Frost
Well-Known Member
My partner Pops has been wanting an AR since before the obamination but never got around to getting one. When the obamination drove the prices out of sight he started kicking himself and almost bought one for about twice what it was worth. He decided to roll the dice and hope for the best. That turned out to be a smart move as the prices stabilized and started coming down. He kept on holding off hoping for even lower prices and lo and behold they are here. It is not unusual to see an assembly AR sell for $600.
He was once again talking to me about saving money by building an AR from scratch.
I told him it has been over 20 years since I last built one but if he really wanted to he and I could do the next time he was in town. There were a couple of specialized tools needed but Clicker had already said he would help us out there. I was thinking about building one for my grandson and thought we might build one for each.
He considered the polymer lowers for $99 but didn?t like the feel of those lowers. He and I have shot a couple of different guns built on those lowers that functioned flawlessly but he felt they were just not for him he wanted a metal lower. It seems his patience may have paid off as now there are complete aluminum lowers for $232 right here in South Carolina at Palmetto State Armory in Columbia.
I was recently up that way and swung by to check them out.
Much to my disappointment I was not able to get a low deck receiver.
I was told that they no longer had high and low deck; all the receivers are now high deck.
I bought the plain grade black not the one with the magpul upgrades.
My intent is to upgrade a bit at a time to suit my grandson.
I tried the fit on one of the stores uppers and it was a good snug fit.
The pins slid in and out with moderate pressure, as they should.
The trigger seemed a bit heavy but nice and crisp.
Upon arrival at home I more closely examined the assembly.
The receiver had no dings and the finish is an even dull black.
The stock is a good fit to recoil buffer tube and slides easily with no binding.
The buffer tube finish is a good match to the receiver if you pay attention to that sort of thing.
A drop of TW-25 grease on the trigger contact surfaces helped.
It is still no match trigger but feels much better, very nice for the price point. If desired Palmetto State Armory has match triggers available in the store.
I told Pops that so far this seems like a good start for him but the proof is in the shooting.
Pops, Fordnut, and I took this lower to Boggy Head and put it through its paces.
We used an upper off my old Colt and an upper off Fordnuts rifle.
The rifle in both configurations performed flawlessly
Keeping in mind this is not a match trigger I like it.
I don?t say this often so take note.
I am totally satisfied with the lower and highly recommend them.
I give the Palmetto State Armory Lower Assembly a Two Thumbs UP!
Well worth the price.
After basic testing we decided to have some fun with an SSAR-15 stock.
The lower fit right in the stock no problem.
The actual installation of the stock took perhaps 5 minutes.
I don?t believe the stock would have worked with a winter style trigger guard though.
As for performance all I can say is wow!
The Palmetto State Armory lower ran perfectly through 300 round of very fast shooting.
Not a single problem that could attribute to the lower.
My opinion is this lower is a good match for the stock.
Look for a review of the stock itself in another thread.
He was once again talking to me about saving money by building an AR from scratch.
I told him it has been over 20 years since I last built one but if he really wanted to he and I could do the next time he was in town. There were a couple of specialized tools needed but Clicker had already said he would help us out there. I was thinking about building one for my grandson and thought we might build one for each.
He considered the polymer lowers for $99 but didn?t like the feel of those lowers. He and I have shot a couple of different guns built on those lowers that functioned flawlessly but he felt they were just not for him he wanted a metal lower. It seems his patience may have paid off as now there are complete aluminum lowers for $232 right here in South Carolina at Palmetto State Armory in Columbia.
I was recently up that way and swung by to check them out.
Much to my disappointment I was not able to get a low deck receiver.
I was told that they no longer had high and low deck; all the receivers are now high deck.
I bought the plain grade black not the one with the magpul upgrades.
My intent is to upgrade a bit at a time to suit my grandson.
I tried the fit on one of the stores uppers and it was a good snug fit.
The pins slid in and out with moderate pressure, as they should.
The trigger seemed a bit heavy but nice and crisp.
Upon arrival at home I more closely examined the assembly.
The receiver had no dings and the finish is an even dull black.
The stock is a good fit to recoil buffer tube and slides easily with no binding.
The buffer tube finish is a good match to the receiver if you pay attention to that sort of thing.
A drop of TW-25 grease on the trigger contact surfaces helped.
It is still no match trigger but feels much better, very nice for the price point. If desired Palmetto State Armory has match triggers available in the store.
I told Pops that so far this seems like a good start for him but the proof is in the shooting.
Pops, Fordnut, and I took this lower to Boggy Head and put it through its paces.
We used an upper off my old Colt and an upper off Fordnuts rifle.
The rifle in both configurations performed flawlessly
Keeping in mind this is not a match trigger I like it.
I don?t say this often so take note.
I am totally satisfied with the lower and highly recommend them.
I give the Palmetto State Armory Lower Assembly a Two Thumbs UP!
Well worth the price.
After basic testing we decided to have some fun with an SSAR-15 stock.
The lower fit right in the stock no problem.
The actual installation of the stock took perhaps 5 minutes.
I don?t believe the stock would have worked with a winter style trigger guard though.
As for performance all I can say is wow!
The Palmetto State Armory lower ran perfectly through 300 round of very fast shooting.
Not a single problem that could attribute to the lower.
My opinion is this lower is a good match for the stock.
Look for a review of the stock itself in another thread.
