I just received my New Frontier Armory (NFA) stripped lower, and I thought I'd put a few pictures up.
My interest got peaked when we tried to get a group buy together for a complete NFA polymer lower, but as that fell victim to the panic buying, I jumped on a stripped polymer lower. My plan is to build a lightweight dedicated .22LR lower. More on that later.
Cost was $79.99 + $13.90 shipping for a total of $93.89. $80 for the lower was a bit high for a stripped lower, but considering I bought it 12/29, at near-peak insanity, I was OK. Ordering was simple, right from the website, and you could choose an FFL from their list (searchable by zipcode), or they would hold until they got your own FFL's info. I took the easy way out and chose Merrmack Firearms, next door in (not surprisingly) Merrimack, NH. Transfer cost was $25, so I'm into this thing now for $118.89. Shipping from NFA was fast and the lower was at the FFL on 16 Jan. Pretty damn good for AP (After Panic)
(Note: I've never used Merrimack Firearms before for a transfer, or even been in the place, but the experience was uniformly excellent start to finish. Fast, efficient, polite; no muss, no fuss. I will use them again, and will leave kudos in the review forum. I was damn impressed.)
But we're all visual learners, so let's get to it. I'm a "captions after the picture" guy, BTW. (Sometimes my lousy picture-taking skills may incorrectly distort something like color or texture. If it does, I'll say so.)
Overall, pretty straight-forward lower. Bullet/no-bullet logo (which I don't particularly like, but it's not a deal-breaker), one-piece triggerguard, and a uniform, flat-black appearance. The finish is minutely "crinkly," as opposed to smooth, like on a machined aluminum lower, as I guess you would expect from polymer. It looks like there is a slightly "shiny" line along top, but that's the camera. There is, overall, minimal "flash" from the mold process. I'll point out some as we go.
I like the blank panel in the auto position. "Your Picture Here." What looks like flash on the bottom of the pistolgrip portion is actually the mold line. It's not in a place that matters, but I'll probably smooth it over with 1500 grit paper. You can also see the mold line on the rest of the bottom, but it looks much more prominent in the picture than it actually is. You can barely feel it.
The banner's pretty big, but not overly offensive. It's not like it's a giant deer head or spider or something.
Spared no expense on that serial number, did they? The camera flash actually makes it look much worse than it is. When you just look at it, even closely, it looks pretty clean. There are, however, two little holes under the serial number that seem to serve no purpose. Perhaps they were looking at some other method of attaching the serial number plate.
I can't tell if that's high-shelf or low-shelf, but I don't think an RDIAS is in this guy's future, anyway. Overall, the inside is extremely clean and well machined with no flash.
Magwell is also very cleanly machined.
You can see the mold line, and just a hint of flash, at the front. I'll probably clean that up too, if doing so doesn't make it look worse.
The magwell was checked with the dedicated .22LR mag (M261), a Brownell's 30-round AL mag I use as a host for the .22LR adapters, and, just for shits and grins, with a window PMag. All three mags slipped in easily with no rubbing or sticking.
A2 pistolgrip fit was loose. There was no "gotta press this thing onto the lower feel." Slipped right on. Tip it and it will fall off. I don't have a spare MIAD grip to check.
I don't have the LPK for this yet, but I had a set hammer and trigger pins laying around, and they're a tight fit. You're not pushing these in or out with your thumb, but they tapped right in.
I also had a spare hammer and trigger w/disconnector and springs, so I stuck them in, just to check function that far. No problems with fit our function, except the trigger sure is close to the triggerguard. I have MagPul extended triggerguards on all my ARs, so maybe I'm just used to the space. There was no interference with trigger release or reset, but it sure looked tight.
Receiver extension threaded in with not problems. Nice clean threads.
Since this is supposed to be a lightweight dedicated .22LR, I picked up a Bushmaster Carbon 15 upper receiver from a fellow NES'er. Fit is nice and snug. You can see the difference in surface finish between the two receivers. The camera makes it seem much more obvious, and it is not onerous or unappealing. (Hey, it's a Bushmaster. At least it's not purple.)
Overall, I'm pretty happy. The ordering/shipping/transfer experience was good, and the lower looks and feels pretty much like an $80 polymer lower. Might not be what I'd take with me to war, but that what God and Dieudonné Saive made the FAL for. Now I have to be patient and piece this together cheaply, and resist the temptation to grab parts at panic prices (like $150 LPKs). I already have a goodly number of parts, but I'm going to try to use as much polymer on this as I can. I want a featherweight.
Hope this helps a bit on the NFA polymer lower.
My interest got peaked when we tried to get a group buy together for a complete NFA polymer lower, but as that fell victim to the panic buying, I jumped on a stripped polymer lower. My plan is to build a lightweight dedicated .22LR lower. More on that later.
Cost was $79.99 + $13.90 shipping for a total of $93.89. $80 for the lower was a bit high for a stripped lower, but considering I bought it 12/29, at near-peak insanity, I was OK. Ordering was simple, right from the website, and you could choose an FFL from their list (searchable by zipcode), or they would hold until they got your own FFL's info. I took the easy way out and chose Merrmack Firearms, next door in (not surprisingly) Merrimack, NH. Transfer cost was $25, so I'm into this thing now for $118.89. Shipping from NFA was fast and the lower was at the FFL on 16 Jan. Pretty damn good for AP (After Panic)
(Note: I've never used Merrimack Firearms before for a transfer, or even been in the place, but the experience was uniformly excellent start to finish. Fast, efficient, polite; no muss, no fuss. I will use them again, and will leave kudos in the review forum. I was damn impressed.)
But we're all visual learners, so let's get to it. I'm a "captions after the picture" guy, BTW. (Sometimes my lousy picture-taking skills may incorrectly distort something like color or texture. If it does, I'll say so.)
Overall, pretty straight-forward lower. Bullet/no-bullet logo (which I don't particularly like, but it's not a deal-breaker), one-piece triggerguard, and a uniform, flat-black appearance. The finish is minutely "crinkly," as opposed to smooth, like on a machined aluminum lower, as I guess you would expect from polymer. It looks like there is a slightly "shiny" line along top, but that's the camera. There is, overall, minimal "flash" from the mold process. I'll point out some as we go.
I like the blank panel in the auto position. "Your Picture Here." What looks like flash on the bottom of the pistolgrip portion is actually the mold line. It's not in a place that matters, but I'll probably smooth it over with 1500 grit paper. You can also see the mold line on the rest of the bottom, but it looks much more prominent in the picture than it actually is. You can barely feel it.
The banner's pretty big, but not overly offensive. It's not like it's a giant deer head or spider or something.
Spared no expense on that serial number, did they? The camera flash actually makes it look much worse than it is. When you just look at it, even closely, it looks pretty clean. There are, however, two little holes under the serial number that seem to serve no purpose. Perhaps they were looking at some other method of attaching the serial number plate.
I can't tell if that's high-shelf or low-shelf, but I don't think an RDIAS is in this guy's future, anyway. Overall, the inside is extremely clean and well machined with no flash.
Magwell is also very cleanly machined.
You can see the mold line, and just a hint of flash, at the front. I'll probably clean that up too, if doing so doesn't make it look worse.
The magwell was checked with the dedicated .22LR mag (M261), a Brownell's 30-round AL mag I use as a host for the .22LR adapters, and, just for shits and grins, with a window PMag. All three mags slipped in easily with no rubbing or sticking.
A2 pistolgrip fit was loose. There was no "gotta press this thing onto the lower feel." Slipped right on. Tip it and it will fall off. I don't have a spare MIAD grip to check.
I don't have the LPK for this yet, but I had a set hammer and trigger pins laying around, and they're a tight fit. You're not pushing these in or out with your thumb, but they tapped right in.
I also had a spare hammer and trigger w/disconnector and springs, so I stuck them in, just to check function that far. No problems with fit our function, except the trigger sure is close to the triggerguard. I have MagPul extended triggerguards on all my ARs, so maybe I'm just used to the space. There was no interference with trigger release or reset, but it sure looked tight.
Receiver extension threaded in with not problems. Nice clean threads.
Since this is supposed to be a lightweight dedicated .22LR, I picked up a Bushmaster Carbon 15 upper receiver from a fellow NES'er. Fit is nice and snug. You can see the difference in surface finish between the two receivers. The camera makes it seem much more obvious, and it is not onerous or unappealing. (Hey, it's a Bushmaster. At least it's not purple.)
Overall, I'm pretty happy. The ordering/shipping/transfer experience was good, and the lower looks and feels pretty much like an $80 polymer lower. Might not be what I'd take with me to war, but that what God and Dieudonné Saive made the FAL for. Now I have to be patient and piece this together cheaply, and resist the temptation to grab parts at panic prices (like $150 LPKs). I already have a goodly number of parts, but I'm going to try to use as much polymer on this as I can. I want a featherweight.
Hope this helps a bit on the NFA polymer lower.
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