Put these AR brands in "quality" order from best to worst

[esrice]

Please take the following list of major AR brands and put them in order from what you personally consider the "best quality" to the "worst quality" (based on however you personally define "quality"). If you prefer you could also group them, as long as you define your groupings.

This is just a fun exercise as there is no "correct" answer or order.

The list below is in no particular order.

Have fun!

Colt

Noveske

Daniel Defense

Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT)

CMMG

Sabre Defense

Smith & Wesson

Knight's Armament Company (KAC)

Barrett

Charles Daly

Stag Arms

Clark

Heckler & Koch (H&K)

Bushmaster

Palmetto State Armory

Rock River Arms

DPMS / Panther Arms

Olympic

Yankee Hill Machine (YHM)

Del-Ton

MSTN

LaRue Tactical

Superior Arms

D.S. Arms

Wilson Combat

Remington

Armalite

LWRCi

POF

Nodak

Fulton

Spike's Tactical

Double Star

Les Bauer

Bravo Company Manufacturing (BCM)

Tactical Innovations

Model 1 Sales

Anvil Arms

High Standard

JP Enterprises

Ruger

SI Defense

Vulcan/Hesse


​

 

[lovemachine]

I haven't even heard of some of these...

 

[shooter521]

Well, you've already got Vulcan/Hesse in the right place.

And FWIW, Roggio and White Oak do not manufacture complete rifles, AFAIK.

 

[LPMan59]

why even bother? people will like what they have. the top tier owners will put down the DPMS and Olys and the DPMS owners will say the top tier guys paid too much.

 

[esrice]

And FWIW, Roggio and White Oak do not manufacture complete rifles, AFAIK.

I'll defer to your experience (I didn't generate this entire list). Names gone.

 

[LPMan59]

does Ruger even make DI ARs? if not, dont forget HK.

 

[esrice]

why even bother? people will like what they have. the top tier owners will put down the DPMS and Olys and the DPMS owners will say the top tier guys paid too much.

Like I said, its just a mental exercise-- more for the user than the reader.

Obviously people will like what they have. Otherwise they wouldn't have it.

If someone believes that DPMS is of higher quality than a traditional "top tier" brand, then list it that way. I'm not asking for proof and the purpose here isn't to take people to task for their list.

 

[Taylorz71]

why even bother? people will like what they have. the top tier owners will put down the DPMS and Olys and the DPMS owners will say the top tier guys paid too much.

Agreed, but I do like that so many are making AR's now. The more we have the harder it will be to take them from us perhaps.

 

[esrice]

does Ruger even make DI ARs? if not, dont forget HK.

DI/piston-- doesn't matter. Added H&K.

 

[jeremy]

This could become interesting...

 

[LPMan59]

Agreed, but I do like that so many are making AR's now. The more we have the harder it will be to take them from us perhaps.

the more the merrier. But I look at it from a competition standpoint. Look at what PSA is doing. If they maintain their quality and their output, they will force some of the competition to drop their prices.

 

[loony1]

what about KAC or LaRue?

 

[esrice]

This could become interesting...

Post your list!

Look at what PSA is doing. If they maintain their quality and their output, they will force some of the competition to drop their prices.

Then make sure to put them higher on your list.

 

[esrice]

what about KAC or LaRue?

Added.

 

[lovemachine]

Here's my list. Some of these I've never heard of. And I also tried to put some of these companies in order of the better customer service too. IMO, customer service means A LOT.


Noveske
Daniel Defense
Bravo Company Manufacturing (BCM)
Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT
Spike's Tactical
Rock River Arms
Armalite
Colt
CMMG
Palmetto State Armory
Smith & Wesson
Ruger
Sabre Defense
Stag Arms
Bushmaster
DPMS / Panther Arms
Charles Daly
Olympic
Yankee Hill Machine (YHM)
Del-Ton
Superior Arms
D.S. Arms*
Wilson Combat*
Remington
LWRCi
POF*
Nodak
Fulton
Double Star
Les Bauer
Tactical Innovations
Anvil Arms
High Standard
JP Enterprises
SI Defense
Vulcan/Hesse
Model 1 Sales

 

[lovemachine]

Added.

Aw come on! I already made my list...

 

[strahd71]

i think this exercise is worth while to just be able to see if there are enough similarities in the lists to draw a conclusion as to the what people consider to be at the top and bottom of the list. this is great!

jake

 

[Thumper]

To tell the truth the lower only houses the trigger group and nothing more.Almost all brands are within spec and work fine the rest is just a mental block saying i paid more so its better.If it works don't fix it.I have owned hundreds of all brands and its all hype.

 

[Mrmonte]

I dont have trigger time on everything on the list so I dont feel qualified to rate the quality of firearms ive only read about.

I have quite a bit of trigger time behind RRA, DPMS, COLT, S&W, and Armalite factory rifles and carbines. The only AR ive owned that I was not pleased with was a Moldel 1 Sales carbine kit.

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Hundreds of all brands?