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Plum Crazy Lowers?

Mattrmvpd

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 30, 2004
1,308
383
South Georgia
Just checking to see IF anyone out there has used these...

I am picking (2) complete lowers up... mainly due to the extremely LOW price... I figured if they worked good enough then its NOT a bad deal...

These are NEW production ones if that matters..

I WILL be putting standard M4 uppers on them to play with.

Thanks,
Matt (LEO SOUTH GA.)
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

I had one on a 204ruger. I got it in a deal along with other stuff. After 5,000 rounds the only thing I could tell was the hammer had a little wear from the bolt riding back on it. It held up very well.It was shot in the colder months and the hottest part of the yr in GA.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

T.C,

I saw that when I was researching it... I figured ANY of them including ALUM can be broke or warped if your cranking on it too much...

But... my thoughts are about the same... seem to be a very decent lower that will take the abuse and use of what 99% of us will give it and keep on going.

I am NOT using it as a deployed weapon... I DONT deploy
smile.gif


May ride in my vehicle... but hell... I drive a $40K land cruiser to work.. and then a unmarked police vehicle
smile.gif


My rifles sit in cases and dont get slammed around...

I guess for the cheap price... its kinda a no brainer for a try.

Matt.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

I actually picked one up yesterday. I won't be tossing it around but i did drop it yesterday when i was in the field and it didn't break. Honestly i agree and think they will hold up to normal use.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

Beatingisgreat,

Shoot it a bunch.. do a report PLEASE!!

Matt (LEO SOUTH GA.)
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

I was going to buy one when I was doing my Salvage project and cut the mag well off of it. I didnt because of the price and all I wanted was the magwell from it. Looking back it might have been ok for what I was going to do with it but I didnt want to spend that much money on a plastic magwell. I bought a 30% lower and cut the magwell off for 60 bucks.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

Outsy,

Not a bad idea at all..


I know SOME will NOT like the composite type lowers... I mean look at the haters of Glock... Seems that polymers DO work and DO last a long time...

I know I have been carrying a glock for about 10 years on duty and it has seem some SEVERE use and some abuse...

I have NO doubt really that the PLUM CRAZY lowers will be ok..
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

A buddy of mine bought one a couple month ago at the local gunshow, so far so good. He put an old A1 upper on it and it is running just fine and it is super lightweight.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

I love Polymer pistols, however they were designed from the ground up to excel at the task they were assigned. The poly AR lowers are just a transfer of an Aluminum design to a polymer material.

You can not transfer a design between two materials with out changes in the design. This leave the poly lowers weak and under built.

Here is a small collection of fail.

plumcrazyfail9.jpg

plumcrazyfail-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail2-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail3-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail4.jpg

plumcrazyfail5.jpg

plumcrazyfail6.jpg

plumcrazyfail7.jpg

plumcrazyfail8.jpg
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

they crack i had one no pics and it was hell trying to get it replaced

as you see above he beat me to the post
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

There is different stories about every single one. lol
I could care less if it breaks ill just get it replaced.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

You might try New Frontier. I've heard that they are made on the same mold but with a stronger polymer. It is worth a try for $99 bucks for a complete lower.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bpipe95</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
plumcrazyfail9.jpg

plumcrazyfail-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail2-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail5.jpg
</div></div>

Are these your lowers or just random pics pulled from somewhere else? Also, it seems that the fact that there is a castle nut wrench and a splayed out spring that someone was torquing the shit out of that plastic in a bad way. The serial numbers on the lowers are different as well - which is why Im wondering if they're pic grabs or hands on breakages.

I'm curious because I've got a pair of these lowers in use on two AR15's with several thousand rounds through them and haven't had any issues with them beyond the fact that the name is so stupid.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

there is a video on youtube of a guy shooting a .50bmg upper on one he only shot it once but it held up. i see them at gun shows for 160$ but have seen them online for as cheap as 120. compare to 250 for a complete lower. i think it depends on the person using it, if you only go to the range once every couple weeks im sure it would be fine. but me personally ill stick with aluminium so i can use it as a club when my ar runs out of ammo lol.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

+1 on them having a retarded name. i mean come on its an AR give it a manly name
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dtask</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bpipe95</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
plumcrazyfail9.jpg

plumcrazyfail-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail2-1.jpg

plumcrazyfail5.jpg
</div></div>

Are these your lowers or just random pics pulled from somewhere else? Also, it seems that the fact that there is a castle nut wrench and a splayed out spring that someone was torquing the shit out of that plastic in a bad way. The serial numbers on the lowers are different as well - which is why Im wondering if they're pic grabs or hands on breakages.

I'm curious because I've got a pair of these lowers in use on two AR15's with several thousand rounds through them and haven't had any issues with them beyond the fact that the name is so stupid. </div></div>

I have been collecting pictures and Documenting the stories of each failure in an attempt to show people who may not know what they are getting into.

The one with a castle nut wrench failed during un-shoulderd fire with a PWS factory piston upper on it.

The lowers fail in the rear due to the forces applied by the bolt/buffer slamming back. The 50bMG uppers do not apply this type of force so using that as an example does not work.

The "new frontier" lowers are the same damn thing, I had one in my hands the other day. You can see them flex at the constant point of failure just by placing a bit of force on them with your hands.

Early Cav arms lowers had tons of failures too, until they completely changed the design of of the rear of the receiver.

I want a lower/gun I can depend on, having a gun spend time in the mail is no good for me. Esp with PSA lowers going for 49 bucks ever few months. Don't waste your time or money on a plastic lower.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bpipe95</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been collecting pictures and Documenting the stories of each failure in an attempt to show people who may not know what they are getting into.</div></div>

Do you have any hands on experience with the lowers beyond twisting on one to try to get it to flex ?

How would a 50 BMG upper not place immense stress on the area of the takedown pins when fired?

How would firing a 50 BMG upper on a composite 5.56 standard lower equal less stress on the composite lower than the stress of normal bolt/buffer operation when a .223/5.56 round is fired? If you keep in mind what the mechanical process is which occurs repeatedly in the course of normal firing operation and look at your pictures, it stands to reason that any damage caused would likely be an issue of the either the buffer/ buffer spring assembly (not very likely) -or- (more likely) user damage that has been exaggerated for effect and not damage due to a composite mold's inherent weakness.

What is the end game of collecting pics of supposed failures and posting several pictures without any first hand documentation of how & why the failure occurred?
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dtask</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bpipe95</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have been collecting pictures and Documenting the stories of each failure in an attempt to show people who may not know what they are getting into.</div></div>

Do you have any hands on experience with the lowers beyond twisting on one to try to get it to flex ?

How would a 50 BMG upper not place immense stress on the area of the takedown pins when fired?

How would firing a 50 BMG upper on a composite 5.56 standard lower equal less stress on the composite lower than the stress of normal bolt/buffer operation when a .223/5.56 round is fired? If you keep in mind what the mechanical process is which occurs repeatedly in the course of normal firing operation and look at your pictures, it stands to reason that any damage caused would likely be an issue of the either the buffer/ buffer spring assembly (not very likely) -or- (more likely) user damage that has been exaggerated for effect and not damage due to a composite mold's inherent weakness.

What is the end game of collecting pics of supposed failures and posting several pictures without any first hand documentation of how & why the failure occurred? </div></div>

The 50 is going to displace the force across the entire receiver. The bolt slamming to the rear exerts force on one specific place of the receiver (the point of failure seen above).

I started collecting the information when I was brought a plastic lower that would not ignite primers and asked to fix it. This made me start doing research on them and finding that it was a common problem with the plastic FCG. I declined working on the lower as I found larger problems in my research and am not going risk the liability of doing work on something that will fail as these have shown to fail. Each picture is documented with the original users story, that is good enough for me.

The end game is to make people aware that these plastic lowers are an inferior product and if they plan to use the rifle for more than a plinker they should be avoided.

At the end of the day I have no horse in the race, I just fix broken shit that is brought to me by shooters. I try to give advice where I can and prevent people from wasting money.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

I'm not a gunsmith, but I own a gun shop and I've sold the PC lowers as well as Bushmaster carbon 15 firearms and have not had, to date anyway, either type of composite come back with issues. I was a skeptic as well at first, but as I mentioned, I've shot a few thousand rounds through two of my guns using the PC lower specifically to see if I would have any issues and I have not.

If you have a composite lower or upper and you get a crack in it, there is really nothing that a gunsmith can do anyway. It is something that would need to be warrantied and would likely result in a brand new replacement in short order.

All I am saying is this: I have the PC lowers, shot a whole lot of rounds using them, and sold several of them and I have not experienced at all what you have found searching the net to be true thus far. If I do experience a fracture, I'll get the part warrantied and reserve judgement until I've had experience with all aspects of the product and company selling the product.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

Not seeing any composite lowers break does not mean it doesn't happen. How many have happened that you haven't looked at? Is it possible that the people who bought them didn't even tell you they were broken? What kind of round counts do they shoot? The average AR owner I talk to shoots a couple hundred rounds a year, and thinks that is a lot. Shooting a couple thousand total rounds out of a lower is not really a high round count. Get up to 10,000 and that's starting to get close to a higher round count. Get up to 40k+ rounds with a composite lower and it'll be a miracle. There is a "chance" that you can get there. There is guarantee that a forged aluminum lower can get there.

I've seen a broken polymer lower in person, as well as broken polymer components. They're junk. People need to understand that the lower receiver on the AR is much different than the lowers on other different weapon systems like the SCAR and ACR. There are much greater stresses and forces on the AR lower, hence all the breaks in the rear of the receiver.

Shooting ONE ROUND with a .50BMG is by no means an indicator of durability. One round...big deal.

 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

Just like anything anything else - including forged lowers - I'm sure that you'll have failures. I'm sure there are failures that go unseen and unspoken of and I'm sure that I do not track anyone else's round counts on their weapons.

Sure, everyone has a different view as to what constitutes a high round count - I fail to see you point, however, because I can only speak to what I know firsthand. I have not shot 40k rounds through my PC lower but I am over 3k on two of'm, which I think I mentioned twice.

I've seen plenty of broken guns come back for warranty work, including some of the one's made out of the material you refer as "junk" - it's just that those happen to have been pistols and not lowers. I don't know where the comparison to a SCAR or ACR fits into this discussion either other than the fact that you made it. Also, not all of the breaks are in the rear in the pics posted.

Seems to me that this logic of conjecture with regards to composites is, well, very selective.
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

One instructor i know uses them quite a bit for student guns. They're certainly lightweight and one unique feature is the ability to put the safety on in any hammer condition.
The only thing I've found is that the front takedown pin can go past the detent (and everything falls out) when pushing it open. Saw this over and over on several PC lowers during an armorer's session.
Other than that, they run fine. Great for range use. Would I carry one on duty? Probably not quite yet.

(Edit: I should mention they all have 5.56 uppers)
 
Re: Plum Crazy Lowers?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LongRangeDDS</div><div class="ubbcode-body">They're certainly lightweight and one unique feature is the ability to put the safety on in any hammer condition. </div></div>
That's not a design feature, that's a design flaw. It puts undue stress on the FCG by flipping the safety after the hammer is tripped. It's not meant to work that way, it happens because its flexing.
Keep doing it and it will wear out.