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Thread: A cheap Armalite and Retro Arms

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
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    A cheap Armalite and Retro Arms

    About a year ago I was perusing a local pawn shop for a newish hunting pack and, as customary, I swung by their firearms collection.

    I've been good on AR's for a number of years, good on pistols, good on everything really (optics, lights, night vision, etc.). I saw a price on an AR that intrigued me - 589$. I asked to see it, looked it over and saw the brand said "Armalite". Seemed reasonably well put together. I had read before about Armalite's 'Double lapped barrels' and that they were accurate. I've had everything else at one time, or do now (Colt, BCM, KAC), and so I bought it on a whim. For awhile I just kept it stock and shot steel with it, but then, as happens, I started to add to it to see what I could get out of it.

    Before I did that, I reached out to Retro Arms to see if I could send it in for some work I wanted before I added to it. RA obliged me, and I requested to have the barrel shortened to 14.5 and YHM Phantom pinned. RA called me when the work was completed and told me about a couple things he had corrected. The barrel nut was re-torqued to spec, as it was out of spec, and, now I forget, another 'something' was corrected. RA would not charge me for the xtra work, even though I insisted.

    The man running RA is full of integrity and I would highly recommend his work.

    I received the upper back and the work done was impeccable. The weld for the pin is barely visible. Outside of the barrel nut, which surprised me, the fit and finish was excellent, castle nut staked, etc. I had already verified it was reliable (with only steel), and that it was an accurate barrel. Fist size 10 round head shot groups with irons at 100YDS could be attained if I did my part.

    What I've done since :

    Vltor A5, A5H2, COLT rifle spring
    Sprinco Extractor and ejector springs
    Centurion arms drop-on MLOK FF rail
    Magpul Rear, Magpul Grip, BFG Sling

    Optic I went with is a higher dollar Holosun and Aimpoint 3x Mag, Surefire X300. I've been shooting this configuration off and on since last October - now with a mix of quality brass and steel. The 'double lapped barrel' is a quality barrel and, by recoil, before and after the Vltor A5, is gassed in the realm of spec. I apologize for not posting group pics, as it's not something I typically take pictures of. Irons, 1x or 3x I can make any shots on demand from 0-300 standing, kneeling and prone with 100YD zero offset to 3" inches high.

    Round count at this point is 1216 with no issues, shot in sub 0 degree temps to the 80's. The message I am trying to get across is that I've been impressed with the Armalite. Is it a 6920? No. Is it good out of the box? I thought so, till RA informed me otherwise.

    But I recall a 6951 I had a decade ago where the barrel nut twisted off loose during a range session. Isolated incident w/ the COLT or the Armalite, who's to say? Again, I've owned and shot some quality brands. Bottom line, before/after the work at RA, the additions I've added to it, it is a very capable carbine at a cheap base price off the shelf that I, you or anyone, with some drop in parts can make a very capable carbine package.

    Big money isn't necessary to achieve something that will serve you well, however, you will get the attention that a shop like RA gives, but, again, off the shelf, does it shoot with my KAC, yes, it actually does.

    I will get some pictures when I can. I had them ready to post, but the host I use is playing ****ery with my uploads.
    Last edited by Patrin; 06-20-22 at 21:09. Reason: M4 Carbine's photo attachment system figure out.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Midland, Georgia
    Posts
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    John does amazingly good, fast work. I sent him my son's Colt M4 upper with heavy SOCOM-profile barrel for pinning and welding and it was in his shop and out in two hours.

    The work was not cheap, but the pinning and welding were perfect.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Posts
    72
    Feedback Score
    5 (100%)
    Sinister, yes, like the work you had done for your Son, his work is exemplary. So long as RA is in business, certainly my go too for any carbine/rifle work in the future.

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