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moresky
02-26-08, 08:21
Does anyone have any experience with Doublestar AR's? Quality? The factory is not far from where I live and I would like to know more about them. Other than their website I can't find much info on them. Thanks.......

sonrider657
02-26-08, 09:48
Double Star makes excellent AR's. Their customer service is very good also. Their website (http://www.Star15.com), however, is mediocre at best. Nonetheless, buy with confidence!

Here is a DoubleStar M4gery of mine:

http://www.christiancarnivore.com/DoubleStar.jpg

Failure2Stop
02-26-08, 12:46
Doublestar is generally considered to be roughly equivalent to DMPS, right at the bottom of the stack.

If your intent is to throw it in the safe for the rest of its life, it will do just fine.

If you actually want a hard-use carbine, you will regret the purchase eventually.

A good guide is "The Chart (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642)" and the search function (https://www.m4carbine.net/search.php)for numrous posts about these companies and their weapons' performance, one of which is here (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7686&highlight=doublestar).

sonrider657
02-26-08, 13:08
I have not heard any complaints from actual owners of DoubleStar products, just a bunch of Koolaid-drinking propaganda as witnessed above.

Ask those that use the products, not those who tell you anything other than 'their stuff' is junk.

Shihan
02-26-08, 13:41
Doublestar is generally considered to be roughly equivalent to DMPS, right at the bottom of the stack.

If your intent is to throw it in the safe for the rest of its life, it will do just fine.

If you actually want a hard-use carbine, you will regret the purchase eventually.

A good guide is "The Chart (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642)" and the search function (https://www.m4carbine.net/search.php)for numrous posts about these companies and their weapons' performance, one of which is here (https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=7686&highlight=doublestar).

He is right on the money here.

The Archangel
02-26-08, 14:16
The only DS piece that I have bought are the stripped lowers 93 so far). The lowers are not as critical piece as the upper receiver and parts associated with it. I have had no issues with fit with the lowers. Of course I've used CMT parts for the lowers.

For uppers, I've stuck to LMT, CMMG & Colt's.

tiger seven
02-26-08, 14:25
DoubleStar/J&T Distributing are a nice bunch of guys. They are at all the gun shows around here, and I've talked to them more than once.

That having been said, my opinion is that their stuff falls into the great, nebulous gray area of "generic" AR-15s, along with people like Model 1 Sales and many others. They're better than garbage like Hesse/Vulcan/Blackthorne but that's not saying much. The main problem is that most of the critical parts (like barrels, bolts, internals of the lower) are of fairly unremarkable quality, and often unknown pedigree. What that adds up to is a gun that's okay if you're looking to build a low budget plinker that may only see a few hundred rounds of slow fire each year, but something that is very unlikely to stand up to a serious regimen of defensive training. As the core members of this forum are geared more toward the latter, you won't find much enthusiasm for brands like DoubleStar around here.

And I'm not too vain to admit that I bought one of their carbine uppers back in the 90's, when I was much poorer, and back when I was inexperienced enough to think that "parts are parts." I still have it, but would never use for anything but the most casual of plinking.

Derek

SapperRob
02-26-08, 18:53
I got one of their complete lowers from Black Rifle Works at a gun show in Raleigh last year. The mag release was loose and needed to be tightened. It came with an A2 buttstock that rattled(?). The complete lower was $225.

At this point the stock has been replaced with a CTR kit and the trigger group is an LMT 2-stage. The lower lives under my CMMG upper on my match gun and is not for serious use.

Don Robison
02-26-08, 19:01
I've built a couple of their stripped lowers for other people using CMT and LMT parts. I haven't had any complaints, but I shy away from their other stuff as long as LMT keeps making great uppers.

rhino
02-26-08, 19:24
My house gun has a Doublestar upper with an LMT bolt carrier group on a lower that used to be a Bushmaster AK shorty. So far I've put 1683 rounds through it including my last carbine class in October, so it's still kinda newish. I would have shot the crap out of it over the last few months, but I can't afford to do so. I've shot it enough to know that it works with my ammo and my magazines.

No malfunctions in the last 1200 rounds or so, although between 400-450 rounds, it wouldn't cycle 4-5 times with borrowed Radway green in a borrowed magazine in the hands of a guy who had never fired an AR. I loaned it to him to shoot a 3-gun match and he was holding the stock about an inch away from his shoulder. When I reminded him to mount the stock and he switched to UMC, it was fine.

I could not reproduce the malfunctions with any of my ammo (Guatemalan IMG, UMC, AE223, XM193, and some others), regardless of how I held (or didn't) the gun.

I understand the concerns that some others have expressed, but what I have functions, which is all I care about.

Failure2Stop
02-27-08, 01:58
I have not heard any complaints from actual owners of DoubleStar products, just a bunch of Koolaid-drinking propaganda as witnessed above.

Ask those that use the products, not those who tell you anything other than 'their stuff' is junk.

:rolleyes:

There is a reason that high-end fighting carbines all cost about the same. There is a reason that the low-end hobbyist carbines cost distinctly less. Those in law enforcement would call that a "clue".
Make your own determination as to what is more important to you and what you are really willing to spend.

Oly's deplorable reputation was not because every carbine that rolled out of their shipping department immediately fell apart in the hands of a user or blew-up, killing them all. It was from sufficient numbers of problem guns with issues attributed to everything from improperly made parts to improperly assembled guns. The bottom guns have a higher chance of issues due to bad parts and assembly. Not every gun, but enough to influence certain people to spend their money elsewhere. There are people that will happily argue how great their DPMS, Oly, Bushy, etc. is, but they are missing the point and ignoring the facts.

If the only use of the carbine is to look cool and shoot 100 rounds a month, pretty much anything will work. If you actually want to push 2,000(+) in a few days, on more than one occasion(which decently made carbines are fully caipable of), you will probably start to have issues.

Buy whatever you want, it won't hurt my feelings. But buy with information on your side, not onesy-twosy accounts of how great an individual rifle performs, unless you are buying that individual's weapon.

mhmills
02-27-08, 03:18
I have built two rifles using their stripped lowers but used other manufactures products for the rest of the parts

PhotomanM4
02-27-08, 08:33
moresky: With five posts, I'm assuming you didn't realize you are asking for Chevy feedback on a Ferrari forum...

I have a 16" mid-length Del-Ton "Chevy" (probably the same quality as DS) and it works fine for the intended purpose of the rifle.