Lower build and a bad PSA lower

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Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby INOR on Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:59 pm

Built my first lower today. Well actually, I and my brother-in-law set about to build two of them, but only one was completed. Ran into issues with one of them. Had two stripped lowers: an Anderson and a PSA blem. Both were around the same price and since I wanted to build two, I thought I'd try both. The Anderson went together fine.

Then ran into multiple troubles with the PSA. First, the mag well is obscenely tight. Magazine won't slide freely in and out and wouldn't come close to dropping a magazine when pressing the mag release. Something definitely off on the mag well. I should have stopped there with the PSA lower and just sent it back, but thought that it'll eventually wear in and loosen up. Then went to install the bolt catch. Installed that and drove in the roll pin and then observed that it had no spring tension (yes, i had installed the spring and bolt catch detent). So, took out the roll pin and see that the bolt catch detent is completely stuck in the hole. I mean jammed in there. Wouldn't come out at all. At this point, I just completely gave up on this lower. And here I sit with a brand new PSA lower which is basically unusable at this point. I'll call PSA on Monday and see if they will do anything. I'm kicking myself as I should have just stopped when the mag well was obviously way too tight and not to spec. But I continued on and tried to assemble anyways, so I would guess PSA may not let me return the lower at this point, given that it has a freaking bolt catch detent and spring completely wedged in the hole. There doesn't seem to be a way for me to get the bastard out of there anyways! And not even sure if it's worth the effort of returning as I'd have to return it through a FFL I'm sure. Stupid PSA lower will end up being a $110 lower after all of the back and forth through FFLs and multiple transfer fees.

On a happy note, we did get the Anderson lower built. That one went together just fine with a DPMS milspec lower parts kit. We had a couple of fun learning experiences Damn....can detent pins fly off at some hellacious speeds or what?! Absent the flying detents and protracted hand/knee hunts for the same, we got it all together and everything functions as it should. Mated that one up to a NIB DPMS oracle 16 complete upper that I purchased from a member here. Seems like it'll be a great basic carbine length AR.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby Ghost on Sat Feb 25, 2017 4:34 pm

That sucks. I have been building recently on mega billets. Pay more but they are about as flawless as they come.
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Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby INOR on Sat Feb 25, 2017 8:52 pm

Yeah, it kind of sucks but I'll take it as a learning experience. The Anderson lower was great though. No issues at all.


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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby FJ540 on Sat Feb 25, 2017 9:46 pm

Ambi Mega's are 4x more money than a cheap forged lower. They're not for everyone, but they are for people who appreciate the finer things.

Image

These receivers were sourced from dealers on opposite ends of the country; not even remotely 'factory matched'. Fit together perfectly.

I've given serious consideration to unloading some other gun parts to convert the barrels/stocks over to the MML upper and 3H lowers. If I had more spare cash, I'd have already done it.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby Holland&Holland on Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:51 pm

INOR wrote:Yeah, it kind of sucks but I'll take it as a learning experience. The Anderson lower was great though. No issues at all.


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Just did 2 builds myself, one with a PSA with no trouble and one with an Anderson. Had issues with the anderson. Trigger guard holes were not lined up and tighten. Had trouble with the rear take down pin fit as well. We shall see how it shoots.
Last edited by Holland&Holland on Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby tullibee on Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:35 am

INOR wrote:...We had a couple of fun learning experiences Damn....can detent pins fly off at some hellacious speeds or what?! Absent the flying detents and protracted hand/knee hunts for the same, we got it all together and everything functions as it should. ...


Here's a sneaky trick for you in the future! find yourself one of the big clear plastic bags that blankets or bed sets are sold in - when you are working on springs and pins, put the lower in the bag and work on it there (and try to push the bag down around your arms to not leave any big holes), that way, when (not if!) the pin and spring go SPROING!, they are usually trapped in the bag and you can locate them instead of crawling around on the floor with a flashlight and a magnet!
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby UnaStamus on Sun Feb 26, 2017 4:29 pm

PSA has a history of poor quality control. This is just reality with them. I've seen these lowers out of spec in person.
This is obvious when you see the deals that PSA runs with $40-$50 lower receivers and such. Those really inexpensive lower receivers are the same ones they're selling the rest of the year at $79-$99. Consider this pricing as "a clue" for future purchasing decisions and where you should probably be spending, or not spending, your money.

Fortunately in your case, they have a warranty that I'm fairly certain they will honor.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby Ghost on Sun Feb 26, 2017 5:13 pm

UnaStamus wrote:Fortunately in your case, they have a warranty that I'm fairly certain they will honor.

I'm curious about that. Does their warranty cover the cost of the FFL when they send a replacement lower? Their mistake can make a cheap lower quite expensive.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby FJ540 on Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:10 am

Ghost wrote:
UnaStamus wrote:Fortunately in your case, they have a warranty that I'm fairly certain they will honor.

I'm curious about that. Does their warranty cover the cost of the FFL when they send a replacement lower? Their mistake can make a cheap lower quite expensive.


I'm curious about this too. Because you can send a gun to the manufacturer for repair and they can send it directly back to you as there's no transfer involved. If it comes back with a new serial number, does that constitute a new transfer and need to go FFL?

All three of my warranty trips with Springfield and Keltec were signature required deliveries to my door, but I got the same guns back.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby grimbeaver on Mon Feb 27, 2017 10:39 am

Before you RMA it hit it with a heat gun.

I ran into this exact same problem a few weeks ago building one with a friend. Had a Yankee Hill lower with a PSA lower kit. Pin got stuck. We hit the lower on the inside (over the area the pin is in) with his paint stripping heat gun and it popped out in less than 30 seconds. Obviously make sure you are pointing it into a pan as the pin and spring are going to shoot out. We cleaned the hole in the lower a little bit with a drill bit and threw the pin an a drill and knocked it down just a bit with a emery board. Took several tries to get it just right as we didn't want to do too much. We probably got that pin stuck and popped it back out with the heat about 6-8 times.
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Re: Lower build and a bad PSA lower

Postby INOR on Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:44 am

Called PSA and they sent me a return label and set it up for inspection/possible repair. If they can repair it, they will and send it back. If they can't repair it, they will contact me about replacement. But if it comes to that, not sure how the transfers for the return and replacement will be handled.

I'd try that heat gun approach (which seems like a good idea) if it wasn't needing to go back anyways for the magazine well issue. It is absurdly tight. It wouldn't even set on the vise block correctly. Duh. I should have stopped before I even began.
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