What did you buy yourself today - PART 1

[HKusp 45]

I work on my guns, mostly C&R, so I have some experience, but have never tried an AR build. How much skill is required to complete one of these 80% receivers? Special jigs or tools?

Ok so here goes

there are several ways to finish a lower when your talking AR the polymer 80's are not nearly as tough but you want to go check out marine gun builders video's and tools to make things even easier. I never did I also have a mini mill soooooooo yeah.

https://www.youtube.com/c/MarineGunB...confirmation=1

now for AR lowers first off series of aluminum and type is going to affect how hard it's going to be to mill and or drill. Forged is harder because of the forging process billet is easier because they are milled not pressure forced. 6061 or 7075 really makes no difference in the overall scheme of things.

I'll start with what I feel is the easiest because I have done it several ways and screwed up plenty in the process.

one of the following jigs with the correct endmill and drill bit kits (that you can buy with the jig as they are always separate) has by far given me the best results. (If I had access to a cnc it would be better but eh above my pay grade ... well my salary grade anyway) Here are the three best router based jigs they all cost about the same with minor differences but a the end of the day they all do a great job. Mind you if your doing one or two lowers probably not worth it to go this route as your in probably over $350-$400 with the bits and the router.

I own this one grabbed it on sale for BF 80percent arms easyjig gen2 multi platform it's phenomenal , they make a gen 1 that I am certain is equally good but this one does everything in one package (AR15/AR10/AR9 ....etc.)

Here they all are they also have a much less expensive version one for $139.00 that only does some AR15 variants (they list the ones they know won't work ) and another for $89.99 that they call the drill press vice same deal only AR15. consider those if your going to do a couple or few. Good endmills are really the key and cgs tool makes some good aluminum cutting endmills that won;t break the bank.

https://www.80percentarms.com/ar-15-lower-jigs/

Here's a couple billet lowers I did with it so you get the gist of the quality of the finish. Tolerances are fantastic too.

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next up (and again pretty much all are equivalent in results) is the Modulus Arms jig kit I would have bought this but they listed the sale too late and I already grabbed the Easyjig gen2 multi. Ironically I used the easy jig to mill out the modulus lowers go figure.

https://www.modulusarms.com/universa...r-jig-extreme/

Finally the original to the game the 5D tactical jig, the only downside is you need to swap out plates to go from ar15 to ar10 otherwise another phenomenal choice.

https://www.5dtactical.com/

Now if you have a drill press or mini mill and your only planning on doing a couple / few your better off going with the above listed style drill press type jig, your also want to get a cross slide vice for the drill press harbor freight has them cheap. h ere are several out there all of the decent ones range from $90-$150.00 give or take. DO NOT SPEND $69.00 on anything that looks like this it takes longer chances are it's good for maybe two if your are really really good at drill press control I have done it this way the only downside is you need to really watch things closely to make sure you don't damage the jig and GO SLOW to get a clean lower it takes time especially with this method.

DO NOT USE THESE they are not worth the little bit of savings.
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I have this one from Broken Arms for .308 great jig because it has a depth pocket on the side ( you can't go to low and you can set your stop)

https://www.brokenarmory.com/product...er-jig-jig-15/

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This one is awesome from American made tactical you can replace only the center plates as they wear down and right now they are on sale for $115.00 If I was going to go with anything right now for a drill press this would probably be it. The only downside is no measuring pocket so you have to keep an eye on your depth.

https://americanmadetactical.com/pro...jig-kits-ar15/

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Finally you can do this with a cordless or corded hand drill ..... don't I know plenty of people who swear it's all ok and their stuff works if you want to go that route youtube has a ton of videos I do not recommend it I have tried on more than one occasion unless you have zero access and need to build a lower and that's all you have don't.



Finishing them is not actually very hard but you need to take light (really light) passes , have a vacuum ( I actually use 2 one I mount under the jig and one to clean out the pocket as I go) this is important for two reasons too deep a cut may (and often does) cause chatter to your endmill which can break a tip or gouge the sides badly. Cleaning out chips as you go helps keep the endmill sharp and because aluminum is soft the chips can also cut up and put small (but annoying) gouges in the walls of the FCG pocket. also lube ...I use viper bench rest cutting fluid works great reduces heat on the endmill and is just lain good cutting oil. Also get good drill bits for the trigger pins and safety selector, do not run the drill bits through from one side to the other do each side separately or you will be off one side to the other.

the above statement is the key to getting a good clean and useable lower. Be patient quality is not going to be achieved in 45 minutes It takes me an average of about an hour and a half or so but I'm not destroying endmills or lowers. It might be longer for forged when I say light passes I mean less than an 1/8 " it seems tedious but it's faster and cleaner to do it this way than it is to fight the tools.

That's some basic info I hope it helped some ask me any other questions that may come to mind.

[Hodgie]

We need to put together a PAFOA P80 build party.

[HKusp 45]

We need to put together a PAFOA P80 build party.

It's so bad I can't stop buying these stupid things lol I think I'm doing it now to see if anyone is going to actually not ship . Shapiro should be getting a commission check from polymer 80 for all the sales he's generated

[alpacaheat]

The paperwork from PA is now in gunshops for 80% lowers. Only a couple questions, and when it asks brand/model/etc. of the lower it gives the option of "not known" so nothing is truly documented except the personal information of the buyer so there is a "record" and who owns them is known !!!

Will suppliers still ship to residential addresses since there is still no law requiring an FFL transfer?

[Emptymag]

Will suppliers still ship to residential addresses since there is still no law requiring an FFL transfer?

Bass Pro has followed illegal law regarding Pittsburgh and Philly ordinances for years, while almost no other vendor does.

The only one to answer that question is the individual vendors - and it would be dumb as fuck to ask them.
"Hey mister, did you know the PA AG says these have to be treated as firearms? Will you still send one directly to me?"

Just fucking buy it and shut your mouth.

[Hodgie]

Will suppliers still ship to residential addresses since there is still no law requiring an FFL transfer?

Midway usa seems to still be from what I hear.

[JDA58]

Picked up a little "Pocket" pistol ...Ruger LCP380

[GonzoGeezer]

Ok so here goes

there are several ways to finish a lower when your talking AR
....

That's some basic info I hope it helped some ask me any other questions that may come to mind .

This should be a pinned post. It demonstrates what is needed in a clear voice. And it convinced me not to try it myself!

Thank you for your time and effort.

[HKusp 45]

This should be a pinned post. It demonstrates what is needed in a clear voice. And it convinced me not to try it myself!

Thank you for your time and effort.

It's a matter of using the proper tools and being patient but it's not initially very cost efficient unless your like me and like to build custom stuff you can get better looking lowers for a great price and not pay the transfer.

[Emptymag]

This should be a pinned post. It demonstrates what is needed in a clear voice. And it convinced me not to try it myself!

Thank you for your time and effort.

LOL! Yeah, too much dicking around to make it worthwhile if we're talking about aluminum AR15 lowers.

I believe polymer would be significantly less difficult, but I don't really care for polymer.

It's easier - for now - to just buy a stripped lower FTF.

That said, the Polymer80 Glock 80P frames look ridiculously easy to complete.