"I can build a better rifle for less money!"

[munch520]

good points

maybe some of the prices I'm seeing are part of a market penetration (HA..I need to grow up ) strategy that are skewing my numbers a bit.

[wolf_walker]

I MADE that Chart and I would not read that much into it, or fail to read more than that into it.

If you think that one company is selling the same product as everyone else but for 20% less and hasn't completely owned the market, I have a $1k Maserati I'd like to sell you.

Interestingly, I deal in Maserati parts. A fine example of price and quality having no correlation regardless of marketing and/or reputation. And a whole lot of people being taken to the cleaners, with big smiles till the end. But anyway..

I think one could come well within the realm of "functionally just as good" for $600 ish. I bought my first assembled carbine-stocked lower that had 100 rounds through it from a cop for $150 cash for example. Stuck a good middy 16" upper on it and splurged on a troy flippy rear sight. Had right around $650 in it without even trying to buy a used upper or sight. It met all the check marks fwiw and nobody I could find to look it over could find anything wrong with it, something stupid might break 5K rounds later or such but that might happen on a Colt too. I also note that Colt has about lowered there prices to the same range as the other "functionally just as good as" complete offerings now. That seems to be a clue, as some wise fellows are apt to say.

Money is money though when your life isn't on the line. Course my $650 went out the window when I started refining stuff, but hey.

[ztug]

I'm certainly not a Colt Hater, I love my Colt 1911s. But I can't see where the Colt AR15 is in anyway better than my Spikes Middy. I did't want to wait 6 months or more so I paid $267 for a Spikes complete Pirate lower, shipped. I paid $569 for the Spikes Middy upper delivered.
I didn't get the fancy case and the stickers but both came with a Spikes lifetime warranty. For a total of $836 I got a gun that I think is every bit as good as a Colt.

[carbinero]

Sir, please run at least a 1,000 rounds through it, with plenty of hard and fast, then let us know how it runs! Nothing wrong with getting a winner for less money. Resale would certainly suffer, but it sounds like that's not an issue for you. I have learned my lesson with buying quality, but some folks score into a deal. You may be one of them! For me and my dollars, if I were buying, I wouldn't spend less than a grand for an AR... especially when I've seen Colts for sale around $1100.

[ztug]

Are you familiar with Spike's Tactical? The friend that turned me on to them LOVES his which he has put quite a few rounds through, and after reading reviews on them, the only thing I could find people complaining about was the wait to get one. They are supposed to be all Mil-Spec and the finishing on mine was , to my eye, flawless. No rough or sharp edges, smooth, even coating and consistent color. I realizes they are two very different guns but I did not see anything on it that was inferior to my Colt 1911s. What ways, other than possible resale value, which I understand, having Colt Pistols for over 30 years, would you believe, the Colt to be superior and worth another couple of hundred bucks?
Materials? Method of assembly? Finish?
I like Colts, if I can justify the money, to myself and my wife.

[scoutfsu99]

Are you familiar with Spike's Tactical? The friend that turned me on to them LOVES his which he has put quite a few rounds through, and after reading reviews on them, the only thing I could find people complaining about was the wait to get one.

If that's all you're finding, then you're not reading past the first couple Google hits.

[C4IGrant]

I'm certainly not a Colt Hater, I love my Colt 1911s. But I can't see where the Colt AR15 is in anyway better than my Spikes Middy. I did't want to wait 6 months or more so I paid $267 for a Spikes complete Pirate lower, shipped. I paid $569 for the Spikes Middy upper delivered.
I didn't get the fancy case and the stickers but both came with a Spikes lifetime warranty. For a total of $836 I got a gun that I think is every bit as good as a Colt.

Sorry it is not. If you had paid the 11% FET (like you do on a complete rifle from Colt), you would be close to what Colt's sell for (FYI).



C4

[markm]

For a total of $836 I got a gun that I think is every bit as good as a Colt.

Grant has to be diplomatic... but I don't... YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

Why is it that every time someone buys a piece of shit that's "as good as" Colt... they cite the "lifetime warrantee"?

****... Olympic Arms claims to have a Lifetime Guarantee of some sort. They never honor the shit... but at least their idiot customer base sleeps well at night.

I NEVER make the mistake of buying firearms based on Warrantee. I'd take a Colt with and explicit AS IS notice over a Spikes turd with a Triple Lifetime Guarantee.

[Magic_Salad0892]

Grant has to be diplomatic... but I don't... YOU'RE AN IDIOT!

Why is it that every time someone buys a piece of shit that's "as good as" Colt... they cite the "lifetime warrantee"?

****... Olympic Arms claims to have a Lifetime Guarantee of some sort. They never honor the shit... but at least their idiot customer base sleeps well at night.

I NEVER make the mistake of buying firearms based on Warrantee. I'd take a Colt with and explicit AS IS notice over a Spikes turd with a Triple Lifetime Guarantee.

I'm with markm on this one. As usual.

By the way. Just because you hate aftermarket stuff (kinda ....) I really wish somebody would send you an SR-15 (Mod. 1, just because of your comment on tube handguards) and banish you from shooting any other rifle ever.

And to keep related to this thread. That's also a better gun than a Spikes gun.

BTW: I wanted to ask Grant, because he's awesome. What would you say the production flaws in a Spike's gun are? Or are they business practices?

I think they suck, but that's because I saw 2 Spikes ST-15s at the range with non-concentric bores caused baffle strikes in some beautiful SureFire suppressors that the owner had.

[markm]

By the way. Just because you hate aftermarket stuff (kinda ....) I really wish somebody would send you an SR-15 (Mod. 1, just because of your comment on tube handguards) and banish you from shooting any other rifle ever.

I'll google this and see what they look like. (edit- I don't see anything too offensive on that gun.. )

I think they suck, but that's because I saw 2 Spikes ST-15s at the range with non-concentric bores caused baffle strikes in some beautiful SureFire suppressors that the owner had.

That's sick. A guy would spring for an expensive silencer and run it on a junk gun??? Messed up Logic.

I have a gut feeling that bottom feeder guns are made with parts rejected by good manufacturors. I mean... what are you going to do with a batch of bad barrels? Scrap them? Or offer them for a discount to a cock roach manufacturer?