A Range Report on my Olympic Arms Plinker

[mordechaianiliewicz]

A couple weeks ago I posted on this website that I bought an OlyArms Plinker AR-15 for $570. I described the gun as a weird hybrid of A1 and A2 features. Some of you wanted a range report. And here it is.

I went out shooting in rural Kansas. I had with me 200 rounds of WOLF 55 grain fmj, 60 rounds of WOLF 62 grain, Remington UMC 55 grain (20 rounds), and 20 rounds of Silver Bear 62 grain.

At first, I shot at improvised targets at less than 100 yards. Once I spent about 50 rounds or so, I figured the aiming diff between point of aim, and where the bullet would actually hit. The gun was flawless at cycling extracting, etc. the rounds. It also was capable of rapid fire, and stayed on target quite well.

Then I paced off 150 paces, and tried to seriously test the rifle. From the rest of my coat, I was able to shoot 5 moa groups with the 62 grain WOLF and Silver Bear (I ain't the best of shots, this isn't the best ammo). The UMC (I only shot 3 rounds) got 4 moa. I shot up all the 55 grain WOLF at less than 100 yards.

After this, I would say the gun has plenty of SHTF accuracy. After that I shot my Mossberg, and tried to wrestle my P95 out of my best friend's hands who kept complaining about my wimpy "9 mil." But then tried to shoot up all my ammo.

Anyway, I would say if you're on a budget (I certainly am), and you find one of these, I'd say snap it up as quickly as you can. They're damn fine rifles.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I don't think it's such a weird hybrid at all. I have one. The promotional literature at the time I bought mine said there isn't much point in A2 fully adjustable sights on a carbine with a 16" barrel, and I think that's perfectly sensible. Within the practical usable range of a 16" AR, the trajectory is flat enough that once you have a battlefield zero there's really no need to play around with elevation. Besides, I was in the Army before they introduced the A2 sights, so the A1 sights on the Plinker are what I was accustomed to.

I also picked up one of those inexpensive clones of the Colt AR scope, 4x with a built-in bullet drop compensator so you can click adjust for distances from 100 meters out to 500 meters. It mounts directly to the carry handle and seems to hold zero fairly well when dismounted and remounted.

 

[Devonai]

After that I shot my Mossberg, and tried to wrestle my P95 out of my best friend's hands who kept complaining about my wimpy "9 mil." But then tried to shoot up all my ammo.

My friends love my Beretta 92FS, but they've never complained about any perceived lack of stopping power!

I have an ancient Oly Arms (PWA-era). If that's the product they created way back then, I'm sure the modern equivalents are good rifles.

 

[molonlabe]

My oly from the late 80's also has A1 sights and it is correct that the A2 is an uneeded expense on a 16 inch barrel. The accuracy holds with my full sized out to about 300 yards then starts falling off.

 

[Steelcore]

A2 sites work better with my eyes.Thats a good reason.

 

[molonlabe]

the A2 flip sight (with the large ring). can be put on an A1.

If you have a carbine with an A1 rear sight, replace the aperture with an A2 aperture. This way you have a standard (small hole) and a quick CQB ghost ring.
under tips and tricks at this site.


http://groups.msn.com/TheMarylandAR15ShootersSite/

 

[MechAg94]

Thanks for the report. Nice to know the inexpensive AR carbine is reliable and accurate enough.

 

[mordechaianiliewicz]

One thing I did with the AR was shoot rounds into a tree. Not much of a test of terminal balistics on a human body, and the shots were about 20 feet away. I did notice though that the .223 didn't have much effect at all going in, and alot of the shots didn't even exit, but my AK's 7.62x39mm would go right through the tree, leaving gaping holes out of the back (and ultimately cutting it down).

While I like the AR, I am beginning to believe that 7.62x39mm might be a better stopping power round.

 

[Schleprok62]

Well, I just ordered mine... should be in in 2 - 4 weeks...

Thanks for the range report as I was looking at these and didn't knwo of anyone who had one.

Schlep

 

[Lennyjoe]

My Oly runs just fine. One thing I would add is that If I were you, you might want to stay away from Wolf ammo in the AR. I had a round get stuck in the chamber and had to beat it out with a cleaning rod. Won't do that again!

Federal has plenty of low cost ammo as well as Walmart with Winchester. I would suggest you stay away from the steel cased Wolf. But that is just my opinion and I'm sure others will disagree. The choice is yours.

 

[Schleprok62]

Lenny,

From everything I've read, RRA, Bushmaster, and Olympic Arms all say to avoid any type of laquer coated ammo. Gums up the actions or something...

I'm sure that there are other manufacturers that say the same thing, those are the three I was looking at...

 

[Kevlarman]

That's why you stick with polymer-coated Wolf.


The low-cost 40-round boxes of Winchester .223 at Wal-Mart are gone. Raised the price from $7.73 to $9.98 a few weeks ago.

 

[Lennyjoe]

That's why I roll my own.

 

[ugaarguy]

AR Observations

Ammo - I avoid anything that isn't brass cased. The action gets dirty enough with the direct gas impingement operating system, and the tolerances on ARs are tighter than the majority of other military type rifles. Throw in steel cased ammo, laquer coated or not, and you're asking for FTF and FTE problems. Avoid laquer coating like the plague it is - it will gum the action.

Magazines - Thermolds fit some recievers, they don't fit others (like my 1980 Mfr. Colt Industries SP1). Be very careful with polymer mags, especially Orlites. I had a hellacious jam when testing one. I slapped the bottom of the mag as normal and sent the bolt forward. Between hearing protection and indoor range noise I didn't notice that a round had jumped the feed lips when I seated the mag. When I sent the bolt forward round one's nose jammed up against the gas tube in the charging handle/ gas key groove. At the same time rounds two and three double fed. One of them jammed against the sidewall opposite the ejection port, the other came out with a bit of shaking. The range's 'smith agreed it was one of the worst jams he'd ever seen. I didn't bother testing the other Orlite mag I bought - both were traded for GI aluminium the next day. My Beta C-Mag is polymer but has functioned flawlessly. I like my GI aluminium mags just fine. Remember to test all your mags; replace springs and followers as needed.

Just my advice on keeping an AR happy.

 

[Foxtrot427]

Good! I was hoping this rifle would work. I might have to pick one up. Any piccies?