The Aero was a few years ago. But side by side, the details were there on the Mega. Look at it as $105 or whatever vs. $70 for just the lower, and it seems proportionately significant. Look at it as $35 in the cost of the overall build, and the difference in niceness (which isn't just the nice anodizing, it's chamfers, bevels, all the little machining attention to detail), and it's an easy decision. At least for me. Just my opinion, possibly worth little more than anyone paid for it.
Last edited by OlongJohnson; 03-31-2020 at 02:06 PM.
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Not another dime.
I don’t know who makes AIM’s lowers but I would avoid Anderson and ATI if you have any other option.
Anderson’s QC is hit or miss. You won’t know if it’s in spec until you ray and assemble it and try various mags in the mag well. The also use a proprietary grip screw.
ATI products are also hit or miss. The ATI OMI polymer lowers are flaming balls of crap.
Aero is as low as I will go on the QC scale. They may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Mega/ZEV but they are normally in spec and if something is wrong they will fix in.
My experience with Aero is the things they make themselves like receivers and scope mounts are solid. The barrels made by ther subsidiary Ballistic Advantage are also GTG.
My negative comments about AERO’s complete guns are due to the assembly issues and the low quality small parts they buy from others.
I’d rather buy 2 or 3 good lowers than six dollar store grade lowers.
I’m waiting for Aero’s thunder ranch lowers for my next build. Aero also makes lowers marked “pistol” . I want to get one for a pistol build. I know the pistol label is not necessary but ever since I showed my AR pistol build to a police officer buddy and his first question was “is this legal?” I have wanted to have the lower marked. It might be cheaper to have pistol engraved on the lower I already have.
Last edited by Poconnor; 03-31-2020 at 03:39 PM.
QC and now proprietary parts required are now on my no go list. Do you see returns other than aesthetics that make it worth while as you go up from Aero? If so who. Im guessing that at some point your getting beyond functionality and into the simply for asthetics and at that point you probably would want matched upper and lower.
I guess...waiting to be learned 😁
I'll wager you a PF dollar™ 😎
The lunatics are running the asylum
I would stay the hell away from Anderson, aka "The Poverty Pony". Their lack of QC is not worth the low price.
I've assembled 15 or more Aero lowers for myself and friends. No issues.
I bought a fair number of BCM blems years ago, also no issues. I think four or 5?
Sionics is good people, and I have used their products with no issues. I think I have bought four of their stripped lowers and two assembled lowers. I do like their NP3 triggers and bolts a lot.
My fave setup for an SBR is a Sionics NP3 bolt with a LMT enhanced bolt carrier, blue Sprinco recoil spring and H2 buffer. They run very soft and work very reliably.
Well this is super annoying. I just got an LPK in the mail about an hour ago to assemble one of those Aero lowers. I don't know if its the aluminum itself or the anodizing, but it may have to go back. The bolt catch roll pin was a giant PITA to get in but I was hopefully that'd be the only problem until I put the safety in. The extra material is just enough that the safety grinds against it when rotating, providing more resistance than I'd like. I have a few others I bought at the same time, so I'm really hoping one of those will work fine while I reach out to Aero. If not, I have one other from at least a year ago that I can test out. Still frustrating though. All that being said, KAC had issues with their stripped lowers and both of my Noveskes have had tight magwells so its not unique to Aero.
Common anodizing typically adds in the range of 0.0005 +/- 0.0002 buildup on the surface, so a slot width changes by ~0.001 +/- 0.0004. That should be accounted for in the dimensioning (engineering office) and machining (production floor) of the part. If all the holes seem small and all the slots narrow, the anodizing may have gotten thicker. Try the trigger pins in those holes and see if they are loose or tight.
It's also common for there to be a slight burr on an edge that doesn't get cleaned up prior to anodizing. That's for any machined part, not just lowers.
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Not another dime.
Was putting together a budget AR and was looking at Surplus Arms and Ammo lower.
I know there are many that are much higher quality, but was looking for something inexpensive to start with so forgive me.
From what I have read, they are made (or used to be made) by Aero Precision.
Anyone aware if that’s still the case.
Thanks for any info.