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How many lowers does one person need? It seems having one lower, with the best trigger and grip would be most important to consistent feel.
A backup may be needed in case of malfunction.
I have one lower with a good trigger and two others with the Milspec trigger and I don't want to touch the lowers with Milspec triggers.:p
IMHO, the crappy triggers are responsible for more bad shooting than anything else.
I have read on this site a few times. Good Barrels, Good Triggers and Good Scopes. Everything else is cosmetic.
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I like the rule of thumb of one lower per upper...
You can switch uppers but I like having complete rifles.
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The answer is personal, I would suspect. I have two; a rifle lower and carbine lower. It's my suspicion that the carbine lower is actually not perfectly tuned for my 16" Grendel barrel. It could use a heavier buffer.
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one for each upper at a minimum
then maybe a spare
then maybe an sbr
ect
ect
with them coming down in price possible a stripped spare or 2
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It does seem most convenient to have one for each upper. But the triggers on all the uppers can't have the same feel unless they are identical.
That means you feel the break at different points. Of course they could be works of art then the trigger feel doesn't matter.
I don't even want to start about how many bolt carriers and bolts. I know one bolt per barrel since they wear into the locking lugs. I currently have one too few bolt carriers or one too many bolts. Oh Oh. I'm losing count.
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I don't like swapping although I've done that for a period. I have one that is pretty basic that goes with my generic 5.56 build. I'm building another "balls-out" version that is going with my Grendel that has a fixed stock and all the upgraded goodies I want for shooting at the range.
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For me it has to be 1 to 1. By having a lower for each upper my entire family can hunt together with identical guns and ammo.
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bj139 Wrote:How many lowers does one person need? It seems having one lower, with the best trigger and grip would be most important to consistent feel.
After building my first AR15 in 5.56 with a simple PSA complete upper, I slowly put together a nicer precision-oriented upper with higher quality components. After spending a few range trips swapping uppers back & forth on my sole lower, I quickly realized that the cost savings of having one lower to swap multiple uppers onto was just not worth the trouble. I currently have 3 lowers with 4 uppers, but plan on evening that out soon. I'd say a 1:1 ratio (or close to it) is ideal.
Not every gun needs to have the same trigger. I have an SSA in my long-range rig, an MBT in my do-everything platform, and an ALG QMS in my pistol lower. All the parts in each build are tailored to the intended function of the firearm. There's some overlap in capabilities, but each component was a conscious choice with consideration of the intended use, cost, and practicality.
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drewthebrave Wrote:Not every gun needs to have the same trigger. I have an SSA in my long-range rig, an MBT in my do-everything platform, and an ALG QMS in my pistol lower. All the parts in each build are tailored to the intended function of the firearm. There's some overlap in capabilities, but each component was a conscious choice with consideration of the intended use, cost, and practicality.
Agreed.
My 20" iron site 5.56 has a CMMG mil-spec trigger, feels pretty good really.
My 16" 7.62x39 hunting/ranch gun has the same CMMG LPK, not quite as nice but not bad.
My 18" Grendel hunting/target rifle will have a 3# Velocity trigger.
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I buy lowers 50 at at time, so I may not be the best to answer this question. If I was just a hunter, I would want a lower for a pistol, a carbine, and a rifle. Each with a good trigger, and stock for there intended purpose. Uppers are the hard part. I couldn't tell you how many different configurations Ive got in the safe right now. From 5 inch-9mm, to 26 inch-6.5 Grendel.
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I pull through my Geissele 2 stage no problem. I like complete riffles, if I'm in a rapid fire situation I can't tell the diffence personally. If I need to shoot 500 with a 223 I like the two stage.
That's all theoretical I have two mill spec lowers and one with a geissele that is dedicated to my 24" lilja. When I have the cash I will go to a all Geissele two stage
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I currently have 1 : 1 with a spare stripped upper in search of a smoking good deal on a barrel 18 or 22 perhaps 24 and another lower. I have a 16 inch Barrier Defense and 20 inch ODIN on carbine lowers.
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Hm, seems I'm the odd guy out.. I have one lower. I swap out all my uppers. I Like having the same cheek weld, trigger pull, and grip whenever I ready my gun..
When I build my wife her own gun, I'll get her a lower as well.
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Same for me. 1 to 1. I thought about the 1 lower and have more uppers but I new I was to lazy for that. Plus more lowers the more back ups!
The harder question would be do you keep them to a few calibers or do you try to collect them all!?
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For me it is a matter of finances for the second lower. I like buying the best I can that fits my wants. I have a 6.5 Grendel and a .223 Wylde uppers with matching bolts. They both have Leupold scopes all dialed in ready to go. I have one lower and am saving up for the second that will be identical to the first. I was told that it is great for muscle memory to have them match, but I just like the way it fits and works. My AR lower trigger is set at 3.5 pounds which feels right to me because of the AR pistol grip.
On all my precision hunting rifles I have Timney and Jewell triggers set at 2.5 pounds pull for safety.
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Building up AR's is kind of like walking up stairs. First left foot then right foot, first an upper then a lower then another upper then another lower then..... However, long ago I determined that all of my uppers are furnitured basically the same so that when a whole gaggle of 'em are all sitting in the same rack or on the same table ( mine and other's ) that mine are easily discernable. Some years ago, we had a "toy day" where I worked - everyone brought a bunch of 'em and we lined 'em up on tables around the room. Couldn't tell 'em apart - now mine all have a unique ( but consistent ) look and feel to 'em. The lowers are all built identically, with mil-spec triggers that have had a lot of work done to 'em - polished and lightened, near zero creep, near zero over-travel, 5 lb springs. Like my pistols, I don't have to stop and think how each one acts - they all act the same.
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I can't have spare parts laying around. Sooner or later I must turn them into a rifle.
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with the low price of lowers nowadays i have debated buying a few, just in case
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I can't pull but one trigger at a time, so one lower is fine for me. Of course, I only have two uppers, so maybe I'll add a few more of them before getting more lowers. I like not having another trigger pull to adjust to, the one I have works great for both uppers. I don't want to give the Feds the satisfaction of knowing how many uppers I have, anyway. I'd have more lowers if they didn't bug me with all the paperwork.
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I am staying at 1 for 1. I built a couple of uppers but hated seeing them all alone in the safe. I did give my son 3 uppers and 2 lowers. One pistol and 2 carbine. 556, 6.5 16", 300blk 10.5" pistol.
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