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Jeffrey Offline OP
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I own three AR’s. A S&W, a DPMS and a Bear Creek Arsenal. They must all suck or all be really good because I can’t tell a bit of difference between them.

What makes a quality AR and a bad AR?

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QC, design (thinking things like ambi lowers, Geissele's REBCG, Noveske's double chrome, and piston vs DI kind of design details), and materials are what it boils down to. That's kinda reductionist but that's what it is.

The rifles you listed are low to mid tier IMO. Not pooping on you personally, that just where I see them in the food chain. And BCA really is more mid tier, they've definitely come a long way since they started production.

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Years ago I remember Olympic arms we’re total pieces of crap. This is what I read on the Internet so it must be true :-) I know I would local municipality small town maybe six cops bought Olympic arms from a local gun shop and they had nothing but issues with them. I don’t know about these days, I’ve always bought what I would consider higher Quality AR platforms.

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For me some of the best stuff is made by JPRifles, some of the junk.......Anderson

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Diamond Back seems cheaply made. Saw one at the range the other day.


Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
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I had a Sharps rifle Co. Upper in 25-45 sharps, that was a jamming sob., Other hand a used BCAs 50 Beowulf that's been great, I bought a upper in 350 led., But not got to try it yet.


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How does Rock River fall in the scheme of thigs?
Thanks,
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Cheapest & most inaccurate POS I've owned (for a very short time) was a 350 Legend upper made by BCA. Friends had similar experiences.

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Jeffrey Offline OP
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Ghostman,
Any other complaints other than accuracy?

My 300BO 10” BCA shoots damn good and hasn’t given me any trouble at all.

Surely someone can educate us on what the differences are between a $500 AR and a $1500 AR.
I’m sure barrel quality is one things. I’m sure the triggers can be improved. What else? Surely it’s more than ambidextrous safeties, mag releases and charging handles.

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Originally Posted by RickinTN
How does Rock River fall in the scheme of thigs?
Thanks,
Rick


I bought a couple of RR uppers several years ago, and they've been fine. It seems reputations turn on a dime when it comes to manufacturers, but I'd buy RR again if I needed/wanted something already put together...or from just about anyone except Diamondback (based on reputation this week) or BCA (also based on reputation this week). In reality I'm really much more inclined to just shop around for the parts from other sources, with particular emphasis on barrels, triggers, and BCGs.


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“ Surely someone can educate us on what the differences are between a $500 AR and a $1500 AR.”

There used to be a guy named Pat Rogers who ran classes and one of his classes was usually 1000 rounds in 2 days. He kept notes on what ran trouble free and what didn’t. Things started to stand out and as he would say “we call this a clue”. If you use a gun hard, you’ll know what the difference is.

If you won’t ever put 1000 rounds on the gun in your lifetime, it won’t matter.

Not many $500 guns made it but it didn’t take a $1500 gun either. For starters look at Colt or BCM and see what differences you can see. Do they make your gun better or not so much?

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Just buy a Rock River and be done with all the agonizing.


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Originally Posted by TWR
“ Surely someone can educate us on what the differences are between a $500 AR and a $1500 AR.”

There used to be a guy named Pat Rogers who ran classes and one of his classes was usually 1000 rounds in 2 days. He kept notes on what ran trouble free and what didn’t. Things started to stand out and as he would say “we call this a clue”. If you use a gun hard, you’ll know what the difference is.

If you won’t ever put 1000 rounds on the gun in your lifetime, it won’t matter.

Not many $500 guns made it but it didn’t take a $1500 gun either. For starters look at Colt or BCM and see what differences you can see. Do they make your gun better or not so much?

Tell us. Who makes the worst AR? In your opinion... I'm glad, I've never had to worry about such things.. and yes, I do/have shoot/shot the schidt out of mine.. Well, except for the BCM. I don't shoot that one very much..


Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
Originally Posted by Pharmseller
You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.

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Dealing with budget AR’s is something I don’t do.

There’s too many brands out there now that are budget oriented and I don’t ever pay attention to them. And one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

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Originally Posted by TWR
Dealing with budget AR’s is something I don’t do.

There’s too many brands out there now that are budget oriented and I don’t ever pay attention to them. And one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

I guess we'll let these other guys tell us which ones are the bad ones then..


Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
Originally Posted by Pharmseller
You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.

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Originally Posted by Jeffrey
Ghostman,
Any other complaints other than accuracy?

My 300BO 10” BCA shoots damn good and hasn’t given me any trouble at all.

Besides the accuracy issues which were due to the crappy barrel it didn't feed worth a damn. Lead lapping the barrel, polishing the feed ramp and trying several different mags improved it but it still was far from my accuracy standard with factory or handloaded ammo I tried.

Surely someone can educate us on what the differences are between a $500 AR and a $1500 AR.
I’m sure barrel quality is one things. I’m sure the triggers can be improved. What else? Surely it’s more than ambidextrous safeties, mag releases and charging handles.

IMO Quality barrels, custom quality light triggers and a good trued up receiver makes a big difference when it comes to accuracy and account for much of the cost. Based on my experience in building ARs handguards, amb. safeties, extended mag releases, charging handles, stocks etc. are mostly cosmetic or weight and have little influence with accuracy or functional reliability.

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Originally Posted by Jeffrey
What makes a quality AR and a bad AR?

My two cents.

The intended use defines what is "good" and what is "bad."

If I was occupying Fallujah or breaching buildings on a SWAT team, I would want something put together as reliable and bombproof as possible. Things like accuracy and weight would probably be secondary concerns to it always going bang when I pulled the trigger, under wartime conditions.

If I was varmint hunting or shooting paper, accuracy would probably be the top concern.

If I had it stowed behind the seat in a pickup and occasionally pulled it out for general purpose rural shooting, portability and compactness might be the top concern.

The intended role establishes parameters for "good" and "bad." Anyone saying this brand of ARs is "bad" is really saying "this brand of ARs does not meet my particular intended use."

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I have used Anderson parts, but I was looking at one of their rifles with an A2 upper and the rear sight was all sorts of FUBAR.

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I have been buying Aero Precision and Ballistic Advantage barrels for several builds. I'm very satisified with them. I have only bought 3 complete uppers and one complete lower. 2 of the uppers were Armalite from when Mark Westrum owned the company and they have been flawless. I also have an Armalite National Match lower bought with the uppers. It's been flawless as well. The other complete upper is a Del-ton. It's worked as designed as well. I know Del-Ton has had some ups and downs with quality but I bought this several years ago before the QC issues. I run my borescope into the barrel and it appears flawless with no machine marks and no pits in the rifling.

I have never put 1000 rounds through a rifle in a day. The last one I did get good and dirty belonged to Dyncorp before I went to Afghanistan and it was a Bushmaster. The trigger was pretty worn and if I squeezed it to slow it would put out 2 or 3 rounds while on semi auto. God only knows how many bullets that gun fired prior to me using it.

My own personal opinion is Aero makes the best "affordable" AR on the market right now. Aero also owns Ballistic Advantage. You can spend a big amount of money on a Colt, BCM or DD and for a guy like me I could use that money difference on buying ammo. On my builds I buy Tool Craft bolts and bolt carriers.

I bought 2 barrels from Midway USA and they are plagued with machine marks in the barrel and in the rifling. They were Midway's barrels. (AR-Stoner) I have spent some time trying to smooth up those 2 barrels. I can only suggest you avoid the cheap barrels that look like a bargain. Next time I will get the Ballistic Advantage barrels.

If I wanted a factory built rifle other than Aero Precision I would look at Rock River. Their accuracy guarantee seems to be the industry standard and they have been around for a long time. If it were plan to use it and abuse it, it would be a Colt or BCM.

kwg


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I have had really good performance from my Spikes Tactical and Colt AR rifles. Lots of rounds down range for many years. Of course I'm not an 'operator' or a 'contractor'. lol


Sam......

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