Olympic AR-15

[Bruenor]

So I went to a gun store yesterday with a friend of mine. I ended up getting a Mosin M44 ($88 already cleaned, for the most part) to go with my 91/30. My friend sees an Olympic AR-15, new, on the wall for $579. The owner said that they were selling a couple at a little over cost to draw in some business. I'm not sure about that, but $579 seems a pretty cheap price for a new AR.

Does anyone know anything about this AR? I've never even shot one, and really haven't paid much attention to them because I always see ARs for $1000+. Any thoughts?

 

[Dgreno]

Do a search on Olympic AR's. You will find that the general consensus is to stay away from them. Supposedly, their lowers are prone to cracking.

 

[Bruenor]

I did a search, and some people had good things to say in this thread.

 

[xjchief]

Bah, I've had one for 16 years and it's never had a problem.

I think the cracks were limited to cast receivers which they don't make anymore.

http://www.olyarms.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=43

 

[CZ223]

I've got two

and have had zero problems with them. They are extremely accurate, the bull barreled ones that is. I might stay away from the plinker model though, as that is the model that I have heard of with themost problems.

 

[Onmilo]

Just before the ban ended in 2004, Olympic released a bunch of 16" rifles they called Plinkers that featured cast lower receivers, fixed A2 buttstock assemblies and no flash hider or bayonet lug.
After the ban they started sending out rifles called Plinker Plus that featured forged lower receivers and these could be had with or without the banned features depending on individual state laws.
The Plinker Plus rifles are the better guns but the Plinker cast receiver rifles are quite good for general shooting.

Olympic cast lower receivers are easy to spot as they have a very rough, almost coarse, sandblasted appearance.
The forged receivers are just as well made as any other offering.

Olympic produced barrels are some of the best factory made non-chrome lined barrels offered.

Some of the small parts are cheaper versions of Mil-Spec parts but these can be switched out if they fail the owners quality desires.

 

[Schleprok62]

Buy it... enjoy it... and be the envy of the guys who spent twice what you did for the same groups...

 

[W.E.G.]

Buy it.

And buy a spare receiver while they are cheap.

There is less than 1% chance that you will need the spare receiver, but its a good thing to keep as a spare if you are into AR's. Plus, you can always sell it for at least what you have in it.

 

[bannockburn]

Bruenor

A friend of mine bought one of the post ban Olympic ARs for around $600 a couple of years ago. The guns been great with zero problems, and with several thousand rounds through it, it's still running just fine. I say for $579, that's a great deal for one if it's a post ban version.

 

[Idano]

Do a search on Olympic AR's. You will find that the general consensus is to stay away from them. Supposedly, their lowers are prone to cracking.

That is not the case. There was a period a couple of years ago that Olympic went through some growing pains but anything before that and anything new is very good quality. I an Olympic that is over six years old and seen thousands of rounds without any issues, is still tight and looks new. When I start building up my spare lowers I am definitely going with an Olympic ultra match barrel, they are some most accurate for price. These days I don't think you can go wrong with either Olympic, DPMS, Model 1, or Bushmaster. However, with the current supply and demand issues you do need to inspect every one very closely because back log can affect production quality when trying to catch up, but these companies do stand behind what they sell.

 

[atlanticfire]

Have had many Olys and they all have been great guns!