[Longbow]

Does manufacturers who sells lower assembly separately, provides identifying marks to tell if they sold it as lower only and not a complete rifle? There's a couple of DPMS and Bushy's at my local range for sale (used), ' just wanna be sure of their origin. Thanks in advance!

[Peetmoss]

Call DPMS or Bushmaster with the serial # they should be able to tell you if it was sold as a complete rifle or a lower only. Other then that I don't know of anyway. You may want to head over to AR15.com and ask this question.

[MiniZ]

Even if the factory verifies the lower was sold as a complete rifle, be wary...I bought a "franken 15" a while ago that had a kitchen gunsmith hack job. I knew what I was getting into, but buyer be ware...

[444]

Unless you find out from a manufacturer, I doubt if you could tell. I don't think any of my uppers are marked in any way as to who manufacturered them.
I personally don't see this as a problem. Putting an AR15 together is no big deal. I have built a couple on my kitchen counter with no problem at all and I had never seen it done before. There was nothing to it. It is basically just like putting together tinker toys or whatever. Installing a barrel does take special tools and is more difficult than assembling a lower, but even this is no big challenge if you have the tools. The lower requires no special tools. After putting them together, I can't see how they could have been built any better and they function perfectly and are very accurate rifles. I am very hard to please with guns. I have sent guns away to a gunsmith for very simple things just because I didn't want to take any chance of screwing it up. But I am totally satisfied with my home built AR15s and can't find a single flaw with them.

[SteyrAUG]

Sad truth is dealers screw up guns.

Even if it left the factory intact some gun show dealer will jack all the internals out of it and rebuild it with DPMS and sell it at a "gun show" price. He will then sell those genuine Colt, Bushy, RRA parts at a premium and make a real profit.

On some guns there are identifying marks, like the paint seal spot on Colt CAR15 telestocks but most of the time it's hard to tell. Gun shows make me sick, in my area 90% of the guns (especailly prebans) have been gutted and rebuilt with crap parts. And 99% of the time it is the dealer who did it.

I don't mind rebuilds on some guns, like M1 garands where it is to be expected and USGI parts are used. But seeing DPMS parts in RRA and Bushys is just a scam.

[444]

AUG, what makes you believe that DPMS parts are not as good as those from Bushmaster or Colt ?

I don't own any DPMS guns or parts, all the ARs I have are from either Bushmaster or Colt with the exception of a lower I put together with a J&T lower parts kit which they claim are USGI pars from FN (I haven't built the CAV15 yet). I always just assumed that one or maybe a couple companies manufactured AR parts and they were sold by many companies or assembled into complete rifles. I have nothing to base this on, but it seemed logical to me.

[Redlg155]

I agree with Peetmoss...Call the factory and check. The only exception would be for Pre Ban Olympic Arms lowers. They have no records since they were destroyed in a fire. If I'm mistaken, either Armalite or Eagle Arms (Perhaps both) have a factory build stamp on their lowers.

Genuine Bushmasters should have a dry film color inside of the upper receiver and if you have a puky purple color then it's definitely a Bushmaster. :D Bushmaster and Colt also have barrels that are marked by them.

One way of telling if a person built the lower or the factory built it is by looking at the mag release retaining pin hole. Oftentimes folks aren't very careful about masking the area prior to attempting to install the pin and leave punch or hammer marks. Also look for small marks around the hammer and trigger pins that may indicate they have been changed out.

As for swapping internals, I'm sure some folks try it but to me it doesn't make sense just to save $15 bucks or so. That's about the price difference between Bushy parts and DPMS. Depending on where you buy it, it may be even less. I've used DPMS parts before and I can't see where they would be substandard.

Good Shooting
RED

[SteyrAUG]

Easy, I can look at them.

DPMS is the bottom of the so called "mil spec" manufacturers in terms of qaulity. Take a DPMS, RRA and Bushy apart (same model) and lay the parts side by side. The differences are dramatic in many cases.

Most people assume they are the same because MOST AR manufacturers get their raw materials and barrel blanks from the same sources. However different companies take these same basic materials and manufacture dramatically different final products.

[Badger Arms]

Steyr:

I beg to differ. DPMS is about middling in quality. I'd agree that Colt and Bushmaster are both outstanding guns (I wouldn't buy another Colt as they've been neutered). DPMS is just as good as any a number of other companies out there. I like their prices, their service, and their responsiveness.

[SteyrAUG]

Badger Arms, keep in mind DPMS is at the bottom of a very exclusive group. Most manufaturers don't even make so called "spec" parts. And in terms of quality DPMS just isn't better than:

Armalite
Bushmaster
RRA
Colt

And in that group they are at the bottom.

Oly, ASA and the rest. Well you can have them and DPMS is better.

[Rob96]

I don't agree with Bushmaster being better than DPMS. When shopping for my AR, I looked at 4 different Bushy's and the DPMS I bought. The DPMS was better in both fit and finish than the Bushy's. I think as long as you stick with the Armalite, Bushy, Colt, DPMS and RRA, you will get a good AR.

[Longbow]

Thanks for the suggestions regarding my question. ' guess I just have to jot down the serial #'s and make phone calls. They all seem to be in good condition, just some scratches typical of used guns. They are all less than $700. Thanks again!

[Handy]

Since it doesn't take any smithing to assemble an AR lower, what's the problem?

Would you not buy a Bushmaster if the owner took it apart once? It's the same thing.

My home AR15 hack job had very nice trigger and cost $530 total. I still can't see what the extra $300 I'd have paid Bushmaster would have gotten me, aside from a more specific warranty (the kit was warranted as well).