AR-15's does brand name matter?

[Larryjr]

Not trying to start anything, I just thought this a very informative article. Sure made me feel better about my DPMS AR.

Tactical Rifle Blog - AR-15s… Does Brand Name Matter?

 

[japartridge]

For the great read.

nice article, I always suspected that most of the components were made by only a couple of manufactures....

 

[Bluedragon]

Rep'd that was a good read and it confirmed a few questions I have had for awhile now regarding the subject.

 

[ApacheTactical]

Great Read. I think he hit the nail.

 

[chraland51]

Man, are you ever going to open up another can of worms!!! I have a couple of DPMS firearms and a few Taurus handguns in semi-automatic and revolvers. I hope that you do not get what the usual person gets who admits to owning one or both of these brands. Some guys will want to feel like crawling under a rock for being dumb enough to own such trash. I have wanted to take mine and toss them into the retention pond behind my apartment building. It was very hard to be able to hold my head up after some of the beatings those brands took. Good luck. Just a warning. You will probably get more opinions than there are site supporters.

 

[shooter521]

 

[lovemachine]

It all just depends on what purpose you want the AR to be for.

 

[pinshooter45]

Great post! It confirms what I have thought for a while. Most standard AR are about the same. I mean how many different ways can you make the same gun in a production setting? The difference is in the high end custom rifles. Just like 1911's any off the shelf STANDARD 1911's are just about as good as the next. The difference comes when you can afford to buy a Wilson, or Les Bauer or another custom made 1911. I'll bet you take 5 or ten standard AR and have an expert shoot them they'll all perform about the same. And if a novice does the same thing he or she won't be able to tell the difference. Competition has made it this way, and we benefit by getting a well made standard AR no matter who we buy from. Aren't market forces GREAT!

 

[Sigasaurus]

I admit i am a when it comes to AR builds. I had heard a number of times what the article brings to light about standard AR's and honestly the practice makes sense it keeps the overhead down. I personally like doing my own builds and prefer the Spikes, BCM, and Noveske products. I am also a nickel boron addict.

 

[shooter521]

It all just depends on what purpose you want the AR to be for.

Yes, but there's a difference between that and saying "all AR parts are made by the same factory in Utah".

The S&W M&P-15s aren't made by Stag Arms; they WERE made by Continental Machine and Tool (the manufacturing side of Stag), but assembly and some manufacturing was moved in-house by S&W a couple years ago.

The author also overlooks the fact that Olympic Arms is one of the few manufacturers that makes the majority of their own components.

From a journalistic standpoint, that article plain SUCKS. The author provides nothing in the way of quotes or attribution to back up his claims. "I'm pretty sure they're made in Poland"? "S&W has said"? I could write an article like that saying that ARs are made from fairy dust by elves living in hollow trees (when they're not making cookies); would THAT be taken as gospel, too? Gimme a friggin' break.

 

[lovemachine]

Yes, but there's a difference between that and saying "all AR parts are made by the same factory in Utah".

The S&W M&P-15s aren't made by Stag Arms; they WERE made by Continental Machine and Tool (the manufacturing side of Stag), but assembly and some manufacturing was moved in-house by S&W a couple years ago.

The author also overlooks the fact that Olympic Arms is one of the few manufacturers that makes the majority of their own components.

From a journalistic standpoint, that article plain SUCKS. The author provides nothing in the way of quotes or attributionto back up his claims. "I'm pretty sure they're made in Poland"? "S&W has said"? I could write an article like that saying that ARs are made from fairy dust by elves living in hollow trees (when they're not making cookies); would THAT be taken as gospel, too? Gimme a friggin' break.

I believe the author is just trying to make himself feel better about his own crap AR. He made the mistake of buying the cheapest one he could find instead of doing research and buying a better AR.

I know my RRA isn't crap, but I've made excuses about it before too. Just because I wish I wasn't so impatient and just waited to get a BCM or a Spikes.

ARs are made from fairy dust by elves living in hollow trees (when they're not making cookies)

THAT. IS. HILARIOUS.

 

[ssgjason]

Yes, but there's a difference between that and saying "all AR parts are made by the same factory in Utah".

The S&W M&P-15s aren't made by Stag Arms; they WERE made by Continental Machine and Tool (the manufacturing side of Stag), but assembly and some manufacturing was moved in-house by S&W a couple years ago.

The author also overlooks the fact that Olympic Arms is one of the few manufacturers that makes the majority of their own components.

From a journalistic standpoint, that article plain SUCKS. The author provides nothing in the way of quotes or attributionto back up his claims. "I'm pretty sure they're made in Poland"? "S&W has said"? I could write an article like that saying that ARs are made from fairy dust by elves living in hollow trees (when they're not making cookies); would THAT be taken as gospel, too? Gimme a friggin' break.

Completely agree.
The "author" offers zero proof to his claims.
And just because Henkles makes cheaper knives in the same factory as their expensive knives does not make the cheaper knives "just as good as" their top end knives...So many things were left out in this blog entry that it isn't worth the bandwidth it is taking up

 

[sgreen3]

Its personal preference if the AR you have does everything you want it to, Then thats all that matters! I have a DPMS I have had it for almost a year now an jave put all sorts of different ammo through it with no problems. With almost 3k rounds through it now I am very pleased with it. It does what I want it to, why do I need to spend so much more to plink with I dont think I need to. I mean would I like one of the higher end AR's heck yea I would! But I cant justify the price for one right now. Bottom line if you can afford one of the high end AR's and thats what you want, thats good, or if you can only afford the 700 DPMS and your happy with it thats fine to.

 

[marshallartist]

Although there are some inaccuracies in his article and he offers little to backup most of his claims I think that the overall premise is not far off the mark. The name on the side of the receiver is not nearly as important as some people would like to believe. I won't say that an Olympic Plinkster is just as good as a Stage Arms or that a Stag is the equal of a LWRC or Noveske but the mid grade rifle is more than sufficient to meet the needs of civilian shooters and about 90% of the law enforcement community. I'll admit I've dreamed of the day I can call an LWRC M6A2 my own but until then my Stag Arms Model 2 will continue to be all the rifle I really need.

 

[esrice]

That article is horribly vague and the author doesn't really seem to drive home his point with any relevant facts.

All ARs aren't made in the same place, and they aren't made with the same quality.

However I do agree that most "standard grade" ARs will suit most guys' needs (as if we guys buy solely based on "need" ).

 

[GBuck]

However I do agree that most "standard grade" ARs will suit most guys' needs (as if we guys buy solely based on "need" ).

 

[Larryjr]

Yes, but there's a difference between that and saying "all AR parts are made by the same factory in Utah".

The S&W M&P-15s aren't made by Stag Arms; they WERE made by Continental Machine and Tool (the manufacturing side of Stag), but assembly and some manufacturing was moved in-house by S&W a couple years ago.

The author also overlooks the fact that Olympic Arms is one of the few manufacturers that makes the majority of their own components.

From a journalistic standpoint, that article plain SUCKS. The author provides nothing in the way of quotes or attributionto back up his claims. "I'm pretty sure they're made in Poland"? "S&W has said"? I could write an article like that saying that ARs are made from fairy dust by elves living in hollow trees (when they're not making cookies); would THAT be taken as gospel, too? Gimme a friggin' break.

Shooter521 - I'm not going to act like I know a lot about AR's because I don't but I do think you may have given the author of the article in the link credit for something he didn't say. I re-read the story and I don't think he said "all AR parts are made by the same factory in Utah".

He does say "So does it matter if you buy a Bushmaster or Rock River? No, not really. I don’t think it does. The quality is going to basically be the same because so many of the parts are made in the exact same shop on CNC machines and forges."

I guess I took what the author of the article wrote as his general opinion based on what he has seen.

 

[pinshooter45]

Perhaps the author left out references and would probably not receive a passing grade for a college research paper. There is intense competition for the standard grade AR. Any Manufacturer selling anything will do what it takes to compete. I don't need proof in the article to know that there are a few manufactures making a lot of components for the many AR producers. Just like Sears does not Make Craftsman Tools, some one else does it for them. This is probably why there are AR producers popping up like weeds, They are buying parts from a few different makers and assembling them and selling them. That's a lot cheaper than trying to buy a lot of expensive CNC equipment and such. Think about it, many here build their own AR's because they can build exactly what they want and cheaper than a custom AR from a shop. Why wouldn't a manufacturer do the same thing to keep costs down and stay competitive in the marketplace?

 

[jeremy]

Subscribed for the drama....

 

[451_Detonics]

I learned nothing new from the article but I do agree with it. For years I have been telling people the upper and lower are pretty much a support system for the only component that matters...the barrel. I can take the cheapest upper and lower out there and build a rifle capable of shooting MOA or better if I use a quality barrel. Simple fact of life.

Mil-Spec? Advertising hype for the most part.
Chrome lined? Clean your gun.
All the mall ninja accessories? Won't help accuracy.

Look for the features you want on a gun and go from there...name brands, even the Boutique names, really don't mean that much. Buy a base gun and add what you want and you will be happy. Just pay attention to who made the barrel. If they don't list who made it then ask. Fulton Armory for example uses Douglas barrels on base guns and Krieger on the higher end guns. Always nice to know what you are getting.