“Smokingfrog beat me to it. Bushmaster stripped lowers for $49.99:”
You don’t want a “sttripped lower,” they are considered to be a firearm and have to be purchased through and FFL, so the AR you put together has to be registered. If you buy an 80% lower, it’s considered a non-firearm (under the Federal Firearms Act of 1968) and you can get it at places like this:
http://www.shadowopsweaponry.com/category/61-80-lower-receivers.aspx
Home-built AR’s are legal under the same Act, and they do not have to be serialized or registered.
You can get a “fixture” that guides an end mill to cut the FCG and to drill for the necessary pins (there are only two). A milling machine is helpful, but you can also do the work on a good drill press.
Yup. I know what an 80% lower is, and just ask the customers of Ares Armor in Kalifornia just how "off the grid" they were for purchasing 80% lowers that the ATF later decided were more than 80% complete.