What do you like or hate about (insert brand)'s AR?

[David S.]

I'm totally not qualified to speak up on this overall.

I looked at all the above options when I replaced my AR last Christmas, plus the Geissele, which hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet.

I ended up with a Sionics Patrol III because they had a great Black Friday sale on it. At my request, they installed a light profile barrel instead of a standard profile that was advertised in the BF deal. In retrospect, I kinda wish I would have gone 14.5" with some sort of suppressor ready muzzle device. C'est La vie.

I mounted an Aimpoint Pro and a sling and ran it through a 2 day, 1,000ish round class this last spring. We walked a fair bit and climbed up and down a several story structure. I was glad I kept the rifle light. I've since added an Olight Odin from the recent PF deal. I'll eventually do an LPVO, and re-look at the suppressor thing, but I'm otherwise happy with it.

There's a bunch of companies doing equally good rifles, but this one checked all the right boxes at the right price.

Cheers,
David S.

[Lost River]

The Colt Trooper carbines they were moving out a few years ago for less than 8 bills were an absolute steal.





Centurion Arms M-Lock rail on a basic 6920.


I picked it up a few years ago, then sold it here a little bit ago when I needed the money.


I am still shooting my same Colt I bought in the late 90s. The original barrel was getting long in the throat, and was replaced with a super skinny one on a new upper.





Between it and another 6920 that has a 2-8 Leupold with a custom BDC dial for 77 grain MK 262 specifically for that gun's 16" barrel, they meet my needs sufficiently.



I realize neither of my optic are cutting edge these days, but I seem to put rounds into flesh and onto steel, so I will keep them on there for now.



The 6920 has a White Oak Armament barrel and it is amazingly accurate. I have been tempted to put a bigger scope on to take better advantage of its accuracy potential, but it would defeat the lightweight concept of the rifle.



Reference the old Colt A3 with ACOG, as "outdated" as the RDO/ACOG setup is, it is amazingly fast for getting first round hits out to pretty good distances.


* Reference the black vet wrap on the buffer tubes, (someone almost always asks). It keeps my beard and mustache hairs from getting ripped out.

[Old Man Winter]

American Defense Manufacturing ADM4 / UIC carbines are good to go. Arguably the best ambi controls, Criterion barrel, Geissele trigger, Radian charging handle / safety selector, and Surefire muzzle device for $1850.

[tango-papa]

I'm totally not qualified to speak up on this overall.

I looked at all the above options when I replaced my AR last Christmas, plus the Geissele, which hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet.

I ended up with a Sionics Patrol III because they had a great Black Friday sale on it. At my request, they installed a light profile barrel instead of a standard profile that was advertised in the BF deal. In retrospect, I kinda wish I would have gone 14.5" with some sort of suppressor ready muzzle device. C'est La vie.

I mounted an Aimpoint Pro and a sling and ran it through a 2 day, 1,000ish round class this last spring. We walked a fair bit and climbed up and down a several story structure. I was glad I kept the rifle light. I've since added an Olight Odin from the recent PF deal. I'll eventually do an LPVO, and re-look at the suppressor thing, but I'm otherwise happy with it.

There's a bunch of companies doing equally good rifles, but this one checked all the right boxes at the right price.

Cheers,
David S.

Just FYI - Sionics offers barrels in the following lengths: 11.5", 16", 18" and they do not offer cut/thread service (or at least not the last time I inquired with them on behalf of a coworker a few months back).

However, if you want to get the barrel on your rifle cut/threaded to 14.5", suggest the following:
Decide on a suppressor/suppressor mount and send the upper & mount to John Thomas/Retro Arms Works. His work is damn near perfection, reasonably priced and turn-around time is impressive.
Depending on your choice of suppressor mount, you can go shorter than 14.5" barrel length with a cut/thread/pin/weld and still have a 16.1" OAL barrel.

I've got a bit of experience with Sionics rifles and they do everything right - excellent choice.

[Nephrology]

Decide on a suppressor/suppressor mount and send the upper & mount to John Thomas/Retro Arms Works. His work is damn near perfection, reasonably priced and turn-around time is impressive..

I sent John a pair of Aero uppers to have them inspected/reassembled to spec/gas block pinned. Uppers were back in the mail <48h from their delivery to his shop. Very pleased with the pin job he did.

I don't have enough experience with ARs to contribute much otherwise, but I am happy with the two DSG uppers I bought from them. The 16" match grade upper is a tack driver, and the uppers seem well assembled so far. My 11.5" duty grade has about a case through it with no issues, eats everything I put in it with no complaints. I would recommend them for anyone looking for an inexpensive AR made with quality parts.

I will say that I am happy with my ARs now, but in hindsight would have purchased a few assembled guns from BCM. When I eventually have the room in the budget for more suppressors (and they exist again), I will probably horse trade into uppers/complete rifles of BCM-tier quality.

[David S.]

Just FYI - Sionics offers barrels in the following lengths: 11.5", 16", 18" and they do not offer cut/thread service (or at least not the last time I inquired with them on behalf of a coworker a few months back).

However, if you want to get the barrel on your rifle cut/threaded to 14.5", suggest the following:
Decide on a suppressor/suppressor mount and send the upper & mount to John Thomas/Retro Arms Works. His work is damn near perfection, reasonably priced and turn-around time is impressive.
Depending on your choice of suppressor mount, you can go shorter than 14.5" barrel length with a cut/thread/pin/weld and still have a 16.1" OAL barrel.

I've got a bit of experience with Sionics rifles and they do everything right - excellent choice.

Thanks for the info. It’s something I’ll probably look into in the next couple years.

[Casual Friday]

You really should go read up on who is good to go over on M4C. They are a much bigger user base to gather intel from.

Yeah, but they also have much shittier posters. M4C of today ain't the M4C of a couple years ago (and let's not forget one of the reasons PF was founded...). I honestly would say you would get better info here than on M4C these days.

I agree that PF is the better source today. M4C doesn't even have chainsaw or bidet threads, or a 70 page thread about PDWs and backpacks.

M4C in it's heyday though from like 2006-2012 when a bunch of industry professionals contributed there on a daily basis was something else. There is several years worth of reading in those old threads, I have about 100 threads saved in my bookmarks that I read through from time to time and send to new shooters to read. Once all the industry pro's were run off, and that whole Alias thing, it wasn't the same.

My interactions with Millennials and Zoomers lead me to believe that they aren't as interested in traditional forums as much as Gen X'ers and Boomers. They prefer FB groups, IG, Youtube, Reddit, and the Chans. The Chans are kinda forums but not really. If PF is a grocery store, the Chans are one of those weird markets in a third world country where you can get anime, porn, gore, guns, and seeds for your garden.

[Eric_L]

That’s entirely personal preference though. I want as much of the barrel covered as possible so its harder to rest the exposed barrel on a barricade and drastically throw off POI. I’ve done that more than I’ve struggled getting the muzzle through a narrow opening and being able to take shots because the handguard was too long. Where did you have that issue? I’ve heard people reference it but never specifically where that was a problem so I’m generally curious. Plus it gives more flexibility for mounting stuff if so desired. And I’ll take a pinned MD over the extra two inches of handguard every day. You won’t go wrong getting a pinned A2X from them but the BCM comp continues to be my preferred all around MD because it is a pretty good hybrid.

Either way, the bottom line is that any flavor of BCM probably won’t be a completely wrong decision.


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My ape arms agree with you. I mount the light and sling attachment as close to the end as I can. Long rails for me and I agree with your reasoning.

[OlongJohnson]

Any useful opinions about the usefulness of Primary & Secondary forums? I've listened to the podcast a bit, haven't really spent time on the forum.

[andre3k]

Any useful opinions about the usefulness of Primary & Secondary forums? I've listened to the podcast a bit, haven't really spent time on the forum.

The forum isnt really that busy, but its still a decent resource. The SME's seem to respond more on their various private Facebook groups.

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