Ultimate Jig

Though Juggernaut Tactical used to make one of the worst products I’ve ever reviewed, I still had a high opinion of the rest of their line. In what appears to be no exception to that, their new Ultimate AR Jig looks awesome. It’s a drill jig kit designed to help you turn an 80% AR-15 or AR-10 lower receiver into a 100% lower receiver . . .

On Brownells for $179.99, the basic kit comes with the following (from Juggernaut’s site):

• 17-4 Stainless Steel Drill Bushings
• Patented alignment tool with light
• Depth gage for quickly setting tool length
• CNC-machined from solid aerospace billet aluminum
• Laser-etched with Right/Left markings and drill hole sizes for convenience
• Individually replaceable plates
• Type III hard coat anodized
• If instructions are properly followed, the jig kit can be used to finish up to 25 lowers, or more

For an additional $60, one can add the Ultimate Jig Tooling Package. It “includes all bits required to finish your AR-15 or AR-10 lower. These are the same bits we use in our commercial CNC machines at the Juggernaut Tactical factory.” That includes:

• 1 ea. 0.375″ Cobalt Drill
• 1 ea. 0.3125″ Cobalt Drill
• 1 ea. 0.156″ Cobalt Drill
• 1 ea. 5/16″ Carbide Endmill

It looks like a really precise and solid way to finish out an 80% lower. But it’s a $180 wear-and-tear item that’s expected to last only through the creation of maybe 25 lowers, so that’s something to keep in mind.

Hopefully Juggernaut is or will be offering the ability to replace only the drill guides and bushings, which are the wear parts, as needed, while allowing the owner to retain the main body and other components. That would up the value and make the investment more appealing, especially over the long term.

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15 COMMENTS

    • Every ‘ghost gun’ you build, Kevin de León bursts a capillary in his (Abby normal) brain, and *two* angels get their wings…

      *snicker* 😉

      • I like it when he pee’s his depends. Likely will be commie kalifornia’s next Senator. I have no trust in the brain stem only kalli voter block.

      • But does is have the ability with a .30 caliber clip to disperse with 30 bullets within half a second? Otherwise I don’t want one.

  3. • If instructions are properly followed, the jig kit can be used to finish up to 25 lowers, or more

    WTF does that mean?

    I get confused with statements like this. Is it up to 25 (i.e., no more than) or is it more than? How many more than? I would think a jig can be used as many time as you want with no practical limit. If that’s the case, why imply there’s a limit?

    • The drill bits will gradually wear the metal of the jig causing the holes to enlarge. Eventually, you’ll end up with lowers that are out of spec.

    • Up to 25 or more. A set inclusive of everything from zero to positive infinity. It might break the first time, or it may last forever.

    • The answer really depends on your equipment and your ability to align the fixture to said drill press. The runout of the drill press and chuck will eventually cause the drill bit to cut through the anodized layers in the holes. Once that layer is gone, any misalignment will cause the top and bottom anodized layers, and the now raw aluminum in the holes, to wear faster. This can be mitigated by using a mill/drill or a milling machine, but you wouldn’t need the fixture if you had one of those machines. There’s another company that makes a jig designed to use a trim router. It is much faster, but there is still plenty of opportunity for an unskilled user to destroy that as well.

  4. I have this jig. I’m going to try it out on an AR15 lower tomorrow. The YouTube video comments are hilarious but they also help you avoid pitfalls. For sure, go on Scamazon and order a 1/4″ endmill that is 4″ length OAL. They recco a 3/4″ cut but 1/2″ is okay; you can get this for $20. The other drill bits and drill collar stops you can get at Ace, Harbor Freight, bLowes or Home Despot

    There’s another YT video by Darian Ballard that tears this jig kit a new orifice. Seems his main gripes are the crappy instructions and some misalignment issues with the side holes. He says use a drill press.

    Some of the comments on an AR15 site’s DIY Build forum says the $280 5D Tactical Universal AR15/AR10 is better than the $180 Juggernaut Tactical jig.

  5. [UPDATE] Well…..thankfully I’d bought an 80 lower real cheap as a blem so I could practice and learn on it. Boy, did I ever learn.

    LESSONS LEARNED:
    1) do NOT use the Harbor Freight Endmills. The cutting surface is too long. They chewed up the sides of my jig’s Router Pocket Template/ Main Pocket Template. Had to order a replacement for $35 + $10 shipping.
    2) as a result of the HF mills chewing up the sides of the template, the template allowed the Amazon endmill I also bought to remove too much material to the point it pierced the wall of the lower(!)
    3) buy the endmills suggested by Juggernaut but do not buy Juggernauts tool pack. Instead you can source the endmills here:
    https://www.americangunsmithtooling.com/products/2-pack-5-16-3-flute-1-2-loc-1-4-shank-3-75-oal-zrn-coated-carbide-end-mill Got two pack for $70 something.
    4) do NOT buy the Amazon endmill for $20. It’s only 1/4″ wide diameter cutting surface so it a) increases amount of time you are milling each pass and b) is too fragile and easily shattered
    5) whilst using the Makita router, I recco you increase the depth of your cutting pass by only half-a-notch per pass. TAKE YOUR TIME. That’s what beer is for.
    6) use a shopvac definitely. What I did was for $25 bought the Home Depot Bucket Head shop vac that fits on a standard 5 gl bucket. They also sell a mini-attachment kit for only $15 that fits onto the buckethead’s 1-1/4″ hose. The mini attachments allow you to get into the small, tight crevices of the lower and suck all of that crap out.
    7) use real cutting fluid. I tried to get away with crappy WD40 but it’s too thin.

  6. https://3crtactical.com/product/anderson-manufacturing-ar-15-80-lower-receiver-open-trigger-black-anodized/

    D’oh! I forgot to mention that my only remaining 80 Lower that I still had was a nice red-anodized lower from Thunder Tactical as well as a DPMS-pattern AR10 80 Lower that “I’m saving for later”. I sure as hell didn’t want my next attempt to be with either one, especially since Thunder Tactical is out of stock on colored anodized lowers right now.

    I managed to get a deal yesterday from 3CR Tactical on two black anodized 80 lowers for only $81, free shipping and IN STOCK. I found it by going online to https://Gun.Deals and doing a search on “80 lower”

  7. ….and ANOTHER Thing! (I promise this will be my last post about this until I complete an 80)

    I took Darian Ballard’s YT advice and bought a drill press for drilling all the initial holes with the Hole Template. I scored a Harbor Freight drill press for only $55. I can assure you that it is a worthwhile investment because using a hand-drill to drill all the 3/8″ holes plus the other holes was a real PITA. I ain’t no spring chicken no more and my arms were dead-tired from all that drilling. I’d rather save my strength for stirring a paddle during a crawfish boil or shrimp boil.

    Use good carbide bits too cuz anything else gets duller than a conversation with alGore.

  8. I just got a universal AR-10 JIG, I CAN’T MAKE IT FIT MY AR10 GEN 1 DPMS,
    The small side plates stick out way to far, the front top bolt hole won’t work it hits
    The bolt hits the receiver, I believe they sent me a piece of crap.

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