I have had great experiences with Spike's Tactical rifles. Certain models or separate lowers/uppers are available from Primary Arms at very reasonable prices. I have dealt with John at Spike's and their customer service is superb. He repaired a rifle for me that I screwed up, not a warranty issue. But he repaired for free. He even offered to ship for free. I am in the local area, so I could deliver it while he repaired while I waited. For me, it is a no brainer being near Apopka.
Similarly, Rainier Arms in Washington has been superb to me over the years. Most recently, they corrected a factory bolt carrier group assembly for me , only charging me for the component that had to correctively replace. A few years back, they thoroughly went through my Bushmaster (built in the late 1990s at the apogee of Bushmaster's quality/QC from what I've picked up), and blessed it not only as good to go, but up to their standards-as a professional courtesy, gratis.
A trusted source has also informed me that they build the local police department's AR, and they have some very dialed-in gun/AR guys in the dept.
Best, Jon
Rainer Arms stuff is good to go. They don’t actually make it but it comes from first rate OEMs like SMOS, pacnor (RIP) etc.Originally Posted by JonInWA
10-15 years ago, my response would be different. However, in today's market, it's pretty hard not to buy a quality rifle if we are talking about reputable manufacturers. The best bang for the buck is going to be Colt without question. Not sure what supply and demand looks like right now, but over the summer I saw several 6920's for less than $1,000.00. My Dad bought one last year for around $900 NIB. If you want to spend a little more, you can buy a BCM or a DD which will open up a whole host of options with gas systems, rails, furniture, etc... They will have a better fit and finish as well. You can spend even more than that and buy from Noveske, KAC, and the list goes on down the rabbit hole.
Consider this also, I have a DD, a BCM, and a Noveske, all in the $3k+ range. They will not do anything better than Dad's sub $1,000.00 Colt. Sure, they may be a hair more accurate (maybe .25 or .5 moa = irrelevant in a SD role), they are definitely prettier (again, irrelevant in an SD role), but they are not going to make you a better shooter. Unless you are a collector, want a specific roll mark, or are just a brand fanboy (nothing wrong with that), money is always better spent on ammo and training.
I have owned a bunch of ARs over the years. Colt 6720s, Colt 6920s, etc. I had one of the Colt 6920-R Troopers when they first hit the scene and mine showed up with a snapped bolt at the hand guard mounting location. I sent it back to Colt and a couple months later I finally got it back. I have had two 6920s purchased at the same time with different mag-well specs - one would drop free Gen 2 PMags, one would only drop free Okay Ind. USGI mags. My experience with Colt is that they have shoddy QC and CS.
Currently I only own Sionics rifles and have been extremely pleased with them. You can call and speak directly to the guys who will be building your rifle. If you have any issues they are immediately available and do whatever you need to get you fixed up. I've spent plenty of time on the phone with those guys discussing which barrel profile or trigger is best for my needs.
Also, when your new Sionics rifle shows up it is nice and clean, scratch and scuff free, like a new thousand dollar gun should be. Not slathered in cosmoline and beat to heck like all Colt's rifles are.
They don't advertise at all outside of their very slow Instagram account, but I assume that is because they are kept busy with all of their LE contracts.
My current recommendation for a super solid starter AR is their Patrol Three-E with the lightweight barrel. I have one and it is the best handling AR I've ever used. The hand guard is very thoughtfully vented so heat can actually escape. The fit and finish is flawless, and the stuff that matters (castle nut staking, gas key staking, etc.) is done 100% the right way.
The easy button is to add the Magpul MBUS Pro sights (+$140 installed) so your rifle shows up in a nice soft case with sights and a PMag, ready to go to the range.
http://sionicsweaponsystems.com/stor...age_trigger-no
On a local firearms forum, I've read several guys complain about issues getting their Sig rifles to run properly. If this is going to be a person's only chance to get a pre-ban rifle, I wouldn't take the chance of buying a Sig when there are other, more likely functional right out of the box, options.
(Is the ban going to affect magazines, by the way? Because at least in my country, buying a whole bunch of AR magazines before a deadline was... not cheap. One might want to consider magazines in their budget. Of course you bastards have the luxury of $8 PMags and such, so maybe not such a big deal for you.)
For those stocking up, my recommendation is go baller and spend the $9.65/ea for M3 30-rounders at buygunstuff.com with $10 shipping, rather than the $8 M2s.
.
-----------------------------------------
Not another dime.
My instructor, who's seen several SIG rifles tells me that they have a tendency to have tight chambers, necessitating either factory ammunition or very well crafted and dimensioned reloads. That's been the case with mine, necessitating factory ammunition for pretty much everything but plinking; that doesn't bother me.On a local firearms forum, I've read several guys complain about issues getting their Sig rifles to run properly. If this is going to be a person's only chance to get a pre-ban rifle, I wouldn't take the chance of buying a Sig when there are other, more likely functional right out of the box, options.
(Is the ban going to affect magazines, by the way? Because at least in my country, buying a whole bunch of AR magazines before a deadline was... not cheap. One might want to consider magazines in their budget. Of course you bastards have the luxury of $8 PMags and such, so maybe not such a big deal for you.
Mine had an improperly assembled firing pin cotter pin (the pin was jammed in, and the prong(s) bent over the bolt instead of properly going through the holes); I discovered that during my initial field-strip/clean/lube session, and it was wedged in so tightly I had my gunsmith remove it (and replace it with a new cotter pin). Otherwise, assembly, fit and function has been excellent.
Best, Jon
What that would require, for me, would be a chamber reamer...
while some of those may be an added cost/price bought alone, the red one is the only one that adds any value IMO.
Reply With Quote