A.R.M.S. Inc. What is their market?

[OH58D]

Years back I looked closely at their S.I.R. rail system. It looked heavy and built like a tank, but didn't like how it piggybacked on top of the upper receiver picatinny. Never bought it but ended up getting one of their first BUIS, the A.R.M.S #40. Nice well built item. Don't see anyone discussing their products, so how do they stay in business? Do they have some law enforcement or DOD contracts which keep them in the game?

[jet66]

I've heard (love those words) that the US Navy has contracts with them. I believe they also supply a lot of mounts and rails (or used to) to the Army.

I do know that EOTech was including them on the Gen2 3X magnifiers, too. (That I know for sure, I have one. Not sure about the Gen3.) The 'SOCOM' EOTech model, I forget the number/name, has their mounts integrated, as well. I bought a set of their 71 BUIS to try out, going to try sighting them in tomorrow or Friday.

[montrala]

They seem to export a lot, also for civi sales. Most US companies to not care about international market (need lot of paper work due to US export restrictions), apparently they do care. For example I can go to shop in my city and buy ARMS sights for AR15 straight from the shelve, but I can not buy any other US made sights.

[Silvanus]

Montrala is right, ARMS BUIS are pretty much the only option in gun stores in my country too. Some stuff (Magpul for example) you can find online, but most of the high quality American stuff (Troy, ect.) is near impossible to find.

[skullworks]

Back in the '90s and early '00s A.R.M.S was actually kinda HSLD. Then the rest of the market caught up.

I have their #22M68 for my Aimpoint M2, and I have their regular #22 rings laying about somewhere (kinda short on optics right now,) and their Harris bipod adapter is still quite handy; I've seen a couple of shooters over here use it.

I haven't tried any of their MkII adjustable throw-levers though (which I think was a direct response to LaRue).

[Alex F]

My experience with the SIR was that it was heavy and overengineered.

It's also been out quite a while.

I do like their #40 BUIS, although the new Troy one works better for me now.

[GI_Jared]

I believe back in the early to mid 00's ARMS sold a lot of their S.I.R systems to Special Forces groups as an easy way to convert the M4A1 into a free floating rail system.

[dash1]

They used to be thought of more highly than now. I had the S.I.R. and like everyone's said it's very heavy and bulky and had limited options for placing gear. I also had the #22M68 with the throw lever mount, it came with a spacer that isn't required when using it with that rail. The thing I didn't like about the lever was that it didn't come with a way to secure it, I used a zip tie to keep it from opening accidentally. Their #40 BUIS is the only thing that I still have.

[twistedcomrade]

I have one of their mounts on my Aimpoint and I have one of their BUIS. Both items have been good products. I started going with LaRue products a couple of years ago for mounts and BUISs and have been very satisfied with my switch. YMMV.

[alvincullumyork]

Didn't they go on a lawsuit spree over copyrighted numbers or something? If I remember right there was big drama between ARMS and LaRue, and LaRue was offering a free replacements if anyone decided to break their ARMS mount and send it to them. They were supposed to dump out all the ARMS mounts on there table at SHOT but it fell off my radar after that.

[skullworks]

Yes, Dick Swan is somewhat litigious, and he has trademarked/copyrighted the number 17 (and "#17" and variations thereof) as well as the terms "BUIS" and "throw-lever." LaRue, Magpul, and Troy, have all been sued by ARMS, and Dick Swan and Mark LaRue have locked horns more than once. If I remember correctly the exchange program LaRue had for broken ARMS-products was tied to a lawsuit where ARMS claimed LaRue was lying about the quality of ARMS' products.

[JSantoro]

Yes, ARMS would rather spend money on litigation than on product development.

Like the 3-point sling, the SIR was a neat thing...once. It got eclipsed by lighter materials and better designs, but ARMS, as in so many cases, has never acknowledged receipt of the Pony Express-delivered letter that their crap is "old and busted," as I believe the street youth of today describe such things.

The sentence "ARMS mounts CAN work..." is a fair assessment.

Another fair assessment is "LaRue/ADM/Bobro mounts work..."

I prefer stuff where the description DOESN'T require a modifier to the word "work" to be valid.

[Moose-Knuckle]

The #40 BUIS was really the only game in town for a long time for flip up rear sights until Troy and some others came online. LaRue's QD mounts pretty much nailed the coffin in A.R.M.S. mounts here. It makes since for them to market OCONUS.

[skullworks]

And the clever bit is that ARMS has registered their mounts as optics accessories instead of weapons accessories, so they can be exported with ease.

[Eurodriver]

Yes, ARMS would rather spend money on litigation than on product development.

Like the 3-point sling, the SIR was a neat thing...once. It got eclipsed by lighter materials and better designs, but ARMS, as in so many cases, has never acknowledged receipt of the Pony Express-delivered letter that their crap is "old and busted," as I believe the street youth of today describe such things.

The sentence "ARMS mounts CAN work..." is a fair assessment.

Another fair assessment is "LaRue/ADM/Bobro mounts work..."

I prefer stuff where the description DOESN'T require a modifier to the word "work" to be valid.

Then why did our weapon-mounted NVGs and thermals have ARMS mounts? :D

(To be fair, by 2011 I had seen quite a few LaRue mounts)

[JSantoro]

Then why did our weapon-mounted NVGs and thermals have ARMS mounts? :D

I'll take "What did I ask myself every day when I was working that gig...?" for $600, Alex!