Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles Mil Spec or Commercial?

If you're ready to buy 5,000 or more I'll give you my number.

LOL, nope, I have no use for commercial sized tubes as there is no commercial sized SOPMOD stock.

Why would anyone bother making a good commercial sized tube with no good commercial stocks? (excluding the CTR/MOE)

Just a question...how many here that just have to have everything "mil-spec" are "mil-spec" themselves? Probably not many...

I was not in the service so I guess I'm not mil spec and neither are my AR's.

Mil spec is just a standard, some individual parts are as good as they get while other mil spec parts of the same gun, there are better options.

So let's look at it a different way. How many here go through life demanding something that might work?

I want my stuff to work, there is a difference between a range toy and a good gun. Sadly some people are like democrats and they know so much that just is not so.

Let's see if I have this right- if an AR has a commercial buffer tube it's not going to work? PS- Please leave politics out of the discussion.

I am sorry I offended your people.

No problem, they aren't my people. I'm an independent who can think for himself and doesn't need anyone to tell me how to think. BTW, you didn't answer my question.

MILSPEC is such an overused and misunderstood term. A lot of manufacturers of what I consider to be substandard guns claim they are MILSPEC.

One simple example:

Take the takedown detent pin from a M4, M16, or a COLT LPK and one from a Bushmaster or DPMS LPK and look at them. The military and COLT pin is rounded on both ends and can be installed either way, the DPMS and Bushmaster are Flat on one end and will only work one way. They are not MILSPEC. Will this particular part make any difference in the operation of the firearm? Most likely not but it is not a MILSPEC part and neither is the firearm. This is just one of the many shortcuts they take to build guns cheaper. There are many other parts that can be likewise compared and if you can't see the difference its because you aren't paying attention or don't want to see it. Anymore MILSPEC is nothing more than a gimmick term used to sell guns.

The first Armorer school I attended was as a Private in 1982 and although I only worked as a unit armorer for a short period the things I learned were invaluable throughout my career. As a Small Arms Master Gunner I handled thousands of M16s and M4s and there is a difference between them and your Bushmaster, Oly, DPMS, Stag etc. There are some top flight makers out there that I feel are the equal or better of the military guns but the $700 ones you buy at BigMart aren't it. Will the cheaper guns work, maybe most of the time but that's not good enough for me. Sorry.

And yes I am MILSPEC Retired.

Very well said.

The saddest part is the price of the non mil spec guns is getting so close to a Colt for example due simply to internet "+1's on my gun is just as good as".

I add a few things to my guns that aren't mil spec but serve my purpose better.

Well, since I'm retired SF, I guess I qualify as "milspec", but a friend of mine doesn't. He's never been in the service, but he's been a nationally-ranked 3-gun competitor for quite a number of years and he walks around all day on spent brass that he didn't pay for. He says most of the hoopla about "milspec" is BS, and he has no qualms about going to high dollar matches with DPMS components in a gun. Of, course he's shot the piss out of said gun and know's it'll run. The guns either work or they don't, out of the box. The standard Bushmaster Armorer's Course projected service life for all the various parts applies to all AR's, even the "milspec" ones. That means springs, bolts etc have to be changed periodically. So much for some people's theories.

I have the misfortune of having to maintain 19 Bushmaster rifles. They broke bolts at a very low round count, Under 5000. I contacted Bushmaster on what they considered a reasonable service life and these weren't even close. So much for that theory. By the way all parts in the guns have been replaced by COLT parts and now they run fine. Of course tightening the carrier keys to proper torque and staking the bolts and replacing half the barrels that didn't have proper headspace from the factory helped also. Bushmaster is a Joke.

All parts are not created equal and neither are all guns.

For recreational guns I don't get to wraped up about some parts as you can see in the post about my 3 gun build. For a duty gun substandard parts are not acceptable. My opionion for what its worth.

3 Gun targets don�t shoot back.

"Under 5000 rds" could be one round or 4999. About how many "under 5000"? Are you telling me those barrels were still accurate with 5K rds through them. You don't think the barrels needed changing? If you did, you put a used bolt in an old barrel?

all your arguments are academic,it can work all the time and not work one time and its now an expensive club. I want a gun whose parts are tested per a military protocol. Buy what you want, I had a RRA and a Bushmaster once myself. Knowledge of a stream of failed remington 7400 etc. semi autos over my lifetime has left an indelible mark on my conscious.

Well, Jimmy, by refusing to answer my questions, you have in fact answered them. I will from now on refer to you as Walter.

Whatever, what have you ever done or been where I should give a chit about what you think? Let me know so I can care.

You do know who Walter is, don't you? Walter Mitty. He's just like you, a salesman who daydreams a lot to make up for his boring life. He "needs" everything just like the military because he has fantasies about the world going to hell and him strapping on his chest rig and thigh rig and saving the world for decent people. I meet them every day at the gun range.

tell us about yourself uphiker, are you someone that we should give a chit what you think? You anyone special?

Nope, just a normal guy with a few guns and no surrealistic fantasies. Like Clint Smith said in his column a few months ago when he was talking about the overweight, out of shape, tacticool people who sometimes came to his center- "be who you are, not who you imagine you are".

If i was building for hunting i could care less if it is Mil-Spec or Commercial, but if building for a duty weapon i would prefer Mil-Spec because they are built stronger and can take more abuse. For the average guy the difference between the Mil-S and Commercial is about 25 .00