ACR owners, does the “plastic” lower expire?

wslbrandon

wslbrandon

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ACR owners, does the “plastic” lower expire?

Hey guys, thinking about an ACR. Does the polymer lower expire like other synthetic products? For example, a plastic hard hat has an expiry date on it, I was looking at an ACR and noticed the same looking label moulded into the lower. Does the material become brittle over time?

Does anyone have any experience with it in extreme winter temps or conditions?

Thanks for any feedback.
 
I've played with mine in the winter and had no issues.
This isn't Chinese toy plastic, it doesn't get brittle and break when it's cold.

This is my second ACR (traded a black for a tan model) and I've probably got close to 5000 rounds through them split between the two and other than the odd time I didn't smack a loaded mag hard enough to seat it on a closed bolt I can't recall a single failure of any kind. The action is so smooth it feels like it's on needle bearings.

Stop worrying and just go enjoy your rifle.
 
Plastics that are used as safety devices have short expiry dates because of very strict safety regulations and companies trying to avoid law suits.

Plastic (actually Nylon reinforced with fibreglass) lowers and uppers have been around for a while. They all last the life of the firearm. No worries.
 
On that note, anyone try the polymer AR lowers?

I personally wouldn’t go that route, but just curious what the differences would be performance wise.
 
Bfranklin said:
On that note, anyone try the polymer AR lowers?

I personally wouldn’t go that route, but just curious what the differences would be performance wise.
Click to expand...

I have an AR180B-2 with a polymer lower, no issues
I also have a Bushmaster Carbon-15 9mm that has a polymer lower. It is cracked but that only happened because the previous owner had a K-boom. I installed a new upper and repaired the lower. No issues in a couple thousand rounds since. The lower is not exposed to much force, well the takedown pins at least don't take much force. It all goes into the rear where the buffer system is which is quite robust.

Polymer is not a negative feature in a rifle, ever heard of HK? They build some of the best firearms in the world and also use polymer extensively in some of their rifles.
 
Bfranklin said:
On that note, anyone try the polymer AR lowers?

I personally wouldn’t go that route, but just curious what the differences would be performance wise.
Click to expand...

I don't have a polymer AR, but I do own a KRISS Vector, many Glock pistols and just got a IWI X95 recently, and have never had a problem with the polymer they are all made of

Also polymer is now being used more and more in motorcycles and other industries, I am a sport bike guy and motorcycle parts that used to be cast aluminum on some of my bikes are now made of reinforced plastics. Its going to be used in many different applications more and more now as the technology has improved. Today's polymer/plastics are much better then they used to be 10+ years ago. There are sill bad offshore companies making brittle polymer/plastic parts, but I don't mess with that offshore crap to begin with, as even their aluminum parts are weak and soft in my experience
 
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