NEA Lower / Upper Receiver Compatibility

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Hey everyone,

I purchased a $65 NEA lower receiver from SFRC-TheAmmoSource. It should be arriving Monday.

This is will be my first AR-15 build, and I (obviously) am hoping to do it on a budget.

I bought it not really knowing the compatibility issues they've had in the past. Most threads with complaints are from 2010-2012, and the "Z" stamped receivers. I'm hoping some of the issues have since been rectified and that my receiver will be problem-free.

Next step is to find an LPK and upper receiver that will work.

I guess my biggest question is: am I going to have a hard time finding an upper to fit this lower? Any recommendations from people who have been through this process?

Cheers,

###XX
 
Some DD and Aero Precision uppers don't seem to mate with them. I've tried Colt, Norc, Windham, Black forge, DPMS, Troy, Valley Forge? and a few others I don't remember the brand of and they fit without issue.

Ryan
 
If you knew there were a number of issues with NEA product, Why did you buy it? To save $40?
The Lower is the Heart of the system. Nothing wrong with paying a little more.

Building your own is not to save money for the sake of being cheap. It is to buy quality products at a lower cost and build a Rifle that is better than off the shelf for less.

And with todays pricing on Colts and DPMS. I would buy one.

You cannot build a Colt for $1000.

But you can spend $1000 building a NEA. ??


But if you need anything, you are in the right place ")
 
Op, my bcm upper fit my nea lower like they were made for each other. My spikes lower did not fit the NEA upper.

Personally I would get a NEA upper so the colour matches. It looks just silly the black and grey if you ask me.
 
There was another thread here discussing this same potential problem. See my post (#9) in the thread to see what I did to remedy the situation.
 
I've had my hands on 2 NEA upper/lower sets, and neither mated together.

To clarify the above, .125" front and rear pins were "made free" in both the upper and lower, but still would not run thru the upper and lower when assembled.

"Made Free" means that the pins would not enter the upper or lower until they were fitted.

Tried to use (used) Colt, Diemaco and (new) Daniel Defence take-down pins before the decision was made to "fit" the pins to the upper/lower.


Luckily neither gun was mine, and I was no longer interested in "picking up" a "cheap" NEA afterwards.

I understand the one owner bought a Noveske, and the other a Norinco, to replace their NEA's.
 
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Yeah half the time NEA uppers don't fit their lowers, why would you expect other brands to be compatible. I have bought 3 items with the NEA stamp on them. One of them was after they supposedly after they fixed their quality issues. All of them needed work to get them to function. It's a good job I'm a machinist and am allowed to do some projects at work
 
###XX said:
I bought it not really knowing the compatibility issues they've had in the past.
Click to expand...

bruin048 said:
If you knew there were a number of issues with NEA product, Why did you buy it?
Click to expand...

"DDDdDurrRRrrrrr me no read 2 good."


To everyone else who actually offered an answer to my question as to which uppers/lowers work together, thank you :)

Specifically, thanks ShrtRnd, for offering a solution in case the upper I end up with does not fit.
 
I have built three NEA-15s and they all fit fine. One was a ZD marked lower and two were Z marked lowers.

I used mostly NEA parts though(uppers, rails, barrels, LPK). The only problem I had was after getting my 12.5" cerakoted... it was really tight for a while, but it is loosening up with use. Functions fine, but is hard to push the takedown pins out.
 
I also have a Z marked Lower (that I bought on Canada day) and just got a pair of the newest NEA lowers for the $65 deal. and I'm pumped.

Buuuuut, I guess if all the interweb people say they are sh!t I'll just use them as book ends...

so far my budget NEA lower is only about $250-260 in... all quality picked parts.

NEA lower-
Daniels Defence LPK and trigger
Rock River Arms buffer tube w/carbine buffer with a Magpul CTR butt stock on it

(actually have a matching full magpul furniture set off an old 10/22 build that I had)
all collected parts off the EE, no tax.

at the moment I'm thinking about just buying 1 of those drop on .22 uppers for $300 so I can shoot it now! I'll be in around $600.. which is actually LESS then most people do a 10/22 build for LOL, but its an actual AR platform to get trigger time on.
 
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Ordered one of the $65 lowers on Sept 1st, received it today, the 10th.
Have four different upper assemblies, only two lowers (a 30 year old Olympic, and a current Rock River), so what the heck, thought I would try one, could use another.
Two fit perfectly. A third is really tight, but would probably be OK with minor fitting. The fourth would need a hammer to assemble - couldn't be done without use of force, so I didn't proceed.
It is ironic that one of the uppers that is a perfect fit has one of the NEA 18" barrels. Had to use trial and error to find a bolt/bolt carrier that would headspace correctly with this barrel & barrel extension.

The mechanical parts fit the lower correctly.

Any idea what the threaded hole behind the grip screw hole is for? Used in manufacture?
 
I have a 300 AAC build from a z mark upper lower match... It's tight, the NEA barrel headspaces properly and the gun shoots accurately. No issues as of yet other than an overload of being awesome
 
Got my build completed today, the NEA upper and lower were a bit tight to put together, everything went together perfectly as far as components go.
I had to use a round file to clean up where the rear pin fit thru though but that was an easy fix.
Have not taken out to range yet but very impressed and total cost was reasonable and a great learning experience.
 
So lets get this straight. It's a very tight fit, and you had to take a file to it right out of the box, and you're very impressed? They claim to be milspec, which means every single lower should match every single upper of every manufacturer that is also milspec. Every single product I have bought from them has had to be tweaked before it could even be used. I'm sorry, but they have had their chance, and it would have to be free before I would ever accept another one of their products.
 
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