Review: Spikes Tactical Billet Lower (Pic Heavy)

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  • troy28

    Marksman
    Rating - 100%
    16   0   0
    May 21, 2010
    270
    18
    Behind the crosshairs
    If you are not familiar with Spikes Tactical: IMO they build an excellent quality product, stand behind their products, and one of the best levels of Customer Service I have ever worked with. Their primary product lines revolve around the AR15/M16 platform. They are also very knowledgeable about running their equipment on the Class 3 side of the industry.

    My only complaint about Spikes so far is their generic website (Which they are getting ready to upgrade). This review is regarding their Billet Lower

    Spike's Tactical Biohazard BILLET Upper/Lower Set

    ***The link above is for the Billet Set you can purchase just the lower*****

    They have added a number of advanced features to this lower as you will see in the following pics.

    Construction: Very solid, great finish, all edges are sharp smooth and clean, roll marks are crisp and clear.

    CIMG0054.jpg


    Features that they added: The entire lower can be put together or taken apart with out a punch. They have also captured the majority of the springs.

    Captured buffer retaining pin
    CIMG0043.jpg


    Captured take down pin spring & upper lower tension adjust

    CIMG0051.jpg


    Top of nylon tip set screw for upper to lower tension
    CIMG0045.jpg


    No roll pin for bolt catch
    CIMG0059.jpg


    This is one of my favorite features: Ambidextrous bolt release located above mag release comes already installed. Easily reached with trigger finger.
    CIMG0087.jpg

    Flared magwell: Has snugly fit my Pmags and steel mags. easily drops all empty mags I have tried. It is also a good fit with the 9mm magazine adapter.

    CIMG0056.jpg


    Front of Mag well with chevron grips

    CIMG0098.jpg


    Trigger Guard wide open for shooting with gloves: As you can see from the pictures you can not change this. It provides me with enough room with sausage fingers in gloves and I feel it adds even more strength to the lower.

    CIMG0048.jpg
    CIMG0049.jpg

    CIMG0101.jpg

    General Pictures: Please excuse the black electrical tape used to block serial# and C3 markings for SBR

    CIMG0091.jpg

    CIMG0092.jpg

    CIMG0093.jpg

    CIMG0088.jpg


    This is just a pic with the spikes 9mm billet upper attached. I have used a couple uppers from Bushmaster, LMT, Spikes, and a couple cheap brand x uppers. All fit the lower with ease and are not sloppy. Fired everyone of them just fine.

    CIMG0102.jpg
    CIMG0103.jpg


    Their website really does not do this lower justice. You do not have to buy an upper receiver to get a lower you can just purchased a billet lower. They also can color fill the roll marks for you in a few different colors. If you do become interested in one of these I would highly recommend calling them to pick out the options you want. I got mine stripped just because of what I wanted to do but, if you order a complete they will install everything free of charge.

    In assembling the lower myself the tolerances are excellent. All the parts went in with ease but, are not loose fitting. It costs a little more than a Plane Jane lower but, I would recommend it to anyone. Spikes focuses on quality and function first then they add just that little touch to make it look B.A..

    This is all JMHO
     
    Last edited:

    dave29

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    25   0   0
    Jul 8, 2009
    1,704
    38
    Lawrenceburg
    Nice review, I really enjoyed it. I really like Spike's products a lot, while I have had my eye on this lower for a while, it is a little rich for my blood.
     

    Steven

    Marksman
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    May 2, 2008
    157
    18
    Whitley County
    Very Nice !!! Thanks for sharing the pics and info.
    Many people argue that billet isn't needed for a lower.........from a functional standpoint , they are right...........
    but for a person that enjoys the AR as much as they like finely machined steel, billet can be a work of art and I enjoyed looking at your masterpiece. :)
     

    kingnereli

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Nov 2, 2008
    1,863
    38
    New Castle
    Nice review. I just finished a build on that exact lower and I'm equally impressed. I have a couple of questions for you. Did you have trouble with the captive takedown pin being really tight? Are you at all concerned with the possibility of one of the threaded pins braking and the difficulty of obtaining a replacement?

    Maybe I'll post pictures of my lower later if I get a chance.
     

    troy28

    Marksman
    Rating - 100%
    16   0   0
    May 21, 2010
    270
    18
    Behind the crosshairs
    Did you have trouble with the captive takedown pin being really tight? Are you at all concerned with the possibility of one of the threaded pins braking and the difficulty of obtaining a replacement?

    Captive take down pin: If you put the lower together your self you will need to slightly shorten the spring. The captive screw takes up a couple mm of the hole. This causes the captive spring to compress even further applying even more pressure. lay the spring down and place the captive screw next to the bottom of the spring. Snip off the coils off the coils that compensate for the length of the screw. If memory serves me correct it was about 5 coils worth. Being off by a coil or two is no big deal.

    If you have already done this work the pin in and out about 50 times. It's usually easier to do with out the upper on. If you still feel the pin is way to hard to get in and out take off another coil. Repeat till your satisfied.

    Thread pins breaking: I am not concerned for a few reason. With the quality of them I find it highly unlikely that they break. If they do break I know Spikes is an amazing stand up company when it comes to C.S. and they will most likely send you new parts for free. If for some reason Spikes were not to exist any more these screws can easily be purchased elsewhere.

    Finally, in an absolute end of the world situation you can still use any regular AR lower parts kit and have the lower running again. I really like that all the key parts (trigger group) are still standard AR components.

    Any further questions just let me know. Congrats on your lower, you will not be disappointed.
     

    kingnereli

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Nov 2, 2008
    1,863
    38
    New Castle
    Captive take down pin: If you put the lower together your self you will need to slightly shorten the spring. The captive screw takes up a couple mm of the hole. This causes the captive spring to compress even further applying even more pressure. lay the spring down and place the captive screw next to the bottom of the spring. Snip off the coils off the coils that compensate for the length of the screw. If memory serves me correct it was about 5 coils worth. Being off by a coil or two is no big deal.

    If you have already done this work the pin in and out about 50 times. It's usually easier to do with out the upper on. If you still feel the pin is way to hard to get in and out take off another coil. Repeat till your satisfied.

    Thread pins breaking: I am not concerned for a few reason. With the quality of them I find it highly unlikely that they break. If they do break I know Spikes is an amazing stand up company when it comes to C.S. and they will most likely send you new parts for free. If for some reason Spikes were not to exist any more these screws can easily be purchased elsewhere.

    Finally, in an absolute end of the world situation you can still use any regular AR lower parts kit and have the lower running again. I really like that all the key parts (trigger group) are still standard AR components.

    Any further questions just let me know. Congrats on your lower, you will not be disappointed.

    Thank you for the response. Those are the conclusions that I came to as well though I have to admit I was concerned at first. :ingo:
     
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