Spikes M4 LE Review

[hmbeal]

This is not my review but I found it to be interesting and thought I would share it. I'm not posting this to try and start any problems so if the moderators feel like it might please close this thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-JAeTQGvZ4

[Jake Bauer]

Thanks for the video. It seems to me like ST is a very good M4 maker at crappy M4 maker's prices. I dont see why everyone dumps on them.

[Iraqgunz]

Would you please explain this a little more?

If he doesn't have the money to buy a DD or BCM how is he going to put ammo and mags into his Spike's?

Why does he need it now?

Why can't he save another few months and get a DD, Colt or BCM?

These arguments are silly aren't even based on a rational thought process.


Thanks for the video. It seems to me like ST is a very good M4 maker at crappy M4 maker's prices. I dont see why everyone dumps on them. I have a buddy who is wanting an AR but doesnt have the money for a DD or BCM, so I told him to look into ST.

[lethal dose]

I'll reiterate what 'gunz said... if he can't afford a BCM, he can't afford ammo. Period.

[Iraqgunz]

I just went to Bravo Company's website and priced out a midlength upper with Magpul MOE handguard with a blemished lower and BCG for 900.20. Add a rear sight and you are in business.

[lethal dose]

Or get a palmetto complete lower for $239. You'd be under $800.

[lethal dose]

With the palmetto lower, I would keep an extra fcg on hand since theirs is of unknown mfg.

[hmbeal]

I wasn't posting this video review to try and compare Spikes to BCM,Colt,D.D.,or any other AR on the market. I thought this was a good review and there doesn't seem to be many reviews on the Spikes M4 LE that I could find so I thought I would share it for anyone interested.

[hmbeal]

I just went to Bravo Company's website and priced out a midlength upper with Magpul MOE handguard with a blemished lower and BCG for 900.20. Add a rear sight and you are in business.

I know this is off topic here but do you know if you can get BCM lowers stripped or do they only sell the assembled lowers.

[Iraqgunz]

Ok, since you opened Pandoras Box let me state that I don't hate Spike's. I have some reservations about things that I have observed, that is all.

My response to your post (before you edited it) was designed to point out that the justification people try and make when defending a purchase is usually not based on sound reasoning.

Every one of my points are very valid and IMO are hard to rebut.


Thanks for the video. It seems to me like ST is a very good M4 maker at crappy M4 maker's prices. I dont see why everyone dumps on them.

[Iraqgunz]

They did have them a while back, but now they are just selling complete lowers or rifles. AFAIK.


I know this is off topic here but do you know if you can get BCM lowers stripped or do they only sell the assembled lowers.

[GunnutAF]

I just loved the part in the vid where the guy couldn't keep a mag in his gun!! I was rolling!:sarcastic:

[SWATcop556]

I just went to Bravo Company's website and priced out a midlength upper with Magpul MOE handguard with a blemished lower and BCG for 900.20. Add a rear sight and you are in business.

But this doesn't help people justify their purchases like YouTube videos and "why all the Spikes hate" bullshit. Come on now. :sarcastic:

[jklaughrey]

I have seen better reviews done by Girl Scouts trying to sell me Samoas at my local Albertson's. If you are trying to review to sell a product and have video...editing the amateur BS out should be a priority.

[Nightvisionary]

Here is my response from the Spikes buffer thread. I own a Spikes LE mid length.


Exactly. There are a metric ton of talking heads here and elsewhere that just parrot what someone else heard. Pretty soon you have nothing more than an internet aviary with a bunch of fowl squawking the same thing over and over.

I have been around these forums since the mid 90's so I know how this happens. I remember back when Bushmaster was the flavor of the day.

When I was in the market for a new AR I did a whole lot of research. I was looking seriously at the Colt 6920 and BCM. Then I looked at the actual user reviews of the Spikes Tactical carbine. That peaked my interest in Spikes so I read through the testing and spec data Spikes provided online for their rifles. It pretty much mirrors BCM and many of the other companies that keep close to milspec.

I shoot every single week, sometimes twice a week. I have logged over 3k rounds through the rifle since November with minimal cleaning. I have not experienced one single malfunction, jam, or broken part. I have owned Bushmaster, Armalite, and Colt AR's. I judge the Spikes rifle to be every bit as reliable as the Colt's I have owned or used.

There are some who have a grudge against Spikes for raising the price of lowers in November 08. This is what I believe originally fueled most of the Spikes detractors. I don't have time for grudges. I purchase whatever will give me the most value and reliability for my dollar and my Spike's rifle has functioned perfectly.

[rezin23]

I'll jump in add add my post form that buffer thread as weel, as it seems that this thread is getting more interest.


The problem is that BCMs specs check out.

And Spikes don't? And not to be confrontational, but show me the proof that BCM's specs check out, or that Spikes don't. I'm not here to start a philosophical war, I want to know facts and nothing else, I want to see charts and numbers, I don't want to see opinion or speculation. I'm a Noveske man myself, but I had actually looked at that exact Spikes upper when I was trying to put a solid budget build for my brother. I ended up going with a BCM for him, but Im afraid I did so purely based on speculation of it being better than the Spikes, rather than proven fact.

[Fried Chicken Blowout]

Here is my response from the Spikes buffer thread. I own a Spikes LE mid length.

You're clearly lying! That can't be true! You must need another dose of the BCM/LMT/Colt coolaid! Drink up and you'll change your mind...

I think that most of the manufactures are going to be fine for 99% of AR shooters. I've got two M&P15TS rifles with a ton of rounds through each and never had a problem. They offered a lot for the money on the LE discount. I'm building a 6.5 Grendel now for Deer hunting and I choose to get a BCM bolt carrier because the price was right and I would trust them. If the Spikes was the same price I would have been fine with that as well, but the Spikes were more money. With all the changing prices you need to be very internet savvy to find the best deal. It took several hours of looking but I found a stripped upper for my build for $56 new and I paid $60 for the lower. The deals are out there, even in the big names if you know where to look.

BCM has some good prices and their shipping was quick. I think Spikes just does a little better marketing their stuff to the average Joe, so those looking for a deal that don't have much experience with ARs find it easy to go that direction. I find BCM's website painful to navigate and I bet it turns people away.

[jklaughrey]

I find BCM's website painful to navigate and I bet it turns people away.

Only difficult when they can't keep parts in stock due to overwhelming demand of excellent product!:D

[Beat Trash]

I know this is off topic here but do you know if you can get BCM lowers stripped or do they only sell the assembled lowers.

Check G&R's site, or call Grant on the phone. Don't know if he sells them stripped, but worth a shot.

[d90king]

I have seen better reviews done by Girl Scouts trying to sell me Samoas at my local Albertson's. If you are trying to review to sell a product and have video...editing the amateur BS out should be a priority.

NOLATAC is a pretty squared away outfit from my understanding, so I'm not really sure why you are pouncing on them for doing a brief overview of their experience with a companies products that was sent to them for evaluation during a class.

Is this situation any different than what Paul does for EAG? Are you aware that some BCM's on the roster have experienced a failure or two...? Paul has openly thanked Pat for his feedback as it allows him to continually improve upon his products and the end user is the winner when manufactures do this. Do you factor in the shit ammo and hard use that they put the rifle through? Do you doubt the integrity of the person giving the overview?

Some Spikes criticism is warranted, but much is not (it also helps if you know the roots of what most of the criticism originated from which IMHO WAS warranted). I don't own a Spike, nor will I ever, but for those on a tight budget I believe there are far worse options in the market place. Not everyone has the luxury of spending whatever it cost to buy the best rifles on the market. A few hundred bucks to some is a lot of money and with the savings it allows them to buy ammo, get some proper training and then save and upgrade their rifle if needed.

You appear to enjoy piling on when given the chance... Oftentimes its harder to buck the popular, cool guy pile ons that happen from time to time, than it is to stand up against them opening yourself up to critique.

Why would you want to sanitize something that happened? People **** up in the course of training, thats called life and I would much rather see that, than some BS hack piece put together trying to make everything look perfect and staged.

For the record I don't give two ****s about Spike, but it does rub me the wrong way when guys jump in to criticize stupid shit for no reason.

[MistoGators]

What about Rob's review from a few months ago?

http://www.tactical-life.com/online/guns-and-weapons/spike%E2%80%99s-tactical-m4les-556mm/

[ZRH]

I don't own a Spike, nor will I ever, but for those on a tight budget I believe there are far worse options in the market place. Not everyone has the luxury of spending whatever it cost to buy the best rifles on the market. A few hundred bucks to some is a lot of money and with the savings it allows them to buy ammo, get some proper training and then save and upgrade their rifle if needed.
This is where I have a hard time understanding things. A couple hundred bucks is not a lot of money when you figure total cost of ownership. Aimpoints, even CompM2s, are $500~ish with a mount (havent checked in a long time). A good optic (not reflex device) usually costs MORE than an AR. Magazines are $10=15 each. Enough ammunition to /practice/ with is almost $300... The actual rifle is like half the purchase in my mind.

I don't really have any comment on Spike's. Just have no need to evaluate them since they aren't a major parts supplier and I have never bought a complete rifle.

[JSantoro]

I found it to be interesting and thought I would share it.

That. That right there is a direct indicator of the sort of horsepuckey what Twitter is for.

If you don't have anything of your own to add, or something more substantive to say than that, then this sort of post is more fitting in the midst of an existing thread in which the link you put up has some bearing on an existing topic. It does NOT rate its own thread.

People, post because you have something to say, not because you feel like saying something. Or worse, feel like *shudder* sharing. That angsty emo stuff is what your FB "Status" feature is for.