$680 AR-15 at Crossroads of the West

[SFTitan]

Hey all,

I'm pretty new to AR-15s and I've seen a lot of passionate and knowledgeable people post good feedback on AR questions. I also want to preface this by saying that I believe in spending a bit more and getting something that will last a long time over saving a few bucks and getting a pile of crap. But I'm also curious to know if this guy was telling the truth or not.

That being said, I recently went to a Crossroads of West Gun Show here in the San Francisco area and there was a guy selling AR-15's. They were CA compliant with the bullet lock and he was selling complete rifles for $680. Now that's really cheap for AR's I know that, but he claimed that they were just as good as the big name brands. He claimed he was using the same parts the big brands were using, from the same suppliers, but he was able to sell much cheaper because I'm not paying for the brand name.

I asked him if the barrel was chrome or aluminium lined. They were not. He said it wasn't necessary.

So my question is, is this guy blowing smoke up my ass or could he actually be selling a decent quality rifle? I mostly interested in are these people trying to BS a less knowledgeable gun buyer.

 

[Sky]

$680 is not that bad of a price unless you go with $599 nitride barreled CMMG bargain bin. I personally know the CMMGs are good I own two of them.

I hunt and pop targets so my guns are not used for 1000 round marathons until the barrels glow a nice cherry red.

CDNN had S/W? for $599 also. Del-Ton $750. CMMG lifetime guarantee as does Del-ton. I even have a couple of Bushmasters not because I wanted them they were just the deal of the day I could not pass up. I will catch flak maybe but I believe a well maintained AR platform will do what it is supposed to. I personally would prefer a good company with a good guarantee. Bushmaster only gives a one year ten day guarantee but most of the parts are cheap and the gun is easily fixed. Now if it blows up and takes my eye or head off I may change my mind??

 

[Girodin]

It is really hard to say whether that is a good price or not without knowing more details.

Saying it is an AR is only about as descriptive as saying a vehicle is a car. They come in lots of configurations with varying features and are built to suit different purposes and price ranges. Is $30K a good price for a car? It depends on what it is.

 

[SFTitan]

Sky, thanks for the comment. I guess I was really surprised because I don't normally see AR-15's for that price here in California. All the AR deals you see for $599 on the net don't ship to the US. So the cheapest alternative I've seen is having to buy a Stag for about a $1000. That's the cheapest I've seen here in CA.

So you think a gun put together by a local shop but using the "same parts as the big manufacturers" is a plausible story from this guy?

 

[MrCleanOK]

I asked him if the barrel was chrome or aluminium lined. They were not. He said it wasn't necessary.

Slow down, and educate yourself a lot more before you buy a rifle. And especially, be skeptical of technical advice on what you do and don't need from somebody trying to sell you something. Chrome lining exists, and may or may not be something you want. There are pros and cons to going both ways. I have no idea where you came up with aluminum lining, but there is no such thing. If I were an unscrupulous dealer and I had a potential customer asking me about aluminum lining, I would smell blood in the water.

I'd also be very, very skeptical of a small-time assembler telling you he can make rifles to equal quality as the big guys for less money. That is straight up garbage unless a truck full of rifle parts broke down and was abandoned in front of his shop. The more product you make, the less you can sell it for to turn the same profit. And in the post-Obama-madness era, prices on complete rifles are dropping due to production finally exceeding demand. Small-time assemblers should be getting their business because they put together a configuration that the big guys don't, not because they can undersell them for the same product.

 

[SFTitan]

Slow down, and educate yourself a lot more before you buy a rifle. And especially, be skeptical of technical advice on what you do and don't need from somebody trying to sell you something. Chrome lining exists, and may or may not be something you want. There are pros and cons to going both ways. I have no idea where you came up with aluminum lining, but there is no such thing. If I were an unscrupulous dealer and I had a potential customer asking me about aluminum lining, I would smell blood in the water.

I'd also be very, very skeptical of a small-time assembler telling you he can make rifles to equal quality as the big guys for less money. That is straight up garbage unless a truck full of rifle parts broke down and was abandoned in front of his shop. The more product you make, the less you can sell it for to turn the same profit. And in the post-Obama-madness era, prices on complete rifles are dropping due to production finally exceeding demand. Small-time assemblers should be getting their business because they put together a configuration that the big guys don't, not because they can undersell them for the same product.

MrClean... thanks for the response, but I'm in no hurry to buy an AR. I do know that chrome lined barrels last longer but are a tad bit less accurate. He mentioned aluminium lined barrels. I had never heard of them, but then again I wasn't 100% sure if there were in fact aluminum lined barrels.

But I did come to this forum to get people's opinions on whether they've heard of small time dealers selling decent quality rifles for quite a bit less at these gun shows. I've seen numerous debates about whether some of the lesser brands (Stag, RRA, etc) use the same parts as the big/fancy names (Colt, DD, etc) and I've seen a lot of comments where people said they all buy parts from the same suppliers. Kind of like how TV companies by their flat screen LCDs from the same manufacturers and then brand it Sony or Samsung etc.

 

[FMJMIKE]

I wouldn't buy a $680 no name AR-15. The AR is a precision made firearm. Sure....Buy it if you want a plinker.....but...........I wouldn't trust my life on it !!!

 

[Sky]

http://m4carbine.net/ has some good comparison data on different manufactures. Who stakes what, feed ramps, springs etc etc.

Like the man said. just keep reading and self educating yourself; THR is a great place for making you think about somethings you might not have otherwise thought of and a good place to learn.

Someone who mentioned aluminum barrel to me I think I wouldn't pay to much attention to them when they are the builder trying to sell me something..Maybe there was a misunderstanding....gosh I hope so!!

 

[TonyAngel]

Never ever buy an AR from a gun show that doesn't at least have some brand name on it being sold by someone that appears to be trust worthy, if you can even determine that. There are more trash AR parts floating around at a gun show than their are roaches in Louisiana. Even some ARs that do have name brands on them are assembled using crappy parts with name brand receivers.

If buying a cheap AR appeals to you, get a CMMG bargain bin rifle. At least you'll know that you can trust the people selling it to you and they will at the least guarantee that it runs.

 

[briang2ad]

$800 will get you into a squared away AR in a Spikes. S&W are quality also.

Then there is 'tier one' - $925 and up...

Read.

 

[Sky]

http://forums.officer.com/forums/sho...y-an-AR-15-huh
great AR article

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

but he claimed that they were just as good as the big name brands. He claimed he was using the same parts the big brands were using, from the same suppliers

Manufacturers will build parts to whatever spec their customer orders. To give an analogy, GM builds both Cadillac and Chevrolet; but just having the same manufacturer doesn't make them the same. Manufacturers will also sell parts that don't meet one customers spec to another customer who doesn't care.

Of course, "These parts are from the same manufacturer that makes Fabrique Nationale receivers" sounds a lot better than "These are receivers that FN rejected."

Having said that, even your no-name parts kit ARs will do fine for 95% of the shooters out there.