Olympic Arms

[acpfan]

What's the skinny on Olympic Arms? Price looks inviting.

[LOKNLOD]

Olympic is to ARs as Kia is to cars

Inconsistent quality in configurations that mock higher quality makes, with corners cut to make the low price point for first time buyers and budget-minded cheapskates. Lots of folks get one that runs fine and are pleased. Lots of folks get one that needs warranty work right off the bat. It's a crap shoot (no pun intended). Oly would probably be the last choice "name brand" AR.

May work fine for a low-round-count plinker that gets a 100 rds once every six months. If you have even remotely serious intentions, dig a little deeper than the price point and find something more quality. Colt is king in that game; LMT turns out good stuff; BCM makes a great top half but is unavailable at the moment; Sabre seems to be making some pretty good stuff. CMT/Stag and S&W's M&P-15s are decent although they may need a little tweaking. There was a big thread about Bushmaster recently (may be stickied in the tech forum?) that covers a lot of the "what's best and why" debate. I'd look there.

[Patrick Aherne]

Olympic is to ARs as Kia is to cars




I disagree, strenuously. I have deveral friends with Kias that run just fine. Olympic Arms, on the other hand....

Run, don't walk, away from Oly Arms.

[acpfan]

Thanks for the info guy's. I'm looking for a second black rifle and not trying to take a loan out to do it. My DPMS 308 is alot to carry around so i saw Oly and Dblstar but the rest of them hit u hard in the pocket.

[graffex]

Thanks for the info guy's. I'm looking for a second black rifle and not trying to take a loan out to do it. My DPMS 308 is alot to carry around so i saw Oly and Dblstar but the rest of them hit u hard in the pocket.

Buy a complete lower of your choice and get a LMT upper it isn't going to be that much more. Go to www.gandrtactical.com Grant can hook you up.

It will however be leaps and bounds better than anything from Olympic Arms. You might spend a little more money up front but you might be spending money trying to get the Olympic fixed so it run properly.

[gunny]

.....

[C4IGrant]

BIG PASS ON OLY. They only way thier guns would be mil-spec is by accident!

Stag Arms has some nice AR in the lower $800 range and really only need a little work to their BCG.

LMT uppers and lowers offer a mil-spec, high quality AR for under $1K.




C4

[mongopd]

I don't know if anyone is still following this thread, but I found it interesting. I own an Oly lower. Used to be the complete rifle. I have since stripped to the lower shell and rebuilt it. I have had several different uppers on it, and found that there were fit problems, either on the take down pin areas, or in the mag well. I saw a post on a different thread from markm, where he pasted someone else's post regarding the mag well from oly not matching up to another upper. Had the same problem when I put a CMMG on my lower. The mag well didn't match up, and I had to have a bevel machined into the rear side of the mag well on the CMMG upper so that I could use it. Actually runs pretty well now. I just ordered an LMT upper, and I'm worried I'm gonna have the same problem.

So before markm or any other oly haters jump on me and tell me to melt my oly lower, let me explain why I keep it and go through the effort. I live in California.
I bought the oly used when calif was getting ready to pass the first assault weapons ban here. It's pre-ban everything, I can build it however I want provided I don't violate NFA laws. I can't get another lower without going through the post-ban, bullet button mag release crap. So I have kept my oly lower, and replaced as much as I can, to turn it into the best rifle possible. I have been through acouple of AR armorer courses since, including Colt's. I would love to go back and do things different, but I'm stuck.

[Safetyhit]

Stag Arms has some nice AR in the lower $800 range and really only need a little work to their BCG.



Glad to see you say this about Stag. My little boy is too young to shoot, but he is left handed (like his mom) and I was considering a Stag for him sooner than later regardless due to the potential restrictions ahead.

[C4IGrant]

Glad to see you say this about Stag. My little boy is too young to shoot, but he is left handed (like his mom) and I was considering a Stag for him sooner than later regardless due to the potential restrictions ahead.

I would never buy a left handed shooter a left handed AR (as it is not needed).

At most, I would MAYBE put an ambi selector on a standard AR.


C4

[Safetyhit]

I would never buy a left handed shooter a left handed AR (as it is not needed).

At most, I would MAYBE put an ambi selector on a standard AR.


C4


Interesting. I assume you would know, but is there a downside other than re-saleability or the like?

[thopkins22]

Interesting. I assume you would know, but is there a downside other than re-saleability or the like?

Probably the left hand specific parts that may not be available down the line.

[C4IGrant]

Probably the left hand specific parts that may not be available down the line.

Bingo and it simply is not needed.


C4

[shadco]

Ambi selector comes in handy, I think an Ambi charging handle would be nice, but I've grown up with Brass flying in front of my face and I don't even notice it.

My father is giving me a Sako Forrester with an asymmetric check weld and I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with that.

[Safetyhit]

Bingo and it simply is not needed.


C4


Great to know. Guess that means what I already have will suffice. Thank-you.


Although...I just lost my legit reason get a new AR. :mad:

[ckmark]

Great to know. Guess that means what I already have will suffice. Thank-you.


Although...I just lost my legit reason get a new AR. :mad:

Tell the wife you thought it was lefty! :p

[markm]

BACK to the topic at hand.

OLYMPIC ARMS is hands down the WORST mainstream AR manufacturer out there. I've collected a bunch of horror stories about those clowns and their shitty product.

I don't know how many nightmare stories I passed over before I started seeing a pattern and collecting them.

[Safetyhit]

BACK to the topic at hand.

OLYMPIC ARMS is hands down the WORST mainstream AR manufacturer out there. I've collected a bunch of horror stories about those clowns and their shitty product.

I don't know how many nightmare stories I passed over before I started seeing a pattern and collecting them.



So....are we to assume you would not go Oly, or.......



:p

[thopkins22]

So....are we to assume you would not go Oly, or.......



:p

markm is not only a collector of Orimpic stories, my theory is that he's a closet collector of Orimpic guns.

His hatred? All a facade.:p

[kwelz]

BACK to the topic at hand.

OLYMPIC ARMS is hands down the WORST mainstream AR manufacturer out there. I've collected a bunch of horror stories about those clowns and their shitty product.

I don't know how many nightmare stories I passed over before I started seeing a pattern and collecting them.

You forgot Hesse/Vulcan/Blackthorne

[CaptainDooley]

You forgot Hesse/Vulcan/Blackthorne

Naw, he said mainstream. Before I was into guns I had heard of Olympic. It wasn't until I was way into AKs before I heard Hesse...

[markm]

Indeed. Those other brands aren't widespread.

[flyboy1788]

Olympic is to ARs as Kia is to cars


That is a terrible example.

[a1fabweld]

I picked up an Oly 20" SS fluted upper that has performed very well. In fact, just as well as my "A-list" uppers. Not saying that Oly as a whole is good or bad, just saying that mine has performed very well & is very accurate.