium barrels. It's just plane jane, with a KEY MOD handguard.

My Geissele SBR build turned out great, and I have an 11.5 5.56 and a 12.5 6.8 upper for it. The P320 is also neat as an SBR.

Just seems like a waste to drop another $200 on a SBR that is all budget parts, but fits together than any other gun I have ever seen.

Thoughts or inspiration?

I have a few more Form 1's I want to do as well.

It's pretty easy to build and test an AR before filing the form 1. Just don't attach the stock to the buffer tube.

I’ve even engraved after successful pistol fit & function test & before sending in form in case engraver screws up. Replacement stripped lowers are cheap.

They aren’t cheap in WA.

That’s unfortunate. But say you send a receiver off to Tar Heel engraving (a popular choice) and on return mail it gets lost. Insurance covers the replacement cost. But not having sent in the Form 1 until after successful engraving is still a benefit over canceling a Form 1 on an SBR that was never built.  Especially with fast eForm approvals, waiting for all-systems-go isn’t a big delay.

Since engraved lowers depreciate I never worried about lower build quality beyond functional and sturdy.  Lots of billet lowers are actually weaker than forged (although it probably doesn’t matter) and less compatible than mil-spec (using a Brass Goat for instance).  The other side of that coin is for the $200 up-charge you might as well please yourself as long as the decisions don’t carry hidden gotchas.

Where are you guys doing the engraving on the receivers for an AR? On the P320 it’s simple. I don’t really want to put it on the side of the magwell.

A couple of discrete places I’ve seen are underside of trigger well on either side of trigger, and inside the magazine opening bevel.  Better laser engravers can do trigger location without needing any disassembly. Front of magazine well is another option.

How durable is laser engraving? If it's on the front of the magwell I would be concerned I would rub it off over time.

It still has to meet the minimum depth (.003" IIRC). Mine are laser engraved. No way they could wear off.

This.^^^


And always assemble a lower and test fire prior to submitting.

A fucked up stamped lower is a bummer.

I seldom test fire, I always assemble before engraving, now. I sent off a bunch of stripped Andersons to be engraved some years back, for future budget and spare parts builds. I went ahead and did Form 1s on a few of them without assembling them. The very first one I tried to assemble several months after the approvals. The pistol grip screw threads weren’t near as deep as they should be. Luckily, I had a shorter pistol grip screw and a 10 pack of washers.

On an anodized lower the anodizing is maybe 20% as thick as the legal minimum engraving depth and anodizing is hard & durable (it’s aluminum oxide after all, used as an abrasive).  So even if you are routinely and vigorously rubbing a muddy hand or glove I can’t see a way you’d ever obliterate the engraving. The base 7075 aluminum is heat treated and isn’t soft either.