HElp- there was a manufacturer of AR's back in the 80's/90's? I cant remember
- Thread starter tallpaul
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LiveLife
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Olympic Arms?
LiveLife
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ApacheCoTodd
member
Oly was the first stripped lower I ever bought. you'll find some as SGW as well.
If you knew or had an in with Bob Schuetzen and had a sufficient order, they would gin-up specialized logos and serial numbers.
Doesn't mean squat with today's manufacturing and marking techniques but.... I'm here to tell ya - in *the day* it was the cats' pajamas!
We had them do up a short run of Special Forces Crest & #s and USMC EGAs and #s.
It is still the one I build any favorite 2-3 ARs out of and it's current configuration is this one.
16" individually inspected Harris match blank,1:9 gassed as a 16" but with a taper-pinned full length sight radius.
One of the old *Delta* Colt's stocks from some guns in the Army that was fished from the dumpster.... the stock, not the guns.
ARMS SIR railed for end.
ARMS trijicon QR mount.
YHM co-witness riser.
Side Charge.
Colt M-16 carrier.
etc...
LOVE this gun!
Todd.
If you knew or had an in with Bob Schuetzen and had a sufficient order, they would gin-up specialized logos and serial numbers.
Doesn't mean squat with today's manufacturing and marking techniques but.... I'm here to tell ya - in *the day* it was the cats' pajamas!
We had them do up a short run of Special Forces Crest & #s and USMC EGAs and #s.
It is still the one I build any favorite 2-3 ARs out of and it's current configuration is this one.
16" individually inspected Harris match blank,1:9 gassed as a 16" but with a taper-pinned full length sight radius.
One of the old *Delta* Colt's stocks from some guns in the Army that was fished from the dumpster.... the stock, not the guns.
ARMS SIR railed for end.
ARMS trijicon QR mount.
YHM co-witness riser.
Side Charge.
Colt M-16 carrier.
etc...
LOVE this gun!
Todd.
303 hunter
Member
Eagle Arms, they later bought the Armalite name.
GunnyUSMC
Member
ESSENTIAL ARMS CO.
P.O. Box 121
Krotz Springs, LA 70750
They were a small company from a small town. They are still in business but don’t make lowers any more.
P.O. Box 121
Krotz Springs, LA 70750
They were a small company from a small town. They are still in business but don’t make lowers any more.
Elkins45
Member
I had one of their lowers that I bought in 1991. It was the first AR I ever built using a parts kit from Nesard. Remember Nesard? Their lowers were cast, not forged so the markings were raised. I sold mine on Gunbroker last year for >$800 to someone from a state where they have an “assault weapons” list that names the prohibited guns by model. EA didn’t get put on the list so they aren’t restricted. I was pleasantly surprised it went for so much. I figured I could just buy an Anderson for $50 to replace it, make some money and give someone in a ban state the opportunity to legally own a fully-featured gun. It’s almost like I’m a philanthropist
ApacheCoTodd
member
Another old one lost to time is the pre-Bushmaster B.F.I. lowers. I got this one in the day to have an inarguable *pre-ban* when it mattered.
Now it plays dress-up as vintage A-1 era guns.
Todd.
Now it plays dress-up as vintage A-1 era guns.
Todd.
man I can’t tell you how many of their lowers I bought. It was a lot. Great company.
actually my full auto lower was an E A that had been converted to full auto by BFI just before the ‘86 deadline.
about the tightest I’ve ever been puckered was hammering the roll pins on that $10k+ investment cast lower thinking for sure I was about to snap one of the ears off as I was installing a magpul trigger guard.
Tens of thousands of rounds though and never had a problem with it.
earlthegoat2
Member
Smooth Dissipator build.
bannockburn
Member
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2007
- Messages
- 26,297
Todd
A good friend of mine has an Olympic Arms lower on his version of an M4. Turned out pretty nice and has held up really well after all these years.
A good friend of mine has an Olympic Arms lower on his version of an M4. Turned out pretty nice and has held up really well after all these years.
ApacheCoTodd
member
They were certainly hit & miss. Some were absolute cheese-grade crap when there was a rush to market. Especially amongst the cast versions.
Todd.
crestoncowboy
Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2011
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- 3,307
My first was an Olympic just after the ban died. I still have it and it's still the only consistently sub MOA AR I have (the rest are colts and a DD).... Non chrome lined bore and commercial reciever extension.....Castle nut not only not staked but backward....hand guard looks right but has no metal shield inside... still was a good rifle back when only two or three companies existed. Bastards told me it was "mil-spec" back when no-one locally knew anything about them. Lol
FL-NC
Member
There were many.
Cemetery21
Member
S.G.W and Nesards got me started. Seems like there was always at least one bad part in the Nesard kits, shortys and A1s that I built. Olympic had the first flat top I ever saw. They just milled the carrying handle off an AI upper, left two stubs, clearanced them into a long Weaver base, and then secured with 2 screws up from inside the charging handle slot. I got one and set it up as a HBAR prairie dog rig. The base never did shoot loose.
X62503
Contributing Member
Pacific West Arms (PWA), Milan, IL.
Sendra-Nesard-Drasen are all the same company.I had one of their lowers that I bought in 1991. It was the first AR I ever built using a parts kit from Nesard. Remember Nesard? Their lowers were cast, not forged so the markings were raised. I sold mine on Gunbroker last year for >$800 to someone from a state where they have an “assault weapons” list that names the prohibited guns by model. EA didn’t get put on the list so they aren’t restricted. I was pleasantly surprised it went for so much. I figured I could just buy an Anderson for $50 to replace it, make some money and give someone in a ban state the opportunity to legally own a fully-featured gun. It’s almost like I’m a philanthropist
The lowers I saw were forged.
Elkins45
Member
Sendra made lowers. Nesard sold parts kits, many of which it has been speculated were of less than proper origin. The Nesard parts kit I bought was a 16” A1 and came with a commercial tube plastic carbine stock. I ordered it assembled ($20 extra) but they sent me a box of loose parts. I installed the barrel nut with a pipe wrench. I called them and they sent me a $20 check.
The lower I was referring to was an EA. All their pre-ban lowers were cast.
ApacheCoTodd
member
Which is exactly how he landed in Federal court.
Operating both entities at the same time to the same customers and dodging excise tax.
Todd.
Yes, I know.
He was at Orange County and LA County gun shows. Only thing was that he did have completed rifles at his table. $800 or $900 was the price I remember in 1990.
Mostly he didn’t though.
I bought one of his parts kit for a PWA lower. It was alright.
Gotcha.
Was just clarifying.
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