Is Anderson lower hate justified?

[Two Tone]

Joined another forum about a day before joining this one.

Anyway....other there.....when I listed my parts starting with my 2 Anderson lowers........OH BOY.

They really hate on Anderson.

But, that hasn't happened here.

This morning I test fit my Ergo grip and the parts from my RRA lower kit. Everything seemed to test fit just fine.

I was going to get my lowers engraved but I think I'll assemble and test my lowers before sending those off for engraving.

[mdram]

they work fine
they actually used to machine for some other companies

[michael1778]

If they did not give concrete examples and issues then it sounds unfounded. If they were helpful then they would give you tips on what to watch out for based on any real, historical vendor problems. I have no specific experience with that brand of lower receiver. BTW, I think your plan to have matching rifles for you and your wife with the other engraved information may be quirky to some but I like it. My wife has ZERO interest in rifles but I told her about your plan anyway. It's romantic. I would love to custom build a rifle for my wife (AR or bolt action). NOPE. Wishing you all the best!

[LRRPF52]

The only issue I have encountered with one of them was that the pistol grip thread channel was not threaded all the way in depth.

This meant that longer Mil-Spc pistol grip screws would not work, but the short Magpul grip screws did just fine.

They are typically referred to as “Poverty Pony” lowers, but effectively there isn’t much to be concerned about from a basic mechanical standpoint.

There are a series of dimensional call-outs that you can inspect with armorer gauges, but most mass-produced lowers are dialed-in these days and have been for the past 20 years.

[Two Tone]

michael1778,

Thanks man. The fact that my comments on here are worth enough for someone to tell their wife about.......that's touching. Seriously, that really touched me in all the right ways. Thanks.

Sorry your wife isn't into it though. Mine is. She helped me to pick out the font online for how to write our names.

Thanks guys....ya the Anderson hate over there was over-the-top and without any specifics.

The reason I chose Anderson was due to being able to get consecutive serial numbers, their logo looks kinda cool, and their right sides are blank.

I just got an email from Aero Precision. They have no idea when they'll make a run of "no small logo" lowers and they "cannot guarantee consecutive serial numbers." It looks like Anderson is still the only one I can get or this.

[Two Tone]

Update:

Unboxed one of my Aero Precision uppers and slipped the two take down pins in. Perfect fit.

Put the upper on. Tight as a drum. No slop at all. I think the hate is unfounded.

Time to put these mugs together and test them out........then get that engraving done.

Thanks for the support guys.

[lazyengineer]

It's important that the Anderson hate be kept up. Otherwise people will realize they're the same lowers (They OEM for other brands in fact), and all start just buying Anderson, and driving up the price. Indeed, I tend to have more parts compatibility and fit issues with other lowers, then Anderson. They're actually not "just as good", but my preferred lower. The only lower I like better are these, with the integrated right-hand (Ambidextrious) bolt release. I can't stand the Magpul BAD bolt release. Not every gun with problems runs a BAD release, but when you do see a Tacticool gun with problems, it's got a BAD release. While these integrated units work pretty good. Though a premium to get a lower with it.



To your point. If you want a conventional mil-spec level build, get the Anderson and don't look back. If you want to pay a premium, then get one with actual premium features, like that integrated bolt release.

[Klem]

Lazy,

That lower in the photo looks like an exact copy of the Zev, formerly Mega Arms ambi lower.

Expensive precision billets and as long as the quality control is the same as Mega then these represent the best on the market. Pleasing to see Zev did not discard this original utilitarian design.

[Two Tone]

Thanks guys. I just came from that other forum and OH MY GOSH. I honestly didn't know what to make of one of the replies there other than the guy really wanted me to build my rifle his way.

His reply contained profanity and what seemed to be a degree of personal insult. Yikes! :p Like "calm down Francis!"

So I may not be on that forum much longer. Thankfully, people are much less demanding here.

Planning to order the tools I need to do these builds. Naturally my tech-head wife will want to film everything of the builds for "her content." She instagrams nearly everything we do!

[lazyengineer]

Thanks guys. I just came from that other forum and OH MY GOSH. I honestly didn't know what to make of one of the replies there other than the guy really wanted me to build my rifle his way.

His reply contained profanity and what seemed to be a degree of personal insult. Yikes! :p Like "calm down Francis!"

So I may not be on that forum much longer. Thankfully, people are much less demanding here.

Planning to order the tools I need to do these builds. Naturally my tech-head wife will want to film everything of the builds for "her content." She instagrams nearly everything we do!

Eh, folks get that way. People get passionate about their flavor. Just smile and roll with it. In the world of AR15 you really have to try, to get something that won't work right. Generally, the people who are the most passionate can be logo-focused. It's a heck of a thing to spend $350 on a lower, that's no better than a $40 lower. So clearly, it's better than the $40 lower (when usually, it's actually not - and in some cases, actually IS that $40 lower that Anderson roll marked).

When it comes to the AR15, the single least important quality item on the gun, tends to be the lower - ironic as that is.

[grayfox]

Some of it is (thinly disguised) ego. They dropped $500 on a $100 part so naturally you have to do the same.

[montana]

Some of it is (thinly disguised) ego. They dropped $500 on a $100 part so naturally you have to do the same.

Yup, besides the ego some place on their expensive brands, I have seen a lot of malfunctioning AR rifles being misdiagnosed and the problem being wrongfully directed towards the Anderson lower. I have personally never had any problems with my Anderson lowers and if I did, I would send it back for a free replacement. Anderson lowers are one of the best values for the budget minded..

[BlogSarge]

Yup. There are a lot of brand snobs who disrespect any brand that they don’t personally approve of and own.

Go check out the rifle scope section of shooting forums. It can get pretty ugly! “Your $2000 scope is so inferior to my $5000 scope I can’t believe you would use such a piece of junk.” In reality, while some folks can maybe tell the difference between one brand of scope, lower, barrel, trigger and another, most probably can’t if you hide the logos.

I love what you’re doing with the his and hers matching sets. But, but, but…. who gets the lower serial number?

[rgkitchen]

I've assembled five AR platform firearms - all using an Anderson closed trigger lower as the foundation. All function perfectly. One has over 2,500 rounds through it (may not seem like much - but, for an old guy weekend shooter, it's a lot for me). The only minus I would give it is that any grip with a beaver tail leaves a gap. I just use grips without beaver tails (on my AR pistol, I installed a Magpul K grip which only comes with a beaver tail - I used black high temp engine gasket caulk to fill in the gap).

I also use either LaRue (2 stage) or ALG (1 stage) triggers exclusively. I get lower parts kits without a trigger or grip so that I can install what I want. Except for my AR pistol, I use exclusively Magpul MIAD grips. Commonality of parts keeps the "feel" of every firearm the same.

[BigTee]

I have two Anderson lowers in service, not had an issue with either. My others are Aero Precision and I have seen no differences in quality. I also run Larue 2-stage triggers and Aero LPK’s in all my AR’s.

[tdbru]

TT,
my one and only AR is using an Anderson GI pattern lower. no issues. Both uppers run fine on that Anderson lower. But often functioning / malfunctioning is more dependent on the upper rather than the lower. I put my lower together from parts. Every part fit just fine. Other than the buttstock, the trigger assembly, and the buffer I decided to go with, all the other parts were GI parts and all the parts, GI and otherwise, fit just fine.

I agree with LE that the secret about Anderson lowers being fine not get out past this forum. If it does, as LE referred to, the demand for them will skyrocket and then the price will go up. Right now they are a great value. As long as Anderson continues to sell GI spec lowers at the modest prices I see, they will continue to be a great value.
-tdbru

[TOU]

Sorry for the dumb question & not to derail...but where are you finding Anderson lowers for $40? TIA

Very cool build concept btw, congrats!

TOU

[BlogSarge]

I think I saw some on sale at Primary arms a few weeks ago. They’re 48 bucks now.

https://www.primaryarms.com/anderson-man...r-receiver

[tdbru]

TOU
https://www.joeboboutfitters.com/Anderso...149200.htm
or
https://www.primaryarms.com/1+Lower-Rece...ufacturing

look around. they're out there.......

-tdbru

[TOU]

Thank you!