Calvary Arms and Olympic Arms AR15's, good or bad?

Status
Not open for further replies.

megatronrules

Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Messages
960
Location
The sunshine state,Florida
Well? The Calvary arms use a composite/plastic lower reciver. The Olympic arms uses a cast lower. These guns are all in the $550 to $625 price range. Im leaning toward the Olympic cause of the cast lower. Now i dont care for the AR rifles but at this price what the hell :D Might as well have one in the safe!
 
I just had the opportunity again to look at a Calvary Arms "Receiver." What a piece of crap... again. I thought the first one I saw was crap. This dealer had 3 hunks of plastic. They looked like they were glued together, but there were gaps and bulges in the seams. The plastic appears to be durable enough, but the quality control is completely crap. I don't know how they've sold one. I'd like somebody to send me a picture of a seam that looks anything like it should. Buy the Oly Arms plinker. DPMS also has a budget rifle in that price range. Good luck.
 
LevelHead:

He was looking for rifles in the $550 to $625 price range. I just thought of another option though. How about an Armalite AR-180? If you don't care for the AR-15 types, this one has the advantages but not the disadvantages.

Regan180b.jpg
 
Just a small point; Calvary is the name of the site where Jesus was crucified.

My Cavalry Arms receiver has no gaps or bulges; it is very lightweight, and first rate. Granted, the serial number is only 91; I'm sure, like any other manufacturer, things do get through the fence. I'm considering getting another, the shorter one sometime...

Mikey D...
 
I am leaning toward getting a Bushmaster but I saw some AR-15s made by Star in the Centerfire Systems flyer. What are those ones like?
 
I have an Olympic PCR99 that is a fine rifle. You don't just have to get a Bushmaster/Colt/Armalite/whoever-the-hell-is-supposed-to-be-"best" just to have a good weapon. Buy the one you feel most comfortable with and tell everyone else to screw off.
 
Steelharp: That same thing drives me insane also; the use of the word Calvary instead of the word Cavalry.

I just bought a Cav15 lower receiver yesterday. I ordered it through my dealer. With the Cav, the lower receiver, the buttstock, the buffer tube, and the pistol grip are all moulded from one piece of plastic (actually it looks like it is two pieces fastened together but all those parts are one single unit unlike a regular aluminum AR). Mine looks clean as can be. There are no bulges in the seam, but there is a small gap on the seam right where the buttplate goes on. My goal in buying this is to put together an extremly light AR15. I am sending KKF a 16" Bushmaster upper which he is going to turn down the barrel to his superlightweight conversion, shorten the barrel and install a muzzle brake so that the whole thing is the minimum legal length plus a smidgon. I haven't assembled the lower yet, let alone shot it, but it looks fine to me. Time will tell, but the guys I have talked to that actually own CAV arms guns seem to like them well enough. I asked SteyrAUG from this board about his and he says it is his faviorite carbine. Cav Arms has a section on the AR15.com industry forum where they will answer your questions directly; they seem like real nice people.
 
A quick trip over to www.ar15.com will teach you two things.

Cavalry Arms rifles are completely respected for their durability and performance.

People are still freaked out about Olympic Arms ever since one member posted a picture of his "plinker" which actually broke in half right before he was about to fire it. Had he pulled the trigger it could have been disasterous.
 
I've got a Olympic Arms PCR (forged receiver) that I have had no problems with.

I feel like I got a good deal on it. $555.

Now if I were looking at a Bushmaster, Armalite and Olympic Arms for the same money. Would I choose the OA? NO.

If you can only afford a OA forged lower, get it. You can put almost any brand of upper on the lower.

If you have the money and want the best, buy either an Armalite or Bushmaster.

I personally wouldn't waist my hard earned money on either of the guns you're looking at. But thats just me.

Be patient and you'll find a good deal on a good gun.

Good luck,

Steve
 
As long as you get a chance to really inspect the lower prior to purchasing..that includes inserting magazines as some Oly lowers are known for a tight fit, you can rest assured that it will perform as well as any other lower out there. It may not be as pretty cosmetically, but they will still work just fine.

I haven't checked out the AR15.com thread on the Oly falling apart. Anyone have a link? To be truthfull, I just don't see how a reciever could go through the casting/forging process, final machining, assembly and then all the routine handling, only to have it fall apart on the customer just as he is about to fire the weapon. I wonder if the guy also had a glock slide blow off his weapon?:rolleyes:

Also, for $550 to $625 you can also include Rock River in your choices.

As for CavArms, I've never gotten to examine one up close. I do know there are a lot of satisfied users that post over at AR15.com.

Good SHooting
RED
 
Just a comment on Oly, their FORGED receivers are generally considered satisfactory. The problem is with their NON FORGED (ie. plinker) lowers and they are to be avoided.
 
"I haven't checked out the AR15.com thread on the Oly falling apart. Anyone have a link? "

I saw the post, it is for real. I am not going to search for the link. If you doubt it, you certainly can research it yourself. Not long ago, there was a post where a Hesse lower broke in half on shot #2. Both posts have full pictures of the receivers. The Oly post was a few months ago. The Hesse post was within the last month.
 
Redlg155, I wouldn't make this crap up.

The Oly inquestion was a CAST (never heard of problems with ANY forged receiver) and it literally broke into pieces. You wanna see the thread just go to ar15.com and ask about it, trust me they will know what you are talking about.
 
I too saw the thread at AR15.COM

It didn't look pretty.

Could have been a one in a million case, but I wouldn't want to be that one in a million.

Spend the extra $100-200 and get something better.

Also, I tried to search for the link, but you can only search for the last 30 days. So if someones board, you'll have to go through the last couple of months of posts.

But, it is true.

Steve
 
I recently purchased a Cav-Arms rifle in the AR15.com croup buy. I've only fired 20 rounds or so, but so far the rifle will not strip a round out of a magizine when the bolt is released. This is with a 30 rounder with 25 rounds in it. Hopefully it will break in. The buffer spring feels weak to me.

I bought some USGI Q3131 for testing...I'll let you know how that goes when I get a chance to shoot it (maybe next weekend).
 
Steve, are you using USGI mags?

If so contact Cav Arms and they will square you away. If you need ANY assistance from me regarding this matter do not hesitate to contact me.

Everyone else is reporting 100% with theirs.
 
Redlg155, I wouldn't make this crap up.

I never said nor did I accuse anyone of making "crap" up. I do however have to question claims made on the internet due to the relatively anonymous nature of the posts. I think we have all seen a couple of photographs where someone claimed one thing had happened when it was in fact something else.

No matter, I'm sure the opinions of Olyarms are firmly entrenched on both sides (positive and negative) and no amount of discussion will change that.


Good Shooting
RED
 
Of course I'm using USGI mags. Since I am an avid Highpower shooter who depends on reliable mags and guns, I wouldn't even consider using anything but.


Like I said in the PM, I think it just might need some rounds through it...unless you think Cav Arms would prefer I didn't.
 
Redlg155, I didn't mean to suggest you were accusing me. Just letting ya know. ;)

Steve, sent you a reply PM. Best bet is call Cav Arms. Everyone else was good to go out of the box. No reason you should have to "break in" your rifle.
 
SteyrAUG,
To be fair to Oly Arms, the other half of the story should be included: The user with the broken rifle somehow assembled his rifle with a carbine length buffer in an A2 stock-length tube (buffer tubes must match the buffer used, or very bad things will happen). Instead of the buffer bottoming out in the tube (as the carbine buffer is ~2" shorter than the A2 buffer), the bolt carrier key smacked into the buffer ring of the lower, snapping the lower from the deck, through the takedown pin and out the thumb-web area. Almost any cast reciever would have failed under the same circumstances, and most forged recievers would have at least become distorted and probably unsafe to fire.

Kharn
 
Kharn, that would be one of the "other" broken Oly stories. There are quite a few lately.

The one I referred to broke in front of the carry handle and the entire barrel assemble came away from the receiver. It was a NEW Oly with no modifications whatsoever. And I believe it was on the owners first day of shooting the rifle.

Scary stuff.

That one made me take as much notice as the guy the with the SA M1A that kaboomed on him into tiny pieces.
 
megatronrules....

I'm the proud owner of two Oly's (AR15's, not beer) and they've both done a fine job. The closest I've come to a problem was my own doing. I was playing "Rambo" or something (I guess) and doing rapid fire. After about 150 rounds in very quick succession, I had a round apparently "cook off" about a millisecond before the bolt closed completely and the gun went into battery. Well, the gun and I both survived the incident, but I learned real fast, to not pretend like it was an M16 in full auto. Otherwise, I've not had a problem with either gun (probably a thousand rounds or two in each gun).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top