Who makes AR-15 lowers:

[SC-Texas]

Who makes the best receiver?

Which receiver is the best?

Which receiver is the highest quality?


All of them are pretty much the same. The brand of receiver means very little.

I think there are currently FOUR manufacturers that produce the majority of lower receivers for the AR market.

MMS, CMT, LMT and LAR

Some data compiled:


Cavalry Arms
* Cavalry Arms

Continental Machine Tool
* Stag
* Rock River Arms
* High Standard
* Noveske
* Century (New)
* Global Tactical
* CLE
* S&W
* MGI
* Wilson Tactical
* Grenadier Precision
* Colt

Essential Arms
* Essential Arms

JVP
* Double Star
* LRB

LAR Manufacturing
* Anvil Arms
* LAR
* Bushmaster
* Ameetec
* DPMS
* CMMG
* Double Star
* Fulton Armory
* Gunsmoke Enterprises
* Spike's Tactical

Lewis Machine & Tool
* LMT
* Lauer
* DS Arms
* PWA
* Eagle
* Armalite
* Knights Armament
* Barrett

Mega Machine Shop
* Mega
* GSE
* Dalphon
* Gunsmoke Enterprises
* POF
* Alexander Arms

Olympic
* Olympic
* SGW
* Tromix
* Palmetto
* Dalphon
* Frankford
* Century (Old)

Sabre Defense
* Sabre Defense

Sun Devil
* Sun Devil forged billet receivers

Superior
* Superior Arms



LMT = LMT, Lauer(old), DS Arms, PWA, Eagle, Knights Armament, Barrett, Bushmaster (?)
CMT = Stag, RRA, High Standard, Noveske, Century (current), Global Tactical, CLE, S&W, MGI, Wilson Tactical, (some?) Colt, Ratworx
LAR = Grizzly, Bushmaster (L Prefix), Ameetech, (?)DPMS, CMMG, Double Star, Fulton
JVP = Double Star, LRB
MMS = Mega, GSE, Dalphon, POF (forged), Alexander Arms,
Olympic = Olypmic, SGW, Tromix, Palmetto, Dalphon, Frankford, (old) Century
Sun Devil = Sun Devil forged billet receivers
Superior = Superior Arms, Lauer (current)
Grenadier Precision

 

[Jason]

If I ever do a third rifle I think I want to try one of the ones that have the trigger guard built into the lower and one made of billet aluminum instead of forged.

 

[tussery]

To me a lower is a lower and the manufacturer is of no issue. Very few of your failures happen in the lower. I would save money to spend on your upper receiver where quality could make or break a rifle.

Edit: I guess what I am trying to say is get the lower that is most aesthetically pleasing to you, or just find a good deal on one.

 

[SC-Texas]

I agree. My thought is that you get a quality, in spec lower that you like the finish on.

 

[SC-Texas]

 

[SC-Texas]

The infomration in that chart is very old.

here is something that may be more up to date:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA

 

[Patrón]

I couldn't be happier with my Sun Devil lower, don't really know how to explain it but i can tell the quality vs my rock river lower.

 

[tussery]

Yeah but I bet there would be no difference in accuracy if you put the same upper on both lowers if you also swapped the same trigger group.

 

[Lmccrock]

Cavalry Arms is no longer in the lowers business. They are still in business, just not lowers.

 

[TheDan]

There are only a few places that produce the forgings, but the all the various "makers" of receivers do put the final fit and finish on them. So, yeah qaulity between receivers varies a bit. For an AR however, the receiver quality doesn't matter much. The barrel and bolt is what really matters.

 

[x45gap]

tag...

 

[ROGER4314]

I've had a pile of AR-15's using every conceivable mix of manufacturers parts and can't say that I've ever noticed a dimes worth of difference in the lowers except for one. My Sun Devil lower housing is far different from any other. The Sun Devil is made from a solid billet of aluminum and it feels different than any other lower that I've used. The flange around the mag well is thicker and the whole lower housing feels more substantial. Another post noted this difference and, like me, couldn't quite put a finger on the difference. I'm not saying it is better........just different.

In all the years that I've messed with the black rifles, I have never seen a lower that I thought was junky or substandard. Many "experts" have stated strong preferences about the lower and upper housing brands but no one has ever proven any advantage to me of one over another. Some have better "bragging rights" but performance was the same as far as I was concerned.

Fire control parts are another matter. Most are creepy and crappy. I've had "match" trigger parts that worked like they had sand in them. Still don't have a definite answer on that one.

Flash