AR-15, what brand would you go with?

[huntnphool]

I have a couple capes I need to get to you too, I suppose I could bring a varminter for you to try when I get down there again.

[bucklucky]

I may have one before you get back down here  I dont know how long I can wait! 

[dontgetcrabs]

I have a colt h-bar target model with a 20" barrel, my dad-in-law has an olympic flat top with a 16" barrel. My colt will shoot sub moa his oly might hit a softball at 100 yds. I always thought it was the heavy 20" barrel out performing the shorter light weight 16" barrel? It's not that I'm a better shot, because we can trade guns and the colt will still shoot better. I believe you get what you pay for.  Just my

[actionshooter]

Charlie, If you want to come and see the difference, I can show you mine. I have Rock River, Smith, Colt, Olympic, and a couple of *censored* rifles I built. The best looking are the Colts, you pay ALOT more for the name.
 Rock River, Smith, DPMS, Bushmaster, ect,ect,ect are all basically the same. Olympics have had a bad name  in the past b/c years ago they turned out some real crap but these days they build a good rifle. 3 good points for Oly would be, they are cheaper, they are in Nisqually so if you have a problem, you can drive it to them, and they are the ONLY manufacturer who broach cuts their barrels (SUM barrels only). Do a search, broach cut barrels have way better accuracy.
  I wouldn't get to hung up on brand, everyone likes the 1 they have.

[huntnphool]

Olympics have had a bad name  in the past b/c years ago they turned out some real crap but these days they build a good rifle.

 

[ThePascoKid]

In his title he asks "what brand would you go with" I simply expressed my opinion, its up to him to decide if its too much money

My remark was not directed at you I was simply stating what I had found on their websites.  Besides that I have been looking at them on gunbroker.com and the oly isn't selling for anywhere near what the msrp is on their website it is about $400 more. With the gun craze go figure.  IMPO I'd buy the bushmaster with the 24" barrel.

[demontang]

My father has a colt hbar target, an OLY service, and a mutt(RRA, oly,colt). I have seen only one difference in them and thats the trigger, price, and the colt wont cycle all the loads we have tried were the oly just keep going. A lot of people dont like the fact that oly is no mil spec, which just means they have tighter tolerances and not all mags will just fall out of the mag well. You have to remember oly is the only AR builder I know of that builds everything in house and doesnt contract out to the lowest bider for parts.

[bucklucky]

Charlie, If you want to come and see the difference, I can show you mine. I have Rock River, Smith, Colt, Olympic, and a couple of *censored* rifles I built. The best looking are the Colts, you pay ALOT more for the name.
 Rock River, Smith, DPMS, Bushmaster, ect,ect,ect are all basically the same. Olympics have had a bad name  in the past b/c years ago they turned out some real crap but these days they build a good rifle. 3 good points for Oly would be, they are cheaper, they are in Nisqually so if you have a problem, you can drive it to them, and they are the ONLY manufacturer who broach cuts their barrels (SUM barrels only). Do a search, broach cut barrels have way better accuracy.
  I wouldn't get to hung up on brand, everyone likes the 1 they have.

Now we are getting somewhere!! I'll have to come over!

[FALFire]

Charlie, If you want to come and see the difference, I can show you mine. I have Rock River, Smith, Colt, Olympic, and a couple of *censored* rifles I built. The best looking are the Colts, you pay ALOT more for the name.
 Rock River, Smith, DPMS, Bushmaster, ect,ect,ect are all basically the same. Olympics have had a bad name  in the past b/c years ago they turned out some real crap but these days they build a good rifle. 3 good points for Oly would be, they are cheaper, they are in Nisqually so if you have a problem, you can drive it to them, and they are the ONLY manufacturer who broach cuts their barrels (SUM barrels only). Do a search, broach cut barrels have way better accuracy.
  I wouldn't get to hung up on brand, everyone likes the 1 they have.

Yep, that's some very good info right there.

 Oly Arms is one of the very few that actually make their own barrels from blank barrel stock, they had pallets of it the last time I was there. Most AR companies have their barrels supplied by Wilson or ER Shaw and those are done in very high production due to the supply and demand right now, but still, either is a very good quality barrel.

Oly Arms used to make their receivers from cast alloy, that's changed in the recent years and now they are all forged aluminum throughout their complete line of AR's. The old Plinker model was the last hold out for cast, but now up to date in forged and Oly is replacing the last few cast recvr's under warranty with newer forged units. The old cast stuff would break and that is where the bad mouthing of Oly Arms comes from, it was basically carry over from the original SGW, Schutzen Gun Works, that is now known and highly regarded as Olympic Arms. They make good stuff these days.

If you get a chance go into the Olympic Arms sales office and ask if Skip or Lee could maybe take you thru a quick tour of the plant, you'll find it very interesting.

Colts do tend to have a very nice finish on them, but don't seem to shoot any better than anything else out there. Rock River Arms, DPMS, Wilson, Bushmaster and so on all have very good products to offer. I build mine mostly on Bushmaster, DPMS and Mega lowers. I've used several Oly Arms barrels and have built on Model 1 Sales kits and parts along with Armalite, I can't really seem to find anything worng with any of them.  Bushmaster makes the Remington R-15 and DPMS makes the Remington R-25 308 based guns. They all tend to be really good shooters.

My suggestion is to find anything you can these days, since the NoBamma scare has taken hold AR's are scarce, and at least you will have something to start with. Again, as I stated in another post, the barrel and the trigger is what makes the AR a real shooter, not the roll mark on the side of it. An expensive Bushmaster is no better than a STAG or DPMS or CMMG, it all depends on what you want as far as looks and function.

[bucklucky]

Thanks guys, all great info.

FALFire, thanks for the insight on Oly Arms. That helps to know that at one time they had those cast recievers that gave them a bad rep for awhile. I figured there had to be something like that.

[FALFire]

Hey....No problem. I have heard these rumors too and for what ever reason, no one could give any real proof to take to the bank as why Oly was junk, well I did a little digging and that is what most of it started from. Knowing how rumors get started and continue to grow into a monster form of sorts, from one passing on the hearsay from another, it finally gets way out of control.

Oly Arms has had a lot of cleaning up to do to dispell the rumors and now builds very competetive products. As far as I'm concerned, they are leaders in the AR industry and continue to grow and produce some of the finest AR's available.

 They are leaders in caliber selection, where others simply stayed with the 223/5.56 calibers, Oly Arms went the extra mile and gave us AR15 Pistols, and WSSM magnum chamberings along with 17 Remington, 300 Fireball, 6x45, etc, etc. They should be very proud of the fact that they voluntarily explore the extremes of the AR15 platform to give all of us the opportunity to delve into that "something different" catagory.

[RailRob]

I like the quality of DPMS..bushmasters are good and I have heard great things about stag arms also

[WildlifeAssassin]

Stag arms makes most of the components for the other brands get it from the source. At least take a look.
Stag Arms model 6
http://www.stagarms.com/product_info.php?cPath=13_22&products_id=211

[actionshooter]

Charlie, If you want to come and see the difference, I can show you mine. I have Rock River, Smith, Colt, Olympic, and a couple of *censored* rifles I built. The best looking are the Colts, you pay ALOT more for the name.
 Rock River, Smith, DPMS, Bushmaster, ect,ect,ect are all basically the same. Olympics have had a bad name  in the past b/c years ago they turned out some real crap but these days they build a good rifle. 3 good points for Oly would be, they are cheaper, they are in Nisqually so if you have a problem, you can drive it to them, and they are the ONLY manufacturer who broach cuts their barrels (SUM barrels only). Do a search, broach cut barrels have way better accuracy.
  I wouldn't get to hung up on brand, everyone likes the 1 they have.

Yep, that's some very good info right there.

 Oly Arms is one of the very few that actually make their own barrels from blank barrel stock, they had pallets of it the last time I was there. Most AR companies have their barrels supplied by Wilson or ER Shaw and those are done in very high production due to the supply and demand right now, but still, either is a very good quality barrel.

Oly Arms used to make their receivers from cast alloy, that's changed in the recent years and now they are all forged aluminum throughout their complete line of AR's. The old Plinker model was the last hold out for cast, but now up to date in forged and Oly is replacing the last few cast recvr's under warranty with newer forged units. The old cast stuff would break and that is where the bad mouthing of Oly Arms comes from, it was basically carry over from the original SGW, Schutzen Gun Works, that is now known and highly regarded as Olympic Arms. They make good stuff these days.

If you get a chance go into the Olympic Arms sales office and ask if Skip or Lee could maybe take you thru a quick tour of the plant, you'll find it very interesting.

Colts do tend to have a very nice finish on them, but don't seem to shoot any better than anything else out there. Rock River Arms, DPMS, Wilson, Bushmaster and so on all have very good products to offer. I build mine mostly on Bushmaster, DPMS and Mega lowers. I've used several Oly Arms barrels and have built on Model 1 Sales kits and parts along with Armalite, I can't really seem to find anything worng with any of them.  Bushmaster makes the Remington R-15 and DPMS makes the Remington R-25 308 based guns. They all tend to be really good shooters.

My suggestion is to find anything you can these days, since the NoBamma scare has taken hold AR's are scarce, and at least you will have something to start with. Again, as I stated in another post, the barrel and the trigger is what makes the AR a real shooter, not the roll mark on the side of it. An expensive Bushmaster is no better than a STAG or DPMS or CMMG, it all depends on what you want as far as looks and function.

Charlie, If you want to come and see the difference, I can show you mine. I have Rock River, Smith, Colt, Olympic, and a couple of *censored* rifles I built. The best looking are the Colts, you pay ALOT more for the name.
 Rock River, Smith, DPMS, Bushmaster, ect,ect,ect are all basically the same. Olympics have had a bad name  in the past b/c years ago they turned out some real crap but these days they build a good rifle. 3 good points for Oly would be, they are cheaper, they are in Nisqually so if you have a problem, you can drive it to them, and they are the ONLY manufacturer who broach cuts their barrels (SUM barrels only). Do a search, broach cut barrels have way better accuracy.
  I wouldn't get to hung up on brand, everyone likes the 1 they have.

Yep, that's some very good info right there.

 Oly Arms is one of the very few that actually make their own barrels from blank barrel stock, they had pallets of it the last time I was there. Most AR companies have their barrels supplied by Wilson or ER Shaw and those are done in very high production due to the supply and demand right now, but still, either is a very good quality barrel.

Oly Arms used to make their receivers from cast alloy, that's changed in the recent years and now they are all forged aluminum throughout their complete line of AR's. The old Plinker model was the last hold out for cast, but now up to date in forged and Oly is replacing the last few cast recvr's under warranty with newer forged units. The old cast stuff would break and that is where the bad mouthing of Oly Arms comes from, it was basically carry over from the original SGW, Schutzen Gun Works, that is now known and highly regarded as Olympic Arms. They make good stuff these days.

If you get a chance go into the Olympic Arms sales office and ask if Skip or Lee could maybe take you thru a quick tour of the plant, you'll find it very interesting.

Colts do tend to have a very nice finish on them, but don't seem to shoot any better than anything else out there. Rock River Arms, DPMS, Wilson, Bushmaster and so on all have very good products to offer. I build mine mostly on Bushmaster, DPMS and Mega lowers. I've used several Oly Arms barrels and have built on Model 1 Sales kits and parts along with Armalite, I can't really seem to find anything worng with any of them.  Bushmaster makes the Remington R-15 and DPMS makes the Remington R-25 308 based guns. They all tend to be really good shooters.

My suggestion is to find anything you can these days, since the NoBamma scare has taken hold AR's are scarce, and at least you will have something to start with. Again, as I stated in another post, the barrel and the trigger is what makes the AR a real shooter, not the roll mark on the side of it. An expensive Bushmaster is no better than a STAG or DPMS or CMMG, it all depends on what you want as far as looks and function.

I agree 100% and these are the facts on Oly, the only thing is, Skip doesn't work there anymore, he's been gone for a while.
 Olympic is the most innovative company out there. They were the first AR pistols, As far as I know they were the first flattop producer also.
 

[BC CHASER]

Hey BL I have a NIB AR if you are interested and can make you a deal!  I own both Colt and Lewis Machine Tool and love them both.