USA Ammo AR-15

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:42

This is going to be a long post due to having some email conversation listed, so if you do not care enough about USA Ammo or High Standard firearms, it may be a waste of your time to read through all of this.

I got an email at around 0945 this morning from sales@usaammo.com stating that they are selling an AR-15 called an AR-Lite (Item # USAARLITE) for $695.00 with a listed retail of $1155.00 "while supplies last." I called the number listed on the website and spoke with a lady to see if she could ask a few of my questions. I asked her if the rifle was made by ArmaLite with some cheaper parts to bring it down to that price point. She told me to hold on for a minute, put me on hold and a gentleman picked up the phone and asked how he could help me. I let him know that I was on hold with a lady that was trying to find out the answer to a question that I had and he said that's why he picked up the phone. I asked him if he knew who manufactured the rifle they had on their website and he said that he did and said that it is the same company that manufactures the ARs for the military. Now, I have been issued both an FN and a Colt while I've been in, so I asked if it was one of those companies. I'm not sure why this made him feel the way it did, but fairly sternly, he asked if I was a retailer. I let him know that I was not a retailer, rather just a customer who also happened to have had a Colt and FN rifle issued to me, so when he said it was the company that makes the military rifles, I felt that was the next question I should ask. He quickly said that he can't disclose who builds their rifles, but that they are made specifically for USA Ammo to their specifications. At this point, I was no longer interested in continuing the conversation, so I thanked him for his time and started checking on the internet to see if I could find the answer I was seeking.

Before I go any further, I would like to clarify why I was interested if it isn't already clear. With a name like AR-Lite, I though perhaps it was a misprint and was intended to be ArmaLite. With a "retail price of $1155.00, this made me wonder even further. At this point, I am thinking that this rifle is made by ArmaLite or another manufacturer with just cheaper (easily upgradable) parts that could turn out to be a decent rifle for really cheap at this price.

I ended up back on usaammo.com and noticed that there was a 5-star review by a gentleman on 16SEP2011 that said "Wow this AR is half price I just got mine last week....it took a week. Great gun best price, hight quality. Comes ready to shoot with nice steel sights." I thought that this might be my best opportunity to find out who made it by posting a review right after his. I do not remember exactly what I asked, and I would copy and paste it here but it seems to have disappeared from the website. The gist of what I posted was asking the guy that bought it to let me know who manufactured the rifle. I went on to explain that if it was a premium rifle with a few cheap parts such as the bolt and buffer, that I think it would be a good project gun. I did not check back to the website for the rest of the day as I got fairly busy.

I went to run at around 1600 and when I got back to my phone, I had a few emails, one of which was sent by a company representative at 1623. From here on out, I will open a new post for each correspondence. Each post will be an exact copy and paste of the email that I received or sent (with the usernames X'd out). If anything that I say in the emails back and forth, feel free to correct me as I do not claim to be all knowing, and I just felt that this may a good place to post this.

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:44

Shane,

I would like to clarify the information you apparently received earlier this morning. We were waiting on clearance from the manufacturer to release their information.

The AR-Lite is our introductory M4 for first-owner Carbiners. It is manufactured by High Standard who manufacturers for the DOD, DPMS, Armor Lite and many other well-known brands/retailers.

But wait, we are coming out next week with 2 other rifles that are for more experience shooters. Our AR-Operator is one BAD A** rifle, and although I cannot release too many details today, I can tell you it is a retail value of over $2500 and we will offer it for $1195. It will have many hyper-upgrades our fine service men and women are used to using in combat. Just be a little patient and await the AR-Operators release next week.

Have a great day!
XXXXX X XXXXXXXX

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:44

Shane,

Sorry, things are crazy here today. In the earlier e-mail I misspelled ArmaLite and my assistant caught it. I apologize.

Have a great day!
XXXXX X XXXXXXXX

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:45

High Standard does not have a DoD contact nor do they manufacture parts for any high end retailers.

Also the "retail" price of $1200 is what an LMT, BCM, Colt, Daniel Defense etc costs, not an entry level rifle for first time "Carbiners" (lol) so I am highly skeptical of your $2500 rifle that is coming out next week that is probably made by another hack company such like Bushmaster, DPMS, Doublestar etc.

I was hopeful that since the retail price was listed in the range of respectable rifles, that it might have been something decent with cheaper moving parts that I could upgrade with stuff that I have taken off of other ARs that I've had. Having found out that it is manufactured by a company like HS, but having a completely false retail listing on the website completely removes my interest in this rifle and your future offerings.

Thank you for the reply.

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:45

Shane,

I won’t argue with you about High Standards contracts. I am privy to their business and know that they are who they are represented to be.

Furthermore, our rifle exceeds the quality of LMT, BCM , Colt and Daniel Defense’s entry level carbines. In fact, it has the blessing of many police departments throughout the world.

Best of luck to you!

Have a great day!
XXXXX X XXXXXXXX

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:46

Lol, alright. Have a nice day.

By the way, I would like your permission to post this conversation on my unit's webpage as well as a few AR-15 forums that I and most of the guys that I've deployed with over the years frequent from time to time.

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:46

Shane,

I can see that you are a prolific blogger, but you do not have my permission or the permission of USA Ammo, LLC to broadcast or reprint the contents of this conversation.

Best of luck to you man.

Have a great day!
XXXXX X XXXXXXXX

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:47

Okay. If you noticed in the previous email, I said that I would like your permission to post this conversation. I appreciate your reply, but I would like you to party special attention to how I did not ask for it. That is significant because I am still going to post this conversation in it's entirety, I just felt I should give you the opportunity to stand by what you said by agreeing to have this conversation reveled to the public.

As I see it, this conversation had come to an end and no further correspondence is needed.

If you do reply to this email with something that you would like to have posted along with this email, let me know and I will be happy to add amend what I post.

Have a nice day.

**shane_huskey** · 09-20-11, 17:56

I know that I made a typing errors throughout the emails that I sent the USA Ammo representative, and he made a few typing errors also. I am not going to correct the spelling errors as I feel that this type of thread should be exact replications of the correspondence between the representative and I.