Comparing the Colt M4 Carbine lower receiver to the Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 lower receiver. Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE! ! ! 👊🏻 #Colt #M4 #AndersonManufacturing
And these mindless people will still say that the Anderson is trash because it actually says Anderson and I’ve heard from multiple gun dealers that half the lowers on the shelf are made by Anderson
I have 3 Anderson lowers that I built. Slapped in Geissele triggers with BCM uppers. Perfect !!! No wobble at all between upper and lower as if they were made together.
Just remember, Singer Sewing Machine company used to make 1911s during WW2. Bet the GI back then didn't care who made them as long as they served their purpose. Same goes for lowers.
I'm not sure those Singers ever saw service. As I recall, Singer fulfilled their contract, but the war was won before the pistols were issued. I bet they ran like sewing machines, though.
@@doktorfaustus In 1990's, while doing my two week reserve duty at NWSC Crane, IN, I came across several Singer 1911 and even ones that were marked Union Switch and Signal.
I have been happy with my Anderson lowers. I fulfilled my roll mark needs with a colt magazine. It was way more affordable at $15. Tbh, those forge lines that Colt left on there are a big turnoff. The Anderson looked cleaner.
Colt should be boycotted and blocked by every gun owner for still blocking auto sears. A gun manufacturer should not be anti-2A in any way, shape, or form.
@@realisrealite5554 it's legal to buy the parts. It's illegal to drill the hole and illegal to install them. That's not the point. The point, again, is that no gun manufacturers should be anti-2a in any way, shape, or form.
The CR prefix really stands for CzRifle because Colt doesn't actually fabricate/manufacture M4s for the civilian market anymore. Or for the military for that matter because they kept losing the contracts for the parts to FNHerstal.
PSA has stated that their goal isn't to profit on firearms sales, it's to make certain firearms so ubiquitous that no court will ever be able to deem them as "not in common use". They conquered ar15's for us, now they're moving on to AK's. And their AK's are really amazing, even the cheap/entry level versions.
For this, they are goated. Also I had one FN M4A1 and probably 4-5 different Colts in the army. The FN was the tightest in receiver fitment, the markings were sharper, and it grouped the tightest. Not sure if that is indicative of anything but I think it’s note worthy.
I built a few different clone models of the M-16 using Anderson lowers. All came out excellent and have been to the range for thousands of rounds. Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Nice job finding the Colt lower, but honestly I’d rather have the Anderson. It doesn’t have the shelf block, it doesn’t have ugly gorging slag. Anderson bevels the mag well. Less money and a cleaner finished product, Anderson is a better bang for the buck. Semper Fidelis🇺🇸
I have an Anderson lower and several Colt lowers.The difference is Colt had to maintain strict tolerances and quality control that Anderson doesn't . I've seen far more problems with Anderson than Colt.But I must say Anderson is as good as most and better than some big name lowers.
You need to put some pin gauges to those lowers to see if one is better then the other.. My Anderson lower receivers were in spec as is my Colt. Colt will have a better resale value but the Anderson is every bit as good..It is the springs, detents, bolt carrier groups and barrel that Colt really shines..
@@othernamesweretaken1871 Every Colt barrel I have tested with my chamber function gauge has passed, which many other well known brands haven't..A must for me is the barrel has to pass the function and the (go and field) head space gauges..If any of these fails, they get sent back..
That Colt lower brings back memories. A lot of those seams, flash and cuts were also on the Model 601s & 604s we had in the Air Force. Been there since the original AR-15 saw service in the military. Something that often blows people's minds is that a lot of those rifles were roll stamped AR-15, not with the govt M16 stamp. 🤠
4:27 The key marking here indicates the lower was forged by Cerro Forge. If the marking is a "split/fractured A" (a triangle atop a stylistic capital H), the lower was forged by Anchor Harvey; if the marking is a hollow square, the lower was forged by Brace Aluminum Forging Enterprises (BAFE). There are others, but these 3 are the most common. The difference comes down to the final machining, done by whomever "rebrands" the receiver as their own product. For example, a BCM-branded receiver could be from any of the aforementioned forgers, but BCM (or a subcontractor acting on their behalf) performs the final machining to bring the receiver to the appropriate tolerance requirements. Some "rebranders" file away the forge markings for whatever reason. Arguably, cheaper receivers aren't finished as precisely, but that isn't always the case, and how often milling equipment is replaced can also make a difference in tolerances. Again, the presumption is that a company with a reputation for lower quality parts will likely deviate from equipment replacement schedules to save money and run the equipment as long as possible before the tolerances become so far out of spec (due to equipment wear and tear) that the receivers will not function properly. This (more frequent equipment replacement costs) may explain, in part, why receivers from companies with higher quality reputations cost more than those from companies with lower quality reputations.
No doubt tooling costs can be a part. However there is such a thing as different companies having different profit margins as well… I’ve seen higher end names having sloppier tolerances when pin gauged than a AA or PSA. There are videos out there proving it. The guy that got me into building vs buying off the shelf or complete uppers/lowers takes his tools to the gun shop and checks them out before buying and leaving the store with them. Depending what he is doing the build he doesn’t care what the name on the side is as long as it passes his measurements/tolerances. Often times when companies get big their investors want to bank off the name and want bigger profit margins. Just how business works. And to be totally real, just because a company has military contracts doesn’t mean that level of quality the military contract demands will trickle down to civilian products. Like hypothetically say they check each and every part to fulfill the order for the military contract, they may check every 10 parts of the civilian side. People like to argue just because a different company makes parts for both, in this case producing stripped lowers they can pay more for better quality control from the forging company. This is true. However, they can also have different quality control on their parts they machine themselves to fulfill orders for different clients, like between military contracts and civilian use.. Having worked in machining I can guarantee the parts to fulfill military contracts and civilian use don’t come from the same batch/run.. If they have a military contract they will fulfill it first. A person really can’t even use the argument a high end company won’t cut corners and risk hurting their brand recognition. History is filled with companies that did just that and went under.. Yeah you may have more of a chance getting a bad stripped upper or lower from a company like AA or PSA compared to a high end name. But if you check their machining and everything passes really the stripped upper and lower receiver can have a dollar store logo on it and really be no different than ones with a high end name when it comes to functionality and reliability.. lol
what baffles me is that people assume the quality of a rifle based on the brand of the lower receiver. I'm in the middle of building 2 rifles on Anderson lowers with all high end parts from top manufacturers like Geissele, and Midwest Industries, but people will assume I built a budget rifle because the lower says Anderson. To me, its the mark of someone who knows nothing about guns much less ARs. Just because you have Colt lower doesn't make the rifle a Colt.
less expensive brands get to that price point in 3 ways. #1 Employees paid less, not by much, but normally based on local cost of living and unions. #2 Less quality control measures. #3 longer intervals between tool maintenance/changes. So you will see more variance in the lower price point as tools wear out. Usually shows up in the tighter tolerance areas that will see a lot of friction like the mag catch, magwell, and safety selector.
What if you don't though. What if you just pay more for the name Colt? I would expect that on a complete rifle for sure, but with a lower? I'm not completely sold
As a poor only about a month into the reasearching phase of this thanks for the video. Not to affirm the penny pinching, buy still good to know there isn't miles difference between the 2.
Lucky you! My LGS had Anderson stripped lowers for $199. I was able to find some Spike's at another shop for $150. I ended up getting 2 just to have something to build with all my spare parts. Happy Birthday enjoy your new lower.
Thats nuts! I bought two andersons on sale for $35 each a few years ago. I bet prices will never be the same again, on anything gun related, after this plandemic shit.
What? $199 ? I scored two Anderson stripped at Primary Arms before the Pandemic, they had a "special" at $29.95 each, with a limit of two,,, am working on two builds now.
LOLOLOLOLOL, I own both plus a few others and I'll admit that they shoot the same, IF you have quality inner parts. Now that said; I do like my Colt, based on it's military history of which I've spent my whole life in....
It seems to me that the Anderson lower is more refined than the colt lower, I really don’t see buying a part that is more crude than its counterpart at a price that multiplies the cost of the more refined part, it doesn’t make sense, the last colt I bought was a 1911 style colt officer .45 back in 1989 for $750 and are now selling for over$1500 on gunbroker the only reason I don’t sell it is sentimental value when I foiled a car jacking with it! and even that weapon had major problems in the engineering specifically with the recoil spring plug would wear out and break and shoot the recoil spring out into space and had to buy an upgraded reverse recoil spring system from EGW to make it safe and reliable so the name colt is not particularly quality to me!😉
@@jamesstephenson2346 you're a moron, colt doesn't make anything for the US military anymore and haven't for years they lost the handgun contract to Beretta, then the rifle contract to FN. when another company makes your gun better than you do, you're doing something wrong
Pretty sure I watched this video and Anderson was outta spec compared to colt almost everywhere. I'll take not shaving off forgings for proper spec. Price and availability however is a different area altogether
Colt is sticking with the battle-proven concept, even in the wake of many design improvements. I'm not saying it's wrong, but there are cheaper lowers that are better. Aero Precision lowers are $120 and feature a long list of improvements that are getting harder to ignore.
the reason colt doesnt cut the magwell flare like that is because it does nothing. its been proven but people think they need the bevel cut like that for speed and its false.it needs to be alot bigger to help with reload speed
Hmm, pay more for the company that is afraid lowly civilians are gonna turn their rifles into full autos vs the one making sure everyone can have a rifle?? Great overview btw!
@@docholiday1806 I have several aero M4E1 Lowers, they are very high quality. Plus the look is really awesome as well. I usually run a radian ADAC cause I shoot from both sides, so I like the ambidextrous features, but they're expensive as hell. The aero lowers are the way to go. It ballistic advantage, they own aero now, so they have the same lowers as well
Got a Anderson upper due to the shortage of Aero ones. The holes for the ejection port cover rod were misaligned. This left a huge gap and the dust cover wouldnt close all the way. Glad I did that first and not last.
Calipers are not a proper measuring device. Guages are what is used on a lower and upper to determine if they are in spec. Anderson has a bad habit of cutting their fire control pockets to one side or another and it causes pins to walk. Hammers to hit offset on the firing pin. Calipers are not going to show that. Kinda crazy people don't understand stuff.
You mean pin gauges,not just gauges.. Anderson has had their machining dialed in for quite awhile and make excellent lowers. If your hammer and trigger pins are walking out, the springs are out of spec or were installed incorrectly. I have never seen an Anderson hammer and trigger pin hole over sized..A .1550 to .1575 pin gauge must pass through both holes to pass spec on any newly made receiver. The military won't reject worn pin holes until they will pass a .170 tapper pin or a .163 pin gauge .
I just saw them poverty pony lowers on sale today for $56, that’s why I watched this video. Anderson’s appear fine by me. I have Aeroprecision and PSA, they work fine as well. I supposed the man on this video is right, a lower is a lower.
@@jamesstephenson2346 Yeah, the last time I saw my gunsmith (almost a year ago) he told me he was having a hell of a time assembling Anderson lowers and mentioned the machining was off. Buffer tubes would not attach and the captive pins were not aligned. What a mess. I’ve been lucky with a few Aeroprecision and PSA lowers.
Colt was good for the name since it produce military issue firearm (old Colt are great). The new Colt (2017 onward) are something else. Paying for name and yet no features to stay competitive in today market.
Yup, €600+ for an upper and not even a hammer forged, nitrided, or chrome lined bbl. Schmeisser, here in Germany is making better AR's than America. Ironic 😂
I have 2 Colt m4a1socoms 2013s and 1 Colt m4a1socom from 2019.I also have an Anderson lower that is almost exactly like one of my 2013 Colt lowers.On one Colt lower theres a keyhole on the trigger housing and the Anderson lower has the keyhole in the same place.The Anderson with a Cmmg parts kit and a Bcm buffer assy functions flawlessly.I can't say that about the two Aeros m4e1and gen2.
I just bought a Colt SOCOM M4A1 and didn't realize until afterwards that the selector tabs are flat. Just has the ovals like yours. I really don't know why some are like this and some aren't. One of my buddies has one but it has the proper selector stops.
I am Anderson 100 percent. Never an issue with lowers or uppers however I do prefer the Anderson Elite lower for friction fit. Mil spec is Mil spec across the board.
I run a Anderson on one rifle couldn’t be happier. My only suggestion to Anderson would be to clean up their etched lettering make it look a bit sharper.
Colt has severely disappointed me since about 2014 in regards to anything AR related. I'd buy a 1911, but I will never purchase any colt AR parts/guns again.
@@HillbillyNitroUSA just constantly had malfunctions out of the only 2 colt ar platforms I ever bought. Never had the issues with any other manufacturers.
@@whywouldyoucareaboutmyname6610 im a colt fanboy, but my experiences have been complete opposite. All mine are "restricted" and preban with the exception of my 2013-2014 m4 sporter. What models did you have problems with and were the factory built or cloned? just curious so i can steer clear in future
Technically all m16/m4-ar15 parts are interchangeable. Granted you may need to shim your lower depending on your upper. This was the 2nd important reason they were designed only 2nd next to the cheaper 5.56 ammo compared to to the 3006 they were using. They were designed so our troops could essentially make a working rifle from parts of broken rifles. In a nut shell without specifics etc. (Someone will comment with those im sure)
mil-spec means same size with some small tolerance differences and mil-spec means cheapest possible for the military it,s the type of aluminum used that makes the difference. of course some people like to pay for pretty or logo
I wouldn’t buy a colt if I had to. Just saying. If you’re looking to build a clone rifle fine but no other reason. Cz USA owns them now so hopefully they can turn them around.
Lmao, absolutely not. Colt literally OWNS "the spec". It absolutely IS more mil spec. If you like anderson, cool. So do i. But get outta here with that dumb shit
At the end of the day, Anderson Manufacturing makes a good rifle, good parts, and good specs. Anderson Manufacturing makes a rifle that works and it's cheaper by half the price of Colt.
Good. I think Colt is a great piece of old American history but they werent keeping up in todays market and selling things way over priced just because the logo. CZ is an amazing country thats been around for a while and will likely turn things around and make colt great again
@@HillbillyNitroUSA thanks! I owe it to you for mentioning specialized armament in your colt lower video. I was looking everywhere and they were either out of stock or insane prices
Just build a complete lower out of a Anderson,aero precision,or PSA and swap it out with you polymer lower group…I have a polymer lower and haven’t had any problems with it ..just up to you
If you have to omni-hybrid gen 2, or whatever the newest one is. They're good to go. Kinda useless when a full aluminum lower weights less. If you want a polymer lower thats reliable get a KE arms lower.
The M4 Carbine with LE Prefix Lowers are getting super hard to find and expensive . I'm so glad Brownells had the M4 LE ones 3 years ago . I bought 2 of them when they were on sale . The Unicorn is the U.S. GOV M4A1 LE Prefix . Only handful of those were made in 2018 . The rest were CR Prefix . I did buy the 2017 M4A1 and did not get 2018 US GOV M4A1. I'M glad I was Colt Hoarder from 2012 - 2017 . They started out sourcing after 2017 or so . The new Colt Lowers I'm not a fan of. The Colts with all the proper markings whether it's CMP or Cage Code are super rare now and cost first born to own . Online 2012 models with CMP markings are going for 2500 or more . Colt didn't start using cage code until 2013 or 2014 . Also you will sometimes see either G or W marking on the barrel near the chamber . Colt used both for Military Contracts. Green Mountain and Wilson Barrels are those markings . I've always loved that Colt put date stamps on the barrel near the gas port . Not too many companies do that . Colt , BCM , LWRCI IC and LMT are my favorite Lowers. I do love Aero M4E1 & Gen 2 Ambi Controls Lower .
honest opinion on the 6945 upper? i have the restricted/leo 6940 and only need the 6943 to complete trio. ive had the 10.3 for a while, so in your expert opinion which will be worth me in 20yrs, the 43 or 45. as far as my lowers go they are all clinton ban or preban with exception of the m4 sporter. id love to find a us property lower or m4a1 like your 2017 -18 models. we should exchange emails cause i have a decent stash of NOS ar crap. all colt or kac and bcm. if online sales are banned we all need resources
@@Jason.123rson Colt LE6940 , LE6940P , Le6943 , LE6944 , and LE6945 are IMO the best Colts period . I own 6943 and 6945 . As for which one will be worth more 20 years from now . I can't really answer that . I'd say get both. The 6945 is more rare for sure but the 6943 is more practical if that makes sense. Only the 2018 M4A1 had the US GOV Markings . The 2017 did not . The 2017 had M4A1 LE and 2018 was M4A1 CR Prefix with US GOV Markings
@@Jason.123rson IMO the last actually Colt Carbine to leave their facility was the 2017 M4A1 SOCOM. The 2018 M4A1 has those awesome Gov Markings but it's also missing all those LEGANDARY Colt Markings and quality . Like CMP On Bolt , C Keyhole on Receiver , C stamped on BCG , C Extractor , LE Prefix and 13629 Charging Handle . 2018 M4A1 only had some of those markings . Co worker bought the 2018 just for the lower . The upper did not have C on BCG or CMP bolt . It did have Cage Code Receiver which is cool . It also had W marking on the barrel which means it was subed out to Wilson Manufacturing. The Unicorn of the Colt Carbines is the LE6940P. Colt stopped making the monolithic 556 Uppers in 2015 . Or at least I haven't seen barrel date stamp after 2015 . The LE694× Series are kinda rare . They didn't make a whole bunch of them for the commercial Market . That design is from the SCAR PROGRAM in 2005 . They never released the Monolithics to commercial Market until 2010ish. They only made 1 run of the 6940p in 2012 . Leas than 100 of them for sure . They probably made less than 500 Monolithics in total because if the patent infringement to LMT. SO COLT and Diemaco/ Colt Canada have to pay royalty to LMT. That's why they took them off commercial Market. They are only for Gov or Military sales only now . What cool about Colt is there a so many older Colts still on the market so you can still get those TDP Uppers and Parts pretty regularly due to the shear volume Colt was producing during the GWOT.
@@seanwhite304 im currently having traders remorse! traded the m4 sporter for an early 80's, "T" series, browning hi-pwr with tangent sights.......i dont think i make this trade 7days a wk but ayyyyyyyyyyyyyy
With Colt you’re paying for the name only! Quality has long left Colt’s product line. Heck, they don’t even make any of their products anymore. They outsource most items. That Cerro (Keyhole) receiver is made to a much better quality. Leaving machine lines on a receiver is unacceptable by today’s standards. Cerro and Anchor Harvey are probably the best receiver forging made . Who’s role mark is on it is only ego buying. I’m about quality not roll mark. Personally, my favorite is Aero Percision. The generally use Anchor Harvey receivers and their M4E1’s, in my opinion, are superior to most for a forged receiver that is. Again, not do to name, but quality.
I own 2 Anderson lowers, as cheap as they are the only issue I have had was when I put my government issue colt A2 upper on. It has a slop to it BUT I also built my Anderson lowers up using black rain parts... not sure if it makes a difference or not
@@jamesstephenson2346wtf are you smoking. Please tell us what Crack dungeon you buy costs for 99. They aren't in stock anywhere . Only thing that is is complete lowers for 500 plus dollars. Usually like 750 plus. Psa complete is 130. Once again I'll buy as many Crack coslts as you can sell me though
I don’t know if any of you all know this but Anderson makes right at 1 million lowers a year and then think how many lowers are sold by all names each year, I was actually speaking to one of the big wigs from Anderson today about an u related subject but did go to the facts about there numbers and also who they service all I can say is if you buy hi end or low end lowers you have about a 90 percent chance that it came from them
I have a Colt LE AR with the government restricted stamping on the side and 4 other ar's I built in different calibers The only thing the Colt AR has over the rest of them is the value of the Colt goes up more then the rest of them I don't shoot my colt it just sits in the safe
So pay more for the Colt and get less finish quality and a dumb shelf that they don’t trust people to not make full-auto guns. I just ordered an Anderson complete lower. Happy I did. Lowers aren’t the parts of an AR that wear out anyway or affect accuracy. Barrels, trigger groups and sights matter for accuracy abs bolts are the most frequently seen failure parts.
I have nothing against budget parts but I’ll never buy Anderson again. 2 upper receivers, 3 lowers, and a barrel and all are out of spec, I know that’s not a big sample size but I’m going to stick with places where I don’t feel like I’m rolling the dice on what I’m gonna get from here on out
Same here bud. Put an anderson upper, on a Spikes lower. And it seems it was made about an 1/8" too much metal to the right of the upper. And it doesnt line up with the lower with out it being an eye sore
Anderson's quality control is lacking, and there are a lot of out of spec Anderson stuff out there. Aero Precision and Palmetto State Armory are better.
Mil Spec is Mil Spec. Buy what you can afford. The point is to be armed and be ready. America will call on all of us again. It is not a matter of if but when.
@@bargeman100 My question was more rhetorical sarcasm. Yes. Mil-Spec is Mil-Spec regarding materials and processes, if adhered to through the forging process, and there are perhaps a half-dozen forges max that make the M16/AR15 blanks (presuming it's 7075-T6). The difference would be the precision of the machining and magazine well broaching done by the lower manufacturer on the forging. Billet lowers are another matter. I don't believe Uncle Sam has ever procured a billet receiver M16/AR15 rifle (whether 7075-T6 or 6061-T6). One can argue endlessly about forged vs billet 7075-T6. Each has their own metallurgy with forgings being a bit more brittle from that process. Either is sufficiently strong enough, especially for civilian use. What I've seen break on lowers is end user or rifle builder abuse, such as dry firing the lower without the upper attached and breaking the thin wall between the fire control group pocket and bolt catch slot. The other is breaking the trigger guard ear off by not properly supporting the ears when installing the trigger guard roll pin. Some of the builder videos on RU-vid are quite cringeworthy. (Was taught how to completely disassemble and reassemble an M16A1/A2 by one of my unit armorers decades ago - at my behest.) I'm certain there are other abuses, but those are the two I've seen. Saw the dry firing damage a few times during 20 years in the U.S. Army. That was a Royal PITA as it destroyed a serial numbered weapon as accounted for on Unit Property Books (and that's an understatement). Aside from paying for the hood ornament, especially with the Gucci Brands, it's down to the machining precision. One need not spend Big Bucks on a forged lower. Regarding brands, I've been using Aero Precision for some time now for many parts, especially upper and lower receivers. Best Wishes.