Olympic Arms OA-93, any hands on experience?

[dust_101]

Before I built my "only" AR-15 I was seriously contemplating turning the stripped lower into a pistol, but decided a nice all-around user friendly recon-styled 18" rifle was what would suit me best for that build. Fast forward to me killing time and watching the movie Clear and Present Danger (whew that was a long ways back) and I completely forgot about the offering that Olymic Arms threw into the AR Pistol market.

I was not a big fan of the AR Pistol with that unwieldy buffer tube sticking out, or the Sig brace people used to make a pseudo-sbr (BATF rulings not withstanding) but the OA-93 was appealing to me. It is just so funky looking, very compact, and looks to fit the bill for a handgun in the AR family quite well.

Does anyone in here have any hands on experience with one, have you owned one or ditched one for any specific reasons?



Here's a bit of info about it from Olympic's website if you don't feel like googling it yourself:

"Unique to Olympic Arms is the OA Operations System which incorporates the recoil system into a flat top upper receiver eliminating the need for a buttstock. The OA-93 was the FIRST AR-15 pistol.

Upper type: Forged flat top w/ integrated recoil system
Front sight: None
Handguard: Free floating aluminum tube w/ knurling
Barrel: 6.5”, button rifled, 416 Stainless steel
Chambering: 5.56 NATO
Bore: Long-life non-chromed bore
Twist rate: 1x7
Muzzle: Phantom flash suppresor
Stock: None
Length/Weight: 17.00” / 4.46 lbs"

I'm not on the go button to buy one in the next few weeks. First I need to decide IF I really want this, and then I need to spend some time trying to price out my Modelo Sistema 1911 that would be going on the market to fund this. So I am very much looking for any info anyone has about this pistol that they could offer as ownership/user experiences.

Thanks!!

 

[FL-NC]

Olympic products (at least from that era) were famous for being unreliable due to cheap parts and/or improper assembly.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

For what they are - I really like them.

I used to have quite a little following when they were more common, having gotten quite good at tuning them up.

A friend had one and out of frustration and as a bit of a challenge, he asked me to look at it.

Playing with his and then through the next 3-4 subsequent projects, I was able to get them running quite sweetly including one with a legal drop-in for a Fed. Unfortuantely, I continually sold them on as the profit once done was astounding and thinking there'd always be "one more" I failed to keep one for myself.

Here's the best I can remember from memory and if I find my manual and notes, I'll add to this. One thing which will go a long way to being satisfied is to come up with a preferred loading ahead of time. When I first started doing this, 55 gr. G.I. was very common and it was easy to specify this. Later I built to SS109 operation.

-One significant issue is that the "op rod" must be trued, polished and supported to a greater degree. I used some motorcycle (I believe) valve guides turned, honed and inserted.

-The factory springs need to be thrown out and I replaced them with items from Grainger but don't recall which. More than one was progressive and worked very well.

-Not knowing if it was Oly's fault or not, some gas ports were too small and a couple were too large. I think they liked in the mid-high .080s range but don't hold me to that.

-"Vortex" hiders were a big improvement for flash and torque.

-I threw out all factory control group components as nearly everything was pooh.

-The surfaces on which the charging handle contacts need to be addressed and dressed and while I don't recall what I did - it paid big dividends to ensure that the charging system was re-worked to maintain a more perpendicular to the bore operation. They like to bind from the factory.

-ALL chambers required cleaning up and honing and of course feed ramps benefitted as well.

-Extractors were crap.

-Cut down, old Armalite style - fiber hand guards were significantly cooler shooting.

-A couple had bolt stops that wanted to hang up but I don't recall which geometry or performance I addressed with those.

I'm certain there was more but just can't dredge it up. When you could buy these at "take it off my hands" money, they were well worth the effort.


Todd.

 

[FL-NC]

I will take Apache's very informative post as an agreement with my assessment. All of my experience was with oly DI rifles and carbines in the late 80s- early 90s. I could go into a long post on the many issues I encountered with them (I was usually fixing someone else's new gun) but suffice to say that the $100 or so someone saved getting the oly wasn't worth the trouble of fixing something that just didn't work. I think most people expect a AR to just work- people who want a project generally prefer to start from "scratch". At the time I was building AR's for people for cost of parts + $50, they just needed to get a receiver. I hated it when people got parts kits from oly because even though I was putting them together correctly they still had major issues, and I hated turning out garbage even though I had no hand in selecting the parts- it also made me look bad. I remember 2 other companies that were also turning out suspiciously similar (crappy) products- SGW and PWA. They were from Washington state just like oly....coincidence?

 

[Ibmikey]

FL-NC, Although there is agreement that in the past Olympia turned out some inferior and unreliable products I would not comment on today's offerings by that company. I do however take umbrage to your disparaging remarks about Washington State. Currently in a city near Olympia there is a company that produces some of the finest AR parts and rifles available to today's consumer: Aero Precision of Tacoma Wa. I have used their parts extensively on some pretty neat builds and have not found any parts that were out of spec or inferior in any way, in fact their lower is one of the few to utilize a nylon tipped screw to remove any slop between upper and lower. This is particularly nice when using non Aero uppers.
I digress from the OP's original question but did feel the need to commment as Olympia Arms , in the past, failed to live up to industry standards but others have excelled with their products.

 

[dust_101]

Wow Todd, thank you so much for your very informative post on this subject. I'm not SOLD on buying one, but IF i go the route of adding an AR15 Pistol into my collection, the OA-93 may get a nod. Pricing for a complete pistol I have seen for 600-800, not sure if that ranks anywhere near a good price, but taking into consideration the work you mentioned to tune them up to proper operating spec, it will be something that needs to be weighed heavily into a purchase.

 

[FL-NC]

ibmikey- I never intended to slight Washington State or doubt the ability of its residents to properly build AR's or components of AR's. I have heard good things about Aero. My jab was more of an implication that maybe those 3 companies were one in the same. After a little research, it seems like SGW and oly in fact were, but that PWA only made lowers- so the few PWA guns that I had to fix were likely made with oly parts (or other crap parts). Further internet research indicates that oly is still in business and still making guns. While they may have improved their products, the damage done to their reputation is irreversible, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Ibmikey]

FL-NC, Ok thanks for the clarification I guess I took you wrong. Olympia ishe will to acknowledge their bad years and guarantee that today's product is much better has caused the continued distrust in the company as a whole. I believe I did see an ad in a magazine recently for some kind of exotic rifles but I would think the market would be small.
I have shot an Olympia belonging to a good friend but have not had occasion to look inside. I did feel some pity for him and gave him a Stag AR so he would not need a bag over his head while shooting for real!