Andro Corp Industries AR-15 Forged Upper Receiver

Andro Corp Industries makes this AR-15 upper receiver the traditional way: forged aluminum rather than billet. The material gets pressed into shape under pressure instead of being cut out of a solid block, which runs the grain of the metal along the part rather than across it. It is the same process behind the overwhelming majority of AR-15 receivers ever made, and it has stayed the default simply because nothing has come along that does the job any better.

It follows the common AR-15 receiver pattern, so barrel nuts, handguards, charging handles, and bolt carrier groups cut to that pattern go together with it the way they should. A forged upper is the workhorse choice: unremarkable in the best sense of the word, and the piece you build on when the interesting decisions are happening at the barrel and the optic.