Canadian made lowers?
- Thread starter polkey
- Start date
Actually, when this pic was taken (last weekend) there was and still is a serial # on it, the # is under the side plate and it IS REGISTERED and it was made LEGALLY by someone that has jumped through hoops, and gone through all the BS to become a manufacturer of such items. IN FACT he is working on R&D to possibly supply parts to the Canadian military, HOWEVER, this part of his R&D is moving very slowly and I am not at liberty to say what his plans are to make it more lucrative to the military.
And no, he is not on Gun Nutz as far as I know other than to maybe lurk around from time to time. His name is Mark Drysdale if you must know, he has nothing to hide
There are different ways to cut the magwell. Doing it with a sideplate is a clever solution, depending on what is available. There are prints available for a lower made from several pieces, suitable for a home shop machinist with only a small mill.
I agree, for those that don't want to use a long endmill that is pretty clever. Although It'd be nice if tactical machining would ship their broached 80% forgings to canada, but they wont.
Also, here are the prints I've found for the lower you're speaking of. I can't speak towards accuracy of them, as I still haven't found the time to make all the parts, even though I've had my seig x3 for over 2 years now.
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0ByybRk3qUMJocjRBSkJtX3phQzg
the builder was going to have the entire mag well cut with a wire EDM machine where I work, but the time to cut one part was way to slow, therefore driving the manufacturing cost through the roof. I believe by making it the way he did, he can maintain all sharp corners where required without broaching anything.
As for the side plate, it is fully doweled together to the main body for accuracy.
As for the side plate, it is fully doweled together to the main body for accuracy.
The side plate idea is clever, don't get me wrong, but I just don't see the point when you're cutting them with a CNC.
Machining I know all about, been a certified machinist for 21 years now, AR-15's i know NOTHING about, I do know that there are a lot of sharp corners inside that magwell and without a broaching machine or a wire EDM machine, you can not get sharp corners with ANY CNC machine inside that part, all endmills and cutting tools are round, so unless you expose one side of it, you would be left with a radius inside every corner
I did a little googling and found this, start watching at the 4:20 mark, he explains the sharp corner issue and he uses a hand file to make his mad fit,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Y4C5dwix8
I'm also a machinist. I also build my own rifles with AR15 type magazine wells. Cutting one on a regular 3 axis CNC mill is not that hard. Pre-drill corners, mill out, hand finish. Oversize the pre-drilled corners and you don't even have to hand finish. Don't want to hand finish on a commercial production product? Fine, then cut them properly with a broach or EDM. Get a 4 axis mill and it's way easier. Cut mag well half way, flip to the bottom, finish mag well.
The only reason for a two piece is for a home built if you are using a manual mill and want to make it easy. Otherwise, it unnecessarily weakens the entire structure of the lower. Those lowers better be dirt cheap.
The only reason for a two piece is for a home built if you are using a manual mill and want to make it easy. Otherwise, it unnecessarily weakens the entire structure of the lower. Those lowers better be dirt cheap.
Those don't look half bad, just a little confused, are they 7075 or 6061? On the manufacturers website it's listed as being 7075 in one place and 6061 in another.
http://cadexdefence.com/spec_pdf/Cadex_AR15_Receiver.pdf
Like I said earlier, I know nothing about AR's, I do know that the one I posted pictures of does not have the rad's in the corners from the diameter of the endmills used to machine it, i had assumed making it with the sharp corners was done that way for a reason. The one posted by Farmboy has all the endmill radii left on all internal corners, does itmake it better or worse this way, no idea, as I said, I know NOTHING (yet) about AR's.
I dont see how it can be weakend the way it is built, it is dowel pin assembled with screws to keep it snug. I do believe the silver screws on the one I pictured will be replaced with black oxided SHCS. Again, I know nothing about these, I know the builder puts a lot of rounds down his guns and he tells me it is a perfect lower with no issues whatsoever.
In theory it would be slightly weakened, however it wouldn't matter much. The upper does most of the work on an AR, also once you bolted it together the sideplate would take the load anyhow. If you buddy recessed the sideplate into the lower the difference in strength would so small that it wouldn't be worth talking about.
In all materials, regardless of use, sharp corners are very bad. STANAG spec calls for .0625 radius in all corners the mag well. Tell him to use a bullmill next time. His guns will look better and be as much to spec as he can get.
Still, unless they are significantly cheaper, I see no reason not to buy a one piece lower.
alberta tactical rifle
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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- calgary alberta
Some photos of our Gen 4 matched upper/lowers. Most prefer the engraving to be done before anodizing but being proud of what we make to show off that ours are different I run mine with the engraving done after anodizing.
Note the ambi bolt release that is now standard equipment on our lowers, they can be set up with ambi safety and mag release as well.
Note the ambi bolt release that is now standard equipment on our lowers, they can be set up with ambi safety and mag release as well.
