Status of NEW Comparison Chart of Commercial M4-pattern carbines

[rob_s]

I wanted to start a new thread for this to keep people up to date on the progress.

I currently have 6 manufacturers polled. I have one other manufacturer that is gathering their data to respond and should have their response posted by the end of next week. I have two requests out with no response. I will look for alternate contacts to try and get these two on board.

My intention is to only have requests out to as many as 4 manufacturers at once, just to make things easier for me to track. I'm archiving all emails after initial contact, and keeping a log of the correspondence for all manufacturers.

110307 Update:
I have two more that returned my emails now.

That makes the total so far:
6 respondents
3 pending
2 no-replies

I'll have to seek out better contacts at Bushmaster and DSA, although with the upheaval I'm not sure what to expect from the former.

110308 Update:
8 respondents
1 pending
2 no-replies

110316 Update:
8 respondents
2 pending
2 no-replies

110326 Update:
9 Respondents
2 Pending
2 no-replies

110501 Update:
Completed responses from:

• Accurate Armory
• Bravo Company MFG, Inc.
• CMMG Inc.
• Colt
• Daniel Defense, Inc.
• LMT
• Noveske Rifleworks LLC
• SIONICS
• Spike's Tactical

Awaiting responses from:

• Armalite (initial contact 2/24)
• Smith & Wesson (initial contact 3/11)

Initial Contact made (and no response from):

• DSA (2/24)
• Bushmaster (4/25, followup 5/1)
• Stag (5/1)
• DPMS (5/1)
• Olympic (5/1)

Attempted Contact:

• Rock River Arms (5/1 "email us" removed from site due to NRA show)

110502 Update:
Got response from Stag. Seemed amenable to answering questionnaire.

110509 Update:

• Stag Arms - conversation still on-going
• Olympic Arms - "Sorry, but at this time, Olympic Arms officially declines to participate in your "chart". "
  Official and complete Olympic Arms reply
  “For more details Olympic Arms welcomes all inquiries made directly to the manufacturer at 800-228-3471”.

110512 Update:
Completed responses updated to include Stag
Completed responses from:

• Accurate Armory
• Bravo Company MFG, Inc.
• CMMG Inc.
• Colt
• Daniel Defense, Inc.
• LMT
• Noveske Rifleworks LLC
• SIONICS
• Spike's Tactical
• Stag Arms

[eternal24k]

thanks Rob,
just wondering but are you asking for documented proof of their statements? And as far as accountability, are you posting the specific source or have any credential requirements? I know I have been given false information from CS reps, often out of ignorance (most notable Sig CS telling me their red dots have a "bulb" with a life span much shorter than the battery...)

[bobafett]

I look forward to it

[Doc Safari]

I'm looking forward to it, too.

Really, it's one of the most useful tools I've ever seen on the internet.

I wish someone had cooked up such a thing for some of the other firearms I ended up wasting a ton of money on.

[56-210]

[SHIVAN]

So now the internet gun forums will have another 5 years of material to hate on....

[ssracer]

Looking forward to it...hopefully no one will steal this one

[caelumatra]

I look forward to it, but I'll still be buying BCM, Colt or Noveske and what not. Hopefully we'll see overall improvements in the lower end coming up to the higher end.
I am truly thankful for the knowledge in the original

[Dos Cylindros]

I am glad to know that an updated chart is in the works. Kudos to you Rob for all the work you have put into the original chart, and this forum. For me, the original chart was an awakening as I guess you just don't know what you don't know. I had been using my Bushmaster on duty for years without trouble. When my new agency started issuing select fire Colt M4's I was happy to have one, but other than the select fire option I didn't know that I had a far superior carbine. I went through Bill Jeans carbine instructor school and started to see the light.

When I learned of this forum, I set out on a mission to make my personal Bushy as good as it could be. Now, the only thing still Bushy on that gun is the lower receiver as I replaced everything else over time. I now really appreciate my issue Colt, and have total faith in my BCM middy which went on my Bushy lower. As they say, "learning has occurred."

[opmike]

I just have a quick question; I apologize if this has been answered in the past.

How do you ensure that the information being giving to you is accurate? Things like feed ramps, staking, etc. is pretty obvious just by looking at them. But couldn't a manufacturer just lie, and say they individually test each barrel when it isn't something they do on a consistent basis?