NEA blemished lowers from SFRC

alvais

alvais

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I received my "blemished" NEA stripped lower receiver today and I thought some of you would like to see just how blemished they are. A big thanks goes out to the crew at SFRC for a smooth transaction. This is my first AR lower that I hope to use for my PDW/CQB build in the future.

I was initially pretty shocked to see how dark the lower is since this is supposed to considered blemished because the colouration is too light. I tried looking for other blemishes and besides some light tooling marks, there isn't anything out of the ordinary that I can see. I have experience with C7's and my bro's AR's so I know that there isn't anything wrong with this lower as far as I can see.

As for the tooling marks, they're definitely there but are light and you don't really notice them unless you're really looking for them like I was since I read about them in other threads. It doesn't bother me especially since I paid a great price for it.

Here's a (crappy cell phone camera) look at it.

scaled.php
 
Mine was darker than I expected. From the pic on the SFRC site I expected a light gray but it's closer to a charcoal gray. I might not even have to refinish it.

In any event a great deal (under $130 with taxes & shipping in). I should have bought a couple. My first purchase from SFRC & I am pleased. Quick service & good comms. Thanks. :D
 
The picture that was shown on the website was of a dry, worst case lower from the blem ones. Pretty much everyone got one that was much better than the sample I showed.
 
I know that NEA's surface finishing approach has changed a lot recently. They used to take the position that "it's not a spec'd dimension, so we don't really care if it's pretty" but they got enough complaints that even though I know they still consider it technically irrelevant (which of course is true) they have buckled to consumer demand for a more consistent appearance.

My suggestion to them was that it was worth cleaning up the cosmetics if only because a lot of people would assume that they were taking an equally cavalier approach to the spec'd dimensions.

Anyway I haven't seen the current generation of lowers first hand so I can't say what they compare to for looks. I do know they have changed their methods to get a better appearance, though.

In fact they have also changed their assembly procedures pretty radically over the last two months or so and brought in a consultant from a big "tier 1" company to help them get their house in order.

We'll see how well they did...after waiting for them to get to a point where I suspect they have worked out the bugs, I decided to put my money on the chopping block and do a bit of testing. I got a transfer notification today of a 12.5" NEA-15.

When it arrives I will begin testing it with various ammo. All issues will be publicly documented and every round will be logged.

Once barrel break-in is complete, it will get lubed, but not cleaned, for a minimum of 1000 rounds. If that turns out to be instructive, I may keep going until it seems like I'm not learning anything by not cleaning it.

It happens that I don't think that you necessarily get a lot of useful information from not cleaning rifles...but sometimes you do, and most serious users of ARs would expect the guns to run for a weekend class without much in the way of maintenance.

Anyway I won't hesitate to post about any issues that develop. If there is one thing that the shooting community needs, it's more objective information.
 
misanthropist said:
I know that NEA's surface finishing approach has changed a lot recently. They used to take the position that "it's not a spec'd dimension, so we don't really care if it's pretty" but they got enough complaints that even though I know they still consider it technically irrelevant (which of course is true) they have buckled to consumer demand for a more consistent appearance.

My suggestion to them was that it was worth cleaning up the cosmetics if only because a lot of people would assume that they were taking an equally cavalier approach to the spec'd dimensions.

Anyway I haven't seen the current generation of lowers first hand so I can't say what they compare to for looks. I do know they have changed their methods to get a better appearance, though.

In fact they have also changed their assembly procedures pretty radically over the last two months or so and brought in a consultant from a big "tier 1" company to help them get their house in order.

We'll see how well they did...after waiting for them to get to a point where I suspect they have worked out the bugs, I decided to put my money on the chopping block and do a bit of testing. I got a transfer notification today of a 12.5" NEA-15.

When it arrives I will begin testing it with various ammo. All issues will be publicly documented and every round will be logged.

Once barrel break-in is complete, it will get lubed, but not cleaned, for a minimum of 1000 rounds. If that turns out to be instructive, I may keep going until it seems like I'm not learning anything by not cleaning it.

It happens that I don't think that you necessarily get a lot of useful information from not cleaning rifles...but sometimes you do, and most serious users of ARs would expect the guns to run for a weekend class without much in the way of maintenance.

Anyway I won't hesitate to post about any issues that develop. If there is one thing that the shooting community needs, it's more objective information.
Click to expand...

It's good to know that someone will be putting out a well-documented testing of the latest NEA-15. Hopefully you can give us updates at higher round counts. Anyways, I'll really be looking forward to reading it.

I think if NEA takes care of the tooling mark issue going forward, no one could really complain about the lower receiver (or upper). It's also encouraging to know they care about listening to their customers and are trying to get their house in order.

I don't know if my lower is made from NEA's old techniques or new ones, post consultation or pre, but I'm more than satisfied with it. Now all I have to do piece together an AR and go shooting... :D
 
misanthropist said:
I know that NEA's surface finishing approach has changed a lot recently. They used to take the position that "it's not a spec'd dimension, so we don't really care if it's pretty" but they got enough complaints that even though I know they still consider it technically irrelevant (which of course is true) they have buckled to consumer demand for a more consistent appearance.

My suggestion to them was that it was worth cleaning up the cosmetics if only because a lot of people would assume that they were taking an equally cavalier approach to the spec'd dimensions.

Anyway I haven't seen the current generation of lowers first hand so I can't say what they compare to for looks. I do know they have changed their methods to get a better appearance, though.

In fact they have also changed their assembly procedures pretty radically over the last two months or so and brought in a consultant from a big "tier 1" company to help them get their house in order.

We'll see how well they did...after waiting for them to get to a point where I suspect they have worked out the bugs, I decided to put my money on the chopping block and do a bit of testing. I got a transfer notification today of a 12.5" NEA-15.

When it arrives I will begin testing it with various ammo. All issues will be publicly documented and every round will be logged.

Once barrel break-in is complete, it will get lubed, but not cleaned, for a minimum of 1000 rounds. If that turns out to be instructive, I may keep going until it seems like I'm not learning anything by not cleaning it.

It happens that I don't think that you necessarily get a lot of useful information from not cleaning rifles...but sometimes you do, and most serious users of ARs would expect the guns to run for a weekend class without much in the way of maintenance.

Anyway I won't hesitate to post about any issues that develop. If there is one thing that the shooting community needs, it's more objective information.
Click to expand...

Any chance of getting some details on what changes were made in order to put out a satisfactory rifle. NEA talks a good game but what have they done?
 
I'm not sure that it's really my place to comment on that. And it would be a really, really long list of changes.

They've taken the various complaints seriously, though. Many, many components have been changed and a lot of the suppliers they used at first have been dropped. They did a lot of work on their FCG, and the new one is supposed to be very good. I am very interested to shoot the one they're sending me, although I did receive a correction a few minutes ago that the one they are sending is the 10.5" I had recently discussed with Jeff, not the 12.5 we talked about a few months back. We've talked often about guns and I had expressed an interest in a few different lengths, so that's fine. By sending the 10.5 now he's able to send one with a few subtle changes to the barrel extension that he wants me to look at.

Should be an interesting gun, I think.
 
Ok checked my new blemish lower out today it looks great but only one issue

The roll pin for the bolt release can be pushed in with one finger the holes seem to be the exact diameter as the roll pin.

Any thoughts on what I can do?
 
WAREWOLF said:
The roll pin for the bolt release can be pushed in with one finger the holes seem to be the exact diameter as the roll pin.

Any thoughts on what I can do?
Click to expand...

Rona or any machine shop supply should have a proper roll pin to fit, make sure you have your roll pin right as there are several in a lower completion kit, frankly I think you will find the error with the lower completion kit vs the lower....


misanthropist said:
It happens that I don't think that you necessarily get a lot of useful information from not cleaning rifles...but sometimes you do, and most serious users of ARs would expect the guns to run for a weekend class without much in the way of maintenance.
Click to expand...

I think that is a bit of a pipe dream, every rifle needs maintenance.... at the very least a wipe down and relube every 500 rounds or so which is a day in class approx. (or half day for some). I would skip the cleaning, but at least give it a chance with the wipe down/relube every 500.
 
WAREWOLF said:
Ok checked my new blemish lower out today it looks great but only one issue

The roll pin for the bolt release can be pushed in with one finger the holes seem to be the exact diameter as the roll pin.

Any thoughts on what I can do?
Click to expand...

Take roll pin and drive a small wedge down the cut along the length of the pin. I hammered mine onto the blade of a crappy knife. This opens up the pin ever so slightly and should do the trick.
 
rivetc78 said:
Listen to all the people say "I told you so"

Why would you buy an NEA product? Because it was discounted?

Now you know why.

Send it back to NEA and get a new one.
Click to expand...

No offence but i wouldnt basy=terized the lower as my problem could be the pin and a that size is very very easy to get to be just a tiny bit biger then a person is tring to dill.

and also it could be the anodizing is not thick eanough as well.

I not going strait to hate because of one small theing and I have seen issues with big names as well PWS comes to mind on one of my Previus builds.
 
TinkerBell said:
Rona or any machine shop supply should have a proper roll pin to fit, make sure you have your roll pin right as there are several in a lower completion kit, frankly I think you will find the error with the lower completion kit vs the lower....




I think that is a bit of a pipe dream, every rifle needs maintenance.... at the very least a wipe down and relube every 500 rounds or so which is a day in class approx. (or half day for some). I would skip the cleaning, but at least give it a chance with the wipe down/relube every 500.
Click to expand...

Lube yes...wipe down, maybe. Every rifle needs maintenance of course, but they really shouldn't need much in 1000 rounds. If I were doing back-to-back day after day 500 round sessions though I would follow that schedule for sure.

You've described exactly why I don't think torture testing necessarily tells you all that much, though...maintenance is a necessary part of the equation.


definitely agree about the pin most likely being the issue. I didn't see it mentioned...who is the LPK from?
 
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