Originally Posted by
Sean M
As always...........my disclaimer.......just my opinion, and it is worth exactly what you paid for it. This one is pretty biased.
First:
Not sure I really understand the "need a new big screen TV". As I am standing at the crossroads of consolidating two well established households into one in the very near future, I am counting 6 HD flat screen TV's. One 60", one 52", one 40", and three 32". Hey, 6 TV's, and there are 9 rooms in my house. Perfect. But..........Of all of those televisions, we will actually only "need" NONE of them. I compromised with the other head of household, and decided we could keep one for child entertainment (teenager who loves Call of Duty, and I will admit that I take a little pleasure myself teaching him tactical decision making via violent video games) and education purposes. (I hear Baby Einstein is the equivalent of Crack for newly escaped inmates).
But that's just me. I get it, it is 2012, so I can see why most families would have a television.
In all seriousness, and actually on topic.........
What is the intended use of the rifle? I ask, because it could be relevant, and justification for purchasing a Windham if that is what you have your heart set on.
However, if any of your requirements/desires are:
- Dimensions of critical tolerances within established industry specifications
- Long service life/ Durability
- Reliability
- Quality materials and quality assembly of components
- Good quality control/quality assurance
- Good customer service/warranty service
Go buy just about ANY OTHER rifle in the world.
Having never heard the name Windham, and seeing Fred M, and others mention it was a Bushmaster by another name, (which is widely known among folks who see lots and lots of AR's, for producing bottom of the barrel quality rifles), I needed to take a look at their site and see how Windham was different than Bushmaster.
Analogy time:
I could pick up a giant turd off of my back lawn, and take it into the house, wash it off in the sink, pat it dry gently, cover it completely in parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme....... (while whistling Simon and Garfunkel)...........then put it in a southwestern themed flower pot, add some potting soil to hold it upright, place the pot on my window sill, and tell people it is an extremely rare, and exotic "Taos Cactus".
But changing the name, and making changes to the appearance, and packaging it differently cannot change the fact that underneath the fluff, and my attempts to cover the smell, what I have is still the same piece of shit that was in my yard.
I spent a good deal of time looking and reading, and learning about Windham and their products. But I only needed about 5 minutes to be 100% sure that Windham Weaponry could have just as easily been named "Taos Cactus".
Issues/Concerns noted in those first 5 minutes: (or "why I am convinced WW is synonymous with Taos Cactus")
1) Rifles are chambered in .223 Rem/5.56 NATO. Which is it? .223 Rem or 5.56 NATO? There is a difference. Yes, it matters. Bushmaster never figured that out. Apparently WW hasn't learned that yet either. Though I am not sure why not, since, while reading about the "team", just about everyone in the company has years and years as a former Bushmaster employee. Perhaps WW will bid for the next DoD contract, and try to convince the US Army that .223/5.56 are the same, and it doesn't matter. (again) Maybe they can convince them this time? "Yeah, the barrels are 5.56mm. We stamped it on the side of the barrel, just like in the spec!" (Can't just stamp the barrel, you have to ream the chamber to the proper dimensions too morons).
Epic failure.
2) The home page has a link to the press release announcing WW's partnership with Patriot Ordnance Factory (POF). The only AR manufacturer that I would have said is a bigger POS than Bushmaster. Perfect.....they are going to combine their superpower of suck, and genetically engineer a bigger POS.
3) Warranty. I was baffled. Seriously. Take a look. They have built in, ready made justifications to blame anything but them for a rifle that breaks, sucks, or just doesn't work.
They bait you in, leading you to believe they have a great warranty. From their warranty page................
"Windham Weaponry, Inc. (WW) will warranty all firearms manufactured by WW against any and all manufacturers defects in material and workmanship which affect reasonable operation for the lifetime of the firearm to the purchaser. This warranty is transferrable from the original purchaser to a subsequent buyer.
Sounds good. I like that, and it makes a good selling point if I were to decide to sell it eventually.
BUT............read a little further down............
"The following are specifically excluded from coverage under this warranty and will cause said warranty to become null and void:
Damage or malfunction resulting from accident, negligence, misuse or unauthorized repair or alteration; barrel obstruction; use of ammunition other than NATO and/or SAAMI specification new production ammunition; use of any hand loaded, reloaded, imported or factory re-manufactured ammunition; failure to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance as described in the Operators Manual accompanying the firearm; rust or corrosion; use of replacement parts other than parts authorized by WWI for use in WWI firearms; any unauthorized repair or any alteration, including of a cosmetic nature, performed on the firearm by an individual, organization, company or entity other than WWI; unreasonable or excessive use of the firearm."
So if you go out and grab a bunch of LC headstamped M855 green tip, and your gun breaks or doesn't work........they don't have to cover it under warranty. The green tip that is sold on the civilian market was not to NATO spec......that is why it was sold as surplus. No Q3131. No Aussie. No Brit. No Danish. No German. Wait, some of those countries actually export their NATO spec ammo as a source of revenue. It is NATO spec. But it is imported. Reload to keep costs down but volume of shooting up? Warranty null and void.
Unauthorized repair or alteration, including of a cosmetic nature, performed by anyone other than WW......................???? I actually "LOL'd" when I read that. I think it is the first time in my adult life I had a reaction where the acronym "LOL" was appropriate to describe what I did. The ridiculous meter just pegged. Asinine. Browse their Operator Manual....the BCG shown in their pictures has probably the very best key staking job I have ever seen on a Bushmaster. And it still sucks. Bad. Fortunately for the new WW rifle owner, they can rest assured that they are a serious player in the quality rifle game because.......
" This manual is based upon the
U.S. Gov’t. Issue Manual for M16
A2 Rifles, and will be included with
all semi-automac Windham
Weaponry Firearms.
That makes me feel sooooo much better. Like watching one of those "Based on a true story" movies. I always walk out convinced it was a factual, and historically correct "Docudrama", and accurate representation of the truth. Or not so much. And while one would think that the single largest organization in the world using an AR pattern rifle would be able to produce an operator/user manual, time has educated as that we would be wrong. The Govt. user manual sucks. Glad they based their POS on someone else's. But at least the Govt manual is consistent and does not contradict itself halfway through.
I could go on and on, but I won't bother to waste anymore of anyone's time. It is no secret I hate Bushmaster and now WW, and I don't apologize for calling it how I see it. They prey on the ignorant. No, not "stupid". The new shooter, or new to AR shooters who don't know what they don't know and think they are getting a good deal. I don't judge a man or woman based on the gun they chose, or possibly sold to them by the guru behind the counter at the LGS. But as a trainer, it is very frustrating to see an excited, eager, and ready to go student let the learning begin show up with a POS rifle like a Bushmaster, or POF, or now..........Windham. Unfortunately, I have yet to have a class that there was not at least one BM/WWPOF. Their upwards of $1500 investment to attend training has always ended in a waste of money, and time. Not one Bushmaster or POF has ever made it though a carbine course I have taught. Not one. I have not seen a POF make it though the first day without showing how bad it sucks, and that is only about a 300 round day.
The common frustrated comment when the course was over............"I wish I had borrowed or rented a rifle and taken this class BEFORE I showed up with this rifle. I'd have sold it and bought a Colt/DD/BCM/Other and wouldn't have wasted 3 days learning the 'slam the buttstock into the ground while pulling the charging handle' method of clearing a FTE". (Among many other chronic issues that arise)
So if I come off as a Bushmaster/Windham/POF hater. I am. They suck. Bad. If my comments/opinions on this topic can prevent one potential student/shooter/potential AR owner from wasting $900-$1600 on a rifle that will fail, fail often, and fail big..........then I am content. If it's a LEO, or shooter who can foresee the rifle as a possible defensive weapon, than I am happy.
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