Thoughts on Aero Precision
- Thread starter CrispyKC
- Start date
Other than a couple 80%, all my AR pattern rifles are Aero Precision. I beat the shit out of them, they are tools, a tool gets used. If you dont mind a couple bumps or scuffs, I would say my Aero sets have taken the abuse very well. Mating surfaces have always been good, fit and finish, everything to spec. No complaints here
Don't have that particular set up but I have built 6 upper and lowers and as said above they are good to do. I prefer the no forward assist uppers they make.
I'm just so used to having a forward assist, it feels odd to not have one. Plus I like the added assurance of having it. Like that old saying, "better to have and not need it, then need it and not have it". Why do not run a forward assist?
I have 1 rifle, built on an aero m4e1 enhanced upper and lower. No complaints. Doesn’t blow my hair away either. The receivers are not a “matched set” and don’t fit any better than the Anderson receiver “sets” I have handled. The tension screw can be used to make them feel more solid, and you can get a no-rattle feel with it. But, you need a punch to open the rifle. I want it to be tool-less disassembly, so I don’t use the screw. The best feature is that you don’t need to clock the barrel nut. Tighten it to spec and drive on. The gas tube doesn’t go through the nut. The hand guard won’t be canted one way or the other because it attaches directly to the receiver, not the barrel nut. No complaints, but angels don’t sing when I pull it out of the safe...
I like the one M4E1 lower i have a 16” 5.56 built on. It hasn’t let me down, and seems to be comparable quality to most low-medium grade lowers. Now I wouldn’t put it up against my Noveske Infidel Gen 3 fit, finish, and function. But it’s not bad!
If you get the tension screw tight enough to remove all wobble from the receiver set, you need a punch to remove the rear take down pin- even if it is one of the extended “tool-less” pins. I “bedded“ the rear lug with hot glue, to achieve a near wobble free fit.
I've found that tightening the anti-rattle screw just enough removes any wobble, and if you push the upper down into the lower, you can still get the pin in and out without needing a punch.
I think Aero products are as good as I can get without going to billet matched sets, and FYI, they make many of the forgings used by top tier brands (looks for the A forging mark on an upper). I agree with AMG. They're tools to me, so I don't care if they glow coming out of the safe like a Noveske or KAC, etc.
I prefer the M4E1 integrated upper, just for the ease of building. I also think it inherently reduces stress/strain on the barrel and nut when loading the handguard, thereby giving an increased probability of precision (mathematically, any removed variable improves the probability of reduced SD). I haven't measured to see how it compares weight wise to a standard receiver, but it doesn't feel much/any different to me.
I think Aero products are as good as I can get without going to billet matched sets, and FYI, they make many of the forgings used by top tier brands (looks for the A forging mark on an upper). I agree with AMG. They're tools to me, so I don't care if they glow coming out of the safe like a Noveske or KAC, etc.
I prefer the M4E1 integrated upper, just for the ease of building. I also think it inherently reduces stress/strain on the barrel and nut when loading the handguard, thereby giving an increased probability of precision (mathematically, any removed variable improves the probability of reduced SD). I haven't measured to see how it compares weight wise to a standard receiver, but it doesn't feel much/any different to me.
No idea honestly. I always use my own barrel sourced elsewhere. BA barrels are pretty nice from shooting others, but, it might be cheaper to buy direct from BA, IDK.
Don’t forget to check directly with Aero...I ordered a couple of M4E1 stripped lowers directly from AP last week. Got the blems for $75 ea less 10% new customer discount, free ship no tax so $68 ea not a bad deal. Haven’t received them yet so can’t say what the blemishes are but most reviews say they can’t even see the blem on the product. These are for hog hunting SBR’s so not worried about a blem.
I put together an upper using their enhanced system. Certainly makes it easy. So far, everything is solid and I have zero complaints. FYI, regarding BA barrels. Aero Precision owns Ballistic Advantage and BA does offer a sub MOA guarantee on all their barrels.
That was I thought I remembered but was 100% positive. I take it you have a BA barrel on yours?
Enhanced upper will limit you to the Aero enhanced handguards. While I dont think that's a bad thing, some might. The enhanced upper has an extension built as part of the upper, that the handguard mounts too, effectively removing its chance of contact with the barrel when using Aero handguards. Also adding no stress to your barrel attachment point if using bipod or foregrip. Either upper will serve you well. I only buy uppers with forward assist, ymmv.
Ballistic Advantage. I have 2 or 3. They have been great shooters and the price was on point. Mine have StraightJacket barrel system, and have since new, so I cannot speak to lengthy factory performance. I do have a .223 wylde SS, that started life as a heavy barrel, with somewhere around 3k through it, no POI shift.
I don't think that's correct. The split A forge mark is Anchor Harvey. I highly doubt Aero Precision has a foundry.
Lol
The first rifle "assigned" to me didn't have a forward assist, OR shell deflector.
Yes they do but they don't produce the forgings. Those come from an aluminum foundry. I've had Aero uppers with different foundry marks from Anchor Harvey, Cardinal forge, etc.
I'm curious who you work for.Lol
The first rifle "assigned" to me didn't have a forward assist, OR shell deflector.
I'm not THAT old...
I swear, the M-16's we were issued went straight from Vietnam to basic training.
If you were a lefty, you got one if these.
Attachments
Yes you are.
I built a pistol using an Aero M4E1 lower. It was nice not having to use a punch to build it. The only thing I really didn't like was they didn't include the 4-40 set screw for the take down pin recess. It's a very minor annouyance and certainly wouldn't prevent me from buying another one and will do it again if I build another one. I'm very happy with the lower and when I build the 18" upper for it I'll be using their upper as well. I don't have any issue with breaking the pistol down even though I have a tight fit with the upper that's currently on it but I have an enhanced pivot pin and takedown pin set.
What enhanced pins do you have?Yes you are.
I built a pistol using an Aero M4E1 lower. It was nice not having to use a punch to build it. The only thing I really didn't like was they didn't include the 4-40 set screw for the take down pin recess. It's a very minor annouyance and certainly wouldn't prevent me from buying another one and will do it again if I build another one. I'm very happy with the lower and when I build the 18" upper for it I'll be using their upper as well. I don't have any issue with breaking the pistol down even though I have a tight fit with the upper that's currently on it but I have an enhanced pivot pin and takedown pin set.
I bet it gives a nice touch to the rifle.Home | Battle Arms Development
www.battlearmsdevelopment.com
It actually does give a nice touch to the lower. I didn't use a lower parts kit. I bought everything I wanted seperatly. It was more expensive to build it but it's well worth it to me. Nothing on the lower is mil-spec. Just waiting to test the accuracy of the pistol before I build the 18" upper that will eventually go on it.
That's probably what I would do anyways too. Geissele is my go to trigger and will drop one in any AR build.
I used the Geissele SSA-E trigger and the Maritime Bolt Catch. They had such good deals on them during their black friday sale this year that I bought one for the pistol and the 18" I'm building. The pistol was originally meant to be a cheaper build but ended up spending more on it than I was planning. Oh well, such is life. It's too short to worry about cheaping out on stuff.
But the Aero Precision receiver sets are a great buy in my opinion. As someone said, they're hard to beat unless you go with a billet match set. I'm really happy with the receiver set I got. I got the Freedom Receiver set so it was more expensive than the regular set. But I knew I was going to spend a lot on the 18" build anyway. So the extra cost was a big deal to me. But I still got it on sale.
But the Aero Precision receiver sets are a great buy in my opinion. As someone said, they're hard to beat unless you go with a billet match set. I'm really happy with the receiver set I got. I got the Freedom Receiver set so it was more expensive than the regular set. But I knew I was going to spend a lot on the 18" build anyway. So the extra cost was a big deal to me. But I still got it on sale.
I did a full build with aero parts and a ballistic advantage barrel in 14.5" (pinned and welded for all those ATF trolls) that i have had great results with. Not that i built it with the intent to use it for precision rifle purposes but I ran some of my precision 223 loads through it and consistently got sub-moa results. I have ran about 1k rounds it by now and no issues. I plan on doing a 6.5 grendel and will be looking to Aero again.
I am so using those with my rifle too! I also have their mag catch and button. For the bolt catch I am using a V Seven lightweight which is made from S7 tool steel.Home | Battle Arms Development
V Seven Ultra-Light S7 AR-15 Bolt Catch
Founded by a veteran, Wing Tactical finds the best tactical gun parts and accessories for AR-15s, Glocks, and other firearms so that you don’t have to.
www.wingtactical.com
They're perfectly fine. It's a good quality BCG. I'm an Aero dealer so I sell a good number of their products and I've never received a complaint on any of their BCGs (nor any of their other items). This is with both 5.56 and larger caliber BCGs (.308). You can buy with confidence that you're getting a good product. This holds true with the Ballistic Advantage stuff too. A few years back I did a big group buy for 6.5 CM BA barrels and BCGs here in the Hide. I didn't get any complaints on the overall performance of any of those. I'm sure a few of those posting their 6.5 CM build results are from that group buy.
I do have a store front, but my retail business is secondary to my training business so I do a lot of custom and special orders for existing customers.
I started subscribing to the idea that if for some reason the bolt won't go forward on a round to remove the round and not jam it into the chamber with the forward assist. No need to create further problems - a worse jam, over pressure, etc with a bad round. Dump it and move on. To me the FA is no longer a necessity on an AR.
I get what your saying. I had a premature reply before I thought about that after the fact.
They are fine, I like the enhanced system pretty good. My atlas rail was miserable to install, and I’ve hand an M4e1 receiver where I had to run a drill bit into every detent whole and get all the aluminum shavings out.
better finish than Anderson’s but in the end it’s an AR part and it’s nothing special. They are worth the money they cost and all of mine are good rifles once finished.
better finish than Anderson’s but in the end it’s an AR part and it’s nothing special. They are worth the money they cost and all of mine are good rifles once finished.
I have been using AERO for a number of builds and used their blems a couple of times and I looked closely at each one and couldn't find a blem except maybe the anodizing was exactly correct.
Hi, Merle.
Are you sure you have an M4E1 Aero Precision upper and not a standard Aero Precision M4?
I just purchased one (M4E1) last week and the AP Atlas R one and S one will not fit due to the design of the E1 upper.
Had to go (fatter) Enhanced Handguard.
I would have rather had the slimmer R one or S one but standard M4 uppers are hard to come by right now.
Nice rig you built.
John.
M4E1 upper
Aero Precision is good to go. For the price, they are tough to beat. Their Enhanced lowers are absolutely worth the price, and the M5 is a really inexpensive and reliable way to get into the large frame DPMS pattern rifles. If you're looking for good pricing, I like Schuyler Arms. Their daily pricing is always good, and they run a lot of sales throughout the year that have smoking deals on assorted parts - usually a lot of Aero Precision builder sets included.
