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I owned RRA and DPMS when I did not know any better. I owned an Oly becasue it was a cheap varmint rig for my kid. He used it a couple of years then sold it for 200 bucks more than it cost.
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I purchased my "lesser" quality RRA two years ago based off of feedback from several friends who own ARs and after shooting a few different builders guns. To me, RRA produced a quality rifle that met my needs. It had one of the best triggers on any AR that I handled. It felt solid, and my buddy's rifle shot insanely accurate. I didn't feel the need to spend an extra $500 just to have Colt stamped on the side. It's a commercial AR. Well, I'm a commercial user. I shoot hogs and punch paper with it. I've run over 3k rounds through it. I've never had a single issue with it. Maybe I got lucky. Maybe I didn't, because my LAR-8 drives 7.62 tacks at 500 yards. You can tell me that my rifle is a piece of shit all day long. It doesn't change the fact that I'm happy with my purchase. It's not my home defense gun. I have an 870 and a P229 that fill that need. My RRA is a hunting gun. And for that it works great.
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That's all well and good. There's a reason the military doesn't use RRA. But if it works for you, go for it.
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In the early 80s when I was 14 I bought a Colt SP1.
Not because it was best or I knew any better, but it was unusual to see a black rifle in a store then, let alone have one, and it was available.
In the early 90s, I bought a bushmaster car-15. Knowledge was not as common, available, or as in depth then. You could count your makers on one hand. While more available than the decade before, availability and selection was nothing like it is now. Colt was not really making any friends with the commercial market at the time. They were kind of like beretta- buy us if you want, we sell a ton of mil and le and could care less. In my opinion the bushy is actually a better gun than the sp1, at least in terms of spec, etc. it has functioned fine and not been an issue for me, but I do not claim obviously that it is on par with modern, high quality current offerings.
About 7 years ago I wanted to do a multi-purpose carbine in .308. 16 in barrel, collapsible stock, ff rail, light, relatively unobtrusive bipod, rds and flip magnifier, 2 point sling, back up irons. Options in 308 at the time were, are you getting the theme, a fraction of what they are now. A dpms with the dust cover and FA upper receiver was what I went with. It has been reliable and accurate.
More recently I got one of the s&w m&p first version vtac models. Why not a colt, noveske, etc, It had the rail I wanted, light and mount I like to use, sling i use, qd stud I prefer to the push button type , stock I wanted, all nib and was on sale. An instructor at a course had ran a s&w and it had no issues and word of mouth from a few guys that 3 gun'd was good.
I built a carbine for my son , PSA lower and classic LPK,their light profile ML 16 inch barrel upper, mpi m16 BCG, standard ch. I like to make stuff, they have a good price to parts quality ratio, if he wants something better he can get it on his own. It is reliable and durable. A moe set of handguards and light and vtac sling, rear fixed sight I had laying around, t1 micro I had, and he is good to for multi gun and the tactical 2 gun that require light and sling that is starting up here.
I built a carbine for my youngest daughter. she liked the horse roll mark on the Anderson lower, it was priced nice and in stock locally. A PSA premium LPK for it, and a dpms oracle complete upper. She is ten, it was fun to put together together, and the upper was in stock with no wait and would arrive in time for us to finish and use that weekend. It works and is reliable, and was not that expensive. When you go away a lot unexpectedly, plus are gone a lot planned for, have long hours, something being readily available vs weeks of wait and not sure when you will get it can be a factor.
I admit to using a polymer lower. Primary interest was a very light build. The new frontier complete lower was in stock. While inexpensive- do not buy because of this- 75$ more to do a good, quality forged complete lower is a no brainier from a price alone perspective. The weight concept I had did not work out. It makes a front heavy weapon. I ended up getting a PSA lighter weight 14.7 barrel, ML gas tube, micro gb, got a cheap, light off brand ff tube, put on the kac FH, matech rear, Yhm front sights I had laying around, pinned and welded it, and called it a day. It works fine. I make no claims to it being awesome, but my other daughter has her own carbine now.
To test fire the 14.7 before I pinned and welded it, I needed a pistol lower. I grabbed another Anderson, used a PSA pistol LPK, and have that. I will keep my eye open for an in stock 10.5ish set up for it.
Anyways , I do have my eye on one of the colt crp 18 inch 3-gun rifles. But then again, an a2 stock on an 18 inch gun I build may be how I go. I am at least as interested in making stuff myself and teaching the kids as I am in what brand I get. Sometimes I try stuff that may end up having a bad rep or not work out. Sometimes time, convenience, availability is an issue. In general, I am good with something that has a quality, good rep vs having the top rep.
Also, I have a car I need to rebuild the front end, and engine, let alone interior. I have another car I want to rebuild the engine, plus body work and paint. I also want a new drill press and my first plasma cutter. And need some more reloading components, ammo, and shooting related gear. And I really think my daily driver is lacking a super charger. Spreading out the budget by not all top shelf brands means I still get to have lots of functional, reliable weapons.
Anyways, that's how I ended up with brands that include BM and DPMS, and even a polymer lower. There are definitely some things I would have bought from BcM recently i wanted to try if they had been in stock and shipping rapidly. But I passed on a noveske striped lower vs an Anderson. I ended up with a gun show bc I would rather have gotten a top shelf but I wanted/needed it that day.
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I didn't know any better. About 2 years ago, I got an M&P 15-22 for fun at the range, and that made me want to get a real AR. It wasn't a pressing desire, but just something I wanted to add to my small collection. I had originally wanted to get some sort of complete rifle, but had no idea as to the different grades of ARs on the market. After talking to a coworker who was building his own AR, I decided to try my hand at building one. I figured it would be good to get to know the inner workings of the weapon as I assembled it. Back in December 2011 when my wife asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I told her a stripped lower and LPK. My coworker had purchased his lower and LPK, along with the upper with the Black Hole Weaponry SS 1/8 barrel, from Surplus Ammo and Arms. He recommended the same set-up to me based on the great accuracy he had seen with his weapon. So I ordered the lower and DPMS LPK
from SAA, keeping the upper in the back of my mind with the thought that it couldn't hurt to have a really accurate SS barrel, even though the shittiest CL barrel was probably more accurate than this shooter. Add to that the fact that I didn't give the slightest thought as to the type of ammo I would use. I assembled the lower in January. Fast forward to March. I needed an upper, and accuarately assessed that assembling it myself was beyond my skill level. I went to a gun show with the intention of getting one. I didn't know it at the time, but the manufacturers available there were typically what would be considered shit on this site. The reason i didn't end up buying from the gun show is that I have such a strong distrust of gun dealers and their "expertise" regarding their products (I share this same distrust in regards to car dealers as well). That same day, I went home and got online with the intention of getting a PSA upper, but they were completely sold out of BCGs. I went back to the SAA site and clicked the buy button the upper mentioned above. I received the upper, and proceeded to assemble the weapon, complete with a crappy ebay gas block mounted flip up front sight and the rear sight stolen from my 15-22. Fast forward to now, and I have added a Troy flip up front sight, Matech rear sight, Burris Fastfire II, Magpul CTR, MOE grip, trigger guard, and MS-2 sling (the upper came with the Magpul hand guards). Much to my relief the me-assembled lower didn't fall to pieces on the first shot. I have only put between 600 and 700 rounds through it, and I have taken one class with it last month. Thus far it has been flawless, without a single malfunction. Since reading here, I have taken the reliability measures of further staking the weak staking on the gas key and staking the receiver end plate.
With hindsight, having found this site and read through a ton of useful threads, if I were to go back to square one, I would have bought a complete BCM or Colt. I probably won't take advantage of whatever accuracy edge the SS barrel offers because a) my skills aren't there yet, b) I only have access to a 200 yard range, and c) I only shoot 55 grain .223 and XM193. Unfortunately, I didn't stumble across M4Carbine until after I completed my carbine. I probably would have save some cash in the long run as well. FWIW, I don't regret my "build," as it has held up well to the rigors of occasionally shooting at the range, one class, and other wise occupying a slot in my safe. My agency doesn't authorized personally owned weapons, so the chances of this weapon ever seeing duty use are close to nil. When my budget allows, I will likely be treating myself to the BCM or Colt. Until then, my "build" will suffice. You live and you learn.
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I picked up a BNIB DPMS at a gun show for around $450. I just wanted to see if I liked the whole AR thing. I knew from past experience that I either go real cheap to try it out or best of breed and gamble on whether I like it or not.
DPMS shot like like a dream! I played with it for a week, learning maintenance and modifications and came to the conclusion that I liked the AR platform. I then traded the DPMS in on a Sig Sauer M400, quickly dumped about $3500.00 into mods and optics and have been pleased ever since.
I think I did a wise thing. Rather that plunk down $4500.00 on a gun, ammo, accessories, and optics, I chose an option less than 1/10th the cost of what I have into the game presently.
Option A: Buy cheap. Don't like = sell. Like = trade up. Net loss $100.00
Option B: Buy Expensive. Like = keep. Don't like = sell. Net loss $200-400.
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It was because I didn't know what I didn't know.
My first AR was a Doublestar 16" and my decision was mostly swayed by a co-worker who already had one. Like others, I discovered the wealth of knowledge available in certain forums after I made my purchase.
While I didn't experience any problems with the DS, learning did occur and I soon realized its potential limitiations and issues. The DS sold and replaced with a mid-length BCM. Total loss was about $400. Had I purchased the BCM at the outset, it would have only cost me less than $200 more.
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I am one of the people who bought a lower end gun before getting on here.
I was told to really look for certain things from various people.
HPT/MPI carpenter 158 bolt/properly staked
CMV barrel/5.56 chamber
H buffer
F marked front sight with taper pins
Mil-Spec buffer tube/staked castle nut
coated (phosphated?) under FSB
I walked into the LGS and they tried to sell me a Stag and an RRA and a couple homebrew mash ups. I asked to see the plain looking carbine on the rack and when I took it apart on the table it seemed to have everything I was supposed to look for.
If i would have listened to them I could have walked out of there with a $1000 or more Stag.
It ended up being a Del-Ton which now I know wasn't a good idea.
It will serve its purpose and if I decide I want to get into serious shooting with an AR then I will either upgrade it or buy something new. I had never heard of them and it was 629 so I figured why not.
Lesson learned I guess. Combination of me not researching online, LGS lack of knowledge or knowingly trying to move an inferior product and lack of knowledgeable friends.
They were pushing the Stag and RRA really hard. They had an le6920 priced at 1299.
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^^^this^^^
According to del-ton the rifle has everything I was told to look for and I could afford it, what luck right? I wanted one before the election and time constraints didn't allow for an extra 3-4 months when I could afford a BCM/colt/whatever.
The rifle's handled everything I've thrown at it so far and I will upgrade piece by piece as budget allows until I eventually have a brand new rifle and a truck gun.
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My first AR was a DPMS oracle, i got it because well i didn't know better, i think i gave like $670 for it. It ran fairly good for the short time i had it. I may have put 1k rounds through it. Probably less. Then I found this website and it ended up costing more money, but I feel it was worth every penny. BCM for life now.
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