Battle Rifle Company, not a glowing review.

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mastiffhound

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I frequent The Firearm Blog on a daily basis for the gun, ammo, and gear reviews. I like them because unlike most gun rags you get mostly honest reviews. When I saw the review on Battle Rifle Company I got to hear about something I suspected not to long ago when researching for a friend.

Now for the review that I just read on Battle Rifle Company, it wasn't good. The author even goes as far as saying they are "pretty much the worst AR-15s I've ever seen". I have been thinking for some time about all the companies cropping up recently to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers that are getting into their first AR-15s. Here's the link:

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/05/07/battle-rifle-company-ar-platform-rifles/

I recently was talking to a friend about his first AR and he mentioned a company that I had never heard of. He said that the AR's on their webpage looked "cool". Guess what this company's name was? I told him not to go for them because I couldn't find anything about what materials they use, even for their barrels. I did find that they cryogenically treat their barrels. I told him if I cryogenically treated my dogs crap guess what, it's still dog crap. The only other thing I found was they said that their bolts are shot peened and HPT/MPI tested, but with all the different places they get their bolts I wouldn't be sure of that either. He is now looking at Daniel Defense, Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Palmetto State Armory.

If you have friends or family that are looking to get into ARs then give them some help. When they start having problems you are going to be the one they call asking for help. Instead of saying "why didn't you ask me" or "Well I could have told you not to buy from that company" you can help them make an informed purchase.
 
I would probably never buy one but in their defense anyone can write a blog. Rock River cryo treats their barrels. That exposed gas tube is a joke.
 
They definitely went wrong trying to portray their image as serious guns for serious work, when they were actually throwing together look-alike guns for recreational use by the image conscious. Regardless, I can't quite tell if the owner honestly thought his company was assembling a good product or whether he trying to run a snow-job from the beginning, but he should have started with a less discerning audience than m4carbine.net.
 
Regardless, I can't quite tell if the owner honestly thought his company was assembling a good product or whether he trying to run a snow-job from the beginning, but he should have started with a less discerning audience than m4carbine.net.

Yeah - he quickly got in over his head there.
 
We had the opportunity to show everyone the performance of our rifles- so on May 14th, we took 2 different rifles and ran 1,000 rounds through them in less than 20 Minutes. Each rifle fired over 2 times the basic combat load in a short amount of time to show the performance- there were no cycling issues, both rifles performed spot on- and both were pulled directly off of the final inspection rack, straight to the firing line. For information about our rifles, contact us at [email protected]

http://youtu.be/xDRfI6Pro1U
 
One test does nothing to disprove the claims made at M4carbine.com. Sometimes, its better to admit mistakes rather than pretend they were intentional all along. I realize as a start-up company things are hard, but there's no excuse for being anything than honest with your potential customer base, especially when that customer base is very astute and knowledgeable about what your product SHOULD be as opposed to what it is. Claiming things like the gas tube was exposed for "intimidation" at "the request of a federal agency" is just silly talk that does nothing to lend credibility to your product, and instead hurts your reputation.
 
You just keep digging yourself deeper and deeper.

You better pull your head out of you-know-where before the panic completely settles and people think a little bit more about products they buy before their money comes out.
 
Since a company rep is now a member, we can get some questions answered.

What components of this rifle are actually manufactured in house by BRC?

What components are NOT?




http://www.battleriflecompany.com/content/what_makes_our_/what_makes_our_.asp
Every Battle Rifle is equipped with:

Each rifle has a guarantee from factory defects and workmanship


It is guaranteed FROM workmanship? Ok. That is funny.


Edit: I pulled the FFL associated with Christopher Kurzadkowski and it does show him as a 07. Anyone have the link for the ATF report that shows number and type of firearms manufactured by a License holder? I can't seem to find it.
Edit Edit: Found it, but complete ends in 2009. Hmmm.
 
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Ah-HA!

Better data!

Christopher Kurzadkowski "manufactured" 33 rifles in 2011.

Of course, In the BATF view, slapping the upper and lower together constitutes manufacturing.
 

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The video is real- 1000 rds in 20 minutes- no CGI, real people, real bullets.

Everyone starts somewhere- DD,RR,LMT,Noveske all started out of small shops, years ago.

The 308 with the exposed gas tube was an experiment- and a mistake- I don't have a problem admitting that. That is no longer something we have, and have not offered it for sale.

The oversights have been corrected- both in procedure and personnel. We as a company are moving forward. If you would like to test fire and see the process of how we produce our rifles, I offer an open door invitation to any of you. Contact me at [email protected]
 
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oldschool, welcome to THR

my feedback is your website is the source of a lot of the controversy. you are setting the expectation that your ARs are much better than others. and you repeatedly state that you will explain or guide us through what makes them better. you have sections on your website like "what makes our rifles so special", but you never actually state what makes them better.

i would update that by removing those claims or by adding some supporting data
 
We are working on the web right now- one of the problems is doing a mobile application, which allows you to see everything.
From your desktop, we have an illustration that points out 19-20 features that we add to our rifles over and above another standard AR. Most of these are desirable cosmetic features, some are operational and mechanical.

A new format catalog is being developed, which will have a sheet per model, with information. This whole thing is a growth and learning process, like any business. I am committed to making a great rifle- and I am listening to what people want, correcting what I need to, and working hard to make things right. We stand behind the work, and will do so for a long time to come.
 
We are working on the web right now- one of the problems is doing a mobile application, which allows you to see everything.
From your desktop, we have an illustration that points out 19-20 features that we add to our rifles over and above another standard AR. Most of these are desirable cosmetic features, some are operational and mechanical.

A new format catalog is being developed, which will have a sheet per model, with information. This whole thing is a growth and learning process, like any business. I am committed to making a great rifle- and I am listening to what people want, correcting what I need to, and working hard to make things right. We stand behind the work, and will do so for a long time to come.


Are you referring to the "what makes our rifles so special" illustration with the little stars?

The one that lists:

*Proprietary flash suppressor
*Cryogenic treated barrel
*Resized gas port
*2 piece quad rail
*Polished chamber
*Rail covers
*Polished feed ramps
*Polished bolt
*Detachable carry handle
*A2 rear sight system
*mil-spec buffer tube
*Single point sling connector
*Polished hammer and smooth trigger
*Single point sling connector
*Butstock pad
*Coated buffer spring and mil-spec buffer
*6 position collapsible stock



That is sixteen things, although some technically list more than one, I suppose.

And you really think that list above sets you apart from other manufacturers? REALLY?

You really want us to believe that having a 6 position collapsible stock sets you apart? Or an A2 carry handle? Or a "butstock pad? Rail covers? Okay...moving on:

Is the quad rail free floated?

What is the buffer tube made of?

What size is the gas port?

What coating is on the buffer spring?

What is the trigger pull weight?

What material is the bolt made from?

What weight is the buffer?
 
we have an illustration that points out 19-20 features that we add to our rifles over and above another standard AR. Most of these are desirable cosmetic features, some are operational and mechanical.

please understand when you say "standard" some people believe you are referring to the only "standard" that exists, which is the US military's as developed by colt. (which you haven't demonstrated any superiority to) instead, it seems like you are using the term "standard" to mean a lowest common denominator, low budget AR.
 
Oldschool,
You show this photo on your website:

swat-team.png


And this one:

imagescaiqegga.png



Are the carbines in these photos your products?

If not, these need to come off your website immediately, as this is false representation. I occasionally write specifications at my job, and when we find out that vendors are using photos of products or installations in their advertising material that are NOT theirs, we write them out of our specifications immediately. If they can not be honest about what they actually produce or provide, or show others' products as their own, what else are they being dishonest about?


.
 
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I never got the AR bug. Seems that anyone who has a grinder and a file is putting one on the market today. Sure there are some excellent ones and a whole bunch of turds. My preference has always fallen to AK's, Arsenals and Saigas in particulare. The reason I've stayed away from AR's is that everytime I've been to the range many AR owners are constantly fiddling with their pieces as so many seem to have reliability problems. The AK guys come and shoot. I have never had a AK bobble a round and that's why I enjoy them.
 
I did have a chance to watch the original NRA Expo video in its entirety, and it was pretty horrific. I certainly understand why BRC decided to hide it from public view (although a bit too late). If I were them (and thank goodness I'm not), I think it would be time to change the company name, a la Vulcan.

Every bit of information I've seen says the guns are massively overpriced junk.
 
I never got the AR bug. Seems that anyone who has a grinder and a file is putting one on the market today. Sure there are some excellent ones and a whole bunch of turds. My preference has always fallen to AK's, Arsenals and Saigas in particulare. The reason I've stayed away from AR's is that everytime I've been to the range many AR owners are constantly fiddling with their pieces as so many seem to have reliability problems. The AK guys come and shoot. I have never had a AK bobble a round and that's why I enjoy them.

I haven't witnessed the reliability problems you speak of at ranges, but that "problem" is very easy to fix:

Start with a decent rifle, use good magazines, use factory brass case ammo, lube. Good to go, no problems with reliability.

I suspect that "AK guys" who report "so many with reliability problems" are exercising a selective perception, possibly combined with a selective memory.
 
The reason I've stayed away from AR's is that everytime I've been to the range many AR owners are constantly fiddling with their pieces as so many seem to have reliability problems. The AK guys come and shoot.

I've seen as many junk AKs as ARs (maybe more).

The bottom line is buy a good rifle from a reputable company or build one with high-quality parts after doing your research. Both rifle designs are inherently rugged and reliable.
 
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