Auburn1992:
I bought an AO carbine in Oct. '07. It was my first gun purchase (am 53).
Anyway, after about two months of taking care of it and being gentle, oiled but never 'broken down' and never dropped or banged around, the bolt came up a bit out of the track and was stuck.
It was kaputt, and was shipped back to the factory for free repairs. It was fine after the repair, but the store I sold it to back in Feb. or March still has the rifle on display, with a large magazine. I sold it being more disappointed and irked with the company which built it than the rifle itself. For decades had always liked the look of US carbines. Since then have bought two used Minis (14 and 30) and an SKS (plus a second MN 44), with no problems at all with any of them. The 14 was built in '90. All of these are rugged and reliable with good mags and fairly clean chambers.
There is not a doubt, in my opinion, that AOs are over-priced.
But it still looks perfect and might be one of the best around. And the original magazine spring would barely feed at all.
It was almost a 'bolt-action AO carbine' the first time I used it.
Maybe a few brand-new guns here and there can break, and that might be normal, but my point is that customers apparently do not want barely-used AOs, and back in the spring and summer, brand-new types sat in stores a while before they sold. If you want to trade it in later you might be out of luck, unless Congress decides to do something really stupid in a year or two if/when they take their focus off the financial crisis and growing unemployment.
