Last month, I wrote about the excellent, and affordable, Spike’s Tactical M4 LE upper receiver assembly. I was so impressed with it that I decided to pick up a stripped Spike’s Tactical ST-15 lower receiver. Now, I have two requirements for lower receivers: the magwell must be sized properly to drop free Magpul PMags, and all of the holes must be drilled in the right place. Anything else, such as a pretty finish, is nice, but unnecessary. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the $105 ST-15 receiver met not only my criteria, but it also had a good, even finish.
Only a few days later, though, I was contacted by Spike’s Tactical to do a T&E of their new enhanced lower receiver parts kits. Among other things, the “enhanced” kits have nickel boron plated fire control groups. Nickel boron is a coating used by FailZero on bolt carrier groups and is purported to reduce lubrication requirements – eliminate them, actually, but I’ll stop lubricating my weapons when the owners of FailZero plate the internal components of their cars’ engines with nickel boron and stop using oil in them (I do realize that there are other considerations with engine oil- just go with me on this). Now, don’t get me wrong – it definitely does have a “slick” feel, and the FCG is devoid of any grittiness whatsoever. I would just continue to lubricate any critical part that was plated with nickel boron, such as a bolt or bolt carrier.
Along with the nickel boron fire control group, though, was a lower receiver! This one was of a slightly different design than my other ST-15 lower. It also came with quite a few additional goodies, as you can see here.
Love it or hate it, the Spike’s Tactical logo adorns this lower. Although I’m generally freaked out by spiders, I actually like the logo.
Though I don’t use a magwell grip, for those that do, the front of the receiver has been machined to provide additional grip.
KNS pins and a billet enhanced trigger guard are also options.
The receiver is of the “low shelf” design and will accommodate a registered drop in auto sear. The trigger, hammer, and disconnector have all been plated with nickel boron. Also note, on the extreme right, the staked receiver endplate (Magpul ASAP).
I highly recommend the Spike’s ST-T2 buffer in all carbine gas system AR-15s. This lower comes standard with one, which resides in a six-position mil-spec diameter receiver extension tube.
The Spike’s Tactical ST-15 lower assembly is pictured here with another excellent quality lower receiver assembly, the Bravo Company BCM4.
An ambi safety, Magpul CTR stock, Magpul MOE grip, and Magpul ASAP sling plate are also available.
The ST-15 lower receiver fits the M4 LE upper receiver assembly perfectly.
It’s interesting to note that even with all the extra features and attention to detail of the Spike’s Tactical upper and lower assemblies, they’re still cheaper to acquire than the average Bushmaster or Rock River found at a local gun store or even online. I’ll be putting the lower to good use at the range this weekend and will update this post accordingly.
I have been using Spike’s Lowers for the last 3 years. I haven’t had one yet that had any “issues” with them.
I’m interested in these Coated Lower Kits and am interested in hearing what you think of them.
Is there any “grittiness” or excessive “creep”? Is the trigger break nice and crisp? How would you compare them to other triggers you’ve used?
It is a very crisp break. It’s not a match trigger, but it’s incredibly smooth compared to “standard” GI type triggers.
There is practically no discernable movement in the trigger prior to firing. You simply put pressure on the trigger until it fires. No grit whatsoever.
This is very impressive considering that the trigger has yet to wear in or “break in”.
I am very interested in purchasing a lower set up like this. I contacted Kat @ spikes and they are unsure who did the machine work on the mag well. Any thoughts?
Don’t know…ask them who manufactured the BMT serial number lowers. The machining on the magwell is not of any use.
I recently bought two of their lowers. After mating them to a couple of 5.45×39 uppers I can say I was VERY pleasantly surprised.
Everything fell together fine, no issues at all.
Nice finish, and all the Spikes supplied pieces/parts appeared first rate as well.
Fn in MT
I recently met the crew at Spikes. Very nice people and you can’t go wrong with a lower at that price. I’m pleased to hear that you’ve seen good results with yours.
do you find the magpul asap worthy vs other options ?
It is too noisy.
Where where you able to find this receiver for anywhere near $105? Best I could find was over twice that. I am interested in buying a couple of receivers before they are ban again and this one looks like as good as any.
Thanks
This article was written 2 1/2 years ago…
Thanks recon I should have checked the date first.
I have never bought/used any equipment from Spikes’. Two days ago I ordered a ST-15 lower online (I dropped my teeth when I got the price,very, VER
I have never used Spikes’ equipment before. Three days ago I ordered an ST-15 receiver online and now after reading this I can’t wait to get it. First, I’d read several reviews and all were raving in favor of this part. When I got the online price (not straight from Spikes website, they are showing sold out with a ten month backorder time) I almost dropped my teeth. It was VERY VERY reasonable. It should be here by the weekend and if I can get all the parts in and working by the weekend I’ll be firing. I went to three gun shops in my area and all said their distributors told them Spikes parts were impossible to obtain and if they could find any lowers the price would be astronomical. Again, this price blew my socks off and the seller says he has several more of them. I may just purchase more as an investment. Not really, I know guys doing that very thing with .22LR ammo and nothing pisses me off any more than those vultures doing that. Anyhow, I’ll post again after trying out this lower. Thanks for letting me share.
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