Low Tier Accessories (What Not To BUY)

[Mac5.56]

A question for the experts.

Since I am new to AR's I have noticed that there is a trend of accessories for sale at both gun shops locally, and larger sporting goods shops. When I was in Cabelas the other day I was looking for 10 rnd magazines for my NY AR, and I noticed a ton of what I can only describe as Walmart looking accessories. I think the manufacturer was CAA but I am not sure. I also noticed a guy buying this stuff up like candy.

Most of my concept of accessories and quality comes from reading this forum, but there is little talk of what to avoid.

So anyone want to create a tier list of accessory manufacturers?

[kwelz]

There are a lot of junk makers out there. CAA, Tapco, etc. You are right to avoid them.
I prefer to just stick with MAGPUL, Vltor, MI, Troy, etc.

[GNXII]

IMHO not good ...Mako, UTG, Fobus (not sure if they are in business anymore or renamed) any Chinese scope/optic ...ya gotta be careful as these guys will part you from your hard earned money quite quickly with products that are little to no quality.

As for good to go stuff I'll add Larue, BCM, BFG, ADI,Samson, Tangodown but before you buy any of that stuff to add on to new AR buy ammo, mags, read the manual, break down the AR, put it back together(clean and lube it well!!!) and practice the basics. Good luck and welcome to the AR club!!!

[DJK]

+1 for CAA being junk. I just had a "why the hell did I buy this garbage" experience with one of their parts. Customer service was less then stellar too.

[Dunderway]

You really just have to read reviews for particular products and not buy into a certain name. There are some companies such as Larue or Daniel Defense, where everything they make is pretty much gold. There are also companies like Troy who set the Gold Standard for one product (buis) but are not looked upon as the best in other fields.

[Mikebiker]

CAA stuff is not the best. I do like their 1st Samco pistol grip but the stock with the adjustable removable cheek piece is not good. After trying it I changed to a Magpul CTR stock, much nicer. Their folding FVG is also of poor quality. I like the Tangodown QR FVG and now have one on three of my rifles.

[Victory]

You can find gems in the piles of junk, though.

The UTG vertical foregrips are pretty popular (the non-folding). I have one that I keep as a spare. It's cheap, it's comfortable, and it works. But would I use it over my FUG? No.

-Vic

[CryingWolf]

There are a lot of junk makers out there. CAA, Tapco, etc. You are right to avoid them.
I prefer to just stick with MAGPUL, Vltor, MI, Troy, etc.


You can find gems in the piles of junk, though.

I would agree with both here. Most CAA etc is just junk. I did find a CAA packaged Hogue grip at Cabela's that is on my M&P15A right now. More of a Hogue product that was repackaged by CAA though. I also find myself gravitating to the quality products because they fit the bill.

Just make sure you find a store with a decent return policy, as the junk stuff I would return.

[Outlander Systems]

No aftermarket accessories/parts > cheap/sub-standard aftermarket accessories/parts.

Recently, after much hassling/hounding was I able to convince my father to replace his standard handguard for a rail, and replace all furniture with MagPul.

He also replaced his CAA light mount with a V-Tac.

All-in-all, his blaster is far more serviceable, and more to a prudent standard.

Now, if I can only convince him to get a proper optic, can he get "in the game".

[mechelaar]

My brother picked up one of the CAA stock saddles while he saves up for a VLTOR Modstock. The thing has kind of a rough texture and the plastic feels sort of brittle. That being said, for $17, it's perfectly serviceable for his rifle he has had for a year that has never even been shot. Not a bad price for a functional improved cheek weld. When he finally upgrades, he can pass it along to my dad, for his rifle that also has never been shot. :rolleyes: Anyway, I would give it a qualified thumbs up.