If the Sarsilmaz for $359 is the same gun as the AR24 for $500 (I think it was $630 on the Armalite site), why would someone buy the AR?
It's not clear to me that they are the same gun, even though they are clearly both CZ 75 B pattern pistols. Look at the pictures - they look quite different, and their weight are also not the same. Without holding one, I can't say more than that.
I am not sure how much "built in the same factory" means anymore in the age of CNC machining.
I can tell you why one AR-24 owner bought an AR 24 (in comparison to a CZ 75 B), because I know him real well (me):
- Forged steel - I like the heft.
- Fit and finish - the magazine articles turned out to be correct, my AR 24 is very smooth, inside and out.
- Armalite customer service - I heard it was pretty good.
I didn't put this on the list, since I couldn't tell if it was marketing hype or not, but it appears likely that the AR-24 was a pet project of Mark Westrom. I like it when a CEO actually has a vision and moves things forward. The other handgun I own, a Ruger Blackhawk was the product of a Bill Ruger's vision.
I was also impressed that Westrom wasn't looking to do a "bottom of the barrel" clone - again this could all be marketing hype, but he was
not aiming to make a cheaper clone. The articles I read pointed out several decisions he made that increased the cost and price of the pistol, so this wasn't an "I can cut cost better than CZ" exercise.
That appears to be more than marketing hype - A.ENGIN IDEMEN specifies some of those decisions.
A.ENGIN IDEMEN said:
AR 24 barrels are cut a little bit differently than the standard Sarsılmaz pistols,...
Wow! Thanks for the all the info.
I like my AR-24 pretty much.
It's a fun shooter.
That is in no way a diss of the Sarsilmaz Hancer or CZ USA or EAA pistols. I don't much get into "My Ford will kick your Chevy's butt anyday" arguments on THR. Those arguments seem pretty silly to me - I graduated from high school a long time ago.
Mike