Spikes Tactical Pros/Cons?

[Dimis]

Im looking at getting an AR for HD plinking and light competition (a few events a year in a tactical form like 3 gun)
ive been eyeballing the Colt 6920 for a while but uncle sam took more from me this year than expected so im looking for less expencive

ive given thought to buying a lower and building from scratch and a buddy at a local shop told me to get a spikes lower and go from there...

well i was looking on spikes site and saw there M4gery for $799 right smack where i wanted my price range to be

ive done some searching and found alot of features are identical to the colt

can someone shed some light on why colts are so much more in price
am i paying for the name?
or am i missing something about the spikes tactical thats just "too good to be true"?

 

[M&PVolk]

Colt makes a good gun, but you are paying for the name. Opinions will vary on whether or not Spikes is "giving something up" to meet their price point, but in what I have seen of them, they seem very good to go. I would recommend a Spikes to anyone.

 

[AR27]

You are paying for the name with colt, it will hold collector value, thats its upper hand over spikes. Spikes is just as much quality it just comes from a relatively small manufacturer so there is no paying for a brand name. Excellent specs

 

[Dimis]

thanks for the info

im not looking for a collectors piece im looking to shoot it as often as possable

 

[john5036]

Believe it or not, the Colt has somewhat come down in price compared to a few years ago. Used to run 1400 on average, now seeing it cap out at 1200 or so. Probably has to do with the advent of the 6940 being the new kid on the block.

Yes, you will be paying for the Colt name. However, you will arguably be paying for the quality that is backed by their military contract to sell such rifles. Colts apparently put some machining habits into their platform that other M4gery companies decided to shortcut. This created a standard, and Spikes will arguably meet the most critical aspects of them.

RE: Spikes will most definitely fit and probably exceed your expectations given your intended purpose for the gun. It's a great entry AR, and probably the best bang for the buck when buying a complete package. Others may point you to Bravo Company, another great company, but their price point doesn't match with Spike's.

I had the opportunity to spend a range day with their carbine model ST-15, and it helped me decide to drop $800 on them, and get one for myself. Zero failures, and this included the part of the day with steel cased ammo.

For $800 and some change, you will get a properly assembled rifle and some nice people to work with to boot. The only downside is that their delivery schedule is pushing 4-6 weeks soooo.... use that time to save up for ammo!

 

[benzy2]

There is more to Colt than just the name. You don't hear of many problems with Colts. All rifles will take maintenance and some parts/springs need replaced with use, regardless of brand. That said, a lot fewer corners are cut in a Colt than of some other brands. You see better quality of materials used on Colt than on some of the other cheaper rifles. You also see better fit and finish on the parts that matter on a Colt. The little details are also not skipped over with the Colt.

Now, that isn't to say those things are important to everyone or for every purpose. In fact, in many instances, most of those issues hold little value. I really don't know what quality rifle Spike's is putting out, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a few corners cut to get to that price point. You may never notice a difference from one rifle to the other but there is a difference. I personally fit in the category that I wouldn't notice the difference in a budget priced M4 clone and a top tier M4 clone, so I go cheap. I have a feeling that if you don't know the differences between the Spikes and the Colt, that you won't be able to tell the difference in the field and should just get the cheaper one. When you find shortcomings in the execution of a cheaper rifle, that is the time to move up to a top tier rifle.

 

[AR27]

In my opinion military contracts mean nothing. Sorry to say but Ol' Uncle Sam isnt giving his troops the best weapons or gear available, not by a long shot. They are looking to just barely meet the standard they are forced to meet for the cheapest price. They had a "contest" (for lack of a better word) a while back were the M16 platform was put up against a line of other rifles in a series of torture tests. Guess which performed the worst? M16 platform. Guess who got the contract? M16 platform. The better rifles were to much money for the government. Its all about the money just like everything else in the world. Mil-spec doesnt mean its the best, Noveske isnt mil-spec, they exceed far past mil-spec AR-15s.

By the way, isnt FN getting most of the M16 contracts over Colt?

 

[TonyAngel]

Really, I don't think I've read a single negative review of a Spike's rifle. Right now, they are the best bang for the buck. They are a very small operation and don't have much overhead, yet. I'd take advantage of that while you can.

 

[Dimis]

You see better quality of materials used on Colt than on some of the other cheaper rifles. You also see better fit and finish on the parts that matter on a Colt. The little details are also not skipped over with the Colt.

thats just it i looked into the spikes and it seems to mirror the colt in all those catagories (at least from there own data sheet)

my mind is 90%+ made up to just get the spikes and be done with it... someone push me that last 10%

 

[blackops]

AR27 makes a valid point. Our troops don't always carry the best. That said, have you ever heard of a Colt M4 having any problems? I have yet to hear a complaint. They are excellent rifles. I'll tell you this though, I bought a Spikes midlength w 9" quad rail about a month ago and posted it here (check out my post), the gun is bad a**!

 

[john5036]

By the way, isnt FN getting most of the M16 contracts over Colt?

Yes, but Colt owns the design, FN produces under a license. Yes, the M16 performed the worst and considering the cost, the other competitors just didn't perform better enough to warrant replacing the standard issue. Special Forces get their own smithing for the special stuff, to include other options in hardware.

Still, for the OP, the AR platform has had years of improvisation and nowadays it's reliability will do just fine here in the States. Spikes has taken the good to come out of that, and are putting out some fine firearms.

 

[piratelooking@40]

I have a Spike's M4gery that runs great. If I wanted another AR I'd buy another Spike's, no question.

 

[Sky]

For my 10% Spikes is a good AR platform that will serve you well.

 

[AR27]

Yes, but Colt owns the design, FN produces under a license. Yes, the M16 performed the worst and considering the cost, the other competitors just didn't perform better enough to warrant replacing the standard issue. Special Forces get their own smithing for the special stuff, to include other options in hardware.

Still, for the OP, the AR platform has had years of improvisation and nowadays it's reliability will do just fine here in the States. Spikes has taken the good to come out of that, and are putting out some fine firearms.

Spikes is definetly perfect for any civilian use, I actually believe they are just as good as the ones being issued to troops, along with alot of other quality manufacturers. Spikes is the king of quality + price. Best bang for the buck as everybody has been saying.

Nobody has even mentioned thier customer service. I ordered an ST-15 le and was about the only person in the U.S to get a spikes lemon, I actually believe I was the first one lol. Well anyway it couldnt get through a 30 round mag with out having at least 10 malfunctions. Well I contacted spikes through email and within a half hour the ceo of spikes contacted me. He sent me a whole new upper with 2 day shipping without even seeing my rifle or having to recieve my upper first. It was the best customer service I had ever received on any product. The new upper came in two days as promised and functioned perfectly. Ive never had a single problem.

 

[AR27]

AR27 makes a valid point. Our troops don't always carry the best. That said, have you ever heard of a Colt M4 having any problems? I have yet to hear a complaint. They are excellent rifles. I'll tell you this though, I bought a Spikes midlength w 9" quad rail about a month ago and posted it here (check out my post), the gun is bad a**!

They did at one time, It was called the M1 Garand. For the time period no infantry rifle was better in my opinion. But thats off topic.

 

[Dimis]

They did at one time, It was called the M1 Garand

ill give a +1 to that lol

i really think that 10% has been pushed now to just get my tax money back and order one up

then the wait and stockpiling of ammo will begin lol

 

[john5036]

Spikes is definetly perfect for any civilian use, I actually believe they are just as good as the ones being issued to troops, along with alot of other quality manufacturers. Spikes is the king of quality + price. Best bang for the buck as everybody has been saying.

Nobody has even mentioned thier customer service. I ordered an ST-15 le and was about the only person in the U.S to get a spikes lemon, I actually believe I was the first one lol. Well anyway it couldnt get through a 30 round mag with out having at least 10 malfunctions. Well I contacted spikes through email and within a half hour the ceo of spikes contacted me. He sent me a whole new upper with 2 day shipping without even seeing my rifle or having to recieve my upper first. It was the best customer service I had ever received on any product. The new upper came in two days as promised and functioned perfectly. Ive never had a single problem.

If that's not your 10% to buckle down and get a Spikes, I don't know what is. Customer service has been good to me as well. I needed to submit an updated FFL to them and they took care of that same day allowing me to put my order in without delay. They could have blown me off for a few days considering the wait time, but they personally communicated to me that it was updated to the current FFL. Sure, they want my money but if they are willing to be that transparent about the simple things...it made my decision to purchase from them easier.

 

[bri]

+1 for spikes middy. I've got about 1500 rnds through mine, zero failures.

 

[kwelz]

Two topics at hand here.
Colt tend to be the benchmark. There is a reason for this. They literally ARE the standard others are judged by since they owned the TDP till recently and are the only producer of M4s for the US military.

You are going to pay slightly more for a Colt than you would for an equivalent BCM or DD. But they are great guns.



As for spikes.... /sigh. This is one of those more touchy subjects.

Spikes used to suck. I would not have touched their guns. In the last couple years however they seem to have gotten on the ball and are producing a good gun. I am still leery of them because of the past actions however if they continue I would not have a problem recommending them to people.

My problem with them however comes from 2 points.

1: When President Obama got elected they immediately jacked their prices up. A lot of companies did this. But when they were questioned on it they blamed their suppliers. The suppliers came back and refuted these claims with proof.

2: Frankly the owner can best be described by words I am not allowed to say on this board. His attitude is unbecoming of a businessman or someone who wants to be taken seriously. His products had a questionable rep because of past quality as I mentioned above. He was asked to provide proof that he was now doing things right. Instead of being a man about it and just providing the certs he got pissy and started badmouthing some well respected industry professionals. He then later provided the Cert to other people and tried to claim the high road.

I have no use for attitude like his. It is the same reason I don't buy Larue even though the product is good. There are other product just as good from companies run by much better individuals.

Now all that being said they seem to make good rifles. I am hoping they stand up to testing over the next couple years.

 

[greyling22]

spikes is pretty popular over on ar15.com. I have one of their middy uppers. runs fine, but them I don't run it hard. Shoots brass and steel cased ammo without a hitch, prints about a 1" group at 100 yds. only bad thing I can say about mine is that it came with a small scratch on the barrel. oh well.

For the casual shooter I don't think it really matters what brand you buy. They're all pretty decent and there's a lot of rebranding other people's stuff. Some are certainly better than others, but I think you get into diminishing returns pretty fast. I do think the AR15 crowd tends to be kind of vocal and snobby about X brand is the best and everything else is garbage and you've got to have all these features or you're a moron. They may even be worse than the 1911 crowd about that. I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[Sky]

greyling22 +1 hahahah I am a blender....I have ARs from different manufactures and appreciate all of them for their form and function as they are set up for various purposes.

I think many manufactures if they are intending on staying in business are improving their quality incrementally.

 

[Gary G23]

As usual, kwelz has it right. I would like to add to problem #2 that it took Spikes four months to post those certs. I wonder if they just didn't make one batch of "correct spec" rifles for testing. If they were making them right before, why did it take so long to come up with the certs?

 

[kwelz]

I don't know about the "As usual" part there. But thanks.

I honestly don't think that is the case though. I think Spikes is trying to do a better job. But Ego is also playing a part into it. A few people on M4C have reviewed spikes rifles and they have come out looking pretty good. But given how spikes has treated some well respected people over there it will be a while before they are accepted.

They were banned for a very good reason after all.

 

[RockyMtnTactical]

Get the Spikes.

 

[nathan]

On the certificates of them making milspec parts , is it done just one time to pass /showing they have it and get the customer satisfaction ? Or they have to do it every new batch of parts made ? Or annually ?

It all boils down to how honest they are and that applies to all other branded AR names.