AR Manufacturer Ratings

[MIG21]

I have owned a couple of ARs (Colt and Bushmaster) and although I paid a lot more for the Colt, I liked the Bushmaster better. Does anyone have any opinions of the manufactures (Colt, Bushmaster, FN, RRA, Olympic, DPMS, etc.), such as quality, finish, durability, price, value, etc.? I know the Bushmaster and Colt have chrome lined barrels but that the RRA barrels are not, is this true and what of the others?
Thanks,
MIG21

[Circuits]

The usual rule of thumb is "ABC" Armalite, Bushmaster, Colt
Certain small-volume specialty makers like Compass Lake or Fulton Armory make very nice rifles also, but do very small volumes.

FN doesn't and has never made an AR-15 - just M16's for the military.

RRA is a newer company, with a good reputation.

I place DPMS and Olympic in about the same category, just below the ABC's.

ASA has a nice product, but terrible customer service.

Essential Arms, BOHICA, Sendra/Nesard, PWA, Palmetto, Rock Island, etc are all out of business - but made clones of varying (sometimes excellent) quality.

Last of all are the Hesse, Century and FAC guns (although I've heard less bad about Century and FAC than Hesse).

Only Armalite, Bushmaster and Colt have regularly chrome lined their bores and chambers. Colt only chrome lines the chamber on civilian market barrels, now. Olympic, DPMS and RRA offer or have offered chrome lining as a special, extra-cost option.

[sfc ret]

all of them are good, just stay away from hesse, ASA they are garbage.....armilite has a limited lifetime warranty for their weapons, to the original buyer. colts are just way overpriced, simply because the name colt is on them...they are no better or worse then the others like bushmaster, RRA, oly arms, etc..


chrome lined barrels, are not really needed, or neccesary in ARs...it's more of a "ohhhhh I got a chrome lined barrel, like the military"

you are not going to abuse the rifle to be needing a chrome lined barrel. I have a EAGLE ARMS, and a BUSHMASTER, both without chrome barrels, and they are just as nice as when I first bought them....don't let a chrome lined barrel be the only factor to buy a AR.

[imanaknut]

I have a Bushmaster XM15 E2S 20" H-BAR and have been very happy with it. I have been running South African surplus through it and other than an initial gas key problem when new, I have had no problems since. I have put over 1000 rounds through it and it doen't show any wear at all.

Last night, my latest toy arrived, my long awaited AR-180B. It is night and day from the Bushy, about 3 pounds lighter, and the take-down it very L1A1-ish. It uses a gas piston instead of having a full gas tube. I can't wait to get it to the range.

[Ruskie]

just got if done and t est fired this week, built from a oly forged reciever, and factory kit, it looks, feels, as good as any I have seen, quality and finish are very good..........somewhat heavy, my 20" hbl weights exactly 3.907 Kilos, about 8.5lbs, with no mag or ammo. I think it's a keeper!!
Ruskie

[Wespe]

Colt and Bushmaster are about the same due to the following different plusses and minuses.

Colt, not all milspec i.e. non standard trigger and hammer pins on later models, only the very last prebans had the raised area around the mag release, no front pivot pin a threaded bolt and sleeve instead, no bayonet lug on preban Sporter models, milled flat bolt carrier, and of course the auto sear blocks. Plusses are quality is excellent, excellent workmanship, anodize finish always is gray or black, and they never seem to have any problems with function out of the box. A great gun all in all if you don't mind the non milspec parts.

Bushmaster, lots of purple receivers when high demand for their rifles, have had problems with barrels not timed correctly so they shoot to one side, bolt carrier keys coming loose is also a problem I often read about. Carbine handgaurds never seem to fit right, have a large gap up front, and they have a plastic trigger gaurd. Their name is Quality Parts Co., but when people want their guns like in 94, Y2K, and now they seem to let the qulity slide a bit. If you decide to buy a Bushmaster oil the receivers and shine an indoor light on it to make sure it isn't really purple, this is the biggest complaint I've read lately., Plusses are all milspec parts (the plastic trigger gaurd is supposedly milspec too, just seems chintzy) so you don't have to buy their brand of parts so they fit, they work MOST not all the the time of the time out of the box, and workmanship is just a tad bit below Colt. If they paid a little closer attention to detail and got a new anodizer to do their receivers they would be just as good as Colts in that respect. Also if they do have a problem they have excellent customer service. If you get a rifle that doesn't have the above problems, I would take one over a Colt because they are milspec.