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Does anyone here have experience using a BAD LW receiver set?
I got one during the last ban rush but wondering if it's worth building up. Reliability/strength is my primary concern given all the fluting/removed material.
Thanks!
Dennis.
https://www.battlearmsdevelopment.co...26?category=29https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...78ce3b0b4c.jpg
Got one that I built up with a bcm lightweight barrel and original magnesium kmr. Really lightweight and handy gun for the wife. Reliability is going to be more of a sum of the parts than solely on the receivers. As far as strength...its not something i worry about. If i was that worried about a Kaboom that would blow up the gun probably wouldn't shoot anymore. Good parts assembled by a legit gunsmith and factory ammo i think you would be fine. Personally ive been stocking ammo since 2012 but ive seen quality go down in both parts an ammo after a gun rush. I would hold off buikding it unless you go with a known reputation. BCM, SOLGW, Forward Controls Design, and Sionics are a few brands i trust not to take shortcuts during these times.
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I built an AR a few years back with a BAD set. I love these receivers. If I ever do another really high-end build, I would want to use this set again.
I did a form 1 on BAD lower. Personally I don’t like the cuts in the upper as it takes the design into space gun territory. But the CMT uppers fit great and are what I use (I believe CMT used to make the BAD lowers.)
The lower is well made and strength doesn’t appear meaningfully compromised. I have as much concern about it as most other quality billet lowers.
No issue with mine - it's a nice-looking set.
Thanks everyone! I guess I'll keep it and build it up, probably with a matching BAD 9.5" rail and Faxon 14.5 pencil barrel.
Dennis.
Lower (BAD556-LW) only - it's been my training beater for the last 4 or so years, mated with a BCM BFH ELW 16" middy upper (purchased complete) since the winter of 2015, when I sought to drop a bit of weight from my previous training-beater. I'd been looking at switching over to a LPVO as my "do everything" optic (it's a first-gen Vortex Viper PST 1-4, I'm still saving my pennies for a K16i, but it's slow going, as I'm a family man with the usual expenses...and training/ammo costs a bit of dough, too :p), and I was hoping to shave a bit of weight off, knowing that a beginner's grade LPVO plus a decent mount will add a pound-and-a-half to the gun, outright.
Aside from what was initially operator-error in the assembly of the magazine catch causing some magazine seating/release problems, I haven't had any issues whatsoever in the ~6K rounds through the gun in that span of time (I know, low round count :o, but as an average-Joe, the AR isn't my primary, so it unfortunately doesn't get as much love as it should). Most of the round-count comes from single and occasional multi-day training classes.
I don't have any gauges, but quality components (Geissele, Colt, BCM) have had no trouble dropping right in in terms of fit and function. Going back to the mag-well, all of my mags (previous-generation OKAY/Surefeed, Lancer L5AWM, and both Gen M2 and M3 PMags) drop free and function the bolt-catch reliably, so I would assume that it's reasonably spec'ed there, too. All of the detents seem to capture well, suggesting that those recesses are of appropriate dimensions, and the threading for the grip and receiver extension were well cut. The same goes for the placement of the buffer detent: I haven't seen any weird marks on the buffer.
There's a little slop between my particular lower and the particular BCM upper that its mated to, but it's nothing that I'd subjectively consider problematic or all that much different from either my factory complete LMT (c.2011) or DD (c.2012), and I have not even engaged the tension screw. There's a bit of play, but it's not enough to make a sound...only that there's just enough room for lubricant to seep through. Can't do much about tolerance stacking..... Both the front and rear take-down pins are theirs (ETP/EPP), too, and again subjectively, it doesn't take any more or less force to either pop them out or put them back in for routine maintenance.
I've mortared the gun maybe somewhere around 10 times to clear *_induced_* stoppages in training classes. So far, it hasn't cracked! :)
Last outing pictured below, October of 2019. Two induced stoppages (spent cases loaded into the magazine) that were severe enough in this class to warrant mortaring. Once was when I was on the clock racing against my buddy, too! I didn't plan that one very well......:rolleyes:
Thanks for the detailed info TSiWRX!
That was very helpful. I only wish you had the same for the upper [emoji6]
I already built up and fired the lower but with nowhere near your round count or mortaring. Makes me more confident moving forward!
Dennis.
No problem - glad to help! :)
Lemmie know how your experience goes as time passes. I'd love to see where this takes us in the long term.
I can see at some point also getting an upper to make it a complete set. :)