sportsmans warehouse and colt

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That counter monkey was an idiot. Colt makes good rifles, but so do a lot of other manufacturers. So long as you avoid Hesse, Blackthone, Vulcan, Olympic, you should be fine.

Except for the difference in material (mil-spec is 7075-T6 vs 6061-T6) and the inferior method of threading that doesn't leave a full profile thread in the commercial tube. For a range plinker, you're right, there is no difference. For a rifle that is going to get beat on, there's a difference. There are also several stocks that are only available in a mil-spec diameter. I've yet to see a quality stock that was only available in commercial diameter.
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Really??? Do you care to back that statement up with facts? I'd like to see the first example in history of a commercial tube being proven as inferior to a milspec one, even considering the type of metal.
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Commercial tubes were made thicker because the 6061 is softer. The reality is anything that will damage a 1.17" 6061 tube will most likely also damage a 1.15" 7075 tube.

The thing you have to watch for when buying is to make sure that the mil spec diameter tube you get is 7075 and not 6061; There are several manufacturers that make 6061 mil spec diameter tubes, which are weaker than a commercial tube. Would probably be fine for 99% of use, but why buy the tube made of weaker and thinnner metal?

I run commercial tubes on all of my ARs because both of my earlier production Armalite rifles had them, and it was more economical to stick with commercial pattern for stock interchangeability between rifles. I'm pretty rough with them, never had a problem.
 
That's just Shocking!

Do you actually mean to tell us that a sales guy, with Colt on the shelf, is talking up Colt and talking down the competition.... :cuss:

and you didn't intervene? :neener:

Like the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause.... :eek:

One of life's shocking moments is when you discover that sales people are not the worlds leading authority on anything... and they often misrepresent the little bit of factual information they do know, in order to make a sale.

Oh the inhumanity :rolleyes:
 
Not AR related but if you have a Sportsman's Warehouse you must be in the Norhwest. We had one store in Tallahassee that opened with a bang but the merchandise sold was never restocked. Sadly the store closed and the company went under. Beautiful building. The building has now been taken over and is being expanded into a Bass Pro Shop Outpost. Used to do quite a buit of buying from the Sportsman's Warehouse in Twin Falls, Idaho and was always impressed with the store. Interesting to see the ebb and flow of these businesses. Now you guys can get back to your AR debates. For black guns I have the Arsenal AK's, that's it.
 
Not AR related but if you have a Sportsman's Warehouse you must be in the Norhwest.
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We have a Sportsman's Warehouse here in Columbia, SC. Very busy place.
 
I am not only shocked, but also dismayed that a gun store employee disguised his (or her) opinion as fact!

Do your own research, friends. You are on one of the many good websites.

I have a DPMS AR-15 that I love and have never had any problems with.
 
A lot of it depends on which model AR but in general I think Colt does makes a higher end AR-15 than many other AR manufacturers including Bushmaster and DPMS.

It's not that Bushmaster, Armalite, RRA and DPMS make bad AR's I just don't think they make top quality AR's. I would still say that S&W, PSA, Stag and now Windham Weaponry are higher up on the latter in terms of quality. Higher still would be Sig, Colt, Daniel Defense, BCM, LMT and Noveske.

If I were going to take a intense carbine course I wouldn't bring a DPMS or Bushmaster but I would feel perfectly comfortable with a Colt, LMT, Noveske, Daniel Defense or BCM.

So IMO the sale clerk wasn't being dishonest, he may have been acting a little like an AR snob but then again I can be that way as well and so I can't really fault him for speaking his mind.
 
It's not that Bushmaster, Armalite, RRA and DPMS make bad AR's I just don't think they make top quality AR's. I would still say that S&W, PSA, Stag and now Windham Weaponry are higher up on the latter in terms of quality.
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Where do you get the idea that Stag and Windham (Bushmaster defectors) are better than Armalite and RRA? As for PSA, it depends on the particular model.

How many of these have you actually played with? I've had trigger time on just about every brand, save Barret, Noveske and Larue. I'll tell you right now that there was nothing about the Colts that put them above Armalite, RRA, S&W and several others as far as I could tell.

What exactly do you think makes the Colt better? Why do you feel that Stag and Windham (generally considered mid tier) are now better?
 
Just remember guys the whole "Mil-Spec." thing is not all about the durability of said product. It is mostly set up for commonality of parts, I.E. lets make sure all the manufacturers of weapons, mags, etc. all make the same product to the same dimensions, so that all of the parts fit in all the different weapons they are meant to fit into. (Dated example:An Inland M1 carbine with a Winchester bolt, underwood trigger assy. National postal meter charging handle, and sights from Rock-Ola. All these manufacturers make these parts to the same "Spec.")That is about 90% of the reason behind "mil-spec." It is my belief that the term "mil-spec." was highjacked in the early days of the AR-15 building craze in the early 2000's due to the uncertainty of fit between available commercial parts. That has since changed in a big way and now I see "mil-spec." as basically a sales pitch.
 
When I was a young man in forest service training the only chainsaws they told us were good enough for a true professional were stihls. But before I told my father this I couldn't help but remember all those years he kept us warm all winter long with a lowly old "inferior" McCulloch.
 
The employee was going in the right direction, but went overboard.

There are other makers at least as good as Colt. Not DPMS or Bushmaster, but quite a few others.
 
When I was a young man in forest service training the only chainsaws they told us were good enough for a true professional were stihls. But before I told my father this I couldn't help but remember all those years he kept us warm all winter long with a lowly old "inferior" McCulloch.
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I can vouch for the long term durability and serviceability of the Stihl vs. McCullough/Poulan/Homelite and all the other homeowner grade or "light professional" stuff.

I turn wrenches for a living. The Harbor Freight or Craftsman or Husky tools that work well enough for the weekend tinkerer won't cut it for me, so I buy Mac, Matco, Snap-On, and then some specialty Lisle and OTC stuff for the most part.

However.........The spread of AR quality-even from bottom to top-isn't near as much as it often is with tools. I have never run across a cheap, cast aluminum chinese AR sporting an extruded round stock barrel and zamak BCG.
 
After two deployments with the Army I never understood the "at least as good as Colt" mentality. I think the US Military is under no illusion that Colt is the best thing out there. When I read about the 2007 dust test where the M4 jammed once every 2-3 magazines I thought that assessment was spot on with what I saw in Iraq. I've never seen such a variety of jams or so many bent rounds of ammunition than working with Colt products both here in the states and overseas. My co-worker who was drafted into Vietnam describes his M16A1 as "a piece of crap".

The other thing I've never seen is a large amount of worn out AR15s, shot to death by their owners, suffering from small parts failure, etc. I've seen many people warn against it, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes.

I think the most honest thing to say is that there are rifles out there that are significantly better than Colt, and when it comes to rifles that are built on the original AR15 concept, they are more alike than they are different.
 
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Things have changed since Vietnam, you know.

The dust test you speak of (which is a topic itself) is about the platform, not the manufacturer

PS: Use more lube. ;-)
 
Also Colt uses 4150 CMV MIL-B-11595E in the barrels.You can argue the Mil-spec thing all day but not all AR15s are the same,they may look the same,but many ways to cut corners.

Yeah,the Civi variants do not have select fire and maybe didn't get the once over by a bureaucrat inspector with his/her moosh gig.Other than that the Colt is the one all others are judged by.A few other companies like BCM and DD put out really good products too,but the pony holds its value better.

Guns like Crapmasters and DPMS are range queen hobby grade guns,I know plenty of PDs that use them,doesn't mean anything,but they also have "more" problems with those, than those who run Colt 6920s and 6933s.

Depends on what you want to do.

The AR15 industry is an incestuous one.;)
 
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