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OK, My real world experience. My whole family shoots a lot. In the 80s my uncle bougth a Springfield Armory pistol that was "just as good as" a Colt for much less. It turned out (in our experience) that he was correct, and we have had many SA 1911s since then.
When ARs became popular another uncle said the same thing about Bushmaster and other brands. He was very wrong. I now get to spend my shooting sessions force-extracting mil-spec cassings (because they are chambered and gassed for .223 not 5.56) from their "just as good as" rifles, while my Dad's Colt and my BCM just keep chugging along. This is only a sample of about 20 rifles, but is enough for me.
In some instances, yes. Looking in the local classified right now, I see a Ford Tempo for $1650, and a Toyota Camry for $1900. Both with similar mileage. Sorry for all of you Ford folks, but from personal experience and a bit of research, I am confident that I could get about twice the mileage (we're talking 250K vs. 125K miles) out of the Camry. Does saving $250 to buy the Tempo on my initial purchase really make any sense? If I'm only going to drive it for a month, then maybe it does. If I need that car to get me to work for the next 4 years, then is most certainly does not.
bkb,
This is an interesting topic, but unfortunately and inevitably it will attract those who will do and say anything to defend their purchase. For all of the those who want to defend their particular choice, let me say this. Shooting alone is not the benchmark of the weapon. It is the overall construction and materials that are used to make the weapon. Will A Bushmaster shoot as good as a Colt? For the most part yes. Will a DPMS? Again, yes. The problems arise when you start to stress the weapon and put alot of rounds down range in a short period of time.
Another factor to consider is the actual use and carry of the weapon. Thus far in my personal experience here in the Middle East (I have been over quite a bit since 2004) Colt will hold up under stress, being banged around and shot better than most others. I keep reading "I only bought it for plinking" or "it works good for what I do with it" and I just shake my head. I have said it a hundred times here before and I probably need to add it to my sigline. Your carbine, rifle, musket or whatever is first and foremost a weapon to defend yourself and/or family should that need arise. Whatever you do with it after that is a fringe benefit.
If you do not have confidence in your weapons or gear then you will also not have much confidence in your mission. That's it plain and simple. There is little doubt in my mind if I grab one of my carbines out of the safe that they will work as intended. Because I either bought it or built it with the right stuff and I have put rounds through them.
I even trust my Bushmaster that I have here. Simply because I maintain it properly and I made changes to it to make sure it runs. Then over the course of about 4 days I poured just over 1400 rounds through it. I had a few malfunctions all of which were attributed to the ammunition and not the weapon.
Last edited by Iraqgunz; 07-02-09 at 05:13.
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[sorry off topic]Originally Posted by CryingWolf
Do you ride? For you non riders it is customary to wave / low five or nod at fellow riders. Jeep and Beetle owners use to do the same thing, but that has been lost over time. I still offer them a low five peace sign. A low five among Harley riders is ok just don't low five a Suzuki rider in order to show that you respect him? I am a little confused at that
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[on topic]
Yes, I did a little research on my AR purchase, some magazine articles and a friend helped. I do remember I wasn't even looking at a Colt though; I saw the price being out of reach.
I disagree, I think this forum has a lot in common with the 'other' forum then we care to admit. If a person comes on to either site and posts 'I bought a DPMS and I have a problem I could use some help with', there will be the posts that say, "You should have bought a Colt" Also correct me if I am wrong as I am not a member on TOS, but I do not recall there being separate forums for each AR manufacture, like a DPMS or a Bush Master forum?
My first AR was a 16" RRA middy with a chrome-molly barrel and A2 fixed stock and no carry handle. It was purchased September 14, 2004. I wanted to get all the evil features that I couldn't buy for 10 years. When I moved to US in 92 I was delighted to find out that an ordinary citizen can obtain a military type rifle to defend one's self against all possible threats. However it took me a few years to learn the language and find a job that paid sufficiently enough to afford a rifle. No such luck. Enter September 13, 1994 and all of a sudden prices were so high that with my part-time job and school loans a preban was out of question. I was young and being stupid (form over function) was dead set on having my rifle look like a real m16. I wasn't going to settle for a neutered one(no flash hider, no bayonet lug or collapsible stockSo I waited and waited for a good price on a preban and never found one I was able to afford. A year later I bought a shotgun and totally forgot about buying a rifle. 9 years later with all TV stations screaming about the ban's sunset and an upcoming mayhem I was invigorated once more. This time I knew I had to buy one as another even more stringent ban may be coming and I will not be able to buy a rifle period. It was a research time for me. Lucky me, I found ARFCOM. I learned fast that Bushmaster and RRA are top of the line and COLTs are for stupid idiots who don't know where to spend extra cash - hence my first rifle.
Fast forward to now. I still have it. There has been a lot of changes done to it.
On a lower receiver I changed a stock for an Ace Socom, put a Timney trigger with KNS gen2 pins, Magpul trigger guard, CAA g27 grip and Enidine Hydraulic Recoil Buffer. On an upper receiver I put a Surefire 9" rail(non free-floating) and TD forward grip, Eotech 552 and ARMS 40L. A bolt was upgraded with a BCM extractor kit and a bolt carrier was staked. I used this rifle to learn all the ins and outs of the system. Now I use a Sabre 16" middy upper 1/7 with a BCM BCG, TLR-1(set on a stock hanguard), Aimpoint Micro T-1, Magpul MBUIS and padded VCAS, and a recent BCM middy upper with BCM BCG (didn't set it up yet) both on Stag lowers with Grant's LPKs and a Vltor E-Mods stock TD grips, LMT REs and CS springs with H buffers. Both of the new carbines were results of me stumbling upon M4C and finding out what's what. So I guess I'm ignorant no more.
Those and many more here.
My first AR was a RRA with YHM stuff stuck all over it. It looked cool, it was priced right, and I didn't know any better. It didn't even have a chrome lined barrel, as that hurt accuracy.
Yes, I did TONS of research. But MOST sites 5 years ago sang the praises of RRA rifles - they had great "fit and finish" after all.
I learned a bit - but my second AR was a RRA but at least I upgraded to DD Lite rails and better quality BUIS. And it had a CTR with a Milspec RE.
THEN I ended up here and started to receive my AR education from people that seemed to actually know something about these weapons.
My next several rifles are all guns I feel pretty good about. One rifle even has a LMT lower with a standard single stage trigger! The first RRA upper is sitting in the safe alone, and it's lower is now mated to a CMT upper with a Sabre Defence 1/7 barrel and a BCM FC BCG.
In the end I have 4 AR's - one is still the RRA upper but it's been upgraded to a BCM FA BCG and it's only real shortcoming is the 4140 1/9 barrel. I'll shoot it out and replace it one day. Otherwise, it's survived a carbine class a few years ago and has been pretty reliable so far.
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