AR-15 QUESTIONS

[GatorFarmer]

Originally posted by FennRx:
opinions vary on most brands except for Colt and Bushmaster. these seem to be held in the highest regard, from what i have read. Colts will hold their value better as well, i understand

as for DPMS, fair number of negative opinions. based on my limited time at AR15.com, these opinions seem to based on their older guns (which have now been improved). there is a striking similarity between DPMS and Taurus....the people who own the guns tend to have a very favorable opinion of them. i am no expert by any means, but for recreational purposes, my Panther Lite is awesome.

I'm not familiar with Bushmaster being held in high regard. Generally it's an "Oh. You have a Bushmaster. Shrug." sort of brand.

DPMS, unless something has changed, makes sporting rifles. They don't invest in the same sort of testing and QC that Colt or other top tier makers do.

That doesn't mean that they are bad guns.

And yes, I did actually own a DPMS rifle. It was "Eh, not so good."

 

[GatorFarmer]

Originally posted by m1gunner:

Originally posted by GatorFarmer:
Colts have always been 5.56, even those marked .223.

Careful with those always and never statements.

Colt also made .222 and 6mm barrels. When looking at used rifles, read what it says on the barrel when looking at colts.

Yes, it would have been more precise if I'd written something like "Colt rifles stamped .223 are actually 5.56mm".

 

[silvercorvette]

At this point in time where it is a seller market you may have to be grateful if you find anything. Bach in Nov-Dec I couldn't find any Colts, Bushmaster were selling new for between $2,500 & $3,000. A couple months ago I saw a new Stag for $850? $875?. I grabbed it and was happy to have anything. Things may get worst or they may get better, but if I were you I would grab whatever I could find if it wasn't over priced. I did see a few at the gun show in Greenville last weekend but I was broke after buying two Lugers so I didn't want to see any bargains if I could buy them. It would just tick me off to find s deal and not have money

 

[Farmer17]

I had a Colt, Olympic Arms, and Del-Ton and they all worked fine and seemed about equal to me, the Colt was probably the least accurate but it was an older 1985 SP-01 skinny barrel. I heard Olympic Arms had some crappy management and quality control at one time but don't know about the current situation, but no basic AR/M-4 is worth over 800 bucks to me since its basically cast pot metal and plastic.

 

[NFrameFred]

The truth is, most of what's out there isn't bad, some better than others, sure, but to the average Joe - fine.

The link to the chart above has a lot of good info, but unless you're shooting thousands of rounds mostly full automatic the guns listed will all hold up. And a lot of the 'deficiencies' contrasted on the charts can be easily corrected with a minimum of effort.

 

[RGAmos]

Do not shoot 5.56 mm ammo in a .223 Rem chambered rifle. The rounds are not the same. Buy a Colt.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Originally posted by Farmer17:
but no basic AR/M-4 is worth over 800 bucks to me since its basically cast pot metal and plastic.

Ah, but Colt goes the extra mile in testing and quality assurance on their "cast pot metal and plastic" creations... which are actually good quality steel, alloys, etc. And hopefully not cast at all unless someone is buying a real bottom of the barrel gun. Quality AR receivers are forged.

 

[perpster]

Originally posted by RGAmos:
Do not shoot 5.56 mm ammo in a .223 Rem chambered rifle. The rounds are not the same. Buy a Colt.

Check with the manufacturer. For example, Ruger Mini-14's say .223 but the manual says .223 and 5.56 are both ok.

 

[akviper]

Abbynormal's post +100. It's worth the extra bucks to go top tier unless you never actually plan to shoot it. The "chart" is updated regularly and reflects actual observations of the various brands construction features.

 

[poe]

This will give you more information than you ever want to know.

http://forums.officer.com/showthread.php?t=81462

 

[crofoot629]

This will give you more information than you ever want to know.

http://forums.officer.com/showthread.php?t=81462

Well......+100 for Poe too!

Emory