Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Forged, Cast, or Milled?

Any cast aluminum receiver sucks, whether it's made by Oly or anyone else.

Dtech

A strange question here for some local tightwads that want to stash away many of them for a rainy day... any experience with EA arms in LA? They are a bit cheaper, I"ve got an old one from circa 80s, I run it in an NTIT gun, its never gave a problem and thats all hard rapid fire.

But are they OK in the long run for general duty?

Jeff

Jeff, I have had a few through my hands in the last 6 months or so. They have all been top-notch. Good fit, good hard finish. Seems to me the color was not real black though..... Don't take the color problem as gospel, I may be confusing them with another brand.

Color doesn't bother me, but when I have to put it in the mill to install the FGC, or can't install the bolt-catch because the roll-pin hole is crooked, I never forget!

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to grab a couple of them.

Thanks for the latest intel on them. Color never bothered me. Gun is a tool, like a wrench, don't care what it looks like IF it shoots... I've got one looker gun, it never leaves the safe....

My ARs mix and match mutts, shoot, and are rarely in the safe.

Thanks, Jeff

Dtech, I'm curious how you are measuring/determining the hardness of the finishes?

compared to what other brand?

I'm not "measuring" the hardness, it's more of an observation while working with the receivers. One of the brands that I work with quite a bit has a much "softer" coating. When you hit it with the mill, it cuts through the coating very easily. That same brand, so I'm making the assumption that the same coating process was used, displays tiny little "dents" on the brass-deflector. Some of the receivers, including the Oly's, the coating is quite hard. When you hit it with a solid carbide cutter in the mill, you can hear and feel that it's more difficult to penetrate the surface.

That same "softer" receiver also starts to loosen at the hammer-pin and trigger-pin holes quicker than the receivers with the "harder" coating.

I have quite a bit of equipment left over from my "previous life" that comes in real handy while building and experimenting with guns, especially wildcats. I probably have a device that would actually measure the "hardness" of the surface, but I haven't really seen the need.

"That same "softer" receiver also starts to loosen at the hammer-pin and trigger-pin holes quicker than the receivers with the "harder" coating."

Thanks for telling us which one it is. You are a big help in that area.

Sorry, I'm not in this as a hobby. The same people that produce receivers that have a soft coating, produce many other parts that are good, and that I use.

There are some quirky little habits that my wife has, but it would be poor judgement for me to talk about them on an open forum.

Interesting observations. Type III anodizing is difficult to measure using the Rockwell tests since it is such a thin coating. It is typically applied around 0.002 thick. Half of that .002 is build-up on the surface and the other half of the .002 is penetration of the underlying surface. Type III anodizing is more of an abrasion resistant coating rather than a hardening agent due to it's thickness. Sealing further reduces the hardness of this coating. If the substrate is being dented by shell casings something isn't right. Either it isn't hardened properly or it's not 7075-T6 no matter what they're marketing it as. 260 Brass, typically called cartridge brass, is approximately B77 Rockewll. 7075-T6 is approximately B87.

Thanks for nothing. Talking up Oly and others down are your bread and butter. Its all about Smoney$

Gonehuntinnow, Look back at your posts with me. You expect me to be forthcoming with you? Why? I don't care what brand you like or don't like. Most of the mall-ninjas and wana be's don't seem to like Oly. They read all the stuff on ARF.com and repeat it on other boards like you do. The folks that actually use their AR's for varmint, or target and require accuracy tend to realize that Oly makes a pretty darn good barrel.

I am a master dealer/distributor for DPMS, a dealer with ArmaLite, a dealer with Rock River and a master dealer/distributor for Olympic Arms. All of them have good points and all of them have some product that I will not use. About the only thing I use that Oly makes is their barrels, free-float tubes and WSSM parts. Oly has their problems, but they produce great barrels. These guys producing receivers with soft coatings, do a lot of other things right, and I don't see any reason to give a guy like you something to twist around to suit your agenda.

Buy whatever you wish, I really don't care, but if you make disparaging comments about a product that I happen to know is false, then expect to be challenged on it.

Dtech

Nice response, full disclosure and all.

Next time I'm up around Nisswa, I'll try to give you a call.
It will probably be a while, but I get to Bemidji now and then.

toltecgriz, You are welcome any time. I don't have a retail "store front", just a machine-shop where I do my fluting, profiling, chambering and assembly. I normally have lots of stuff to look at in various stages of completion, just not in a retail environment.

Thanks, not to worry, I wasn't looking for a store front anyway.

Google is a wonderful tool in this modern age!!!!!

I couldnt find any firearm history on you farther than 5 years ago. Did you exist before then?


This is from a man that wants us to believe Oly barrels are as good as the other simi custom barrels used on ARs. Wilson and Green Mountain, Ect.

"Most of the firearms manufacturers used hammer-forged barrels. A metal tube is slid over a mandrel, with the rifling formed on it. The metal tube is hydraulically squeezed down onto the mandrel, leaving the rifling embedded. This type of barrel is what you would find on a Remington or Winchester, as well as many others. This process is cost-effective where very high volumes of the same barrel contour is needed"

Some old wise man said. You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people some of the time.

FWIW - I just picked up two Stag stripped lowers and they appear well made but there were several very tiny "flecks" of finish missing which could have happened during manufacture or in transit. Either way, I'm not sure how tough the coating is on these so I guess it's a good thing they're not going to rust....

I don't see what you find strange about that quote you dug up.

I really don't care what you believe about Wilson or Green Mountain. I have used enough Wilson barrels to know they are good most of the time, and I have used enough of the broach-cut Oly barrels to know they are more consistently accurate than the Wilson. Take it or leave it, I really don't care. Perhaps if you let us know who your are, and what vast experience you have with barrels, maybe someone will listen.

"I don't see what you find strange about that quote you dug up."

Here it is.

"Most of the firearms manufacturers used hammer-forged barrels. A metal tube is slid over a mandrel, with the rifling formed on it. The metal tube is hydraulically squeezed down onto the mandrel, leaving the rifling embedded. This type of barrel is what you would find on a Remington or Winchester, as well as many others. This process is cost-effective where very high volumes of the same barrel contour is needed"

Show us any proof from anybody that makes barrels using the hammer forged method you have described.

You said Oly barrels being better than others. Then I find you dont know how hammer forged barrels are made.

This is a copy-and-paste from an Internet site describing the hammer-forging process. The quote that you dug up of mine, was an attempt to answer the question "how is rifling put into barrels" The quote you presented was just the part about hammer-forging. I didn't go into great detail as to how hydraulic impact was used, just that it was a very expensive machine that was used for high-production.

The first quote is from Rifle Shooter magazine

]" barrel can be rifled in a matter of seconds with a single pass of a broach or button; or in two hours by the incremental cutting of one groove at a time using a solitary cutting tool. Or, if you've got the big bucks of a major firearms company, you can shell out a million-plus dollars for a hammer forging machine and literally beat the rifling into the barrel, while at the same time shape it to its finished contour. Some manufacturers even hammer-forge the chamber at the same time by using a mandrel that looks like a cartridge case stuck on the end of a rifled steel rod."

Here is a link with more explanations and photos.
http://technology.calumet.purdue.edu/met/higley/Precision%20Shooting%20Magazine%20-%20November-%202005%20(Vol_%2053%20-%20No_%207).htm

I think if you check with anyone with an IQ that is a couple of points above yours, you will find that, as I said, Remington and others use hammer-forged barrels. That brings up my next thought: I have often heard it said: "Never argue with an idiot, they will only bring you down to their level, then beat you with experience"

That being said, you can argue with yourself, or someone else, I've had enough of the "special olympics" I'm done.