anyone have good or bad experience? insights? im thinking of getting one...
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anyone have good or bad experience? insights? im thinking of getting one...
I have one I picked up new in '06. It has been excellent for approx 5,000 rounds. I leave it at the ranch and enjoy it when I'm there. Zero performance issues.
First question I have, is why? What are you looking to do with it? Why this over say something else? You want insights? Honest, I will tell you knowing the grand majority myself included, unless you can give good reason otherwise, you are going to be told to buy something else, like a Colt, BCM, DD. Grant's got a sale on BCM blem lowers, BCM has a sale on blem uppers, combine two with BCM BCG and charging handle and you have a rifle that will run for years. My personal experience with Armalite AR15s has been somewhat lackluster, have handled and shot a few, general opinion was I would rank it about where I rank my Bushmaster, it went bang, but nothing to write home about, and my BCM is a fair superior rifle when comparing them side by side.
Our agency purchased 300 of them, but they have not seen enough use to say one way or another how well they will hold up.
What is your budget? What is the price of the Armalite you are considering purchasing?
How many rounds per year do you expect to shoot? Will it see rough use or range plinking use?
I'm seeing these on Gunbroker in the $840-$900 range without a rear sight. I'd spend the extra money and get either a Colt 6920 or 6720.
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin...ction&key=6920
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin...ction&key=6720
i was planning to put a 12 dd lite free float and magpul furniture. how come they dont post the 6720 on the colts website? ive never seen a lightweight ver of a 6920 before.
It's there, with the LE models.
http://www.colt.com/Catalog/LawEnfor...atures--models
I had one. It was meh. Sold it and have no regrets after the sale. Too many better options.
My agency bought 50, M15A2 20" back in 2004/5. Had to send 7-8 back for warranty because to ZERO the rifle, the rear sight was turned all the way to the right on those.
They ordered the Armalite NM triggers. The more you shot them the heavier the 2nd stage was...
Let it sit for a while and it would lighten up. Had no clue as to why....That got fixed also.
They shot good with AE223, 55gr FMJBT and iron sights. All were 1:9 twist
i found one for $750 after tax plus $5 bg check. is that good? its really light too.
I would worry a lot more about "will this shoot someone/something when my life depends on it" than "omg this is so cheap."
Tzook has a point. More to the point if you are wanting to go with a 12 inch DD rail then why not just go with a DD or BCM with a DD rail. Hell, BCM had, as of last time I checked, complete(BCG and CH included) DD uppers with rails for sub $800 including on with a 12 inch DD rail. Figure $350 or there abouts for a good quality complete lower and you are going to have about the same as you will in the Armalite with a DD rail, possibly even less than the Armalite with the DD rail.
Skip it. Buy once, cry once, especially with something you might use to defend yourself. Besides, AR's are like legos for adults. You never really know what you want for it until you've already bought something else so you're gonna spend more. The temptation to "make it yours" is too great. Don't skimp on the base gun, that $150 more for a colt/dd/bcm will seem like a drop in the bucket in the long run and you really are getting a better rifle for your money. I made that mistake twice with a DPMS and a rock river before I saw the light. The DPMS was just simply a turd all around and rock river left out the gas tube retaining pin. it still fired for over 1,000 rnds but when it died, it died hard... The 6720's are awesome btw. that's the way I went. featherweight light, colt reliable and they shoot great.
I really liked the armalite I used to have. That being said, it's not 2002 any more.
For the money, there is better. Unless you get a great deal on one.
I got sold on the A,B,C rifle thing back when. Come to find out, it was all bs. You'll get raked no matter what at sale unless you private sell it. Pawn shops won't give you Jack regardless of brand. Especially in a down market.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with hunting for a good deal. I would just pick a quality rifle first, then look for the deals. I've found some steals on BCM, DD, Colt and even a Noveske in the past. If you look hard enough and are patient, you can still get a great price on a high end rifle.
i guess if Armalite is really that bad when it comes to quality, i might consider just going to a Rem 870 express tactical instead while waiting for a 6720 deal to show up.
I have no idea what the detractors here are talking about. I've had armalite stuff forever and they are exceptional guns as well as customer service has always been good. Period.
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HMsailor,
Just curious, what brand of AR were you trying to remove the trigger guard on your other thread.
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I've owned a few Armalite's and think they're pretty decent. However, right now I think better deals are available. You can get a Colt 6920 (M4 with 16.1" barrel) for $799+$30 for shipping. Add your transfer and you're going to be in the $850 range for a genuine Colt.
http://www.gunbroker.com/Semi-Auto-R...Rifle+5.56+223
I don't remember seeing a new Colt this cheap in a long time.
I have an Armalite M4 as well. It's a good shooter for what I need. I put a heavier buffer in the tube and I think that helped calm it down. It seemed to be slightly over gassed. I also have 2 Armalite mid length uppers and they function very well and seem to be perfectly gassed. I have a National Match lower with the 2 stage trigger and really like the trigger. I will never buy another M4 carbine barrel again if a mid length option is available.
The mid length uppers are on sale right now. http://www.armalite.com/ItemForm.asp...0-d3a24eb188ec
kwg
I have an ArmaLite M15A2 midlength carbine and I have fired a little over 4000 rounds now and have had it for 2 1/2 years. It is my first AR-15 and it has functioned realibly so far. I did buy some spare parts like a spare firing pin, etc. It is a 1/9" twist but it is great for plinking and for HD. I replaced the stock handguards with a Magpul MOE handguards and I also bought a Magpul illumination kit and have an Elzetta light on it using the ZORM mount.
I bought a new Armalite m15 back in '06. The gas key was not staked. I never had any problems with it though. It got traded in on a Knights.
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Most of the people (myself included) that own or have owned an Armalite were bitten by their magnified claim to fame ... "they invented the AR". Which is maybe a little tiny bit kind of true but an M16 is not an AR and in the past 50+ years there have been one or two (+) changes to Eugene's design.
But maybe it's just me...
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I have had 4+ Armalites and found them to be excellent rifles. All of mine were well made, well fitted, and capable of shooting very small groups at distance. And even with no issues whatsoever, their CS has been excellent. How? My son broke his wrist 2 months before Camp Perry in 2011. His team issued rifle was too heavy for him, but the team could not buy another one for him. Since I had been planning on buying a NM rifle at Perry anyway, I called Armalite and laid out the circumstances, and then I asked them to sell me a NM rifle at the Perry price. They agreed to do so. This dropped the price of the rifle from near $1300 to $842. With that one move, they earned my business for a long time to come.
How does having a bcm upper and lower = a rifle that will run for years? If he skimps on the other parts, such as barrel, bcg, fcg and lpk, he's no better off than just getting an Armalite. At least with the Armalite he will have a warrenty, unlike building one himself, where he won't. IMO best off getting a complete BCM or a Colt if he's new to AR's and save building something for when he already has one.
842 is around the cost for a Colt. Sooo, no real reason to go Armalite unless it's for an AR10, and even then, better options.
Too many good choices these days to stick with Armalite, Bushy, Olympic, Wyndcrap and the other companies that manage always to stay well below the more respected companies in terms of QC and CS.
Try shooting NRA High Power with a 16 inch Colt that costs ~$850 at Camp Perry and let me know if you an shoot sub MOA at 600 like the Armalite NM can. A Colt with the new lower prices is not the answer to every shooting need out there. Colt's current pricing aside, Armalite still makes a fine rifle, and I have found their CS to be GTG.
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Had a longer response, but will sum things up by first asking if you realized I am referring to a complete BCM upper and lower, as well as BCM BCG and CH not buying the cheapest POS parts that you can find from origins unknown. See links below for the parts that I would use/recommend for a build. Though considering there are not current sales, as there were during my response last month, a different course might be cheaper.
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin...y=LWR-BCM-BLEM This is a complete lower by the way
http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-G...%203%20556.htm
http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-B...up-auto-mp.htm
And pick the upper of choice from here http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/AR-15...Group-s/27.htm
Add handguard, stock, and BUIS.
And yes, a complete BCM or Colt would be preferred generally, but I would rather part together a BCM from the parts listed than a complete Armalite. Would offer to venture than if any parts listed were out of spec/non functional, BCM is not likely to thumb their nose and tell you to **** off.
Not really apples to apples comparison.
Buy it, shoot it, enjoy it, build it up if needed. We all get hung up on this that and the other thing. It'll work fine if maintained correctly.