Cav Arms Rides Again

Recently I purchased a Calvary Arms stripped lower receiver. These lowers are cheap, and mine is from the Cav Aid drive in 2008.

getting ready to assemble

I picked up a double star LPK and it seems well made. Better than some I've used, not as good as others. I would rank it between a Del-ton kit and a LMT kit. Castings are good with no noticeable voids, and everything went together very easily.

In fact, this cav arms lower was far and away the easiest lower I have ever assembled. I've built over half a dozen stripped lowers now, and I must say this was the fastest and easiest assembly of any of them. So early on I'm already liking this setup.


As a result of how Cav produced their lowers (past tense, they are not actively producing receivers at the time of this writing) You end up with a lot of extra parts at the end of your assembly. The push pins, grip, trigger guard, and associated springs and screws are all superfluous to the project.

left overs

The lower is very light, and I feared that it might make a fully assembled rifle feel front heavy. However, after mounting a 16inch 9mm upper, this fear seemed unfounded.

The gun points quick and does not feel like it is 'nose heavy'. The buttstock is a little shorter than I am used to- being of the A1 style length as opposed to the (now) more common A2 style buttstock length. However, the shorter LOP does not seem to be negatively influencing my ability to quickly shoulder the rifle.

 

The grip is not a standard A1 or A2 style, and is of a fairly proprietary design. However it is comfortable, and many shooters put a hogue handall jr on the frame to add a layer of comfort.

I doubt I will add one to my build, as I find the grip fairly comfortable and surprisingly non-slip for what appears visually to be a smooth plastic surface. How that opinion will change as I shoot it with sweaty hands, anyone could guess- but for right now, I am pleased.


The trigger guard does not feel crampt, but I am not sure if it is as large as on standard cast or billet style receivers.If a shooter uses gloves at the range, I would definitely try to feel out the cav arms receiver before I dropped money on one.

ready to rock and roll

Assembly was super easy, and the only modification I had to make (aside from omitting a few pieces and inserting a few others from the top as opposed to the bottom of the receiver) was trimming 2 coils off of the safety spring. Cav makes mention of this on their assembly instructions (still available on their website) though I am not sure if it is absolutely mandatory. The safety is easier to use post trimming (I tried it both ways) but it wasn't prohibitive before hand.

I will say that the safety does not respond in the same way on the cav receiver as a safety does on a standard aluminum receiver. It is a softer, squishier engagement and disengagement as opposed to the more positive click on a metal receiver.

All in all, I like the Cav a lot- though I am worried about issues with the receiver now that the company is not able to service them. Allegedly, the Cav receiver will someday make a comeback after they get their BATFE issues squared away. In the meantime though, our lifetime warranties were killed by a now partially defunct company.

The previous owner said he had over 3k in rounds through this receiver, and I must say it does not look much worse for the wear as a result of firing that many rounds. To be on the safe side, I did order a heavier buffer to help the cav live through the abuse a 9mm upper can dish out. Some people run buffers as heavy as H3 or H4s, but I am going to settle for an H2 buffer for the meantime, until I can scrape up something with a bit more mass to it.

Final thoughts- I give the cav a tentative buy, assuming it holds up to the abuse I can give it. If the company can start servicing and producing these lowers again or in the next couple years, I would recommend them without hesitation.

A cheap and super light receiver that goes together easily and can be fixed with bondo or epoxy is a no-brainer. Throw in a lifetime warranty with reasonable rates- and they almost cross over into that 'must buy' category.

If I see any more of these for sale cheap, I might be just tempted enough to stock up on a few. Not having to buy a stock, buffer tube, and grip is a nice  way to save a few bucks; and I don't think they look to bad as a fully assembled rifle either.