AR-15 Recommendations and why?

[Britton]

That wouldn't surprise me. I know several mfrs offer stainless barrels as an upgrade/option to many of their models. Were the Oly stainless barrels silver or finished somehow?

Nope, plain black like the rest of them. Just got in some K16's with black stainless barrels. I have an email in with OLY to double check. I could have swore that the plinkers came with regular barrels but was checking one from the last batch and it had a stainless barrel. So many AR's sold in the last year I might be mistaken.

 

[Britton]

No, it is standard with a 4140 Chromemoly, but sometimes they will ship them with SS barrels when that’s all we have…

It all makes since now, just got this from the Director of Sales for Olympic Arms.

 

[shooter521]

It all makes since now, just got this from the Director of Sales for Olympic Arms.

Well there ya go. Thanks for following up on that.

 

[pftraining_in]

I like my LMT.

Whatever maker you decide on make sure your barrel is stamped 5.56 NATO so you can shoot both .223 and 5.56.

LMT does have the correct chamber. However you need to use caution with the hobby manufactures, as many claim 5.56, however they are reamed to .223 or .223 Wylde.

Ref to the 6940 barrel and nut, you also have to have special tools to disassemble the upper.

 

[Indy317]

Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Olympic ARs used to be junk? Before the AR craze, when all sorts of companies were making, I heard one thing when talking about "Which is the best AR?" It was A, B, C,............O. That was Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt, and finally Olympic, if Olympic was all you could afford. Have things changed that much that Olympic is now a serious contender in the field? What about Rock River Arms...their rifles any good?

 

[LPMan59]

if you go to ARF.com, you will find that Olympic (while better than before) is still on the bottom of the pecking order.

these days, the top tiers are KA, Colt, LMT, Daniel Defense and BCM. S&W are also are said to be very good.

that said, lots of guys have Olys find them to be reliable along with lower tier companies like DPMS. i think for the vast majority of AR users, top tier isnt required. but if i can get a LE6920 for $1100, why spend $800 on a DPMS? ymmv.

 

[wally05]

I had my Colt 6920 for my armorer's class and it was heads and tails above others in the class. We have rifles from a ton of manufacturers and I think there were two colt 6920s and a few big dollar rifles. The colts seemed to have everything done right... staking, gas tube index... everything. My index was a little off, but nothing a barrel nut wrench and a vice couldn't fix. That's just from my one class, though.

 

[Britton]

Have things changed that much that Olympic is now a serious contender in the field?

The problem with Olympic Arms is that they do not spend much money at all on advertising. I believe this to be their biggest problem. I was a huge AR snob in the past, only recommending and using either Bushmaster or Colt. After selling hundreds of Olympic AR's to very happy customers I have to say that my views have changed. I have had malfunctions with every single AR I have owned, except the Oly's, and I own a bunch of AR's. The Olympics are much more accurate due to the Stainless Steel barrel and for me have been much more reliable. I shoot at least 10K rounds a year from various rifles and usually take at least two training classes a year and see the results from these training sessions and I have to say I am very impressed with the Olympic guns.
As I mentioned earlier this past Wednesday I ran over 1K rounds through a post sample Olympic M4 using four different kinds of ammunition and several different types of magazines with not one single malfunction. Most AR's will start to hicup after say 4 or 5 hundred rounds, but this Olympic M4 just kept running and most of it was full auto fire with the barrel starting to smoke. Next summer you will see me and the Olympic M4 run on the Outdoor Channel for SWAT TV and you will see for yourself.

As a gun shop owner I make more money selling the more expensive AR's which we have in stock, so please ask yourself why would I advise anyone to buy a gun that I make less money on? It's because I know customers will be happy and happy customers spend more money over the long run. Save yourself some money and get a better AR, buy Olympic.