In this episode we tackle a question we get a lot in our monthly QA series but don’t often cover. Well, due to the continued interest we deiced to make an episode dedicated to the topic, Forged vs Billet AR’s. We go over the pros and cons, the differences and some background to help you decide which is best for you. Thanks for watching!
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I want you to check yourself because I’m pretty certain that Billet is going to be stronger than forged and you said that forged was stronger than billet
Truth be told… I buy 80% forged lowers and build my own shit. Got a few FN rifles but screw it
Which one for Full auto?
Forged
I am a metallurgist. There are large differences between forged and billet…which you will not notice unless you are shooting from inside a furnace at 400F+ or for some reason need to use it to hold up a tank.
Aero was my first build. super nice features on the M4E1
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Toxoplasma gondii tops the list as the most famous — and most controversial — neurological parasite. This tiny protozoan doesn’t look like much more than a blob, but once it makes its way to the brain, it can radically alter the behavior of hosts like rats, cats and, yes, even humans.
What might this mean for human behavior?
“We often see symptoms like altered activity levels, changes in risk behaviors, and decreased reaction times,” says Joanne Webster, a parasitology researcher at Imperial College, London. “But in some cases, they become more severe — like schizophrenia.”
Another paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, argued that in areas with high T. gondii infection rates, these tiny parasites could cumulatively alter the behavioral patterns of entire cultures. Infected parents, researchers found, have a 30 percent chance of passing the parasite on to their children.
If that all seems a little far from home, though, consider this: Researchers estimate that more than 60 million people in the U.S. alone currently carry T. gondii, and most of those have no idea, because the parasite often causes no symptoms at all. Until the day it strikes, that is.
Read about it here if you dare. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2015/10/29/parasite-human-brain-control/#.XP7iNv57nX4
If you can explain why some if not all of our leaders are not infected with T. gondii, I would like to hear it.
Excellent information!
Really jealous seeing that ascend armory receiver set. Really wanted one but now they and the company are gone
AERO's are great ! Anderson also make a lower with a integrated trigger guard which is very nice.
I'm gonna ask you which one you'd like shows a really nice looking one next to the everyday one hmmm I wonder
Thanks !
That Ascend is a serious piece of kit, unfortunate you can not find them anymore.
Good info! Thanks
I heard a lot of companies are saying cast billet aluminum lowers n from what i read its just a cast aluminum lower
Wait…that lower billit comes as one piece?…so tge bolt carrier group and other internal parts are perminatly inside?…Nuts!
I love my M4E1
Retired 24 year ARSOF combat vet. Aero won me over 5 years ago.
the3 Ascend is $450 'blemished' on the last site I checked. Holy cats ya don't need to spend 450 on a receiver. Holy cats.
In some of my builds, I use a forged lower, with a Vltor upper. The Vltor is a little thicker, and still cheaper than a billet
Have you mentioned 2024 aluminum? Do some manufacturers make them out of it. It's a high strength aircraft aluminum and it machines beautifully. 6061 is very gummy.
Pay for almost "6" times the amount for a forged. Stupid.
Forged is the best and stronger than billet or cast. It's hammered into shape, compacting the metal at a molecular level, while being lighter and cheaper than billet, and is 7075T6 aluminum. I have never found the billets to be prettier, I like the classic M4/M16 look of a forged mil-spec, and removable trigger guard.
Look fir videos making an engine crankshaft. Basic or complex the work is done by a cnc machine and the programming is where the thing is really made. The machines change their tools automatically and do their own qc as they go. The idea is perfection that can be repeated. Hence the modern computer and CNC. Machines.
Glad i found this. I keep hearing wrong info. Both are CNC'd they are either from a slab of metal (billet) or from a piece of metal that is forged. Both are completed in a million dollar CNC machine. No one makes ar receivers with a 1950's style mill.
Dude, saying "forging" is "forging aluminum into a shape" is not the best way to explain forging!
save you time 2:43
Forged aluminum is shaped under pressure, I.E. squished repeatedly to increase the molecular strength. Billet is simply cast aluminum. They are both milled afterward. The milling options are identical, forged are not restricted in terms of options like flared mag wells. The difference is solely strength.
Saw this on Aero Precision's site: M16A4 forged Clone Lower Receiver features custom engraving on the AR-15 Gen 2 Lower Receiver + is the perfect base for a M16A4 "clone" build. The lower do not have engraving on the right side of the magwell. Left side of magwell = Markings include: Property of U.S.A.*, *MOD M16A4*, *CAL. 5.56MM*; *Safe/Semi/Burst safety selector markings. <~~ this is a nice and utilitarian lower for the currency!
I have the aero m4e1 forged billet style and it's the shit
There are three main types of lower receivers, you've only mentioned two of them. I'm ignoring MIM and plastic (polymer) because you should too.
There are Cast, Billet, and Forged; how they look after finishing means nothing other than tolerances and machinist skills.
Casting lowers are just now reaching a high enough quality to be an actual thing. (Or more correctly, the few folks who do said casting are actually taking the time and effort that previous makers weren't bothering with.) They can be as strong as a billet lower, if it was carefully cast wit A380 aluminum and then machined properly and given a proper heat treatment. These would be slightly better than 6061-T6 aluminum lower, and these would be the very cheapest you can get.
Billet formed lowers would be next, you can use 6061-T6 or 7075-T6, and then have the very largest and most expensive amount of machining. A 6061-T6 billet lower would almost be as good as an A380 cast lower, strength of metal wise, but the savings from starting with a billet of aluminum would be completely eaten up by the machining itself. Starting with 7075-T6 would raise the strength to above the Cast A380, but add an additional cost to the end product. These would be the prettiest but also the most expensive.
Forged is best, and fairly competitive priced versus Cast lowers, and if you want to spend more you can make them just as pretty as the extruded then heavily machined billet lowers. Forging uses compression to make the basic shape. This forces the metal's crystalline grain structure into the strongest pattern possible.
Long as it can shoot billets I'm happy
Mil-spec is Mil-spec. If the receiver meets the specs designs tolerances in every measurement and has a good durable finish and the features you want buy that one even if it's half what most other lowers are.
I have an m4e1 from Aero and my no logo Anderson lower is much better when it comes to building.The Anderson just goes together easier,the Cmmg parts kits fit like a glove but on the Aero I had to fit some of them.The Aero detente spring hole seemed like they weren't deep enough, it just didn't go together like an Anderson.I won't buy Aero again,I'll stick with Anderson lowers if I build.
Does this have no comments?
You can always forge a billet receiver FYI
Billet is a waste of money. Go buy yourself an Anderson lower for 40 bucks and save yourself the money for something that’s actually worth spending extra on.
I've never seen a broken lower.