grimbeaver wrote:Scratch wrote:No difference between a 40.00 forged Anderson and a 110.00 forged spikes. It's what you put in it and on it that makes the difference.
Scratch did not compare to Mega but seemed to be making a general statement about lower vs higher cost forged lowers. Also the Spikes is close in price to the Mega so I was assuming it may be in the same "class" as the Mega.
I am making that general statement.
I'm still waiting to see a major difference between lower cost or higher cost forged lowers.
On the uppers, the barrel nut to upper fittment I feel is pretty important, and I'd rather have the upper be a little tight so I could sand it down to fit, but on the lowers, the only thing I feel is important for accuracy, is the play between the upper and lower receivers. I have a friend out of state that builds custom rifles and he showed me that when putting together a rifle, he'll take whatever lower the customer wants, all brands, then if they don't have a preference on uppers, he'll pick and choose the upper that has the best fit. A few thousandths more or less of anodizing or cerakoting is all it takes. He's usually not concerned about color match since they usually ceracote the set, but he doesn't always find a set that fits well on the first try.
He said he'd rather just have them all over sized so he could just file them down for a custom fit, but his suppliers don't want to do that. Every company that sells lowers, has them that are a few thousandths over, and some that are under. I guess that's a good thing because every company that sells uppers has some that are a few thousandths over, and some that are under. It makes for less blems and for some perfect fits.
Yes, there are ambi features, extra flared magwells, grip serrations on magwells, cool looking stripes, cuts, or engravings, and those are worth paying extra if they're what you like. Buying a matched set of upper and lower receivers is just that... A hand matched set, picked from a bunch of non matched receivers, which is also worth paying extra for. Some companies may not put as much care into picking such a close set either. After all, it's just some random dude picking those parts and he wants to go home and watch Game of Thrones too.
Im just saying that buying a certain brand forged lower, and knowing that it will have a tighter fit is impossible without having both receivers in hand, so in my mind... They're all pretty much the same.
But again.... All this is ONLY if you're looking for match grade accuracy. If you're just looking for a reliable AR that is good for self defense, Varmints, SHTF, shooting at the range, plinking, truck gun, etc... The upper to lower fittment isn't going to affect it much.