The S&S Project Part 2

The lower is in!!!  Woohoo!!!  Guys, this lower receiver looks great!  Spike's Tactical has a tremendous product in their complete lower receiver (the link is not what Slarti ordered as they are not offering that option anymore [it was a temporary sale]).  The finish and detail on the machining are perfect, and they offer some other little touches (namely adding to the cool factor) that are great.  See the picture below:

Very cool Spike's logo on the buffer tube!  Now, of course, you'll never see that when the rifle is closed and working.  Nor does it add anything to the practicality or functionality of the lower.  However, the cool factor is still there and we all know how important it is to first work well, but then a close second is looking good while doing it!  Also notice the fire selector marks.  Behind the safety switch is a "full auto" marking (of course it isn't functional, but again, these are style points!).  Very, very cool.

As far as functionality goes, everything was well put together.  I did some brief trigger work and found it to be a nice, clean break.  All levers seemed to do what they were supposed to do (difficult to fully judge without putting rounds down range).  However, Slarti and I will be disassembling this just to put it back together, so more to follow on that front.

Now, why would we take apart a perfectly good lower and reassemble it?  Well, because we want to learn more about the gun.  That was the whole point of building one.  However, it was a better value to buy the complete lower than each part individually. 

That brings me to the cost factor.  With Slarti's permission, I am going to keep you up to date on the total cost of the assembly.  So far, with the lower, lower parts, grip, and buttstock, the total cost has been $287 ($250 for lower assembly, $12 for shipping, and $25 for FFL transfer fee).  Slarti is not going for the cheapest parts, but the best value.  So far, I think he's met that goal and this is going to be a great AR build.  Stay tuned....

- Straight