ARs to avoid, which brands are not worth the money?

[biglucky]

These posts are great! It's a very informative thread!

My focus is on accuracy, reliability and durability. Snob appeal means nothing to me.

Larue. I saw one recently and had a chance to look it over. NICE stuff! They have all kinds of extra stuff to secure the pins, etc and it looked like durability would improve but none of that seemed like it improved accuracy. Still, it was a terrific rifle and probably worth the money. Even so, good marksmanship practices will overcome technology. Throwing money into the rifle will not improve your marksmanship. Practice does that.

The scores are already in the rifle. It is your job to bring them out.

The AR-15 is a pretty unique beast! The bolt locks directly into the rear of the chamber, it's all in line and sights are integral into that "upper" package. It's inherently an accurate design. Unfortunately, it does poop where it eats.

I tried like Hell to beat the black rifles with classic and customized rifles and match ammo. Sorry, it can't be done without massive amounts of cash shoveled into the rifle. That includes M1 Garand, M1A1, 1903A3 and a host of others. I spent a friggin' fortune to dispute that and finally gave up and joined the black rifle shooters.

I posted this before but will bore you again with it. I spent tons of money trying to beat the black rifles. I had custom built M1's and an M1A that had every option except the rear receiver lug. None of that worked. The friggin' black rifles right out of the box would beat the crap out of those custom rifles.

I had many very fine AR's but never took them seriously. Finally, I bought an old dog AR off of a gun show table. The rifle is a 20" heavy, 1:9 twist no name barrel on an Olympic lower. It was not full floated and there is absolutely nothing upscale or fancy, custom or aftermarket about that rifle!

It was cheap and ugly as sin but it shot great. The black painted barrel and fake "ban" style suppressor got a few laughs until the firing began. That ugly thing is a veteran of many 200 yard matches and never failed once. That rifle became my main competition rifle for years! If I sold everything, that old dog of an AR will still be here.

Lesson learned? Get a decent, well made rifle that you have confidence in. Learn to use a sling. Use decent ammo and shoot the living crap out of that rifle! Spend your money on ammo and stop throwing money away on trinkets and do-dads to dress up the rifle!

It cost me many thousands of Dollars to learn that. You just learned it for free!

Flash

Agree totally with your post above. I think what sets companies apart in this space are things like warranty and customer service when/if you do have a problem. For the ordinary shooter, most guns are sufficient. For guys like me, there are things that are more important. For instance, in a normal year I will shoot over 10,000 rounds of .223. I like to know that if I shoot out a barrel, it has a lifetime guarantee and the manufacturer will replace it. That kind of shooting also puts a lot of wear and tear on other parts; like bolts, firing pins, etc. I like to know that those are also warranties for life. That is why I shoot the rifles I shoot.

 

[ROGER4314]

I won't keep harping on my post but though of something that may bring t into perspective.

I equipped that ugly AR-15 with an M1 Garand web sling. That sling is frayed and tattered from years of NRA rifle competition! I have new Garand slings but that old one is not going anywhere! It takes years of shooting to wear one of those slings out just as it takes a long time for Marksmanship skills to develop.

The only thing that old Olympic rifle had done to it was cleaning, lube and a new magazine release. That Mag release got battered from countless dry firing drills.

Similarly, my first ever 1911 has the distinct finger outlines worn completely through the finish on the front grip strap. I wonder how many rounds that wear took to develop since 1968 when I bought it?

For the older guys........I never shot a high power rifle match until I was over 50YO. I shot matches 2-4 times per month for almost 8 years. That's what it takes to do well.

Flash

 

[Das Jared]

Larue makes one of the most goddamn accurate factory gas guns on the face of the planet.

 

[Younggun]

No they don't.

 

[Das Jared]

Hush

 

[Saltyag2010]

I won't keep harping on my post but though of something that may bring t into perspective.

I equipped that ugly AR-15 with an M1 Garand web sling. That sling is frayed and tattered from years of NRA rifle competition! I have new Garand slings but that old one is not going anywhere! It takes years of shooting to wear one of those slings out just as it takes a long time for Marksmanship skills to develop.

The only thing that old Olympic rifle had done to it was cleaning, lube and a new magazine release. That Mag release got battered from countless dry firing drills.

Flash

My bolt release has some wear. It was from a psa parts kit. I refinished it with some super blue a few months back. It's getting a little bent out of shape on the top. Is that normal? Still works

 

[biglucky]

Larue makes one of the most $#@!n accurate factory gas guns on the face of the planet.

2011 called and wants its information back....

 

[breakingcontact]

2011 called and wants its information back....

Ha! Havent heard that one in awhile.

 

[Das Jared]

2011 called and wants its information back....

Have ya owned one?

 

[Vaquero]

Have ya owned one?

Oh boy.

 

[Jakashh]

+1

 

[biglucky]

Have ya owned one?

Yeah.. one from back in the bad ass Lothar Walther days and one of the new ones... The LW ones were bad ass. the new ones were meh.... I sold both... I don't do DI AR's at all any more.

 

[ROGER4314]

That Mag release got battered from countless dry firing drills.

I bought that cheap Olympic rifle to use just for offhand (standing) dry firing practice. It was never intended to be a match rifle. There are devices that cushion the hammer fall while dry firing and I have one or two of those. A major point in dry firing is "follow through" or holding on target after the round is gone. Those cushion devices just don't have the same timing as they shortened the hammer fall. So I let her batter and beat.........thousands of times.

Once I fired that Olympic in a match.....I was hooked! It worked just fine but I wanted it to be faultless so I replaced the $12 release and shot it for years afterwards without a hiccup!

Extended dry firing will peen the magazine release but...........so what? It's an easy fix!

Flash

 

[alcoholic]

I'm surprised to see some negative comments about RRA. My only point of reference is that I bought one after I got out of the army in 2012, and I have had nothing but good experiences with it. I guess if I was shooting enough to have my barrel glowing I'd regret not having a chromed one, but in every other respect I love the rifle.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Welcome to a forum, Alcoholic.

 

[alcoholic]

Thanks. I've been lurking for a bit realizing how little I know about guns.

 

[Texas42]

Agree totally with your post above. I think what sets companies apart in this space are things like warranty and customer service when/if you do have a problem. For the ordinary shooter, most guns are sufficient. For guys like me, there are things that are more important. For instance, in a normal year I will shoot over 10,000 rounds of .223. I like to know that if I shoot out a barrel, it has a lifetime guarantee and the manufacturer will replace it. That kind of shooting also puts a lot of wear and tear on other parts; like bolts, firing pins, etc. I like to know that those are also warranties for life. That is why I shoot the rifles I shoot.

Who replaces a barrel free with 10k rounds through it?

 

[biglucky]

Who replaces a barrel free with 10k rounds through it?

Voodoo Innovations will replace a barrel with 100k rounds through it free. Unlmited lifetime 1MOA Warranty.

 

[Texas42]

Learn something new every day.

 

[Southpaw]

Voodoo Innovations will replace a barrel with 100k rounds through it free. Unlmited lifetime 1MOA Warranty.

WOW!! Good to know.