What AR15 brands should be avoided?

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I love the Olympic Arms haters, because I win matches all the time with my K8 Target-Match AR-15 rifle. And, for whatever it might be worth, Olympic Arms only made cast AR-15 lower receivers in the first year of production (1993-94) before switching to forged. See here.

At any rate, I liked my (2011) K8 Target-Match so much, I bought a second. Neither have ever given me a single problem.
 
Das Capitolin said:
I love the Olympic Arms haters, because I win matches all the time with my K8 Target-Match AR-15 rifle. And, for whatever it might be worth, Olympic Arms only made cast AR-15 lower receivers in the first year of production (1993-94) before switching to forged. See here.

At any rate, I liked my (2011) K8 Target-Match so much, I bought a second. Neither have ever given me a single problem.
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I'm sure that they do make some fine and dandy rifles, just my experience with them has been horrid, hence my haste to put them on an "avoid list". I'm very much the same with a couple of other gun makers, but neither of them is relevant to this discussion.
 
Winkman822 said:
I'd put Olympic on the list of AR's to avoid. I have one myself and it's fine when it works...it just doesn't work very often. I've never fired a full 30 round magazine through it without some sort of hiccup. I've also noticed that the mag well is slightly out of spec as I have problems getting mags to drop free whether Lancers, P-Mags, GI Spec mags, etc. Some will drop free, others won't. Granted that's probably from variations in the magazines themselves, but still, the Olympic does nothing but choke especially when compared to my Stag and my LWRC.
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Yours sounds like one of the first-year cast lower receivers. You can check, here: http://www.olyarms.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=42
 
Well, it is indeed a cast receiver. Guess that's what I get for cheaping out and buying used without doing my due diligence first.
 
The MFGs I would want to avoid would be the ones who would likely not be around 10-15-20 years from now, and even that is mostly a marginal factor considering the interchangeability of components.
 
Lots of good advice in this thread.

For a first time buyer, I believe that it is hard to go wrong with a Smith & Wesson M&P Sport II. You can get your feet wet and see how you like the 5.56/.223 AR-15 platform for $650 or less.

Can you build a comparable rifle with Palmetto State Armory components for less money? Sure, but the M&P Sport II (with the forward assist and dust cover) seems like a pretty foolproof starting point. From there you can 'roll your own' or maybe upgrade to a Colt 6920 for a couple hundred dollars more. If you decide to get rid of your 'entry level' AR-15, the S&W will hold its value in most markets better than many other options. I have a small 01FFL firearm dealer business and have sold about a dozen S&W M&P Sports in the last year. Everybody who bought one, without exception, loves his (or hers). If you ever need customer service, Smith & Wesson would be as good as any.
 
I'll second Averageman. I just paid less than a grand for a Colt 6920 MOE. Maybe if you're doing a build you could get similar quality cheaper, but I don't see you getting a well built rifle with the experience Colt has, with the receiver extension, Car158 bolt, M4 ramps, H-buffer, F-marked front sight, properly staked key, ect for much less than the Colt.

I don't care about brands so much as standards. I look for certain things that seem to indicate a quality rifle. Things like twist rate. If a rifle has a 1:9 twist barrel, I'm not interested. I don't even want to know what other corners they cut.
 
The only AR I ever saw that was terribly built was a put-together a friend of mine ordered. Very poor fit. Got it on the internet and sent to his FFL. He asked me to judge if it was good or not. The upper and lower receiver didn't even fit flush! I told him to send it back. He didn't and yep, on the range it was a jam-o-matic.

Of the three brands I've owned, Colt HBAR, Bushmaster, and DPMS I can say all three worked perfectly. I still have the Bushie M4 and DPMS 3G2 Competition.

Deaf
 
For the money, the Smith and Wesson Sport AR 15 is a nice gun and pretty accurate for a lightweight rifle. I believe they are going new in the 600's.
 
Rather than a list of manufacturers to avoid we end up with multiple individual experiences with this brand or that. I would shop, select a rifle or two that fits your needs and ask questions here specific to those choices. Some folks slam this brand or that on every forum, others will defend the same brand to the death. Purchase of a Colt 6920 or a S&W Sport (now Sport II) will rarely bring negative comments because they are readily available, priced right ( even though at opposite ends of the spectrum) but mainly because they function correctly with each pull of the trigger.
More expensive rifles almost guarantee trouble free operation under all conditions but unless you intend to use your rifle during an overseas tour in the Army most of the production rifles will fit your uses. I have a plastic lower ATI Omni that I bought on a lark because it was $450 OTD.....turns out this cheapie is moa accurate if I do my job and works just as well "spitting em out fast" at cans and steel plates.
 
There really aren't many outright bad ARs on the market if you are looking for a plinker/range rifle, just a lot of bad values. Why anyone would pay the same money for a DPMS/Bushmaster/Windham/etc. when the same money will buy a Colt or a less-expensive PSA is beyond me.

Now if you are talking a defensive rifle, you need to be looking at Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense, LMT, LWRC, or a few others. The level of QA/QC offered by these manufacturers (compared to the consumer-market products) is not something you want to skimp on.
 
First off, for me, my DPMS (Oracle) is a champ-fantastic-not a minute or round of difficulty (hundreds of rounds) -However, I also recently bought a PSA (9m, Glock Compatible AR)(upper and lower sold separately) Thought- for the price-how could I go wrong?-not only did it not function properly after the first round, but then CS didn't function either-that's my experience-it is what it is-I wish it were otherwise-believe me. I am going to have to pay out of pocket (LGS repair) to salvage this project-
 
What AR brands should be avoided?
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Any non-tier 1 brands that don't meet mil-spec requirements, ... which is actually redundant, because all Tier 1 builds meet or exceed mil-spec. :scrutiny:

Avoid the Johnny-come-lately junk builds.
 
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I bought a S&W M&P Sport last year and it went wrong after 2000 rounds, lmao! It all of a sudden decided it didn't want to feed subsequent rounds out of the magazine, after the first round is fired.

Its going back to Smith, we'll see how I'm taken care of here.
 
Stock said:
First off, for me, my DPMS (Oracle) is a champ-fantastic-not a minute or round of difficulty (hundreds of rounds) -However, I also recently bought a PSA (9m, Glock Compatible AR)(upper and lower sold separately) Thought- for the price-how could I go wrong?-not only did it not function properly after the first round, but then CS didn't function either-that's my experience-it is what it is-I wish it were otherwise-believe me. I am going to have to pay out of pocket (LGS repair) to salvage this project-
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Based on one example each from two manufacturers, you really can't extrapolate to a blanket statement.

Also, an AR9 can be tricky to get running, more so than a standard 5.56. Did you use a rounded or notched hammer? Is the BCG proper for 9mm? Recoil spring? 9mm buffer?
 
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