Would you buy a polymer AR lower receiver?

[Albtraum]

Local gun store having a deal this weekend on New Frontier AR15 complete lowers with polymer receiver for $95.

Pro's: Lightweight @ 1.6 lbs. $100.
Con's: It's plastic.

[JTofGPD]

I just placed an order for one... Will have it next week. I hear a lot of good things about them... Btw- glocks and many other reliable weapons are made of high quality polymer. Why not an ar lower?

[WHSmithIV]

An AR Lower of polymer can be extremely good quality with strength. However, I would not expect it to keep that strength during a 50 year period whether it's fired or not. A glass reinforced polymer will quite likely be good for about 50 years or more.

Carbon fiber base polymers - well, plan on your lifetime and your grandchildren's lifetime.

So, the only questions are: 1) how long do you plan on having the carbine 'in service' and reliable? 2) How many test rounds and practice rounds will you expect to place through it 3) how much are you willing to have it weigh, and lastly, 4) how much money are you willing to spend on it with ammo?

The military uses a combination of these questions and the reality is that AR's in the military are pretty much destroyed after two-five years of service and some are sold off (i.e. Fast and Furious). For the military - weight is everything.

High quality, glass reinforced polymers are the only way to go for light weight. Best long term combination is the best polymers for the light duty areas and quality steel for the working parts. With a really nice lower, you can mate any upper and your barrel and feed in the upper need to be of very high quality steel.

[JLA]

no

[hardluk1]

never Just not enough pro's to invest in one.

[GunHugger]

NO!

You can't take a part designed to made of aluminum and make it from plastic and expect it to work well. It would need to be about 40 percent thicker and beefed up even more in high stress areas which they are not.

A Glock works because it was designed for the materials used.

You could not make a 1911 frame and slide from plastic and expect it to work and hold up the same as steel (or aluminum), same with the AR receiver.

And for what? To save a few ounces and a few dollars? If you are that hard up to save maybe AR's aren't really for you.

[JLA]

Beautiful reply GH. I agree totally!

[Maine04657]

I think the question shoudl have been asked who has personal EXPERIENCE with polymer lowers and there quality.

I know a few folks who own them. The one that I will note here is a 07/02 friend who converted a bushmaster to FA 8 or more years ago and uses it for demos. He has fired countless thousands of rounds and it is still fine.


What most people fail to understand is the LOWER does not take much in the way of stress or wear.

[gdmoody]

YES,

I bought a New Frontier lower about three weeks ago to put on an AR57 upper that I traded for. I have only fired about 200 rounds since I bought it so I cant really say how it will hold up. You can't really tell it is plastic with a quick look but when you pick it up and feel the weight, it is obvious.

With me putting it on the 5.7, I figured that it would not take a beating. I might change it out with a couple of AR's. every now and then. to test how it functions with a little more powerful caliber.

I know a lot of people talk bad about plastic and I have for years, but I am happy with the performance, as of right now, anyway. It still will now make be buy a Glock, though.

[Snakedriver]

Of course the lower only receives and retains the magazine, receives and retains the buttstock/grip & buffer and receives & retains the trigger/safety & fire control parts. None of those items listed are high stress items requiring high strength steel or aluminum to perform their functions. If the polymer lowers are made of a similar material as say glock pistols, I see no reason to poo-poo the idea.

A typical stripped AR lower made of cast aluminum: (Costs approx. $100 - $130)



A typical AR lower with all the parts installed.



Completely outfitted as shown with good metal parts the typical cost would be around $250. The complete polymer lowers at $100 seem almost too good to be true, and you know what they say about that.

[GunHugger]

[Albtraum]

Thanks everyone for the input. I had no desire for getting an AR15 because of the $, but when I saw this ad, I figured I could start with the lower, and slowly build it up. Also, the shop is having DROS for free.

[aa1911]

A big resounding NO from me.

What GunHugger said....

[crystalphoto]

nope... I am a metal kind of guy.

[Maine04657]

Originally Posted by GunHugger

Nice pics. However unless we know exactly what caused each failure they are pointless. I have pics of many KB's from bad ammo to folks leaving their fancy laser bore sighters in the barrel.

[gdmoody]

No matter what caused those broken receivers, they are made of metal, which is supposedly so much stronger than polymer!!

[JLA]

Actually george, im fairly sure those pics GH posted are of poly lowers.

[jlloyd73]

NEVER!!!!!


Those don't look like a forged lower to me.....

[CampingJosh]

Yes, I would. Probably should word it "will," because my next lower will be polymer.

The lower receiver was originally made of aluminum because it takes almost no stress. That role can be done successfully with a variety of plastics. The high stress parts have always been made of steel, and they still are.

Assuming that all polymers are the same is as silly as assuming that all metals are the same. Brass, iron, zinc, steel, aluminum, titanium, and probably many other metals have been used in firearms over the years. They are all different, but they are all acceptable for their own particular roles (though zinc perhaps should never have been used for anything).

There was a time when steel was the new material and people weren't sure it would hold up.

[lonewolf204]

I tried one and will not make the same mistake twice!

[cpttango30]

The only thing the lower does is hold parts.

trigger group
Pistol Grip
Stock
buffer

Where is the stress in this equation? Nowhere, The lower has little anything to do with accuracy or strength. It is basically a parts box.

So if I got a good enough deal on one sure I would buy it.

But, from that add I would be buying that that M1 Carbine in 22lr. Those are SWEET.

[Bindernut]

I'll stick with aluminum.

Originally Posted by JLA

Actually george, im fairly sure those pics GH posted are of poly lowers.

I know for sure the Carbon-15 in the last picture isn't alloy. BUT...in Bushy's defense the lower didn't fail on that unit, the upper receiver cracked.
I've seen one Carbon-15 in 5.56 that failed in the same manner. Not sure what use or prior abuse caused the failure...someone at the local range all of a sudden had a floppy AR in his hands. Seeing that really soured me on the whole carbon-polymer AR thing.

[Bindernut]

Originally Posted by cpttango30

The only thing the lower does is hold parts.

trigger group
Pistol Grip
Stock
buffer

Where is the stress in this equation? Nowhere, The lower has little anything to do with accuracy or strength. It is basically a parts box.

So if I got a good enough deal on one sure I would buy it.

But, from that add I would be buying that that M1 Carbine in 22lr. Those are SWEET.

Stress? The buffer tube attaches to the lower. Not to mention the entire buttstock is hanging off of that little hook on the back of the lower.
The first pic that gunhugger posted shows perfectly where the weak spot is on a plastic lower (regardless of what synthetic it's made from).
Was that crack caused by the bolt/carrier pounding back against the buffer? Was it caused by someone tripping on the rifle and putting too much strain on the lower? I don't know...and I don't want my rifle to do that.

[jbrescue]

My feeling on the plastic lowers are that they are a cheap way to get an AR that you will be able to replace in the future with a metal lower. Plan on it. If this is all you can afford at the time, go for it. Just plan to replace the lower in the future. The other issue is that some of these poly lowers, most likely this complete one, has all poly parts in it, not just the poly lower.

[gdmoody]

I figured that I would never know how one holds up until I tried it myself so I bought one to try out. In a few years, or a few weeks, I will know if it is still holding up, or not.