The military uses forged and as an Armorer I never saw one fail because of how it was shaped. I use forged

I have the Aero Precision lower shown in the video. I bought it originally based on the Aesthetics and price point ($60) the salesman never showed me any of the nice features it had that you talked about. I only found out about it once I researched on my own. I loved how easy it was to assemble with a parts kits, mind you it was my first time ever building an AR and I managed to put it together in about 20 mins without the use of a vise or any specialized tools. All I needed was a hammer, punch, and an Allen key. I’d really recommend that lower if it’s your first time building an AR.

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.

Thank you for the video, sir. I'm just getting started in doing my own builds and I really appreciate being able to understand what I am getting into in choosing between the two. I've read most all of the comments that followed and I'm old enough to separate the opinions of know-it-alls to the findings of those who choose what works best for them. You have been a great help!

Things to consider 1) Starting point - forged vs. billet. Both have the same material properties after heat treatment, eg. T6. That is elongation, stress rupture, tensile, etc. are the same for forged vs. billet. Unless the forging is done iso-thermally, it will be prone to varying grain size and direction throughout the part. This is due to two factors, work (movement of material) of the forging process and heat transfer (die leaching heat out of the material at different rates). Billet will give you a more stable and uniform grain structure. (grains are the same size and direction). This is why billet is a preferred for parts requiring stability and predictable grain size for life and load calculations. So for all those out there believing forged is superior to billet, well your just wrong. 2) Quality of manufacturing. Yes there are manufacturers out there that that do machine to tighter tolerances and may use better approaches for achieving better surface finish, especially in interface points or wear points. This is irrelevant to whether the starting point is forged or billet and is only a function of the workmanship of the manufacture. Bottom line, if it looks and feels like shit, it probably is. 3) Forged or billet parts can either be post machined or as forged/(extruded or rolled) and this is dependent on the manufacturers preference for starting and end points. Eg. What they need to control for cosmetics and surface finish. Typically near net forged parts are used to save on input material cost and machining time. 4) The real question is where do manufacturers add or remove material to add strength/functionality or reduce weight.

Superb video. I truly appreciate this information. I just bought a Spikes Tactical lower(Calico Jack). Thank you.

Thanks. This was very informative, and answered a lot of my questions.

Awesome and thanks for sharing your review. Very helpful information.

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.

Good info and video but I will just stick with my Anderson forged and put the money I saved into a better Barrel and Bolt carrier group.

The Aero lowers are very nice. Great price point too. Pick up two at a time at shows for 125$ for the pair. I own 4 AR15 and 2 AR10 lowers from them.

Excellent information!

AERO's are great ! Anderson also make a lower with a integrated trigger guard which is very nice.

All that diamond talk I’m gonna start calling you diamond Dave!

Great video and information.

Black Friday Sale + Blem = $65 for a Gen 2 Aero Precision Forged Lower. Wasnt even a scratch on it, the flared magwell is a plus and the retention screw at the rear are awesome for tying together a lower and upper.

Thanks for the insight

2021: get what’s available.

Retired 24 year ARSOF combat vet. Aero won me over 5 years ago.

Another great video. One of the best channels for AR info I have seen.

Thank you for uploading and publishing this KZfaq segment on the typical varieties of lower (and upper) receiver and what each has to offer. Though I find this video informative and quite useful, I'd really like to buy the type of lower receiver that will mate best with its corresponding upper. My forged Anderson AM-15 mates perfectly with the Anderson upper I bought at another place and time. The Anderson was an advantageous price but without compromise in quality. HOWEVER the AR-10 lower I purchased, one you might call an enhanced forged lower, does not mate entirely well with its upper. The manufacturer of this lower and upper is GO BALLISTIC in Cleveland, Ohio. The model is a GB-10B. So price is not necessarily in proportion to quality and fit. While holding both halves together with the two pins, I can get maybe 0.5 millimeters of motion between the two halves if I twist. (This is not at all the case with the Anderson forged upper and lower - they allow no movement whatsoever.) These AR-10 parts were expensive, and obviously I got somewhat overcharged. If I took the two halves to a machinist, could he possibly remedy the situation so the upper and lower would mate with a nice, tight fit? Thanks again for this video.

Good info! Thanks

Thank you sir

So basically, other then price, strength and aesthetics there is no difference. The lowest priced is the strongest and the highest priced is the prettiest. Got it.

Pws/bootleg makes the best of both worlds with their ambi forged receivers. The aero m4e1 are really nice though. Have one laying around I plan to use soon.

Who else sells the Hybrid Forged Receiver other than the one you showed in this video? Thank you! When it's all said and done price dictates what people will buy. Great video! 💯💯🙂🙂👍👍🇺🇲🇺🇲

Aero was my first build. super nice features on the M4E1

great video thanks bro.

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

I use forged receivers. So does our military. Companies buy them from the SAME 3 to 5 suppliers. They use the SAME CNC program to machine them. Forged receivers are all the SAME. Pick a Logo/price you like. Billet receivers? Very artistic to my eye. SAME functional quality. If you want cool looks, and are willing to pay more, do that. It's your money.

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.

Forged: gang gang gang since potty train Billet: gucci gun gucci gun gucci gun

Excellent video as always 👍

Good content very informational

I have three Anderson lowers built into finished guns. I paid $47 for each one, and they all work perfectly.

My $30 forged Anderson is getting a BCM BCG & barrel and a Lantac E-CT1 trigger.

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.

Long as it can shoot billets I'm happy

This was helpful. I'm going to get that Aero M4E1 lower. Until now I thought it was billet. Come to find out its (enhanced) forged. Because I have a Aero forged upper. So that'll be good together.

Holy shit on the weight loss, nice job!

Thanks !

@jimallison good idea ! besides ascend armory is SOLD OUT of ALL LOWERS./ UPPERS forever ?? sure seems like it.

Thank you

I have made billet Connecting rods,from 4340 steel & 7068 aluminum, there strong but nothing beats forging , The forging matches the grain shape of the part which billet it cannot,it will have grain one way !

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.

That billet is a bit misleading to someone new to AR building because it has an upper attached to it so it isnt just a "receiver" pictured. For the budget minded folks "building" an AR for the first time, heres my 2 cents. Id rather save with forged and put the extra money towards a quality barrel or bcg which will improve accuracy and/or the lifetime of the parts than the "rounded edges and cooler looks" of a billet receiver which wont do either. The money saved going with a forged receiver can be put towards upgrades which will make you smile at the target range in the end and as you stated, its actually stronger than the more expensive billet. In the end, with a "build", you have to spend wisely "if on a budget" if you want something accurate enough to be happy with or you'll be ordering replacement parts soon enough costing more, lesson learned. As far as the third option receiver goes, im not so sure an integrated trigger guard is an "enhancement'. The other two receiver trigger guard areas are made purposefully for a reason. If you break or crack a integrated trigger guard, your not going to be happy with your "options" to fix it. With the other two, you order a replacement guard and your back in action.

Receivers are like engine blocks. The internals make the engine.

The best lower is.... The one people can afford. They all work fine

I really like the billet receiver, I saw one the other day on an AR. Maybe on my next build.

Up until 10 years ago this subject was never an issue. Now all of a sudden we're concerned with what characters are on the lower and upper. This whole thing has been discussed ad nauseum on KZfaq. I bought my first lower through my ffl in 1984 (SENDRA XM-15E2), out of Shotgun News. It worked perfect and it's probably older than most of the KZfaq "experts".

I use billet, it's all in the eyes of the beholder, and to each their own.

At the end of the day… “if it doesn’t fit, Accu-Wedge it!”

Remove the upper from the forged lower. It's confusing.

I found a lower for around 40 bucks I’m new to building my own I know there some laws with 16 in barrels but what’s the one with least paper work or if anybody can help me with the steps ..

Cheap Matrix and Noreen lowers are some of the best,you dont need high priced names stamped on your lower.

He says some receivers have closer tolerances? Better then Milspec? Straight Milspec is good enough for me. Improvements like flared mag wells and elimination of the roll pins are fine if you want to spend extra money to make the receiver easier to assemble. Custom touches like special engravings etc are fine too.

Good vid

I don't see any extra controls on a billet lower. Still has mag release, bolt catch, and safety cutout. Aero still has the best features for the price. They have the most practical upgrades that make building easier.

A forged piece under a microscope looks like gravel, a billet looks like sand. Every Top Fuel Drag Race 11,000HP engine uses billet blocks & heads and money is no object for these guys. So I'll go with billet, but honestly if they can make them in polymer it probably doesn't matter.

Great video

That Ascend is a serious piece of kit, unfortunate you can not find them anymore.

The M4E1 Aero lower has the hex pin for the bolt catch. So instead of having to hammer out the bolt catch pin, u can just screw it out which is nice

In general, forged pieces would seem superior due to the fact that the forging process imparts residual compressive stress in the material, making it more resistant to operating load based failures. However, if stress margins are so high that it would not matter, then pricing and sourcing may rule a decision over strength.

that was a perfect video thanks!

Billet is too heavy imo. Unless I am getting extra features I will go forged every time. I do like my Pof 415 billet lower on my renegade + I get a lot of extras and they kept the upper forged for weight savings.

I love my M4E1

I heard a lot of companies are saying cast billet aluminum lowers n from what i read its just a cast aluminum lower

Noreen’s forges have rounder and more defined cuts than that aero. The lines by the grip are better on that one but still Noreen has it beat by machining, tolerances and looks.

I have the aero m4e1 forged billet style and it's the shit

I'm a chemistry graduate student not specializing in but very educated in metallurgy. For the purposes of this rifle, there is functionally no difference.

Well damn i wish i would have seen your video befor purchasing my last three lowers?lol two of which were Anderson lowers and a PSA.They all work fine and all look about the same and all cost me 40.00 too 60,00 bucks.Im working on an AR15 in every caliber,collection! lolmy last two were .224Valkrie and a 7.62x39.Already have two .223/5.56 in different twists and working on more!!! lol :>) GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Isn't it like that the billet lower is machined from a large block of forged aluminum and forged lower is forged to a shape reassembling the final part but eventually machined in details?

So it's like stamped vs milled in ak?

What company makes that forged lower? Thanks in advance!

Just get an M4e1 forged receiver set lol

That is like saying a car is a car is a car ... not in my driveway.

I'm gonna ask you which one you'd like shows a really nice looking one next to the everyday one hmmm I wonder

Really jealous seeing that ascend armory receiver set. Really wanted one but now they and the company are gone

I have a caste lower in my favorite AR-15 it has served me well through thousands and thousands of rounds

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.

for those that want to argue. Ill be happy to give a tour of our shop and show you the difference in person why billet is a better choice ... blog.mrt-castings.co.uk/blog/the-difference-between-cast-forged-and-billet

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.

Nice Shirt!

what is the lenght size of lower rcver thank you

Aren't forged a little lighter? I was told billet was a hair thicker to make up for the lack a strength.

Is 6061 good for lowers I'm interested in building my first AR Thank you

Your statement is only somewhat accurate. Regardless of the material you choose, accuracy of the finished product has nothing to do with the material and how it’s produced. Both 6061 and 7075 are great materials for this application. Forged material as it pertains to the receiver would require a closed to die forging process. Die halves would have to be machined with the required features and would likely require the part (receiver) to be hit multiple times to achieve a near net shape. Once you have your forged receiver, now you have to hold it somehow because you really don’t have any true flat surfaces like you would if you where using plate. So now your going to have to build fixtures to help locate the forging so they can me machined. Forging will give you a far stronger product because of the grain structure but going from billet 7075 will still give you 25-30% increase in tensile strength. There are pros and cons in using forged over billet.

7075-T6 forged all the way, with Type III Hard Anodizing. Creates the toughest lower and upper receivers. The fancy shmancy upper/lower Gucci Guns are a waste of $$$$$.

Machining is made to military specs., within set tolerances, billets are just a susceptible to Machining errors, but they still cost more because they are cut from a single block of metal. Buy what you can afford, you'll never know the difference unless you compete, then durability becomes the issue to deal with.

Wait...that lower billit comes as one piece?...so tge bolt carrier group and other internal parts are perminatly inside?...Nuts!

Noreen lowers are the best! Forged or billet. Tight tolerances flared magwell, etc. and they are $40. The machining has to do with the company’s integrity and not what they charge for the lower. If you believe it’s the machining you are paying for, well, they have to justify sone reason to charge you $200 for metal.

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.

Just watched the vid for Houlding Firearms. They make 7075 BILLET not forged recievers. Don't get dazzled by the old argument here. These rifles will likely outlast all of us.

Much better ways to spend money on a build than choosing a 300$ upper over an 80-100$ upper

so many videos cover this, lets see the actual process in the machine shops...

is a forging a mold?

Was Aero formed from Mega Arms? That aero lower looks an aweful lot like my Mega...

The funniest part of all of this is forged vs billet bullshit is, Legos, have, and require, much much much MUCH higher tolerances than required in the AR15 platform. That's the beauty of the AR15 platform BTW. Easy to manufacture to mil spec which is like building codes: the rough minimum to get by and function safely. In other words, it doesn't fucking matter. On the other hand... LEGO: a couple TEN-thousandths of a fucking inch or 10 micrometers. A Lego from the 1970's will fit and work with a Lego made today. That's fucking amazing, and a shit load of tool and die mastery.

Polymer with kevlar is strong and lighter.

You can always forge a billet receiver FYI