How do you guys feel about Olympic Arms ARs?

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aliasneo07

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Do you find them reliable and a good buy? Not looking to spend more than $1200 and have pretty much settled on an Olympic Arms AR with a 20 inch barrel. Do any of you own them? Pretty reliable?

Also, what is this business with chrome lined bore vs non chrome lined?

First time AR buyer! Thanks for the help!
 
they have a bad reputation.but mine runs flawless and is very accurate it's a 16" CAR (not m4 copy)
 
The bad rep came from a short run of weapons using cast lowers over 20 years ago... Their current stuff is good and their warranty is second to none... They use all the same stuff that most of the others are using...

Cheers...

The Plinker Plus is a great little fun rifle with better than average accuracy for an AR...

For the "purist" a chrome lining is a must have option... For those of us who don't expect to be plinking in a monsoon, or crawling through the swamps with our AR's it's not a necessity. Take care of it and it will run just fine either way...
 
I own two of them

and have been very happy with both. I have a heavy barreled 16" gun with free float aluminum forerend that used to be called the PCR16. It is more accurate than it has a right to be. With good handloads I am shooting right around 1/2MOA for 5 rounds at 100 and sometimes quite a bit under. The K8 Match Target with 20" barrel is just about as accurate. I like the shorter gun better. They are both very reliable with factory ammo but I have had a few problems with my reloads. I just bought a small base die to see if that will fix the problem. I believe it will.
 
it would be pretty close to the bottom of my list, which is to say, i wouldn't buy one unless it was the only thing available.
 
info on olympic

hey there i to was looking to purchased a ar15 about two years ago. i started at the gun shows prices where between 780 to 1200 at that time.because my income dictates what i can afford,i shopped around. i found a new olympic arms 16"barrel 5.56 round ar15 plinker, i bought it for 668.00 with rifle case. i have had no problems at all. no jams , use wolf ammo and winchester brands.the fit and finish is just as good as other brands. they are one of the few brands that make all the parts for there rifles.
 
I had one in the 80s it would work fine right after it was cleaned. But after about four magazines it would start to jam fairly often till it was cleaned again. Mine did NOT have a chromed line bore, chamber nor the inside of the bolt carrier bore chromed. Don't know if OLY is using chrome lined bores these days or not. But I would not buy an AR that didn't use chromed line bores after that experience.

FWIW I never did have a problem with the cast parts Oly used back than.
 
... would be my last choice; lots of stamped stuff, lots of stuff poorly inspected, they will sometimes get parts, that are not quite milspec, but with poor inspection, they will slap it on anyway. I forget the name of their primary supplier for parts, but they are considered very cheap.
 
Anything that's wrong with it can be fixed with a new lower parts kit. If you're getting a good deal on it go for it.
 
Crap sounds like I shouldn't have bought it, lol.

Sounds like most replies are negative.

Basically I wanted an AR for plinking and for HD. So I don't need super tight groups at 100 yards, I just need it to go bang every time I pull the trigger.

Does it meet at least that requirement?

Jerkface11, where might i find a lower parts kit, and what would be the advantage of using one?

Thanks!
 
I owned two older ones and they were junk. the newer ones seem to be made much better though. Still for a cheap ar id look at something like a dpms sportical first. I just cant get over my past experiences.
 
Basically I wanted an AR for plinking and for HD. So I don't need super tight groups at 100 yards, I just need it to go bang every time I pull the trigger.
Click to expand...

it may give you super tight groups at 100. i doubt it will go bang every time you pull the trigger. (unless maybe you only pull it 30 times or something then stick it in a safe for the rest of its life)

the lower parts may leave something to be desired, but it's the upper and carrier i would be concerned about
 
Previously the only experience I have had with them was online. Most opinions were negative, but how many of those opinions were from people who actually owned one.. who knows.


One guy I know who owned one never had a single problem with his.


I saw one come into a local shop that specializes in ARs. Something was wrong with it and it would go full auto. Uncontrolled, something is broken, runaway mag dump full auto. The sear engagement surface on the hammer was worn away to almost nothing.

That doesn't mean the lower parts were bad from the factory. THe guy had bought it used. Some garage gunsmith might have tried to give it a trigger job. The hardened surface of AR-15 lower parts is thin. If you polish through it, the softer metal underneath is much less durable.
 
lots of bovine excrement from people who don't actually own.

Inexplicable, and un-elaborated comments like "it was trash" do little to help the man.
 
Don't worry about your Oly. It should do fine. Don't drink the Kool-aid. LMT, Colt, Noveske, etc. may put more QC into their rifles but it's certainly past the point of diminishing returns.
 
Well whats the first and second thing to go on them, so I can preemtively order replacements? lol.

Anything special I should make sure is super clean?

Thanks for the tips.
 
Their pistol caliber guns are awesome, and their barrels are fantastic. I used a barrel from their PCR-16 in a custom build. Most accurate AR I ever had, before I got out of them.
Steve
 
I would maybe buy an Oly if it was $500 and I couldn't afford anything else. $1200 for an Oly is insane, you can get RRA for that much, or Colt for just a bit more.
 
April 1994

I bought a Olympic Arms AR-15 A1 20 inch barrel in April 1994. I have used it in 3 gun matches, Tactical rifle matches and formal training with only one failure. I didn't properly torque the buffer tube after disassembly and it loosened up after a year of regular matches later. My fault not the gun. Over 12,000 rounds. You will be OK.

Steve
 
you'll do fine with it, shoot it and enjoy it. You can always upgrade the BCG later if you want to something higher up the chain or ever get concerned about reliability there. I say an Oly in your hands or locked in the safe is better than an invisible\imaginary Colt in your head.
 
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