Posted: 9/13/2013 2:32:02 PM EDT
|
Quoted:
How much and where can you get these at? Do you like pink? 
Plastic 80% Lowers |
|
Thanks. I am in San Francisco... 
|
|
Quoted:
How do aluminum lowers compare to 'plastic' lowers? What happens if you tighten the screws to tight and need to retap and rethread? The loads on the lower are small. The one I worry about most is the buffer tube connecting to the lower. The trigger and sear loads are tiny. Screws? There's the one holding the pistol grip to the lower and that's it. Everything else is pins. I've build a number of 80% aluminum lowers and it's much more difficult and requires a jig. |
|
Quoted:
Interesting. How exactly do you finish this? Exactly? There's a youtube post of a guy with a pocket knife and a dremel tool who did his within one hour. I use a 1/8", 1/4", "L" ... dang is the selector a 3/8" bit in a hand drill, and an end mill bit in a $60 Harbor Freight drill press. The secret is that I used an old aluminum drill jig to guide my end mill as it ate up the plastic poured into the fire control area. The cool part is that the poured in plastic is a different color so when you get to the point when color starts to disappear you break out the gauges and start measuring. My old jig is better than 14 years old having build a bunch of aluminum 80% rifles before the 2000 ban here. Back-in-the-day there was very few places to get 80% lowers and even fewer to buy the jigs (Tannery!). They were expensive. Now you can get a lower for $60 and a jig for a bit more. You end up spending more for the finished lower but there's something wicked cool about a lower built with your own hands. One without a serial number. I didn't build an AR-15. I built a BS-26 that is able to use AR-15 parts. Good luck banning that by series name. I only have to worry about the features restrictions. I think I'm building this next one as a detachable magazine rifle with a CQB theme. I'm looking at buying a piston upper with a flat top with a red-dot-o-death. I've always wanted a nice SIEG X2 (or X3) mill. 
|
|
Quoted:
80% lower made of Kevlar reinforced polymer. Took about an hour and a half to finish using a handful of drill bits in a hand drill, a couple end mills in a drill press, and a dremel. Bought a lower part kit, Radlock, and buttstock to make a fixed magazine rifle. Kind of looks like a second with the stippling on the finish. 
I'm going to call it a BS-26 as it's not an AR series rifle pistol. I mean where in the law is the description of an "AR-series" defined? <a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/user/AR-15_Paul/media/Rifles/EP%20Lower/EPLower_zps66789cd1.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m168/AR-15_Paul/Rifles/EP%20Lower/EPLower_zps66789cd1.jpg</a> <a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/user/AR-15_Paul/media/EPLower2_zps0219773e.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m168/AR-15_Paul/EPLower2_zps0219773e.jpg</a> It looks really good. Can you tell a noticeable difference in feel of the kevlar material this lower is made from vs a carbon fiber polymer lower? Does it appear to have more tensile strength? |
|
Quoted:
It looks really good. Can you tell a noticeable difference in feel of the kevlar material this lower is made from vs a carbon fiber polymer lower? Does it appear to have more tensile strength? Sorry I don't have any carbon fiber polymer lowers to compare to, just bunches of aluminum ones.
|
|
Quoted:
A buddy of mine had a polymer lower, may have been Plum Crazy, not sure. His broke at the buffer. No torture done, Strictly bench shooting. Hopefully the Kevlar holds together better. Now I'm going to be worried. 
The polymer isn't a brittle plastic. It feels more like a steering wheel plastic but that's not scientific! I've bought two more which ought to arrive today or early next week so that I can see their cosmetics. I wrote the vendor who is here in California pointing him at this thread and he said that it was normal and could be polished. I hit with a wheel and a couple different compounds and found nothing that did enough to really notice. When the next two arrive I'll post pictures. |
|
Quoted:
Out of curiosity, how many builds are the aluminum jigs good for (in regards to aluminum lowers)? Do they tend to "wear out" after a certain number of completed lowers? If you are careful, are they good for a double-digit number of builds? Yes I would assume being careful you can get dozens of lowers from the better jigs - some even have bearings to guide the drilling of holes. The first 80% lowers required you to drill out the buffer tube hole, tap it and finish the magazine well. Those two things were a ton of work. The current lowers have gone to finished near drop free magazine wells and pre-tapped buffer tubes. With these EP Lowers I've found that I had to tap the buffer tube to clean up/sharpen the treads up. |
The lower parts kit arrived yesterday so I put the thing together tonight. I did use my long 3/32nd drill bit to ream out the takedown pin spring holes and the bolt catch. Very easy to put together. I'm going for a long-range rifle on this one. Bushmaster 20" HBAR upper with an ACOG. Yankee Hill extended pins ordered. Magpul forend ordered. Geissele trigger ordered. |
|
Quoted:
Interesting thread. Lacking a drill press or any machining experiance its not something I'm going to try though. I would screw it up for sure. I've build a few aluminum lowers but I'm not a machinist by any stretch of the imagination. I'm better with 'trons and TCP/IP packets! I have been thinking of getting a $750 hobby mill in order to these things much easier. Add another $400 in vice, collets, end mill bits, clamps, and other tools. Going from a manual mill to one with digital readouts (DRO) is about $150 more. Adding CNC control is about $1500 more. Starting with a purpose built CNC machine is about $5000. It all adds up pretty quickly so I'm trying to limit myself to the mill with DRO indicators. First world problem in a second class state.
|
|
Quoted:
Hmm... They are selling blemished/seconds for $35. Might just get some and store for future "can't buy now, but need one" use. I think Chris is also selling blemished/seconds for $100. 
Have a look at the three copies I bought and make sure you're $100 ones look more like my second pair rather than the first one. |
|
Quoted:
I've build a few aluminum lowers but I'm not a machinist by any stretch of the imagination. I'm better with 'trons and TCP/IP packets! I have been thinking of getting a $750 hobby mill in order to these things much easier. Add another $400 in vice, collets, end mill bits, clamps, and other tools. Going from a manual mill to one with digital readouts (DRO) is about $150 more. Adding CNC control is about $1500 more. Starting with a purpose built CNC machine is about $5000. It all adds up pretty quickly so I'm trying to limit myself to the mill with DRO indicators. First world problem in a second class state.
Quoted:
Quoted:
Interesting thread. Lacking a drill press or any machining experiance its not something I'm going to try though. I would screw it up for sure. I've build a few aluminum lowers but I'm not a machinist by any stretch of the imagination. I'm better with 'trons and TCP/IP packets! I have been thinking of getting a $750 hobby mill in order to these things much easier. Add another $400 in vice, collets, end mill bits, clamps, and other tools. Going from a manual mill to one with digital readouts (DRO) is about $150 more. Adding CNC control is about $1500 more. Starting with a purpose built CNC machine is about $5000. It all adds up pretty quickly so I'm trying to limit myself to the mill with DRO indicators. First world problem in a second class state.
More info please! What is involved with the DRO system? Is it an aftermarket conversion? |
|
Quoted:
More info please! What is involved with the DRO system? Is it an aftermarket conversion? I'm a virgin but have been reading up on these. The Chinese Sieg X2 and X3 mills are sold by a number of companies painted and branded in their names. The X2 mill is big enough to do an AR but many people buy the X3 which is just about twice the cost. For DRO's there's individual aluminum (cheaper/less accurate) or stainless steel (more expensive/accurate) rails. Some have the displays as part of the rails, others have tethers so you can remote mount them. These rails run about $40 to $100 each quality and length depending. Mounting them is left to the user. One of the first things lots of people make with their mills ... is mounts for the DROs. Beyond these are $300-$500 high end DROs with big displays. I'm likely going to buy an X2 mill and get the stainless remote mountable DROs. But I know the lesson learned many many times is the thing to do is buy the best and cry once. The problem with an X3 mill is real estate ... those things need twice the garage space ... and I'm full already having lived here for 12 years. I suppose I could seel the sporty car, move a mill in and get a sport bike. Heck it might pay for the X3 and the bike!
|
|
Quoted:
<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/user/AR-15_Paul/media/DesignatedPlasticRifle_zps6145878d.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m168/AR-15_Paul/DesignatedPlasticRifle_zps6145878d.jpg</a> The lower parts kit arrived yesterday so I put the thing together tonight. I did use my long 3/32nd drill bit to ream out the takedown pin spring holes and the bolt catch. Very easy to put together. I'm going for a long-range rifle on this one. Bushmaster 20" HBAR upper with an ACOG. Yankee Hill extended pins ordered. Magpul forend ordered. Geissele trigger ordered. Why is the safety selector crooked? |
|
Quoted:
I'm a virgin but have been reading up on these. The Chinese Sieg X2 and X3 mills are sold by a number of companies painted and branded in their names. The X2 mill is big enough to do an AR but many people buy the X3 which is just about twice the cost. For DRO's there's individual aluminum (cheaper/less accurate) or stainless steel (more expensive/accurate) rails. Some have the displays as part of the rails, others have tethers so you can remote mount them. These rails run about $40 to $100 each quality and length depending. Mounting them is left to the user. One of the first things lots of people make with their mills ... is mounts for the DROs. Beyond these are $300-$500 high end DROs with big displays. I'm likely going to buy an X2 mill and get the stainless remote mountable DROs. But I know the lesson learned many many times is the thing to do is buy the best and cry once. The problem with an X3 mill is real estate ... those things need twice the garage space ... and I'm full already having lived here for 12 years. I suppose I could seel the sporty car, move a mill in and get a sport bike. Heck it might pay for the X3 and the bike! Quoted:
Quoted:
More info please! What is involved with the DRO system? Is it an aftermarket conversion? I'm a virgin but have been reading up on these. The Chinese Sieg X2 and X3 mills are sold by a number of companies painted and branded in their names. The X2 mill is big enough to do an AR but many people buy the X3 which is just about twice the cost. For DRO's there's individual aluminum (cheaper/less accurate) or stainless steel (more expensive/accurate) rails. Some have the displays as part of the rails, others have tethers so you can remote mount them. These rails run about $40 to $100 each quality and length depending. Mounting them is left to the user. One of the first things lots of people make with their mills ... is mounts for the DROs. Beyond these are $300-$500 high end DROs with big displays. I'm likely going to buy an X2 mill and get the stainless remote mountable DROs. But I know the lesson learned many many times is the thing to do is buy the best and cry once. The problem with an X3 mill is real estate ... those things need twice the garage space ... and I'm full already having lived here for 12 years. I suppose I could seel the sporty car, move a mill in and get a sport bike. Heck it might pay for the X3 and the bike! Don't know if anyone cares or not, but: Was poking around on Harbor Freight's website and noticed what appears to be their X3 mill currently on sale for $1,199.99 ($300 off). They currently have a 25% off coupon that appears to work with sale items as well: coupon code 43280812. That takes another $300 off the price and brings it to $899.99. Kind of tempting... |
