NEW Comparison Chart of Commercial M4 Pattern Carbines

[swa0210]

Rob, thank you for all your work with this chart and the M4 info on what to look for when buying.

I just bought my first M4 clone and your chart/info was the only reason I got anything of quality, otherwise I would have been lost.

Cheers

[justin_247]

Glad to hear that !

They truly only have 1 "M4 Pattern" rifle , though ...
the LEC15A4CBK ...

Well, Noveske doesn't even manufacture an M4 pattern rifle anymore (their N4 Light Carbine has a mid-length gas system) and they were included, so I don't see why Armalite can't be included.

[wolf_walker]

Your original was a good starting point to direct me to what topics to read on before putting together my first AR. I'll always owe you for that one man.

[B52U]

Thanks for the hard work on this Rob.

[shaneinhisroom]

Can you please explain what "other" means (in DD's case) in the Saami or M197 equiv area? Does this mean my BCM bolt shouldn't go with a DD upper? Sorry for the newb question.

[rob_s]

Can you please explain what "other" means (in DD's case) in the Saami or M197 equiv area? Does this mean my BCM bolt shouldn't go with a DD upper? Sorry for the newb question.

I am not picking on you, so please don't take it that way...

You are now the third person to ask about this. I'm not sure I understand the confusion. It's the round that they use to high pressure test (HPT) the bolts and barrels. I truthfully never in a million years would have expected this to be the most common question asked, but I guess in a land of plain-bellies and star-bellies...

The question on the form is as follows

8) HPT Bolt Round
If the bolts are HPT, what round is used for the test? (choose N/A if the bolts are not HPT)

• M197 or SAAMI Equivalent
• Other
• N/A

18) HPT Barrel Round
If the barrels are HPT, what round is used for the test? (choose N/A if the bolts are not HPT)

• M197
• SAAMI Equivalent to M917
• Other
• N/A

(yes, I am aware this is inconsistent, yes I am aware they should have been exactly the same, no I will not be changing it, no it does not matter in the bigger picture)


As of this writing, I do not know what they mean by "other", but I will try to find out. It has absolutely no bearing on the compatibility of parts, using one brand of this in another brand of that, or really any bearing on anything at all. It is literally simply the type of round that the manufacturer uses to HPT their parts prior to MPI.

[shaneinhisroom]

Thanks! That helped.

[kest_01]

Thanks for all the work done to put this together, I'm wondering now if this will change some peoples opinions on what were once lower tier rifles..ie spikes and stag, just curious though as I don't and probably wont own either

[RP88]

Thanks for all the work done to put this together, I'm wondering now if this will change some peoples opinions on what were once lower tier rifles..ie spikes and stag, just curious though as I don't and probably wont own either

there is already a lot of skepticism on what a lot of reps said from certain manufacturers.

I think Rob's instruction to "trust, but always verify" and the sticky on being an informed consumer are things we need to keep in mind here.

Is it the manufacturers changing quality to meet market demands? Or is it manufacturers telling you what to hear? We won't truly know until someone buys every rifle on the chart and does destructive chemical and metallurgical testing on it, so keep the old chart in mind with the new and try and direct the right questions to the right people.

[rob_s]

I'm pleased to announce that DSA has now been added to the Chart!

This leaves the following status for the major players

Armalite - pendinig
Bushmaster - no response
DPMS - no response
Rock River - pending

Many will be quick to read across DSA's line in the Chart and make disparaging remarks, but I think it's important to note the relatively low MSRP which should, I would think, mean a lower still retail price. And before anyone goes running off at the mouth they should realize that none of these manufacturers has to answer anything, and for DSA to volunteer to give us this information should be seen as a GOOD thing, and they should not be bashed as a reward.