They don't seem to get discussed much anymore in the wake of all the legal drama. I've got enough standard lowers, so am looking to do something different. What do you like or dislike about the Cav lowers? I'm interested in any mag fit issues, any LPK issues, and durability among other things. The fact that you can't change pg's or stocks doesn't matter to me. I like fixed stocks, and am not a fan of Magpul or other large pg's. I'd like to keep the discussion strictly technical, please.

-Pros-
Light weight
Inexpensive

-Cons-
Looks like Tommy Lees' twin sister Ugga (Ugga Lee... get it? )

They are verrrry light. If you make everything else light, some people on here have made a 5lb. AR. That is amazing!

i got two  both superlightweight builds around 5 lbs 9 0z  wait to buy till new owner is cranking them out so you get support or try plumcrazy much less or should i say no work involved and they anr nice looking and within 3 oz of the cav  to add i dont think they will ever be produced again not with $65 striped lowers all  over the place

Light, inexpensive, and they seem to be very durable. They have also carried a very good warranty.

Downside:
The safety selector switch is much more difficult to remove once installed.
They are very "tight"... a small hammer and push-pin is recommended to remove the upper.
A few drop-in trigger assemblies will not work without modding the receiver a bit. Std trigger assemblies work well.

Pros:

Cheap

Cons:

Built like a plastic toy.  All fire control parts are PLASTIC.  You get what you pay for.  If you just go to the range and plink, it may be ok.  If you use your gun for tactical shooting classes, your gun will melt and/or break.  The plastic parts cannot take abuse, excessive heat, or impact.

I would stay away.

What in the blue blazes are you ranting about?  The Cav Arms MkII is a polymer lower.  It has no internals.  No "Fire Control Parts".  You add your own.  I have one with a colt FCG in it, and I guarantee that the FCG won't melt or break...

Please, if you are ignorant on a topic, don't post advice.

- AG

P.S.  Pros: light, very light, inexpensive.  Cons: can't change stock out.

It does not have any internals except what you add to it.

You obviously have no f'ing clue what you're talking about...


OP - I highly reccommend using them.  They are good to go.  Light, inexpensive, and easy to work with...

its a good choice for a 45acp lower too

You've confused it with the Plum Crazy polymer lower.

I am talking about the Cavalry Arms MKII lower. I'm not sure what you are talking about. How much heat do you think it takes to "melt" a polymer lower?

I absolutely love mine.  My whole gun weighs barely over 5 lb.  It handles and shoots great.  If I wasn't broke I would buy several more.

I don't run my Cav through classes anymore because I prefer the shorter length of pull offered by a Sully stock, but I have taken mine through several high volume carbine classes. Guess i was astoundingly lucky, because mine never melted.

Where exactly are you buying your after market "fire control parts"?

WHAT?  ...  I mean, WHAT?

Pros - Inexpensive, light, durable, and MULTI-CALIBER.  My favorite part is their ability to take Grease Gun mags and run with a .45ACP upper.

Cons - No ability to customize the stock or grip because they are built as one piece.

I had to sand the magwell to drop pmags freely. I also had to clean mine up with a razor where they "welded" them together.

+1
 

Pretty is as pretty does.


OP, get one. You will like it, especially if you put a lightweight barrel on it. The A1 LOP it has is perfect for me.(I have A1 stocks on two other rifles as well)

Spoken like a true know-nothing.  What a load of bullshit.  Go crawl back in your hole.



Pros



Very light and tough.  They function well and hold up just as well as a regular AR lower assembly.



I own two.  One's a CavAid lower.



Cons.



Kinda fugly

I don't care for the factory buttplate.  I replaced the buttplate on both of mine with a standard AR plate.





 

It is actually possible to shorten the stock a skosh. I don't really have the acumen to start whacking chunks off of mine though. Anyone know of any pros providing this service? Mine would get a lot more use if it had a shorter LOP.

Somewhere here in the ARFCOM archives is a thread where a guy shortened his CavArms lower.

Very nice rig. Could you please give a parts description?

-JD

The gun has a Bushmaster Super Lightweight 16" barrel (chrome-lined, 1 in 7" twist)
A2 Flash Suppressor
The Upper is a Bushmaster Carbon-15.  
Chrome bolt carrier group.
Rear MBUS
MOE Handgard
Elzetta ZFH1500 Light Mount
Surefire G2 Light with Malkoff M60 LED Module
Cav Arms MkII Lower
GI Lower Parts Kit

That's true.  In addition you can stiple the grip with a soldering iron.  I have undercut the grip on mine just behind the trigger guard to give a slightly higher grasp on the gun - gotta be careful not to get too agressive with that though as the grip is hollow.  So it is "customizable".  I just meant that you can't add aftermarket stocks and things.

 

Does anyone even care about these things anymore?  There was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Cavalry Arms legal battle but the lowers are going unsold on gunbroker even at $75.00.

No they're not!  I'm buying them in bunches...




Seriously, I have enough lowers to last me a lifetime right now...

I think everyone that wanted one got one "just in case". I have 2. One is unused because I can't figure out a project for it.

The other is a Pigeon Gray lower (1 of 12 ever made) and is a side-charging 9mm upper with a VM Hytech magblock and POF/Bushmaster rail

Thank you Sir.

I can't get past the look of them. They look like they belong in California. Other than the light weight, I just can't see why anyone would want it. I like my stocks short and these would never work for me. I have nothing against polymer, but the one piece receiver, grip, and stock doesn't do it for me.

Anyone here done a SBR with one of these?

Now THAT is badass.

They were very desirable during the ban years, when a fixed stock was a given.  After the sunset collapsible stock design hit its peak, and these were not as sexy when there were so many choices of tacticool stocks out there.  Nowadays, even though I love the UBR on my recce clone, I'm building an HD carbine based on a Cav since I realistically don't need a collapsible stock.  The A1 length is perfect for me and I like the simplicity and light weight.

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Um, wtf are you talking about? Cavarms lowers are JUST the lower, no internals. Any fire control parts are whatever you install, mine has a blend of DD and Armalite tuned to as close to perfection as a standard set can get. I've put a lot of rounds downrange with that lower. Fast, slow, dynamic and static shooting, with no issues. I think you're talking about the Plum Crazy stuff, which is not the same as the Cavarms hardware at all.

For the OP, the only issues I've run into that are annoying is the habit of my bolt release lever's pin trying to walk out over time. I just keep an eye on it every cleaning session and make sure it's still flush. Not a real issue and easy to fix if I bothered to. The other issue is that assembly is NOT as smooth and simple as a good quality aluminum lower. You are going to have to do some extra work in most cases. The buffer retainer pin's hole usually needs cleaning out, along with the mag well. Then there's flashing around the centerline that I think most of us remove carefully with a razor or sanding. The extra work isn't a big deal and is just a product of the material, if they made it open enough for every unit to not need that extra effort then a good percentage would be very loose in those areas. You can't work to the same tolerances as aluminum without the extra work later, and to keep the cost reasonable they let the buyer fine tune it.

I really like mine. It's a good length and shape for me. I don't mind the look, with the right upper I think it's pretty nice. I also would not hesitate to use it for anything I'd use a traditional lower for. The ONLY advantage to a standard lower in my mind is that if I manage to damage the shoulder stock or pistol grip the standard style can swap parts and be back in business, the cav arms model is probably done. They're pretty tough parts, but if I had to pic a potential flaw in extended combat situations that's it. For a carbine class? no worries at all. I'd probably fix that pin that likes to wander out, but I should do that anyway. As for them being tight on the take down pins, an extra round of ammo works fine, or a pen. Mine just requires a push, no tapping. I just push it out till I can get my fingers around the button well enough to pull it clear. Then the front comes out easily once it's not under tension. Obviously, if I was concerned, I could find the high spots and smooth down the lower until there was less tension. I don't consider it a bad thing so I leave it, gives a very solid feeling rifle with no wobble between upper and lower.