Using Off Brand AR Pattern 80% Lowers

Using Off-Brand AR Pattern 80% Lowers

To learn more about cutting unsupported lowers visit GGD-Store.com

Caution  

verb (used with object)
to give warning to; advise or urge to take heed

The Ghost Gunner is designed to mill raw aluminum lowers and frames, generally 7075 T6 in either billet or forged formats. Softer 6061 aluminum lowers or frames should be fine too.  The Ghost Gunner 3 has the capability to mill steel lowers and frames, but the software has not been fully implemented as of now. Milling lowers made of harder or non-conductive materials can result in many issues, including, but not limited to, probing errors, offset cuts, and damage to internal components or tooling.

There is (unfortunately) variation between manufacturers, so you may find that some lowers may be difficult to fit to our jigs. They may also may have features that interfere with probing, or may be incompatible with the cutting code in one way or another. This is especially true with AR-308 lowers, seeing as they were never widely adopted by the U.S. military. In contrast to the AR-15 and M1911, which have mil-spec dimensions, the AR-308 lowers vary widely between manufacturers. Forged lowers generally have looser dimensions, as they have not gone through a precision milling process. This may result in offset cuts.

AR-308 cutting codes are designed to work with 80% AR-308 lowers specifically from Ghost Gunner. Our 80% AR-308 lowers and cutting codes are designed specifically for DPMS Gen 1 patterned AR-308 parts. Armalite AR-10 patterned parts will not fit a DPMS Gen 1 AR-308 lower. DPMS Gen 2 parts are not compatible with DPMS Gen 1 lowers.

Ghost Gunner brand AR-15 and AR-308 80% lowers have a pre-milled rear takedown pocket. This is because the Ghost Gunner is not able to easily perform this operation, seeing as that the end mill will collide with the rear takedown jig bolt and the collet will collide with the buffer tube ring. Several AR-15 manufacturers have copied our design to make their lowers compatible with the Ghost Gunner, but because there is no standard for AR-308 lowers, we recommend that you buy from the Ghost Gunner store, since we can’t ensure that AR-308 80% lowers you buy from other manufacturers will be compatible.

Jigs should snap into the lower firmly, without bending or deforming. The lower should be level on the t-slot plate. The jig should secure the lower in the t-slot platform so there it doesn’t move and ruin the operation. The side or top of the lower should be coplanar to the t-slot platform.

Jigs may need to be modified for better fit to a particular lower. If the jigs bow or bend, remove material from the jig to achieve a better fit. Use tape or washers as needed to provide additional support.