Do you TRULY want a good AR-15 or do you want crap?

[Tactically Fat]

I did a similar pistol build earlier this year using all premium BCM parts for everything except an Anderson lower. I had no issues with it.

Would I like to have a cooler rollmark than the Anderson horse? Sure, but everything fit together fine.

Good to know!

Was your grip screw hole tapped deep enough on your Anderson?

 

[JollyMon]

Crap AR is better .... My quality post for the day

 

[seedubs1]

#povertypony

Buy Aero receivers if you're on a budget.

 

[Hohn]

I had the chance to shoot an entirely Palmetto gun recently.

It ran. 100% it ran. Budget AR, definitely. But "crap"? hardly. Not even.

What did I notice compared by my DDM4?

1) Stock milspec trigger was brutal but functional.
2) Recoil impulse made quick follow ups petty much impossible.
3) Fit of lower to upper was not as tight as my DDM4. (Note: my DDM4 STILL has a tiny bit of play between upper and lower, about .002" just enough to feel-- kind of inevitable).

Now, if you dropping in a decent trigger and tuned the buffer a bit to make it smoother, you'd have a great running rifle for $800. Likely it would never be as flat shooting as mine (rifle gas vs carbine after all) but here's the point: I think this was a $500 carbine off a PSA promo. If you are looking for the extra $1000 in value that my DDM4 brings, you'd be looking for a long time. Because even my rifle needs a little tweak here and there to really dial in.

All those cool while graphics on the DD indicating the caliber? Yeah, those will smear and disappear the first time you actually use the thing.

 

[MCgrease08]

Good to know!

Was your grip screw hole tapped deep enough on your Anderson?

Yes. I was anticipating that might be an issue based on feedback from others, but I had no issues.

I did have to really hammer in a few of the pins, especially the trigger guard pin, but other than that, it all went together pretty quickly.

 

[rhino]

I had the chance to shoot an entirely Palmetto gun recently.

It ran. 100% it ran. Budget AR, definitely. But "crap"? hardly. Not even.

What did I notice compared by my DDM4?

1) Stock milspec trigger was brutal but functional.
2) Recoil impulse made quick follow ups petty much impossible.
3) Fit of lower to upper was not as tight as my DDM4. (Note: my DDM4 STILL has a tiny bit of play between upper and lower, about .002" just enough to feel-- kind of inevitable).

Now, if you dropping in a decent trigger and tuned the buffer a bit to make it smoother, you'd have a great running rifle for $800. Likely it would never be as flat shooting as mine (rifle gas vs carbine after all) but here's the point: I think this was a $500 carbine off a PSA promo. If you are looking for the extra $1000 in value that my DDM4 brings, you'd be looking for a long time. Because even my rifle needs a little tweak here and there to really dial in.

All those cool while graphics on the DD indicating the caliber? Yeah, those will smear and disappear the first time you actually use the thing.

In addition, quick follow-up shots are as much about technique as they are about how much the rifle moves inherently. It may be more work to to get fast, accurate splits with a carbine length gas system and a GI flash hider on a 16 inch barrel, but it's doable. When I used to shoot 3-gun all the time, people would comment on how well my compensator worked because my muzzle wasn't moving much when I was firing rapidly. My buddies and I would laugh because the "compensator" was a standard GI flash hider, the lower is all original parts including trigger from a Bushmaster AK Shorty and the upper is a 16 inch pencil barreled Doublestar with a carbine length gas system. I just pull into my shoulder hard enough that it doesn't move much.

 

[MCgrease08]

Just a peek at what goes into quality control at BCM.

[video=youtube_share;BaFOZAwspYI]http://youtu.be/BaFOZAwspYI[/video]

 

[Vigilant]

Just a peak at what goes into quality control at BCM.

[video=youtube_share;BaFOZAwspYI]http://youtu.be/BaFOZAwspYI[/video]

This is obviously untrue. I heard here, parts is parts, and your BCA assembled by well, they’re in ICE holding at the moment so, or your PSA parts bin pick up is JAGA those in this video. Too bad with better, comes more expensive.

 

[Ggreen]

I'm still firmly in the sons of liberty gw camp.

 

[MindfulMan]

Just a peak at what goes into quality control at BCM.

Cool vid .... thanks for posting it !

 

[chenowethpm]

I guess I got lucky, when I bought my first ar15 which was only my second gun purchase, I got one off a painter buddy who I worked with for 500 dollars. I didn’t know anything about the platform except it looked cool and everyone was buying them. So I forked over the cash and went home with the rifle thinking this thing was “expensive”. It is a BCM factory rifle and it always shot excellent. It wasn’t till I started researching that I realized how good of a deal I had gotten. Still have it although I listed it on armslist once, decided I wanted to keep it after I had like 30 replies after 30 minutes of it being posted. Never gonna get rid of it!

 

[dk598]

Everyone has their price point when it comes to firearms. Not everyone can afford the best of the best. Buying inexpensive ARs at the entry point price fits a high percentage of buyers. Let's face it, most of these rifles sit in a closet and don't get shot anyway.

 

[ru44mag]

Or maybe it would be a crime to waste such a fine rifle like a BCM, if all you ever shoot is water bottles, 'yotes and feral cats.

 

[Hohn]

I had the chance to shoot an entirely Palmetto gun recently.

It ran. 100% it ran. Budget AR, definitely. But "crap"? hardly. Not even.

What did I notice compared by my DDM4?

1) Stock milspec trigger was brutal but functional.
2) Recoil impulse made quick follow ups petty much impossible.
3) Fit of lower to upper was not as tight as my DDM4. (Note: my DDM4 STILL has a tiny bit of play between upper and lower, about .002" just enough to feel-- kind of inevitable).

Now, if you dropping in a decent trigger and tuned the buffer a bit to make it smoother, you'd have a great running rifle for $800. Likely it would never be as flat shooting as mine (rifle gas vs carbine after all) but here's the point: I think this was a $500 carbine off a PSA promo. If you are looking for the extra $1000 in value that my DDM4 brings, you'd be looking for a long time. Because even my rifle needs a little tweak here and there to really dial in.

All those cool while graphics on the DD indicating the caliber? Yeah, those will smear and disappear the first time you actually use the thing.

I got a chance to shoot my DD at the HP match this weekend. It parked 14/20 rounds in the X ring at 300y. (2.85" diameter X ring). The other 6 were 10 rings (5.85"). Granted conditions were pretty favorable with mild and (more importantly) steady wind. But 70% sub-MOA at 300y from a stock rifle is pretty respectable, IMO.

Not sure if the Palmetto will do that even with handloads.

Then again, maybe you drop a good barrel in the PSA and it's 100% sub MOA. Who knows?

 

[firefighterjohn]

Or maybe it would be a crime to waste such a fine rifle like a BCM, if all you ever shoot is water bottles, 'yotes and feral cats.

On the contrary...if you HAVE a BCM I think it would be a crime NOT use it in those three duties...LOL

 

[firefighterjohn]

I guess I got lucky, when I bought my first ar15 which was only my second gun purchase, I got one off a painter buddy who I worked with for 500 dollars. I didn’t know anything about the platform except it looked cool and everyone was buying them. So I forked over the cash and went home with the rifle thinking this thing was “expensive”. It is a BCM factory rifle and it always shot excellent. It wasn’t till I started researching that I realized how good of a deal I had gotten. Still have it although I listed it on armslist once, decided I wanted to keep it after I had like 30 replies after 30 minutes of it being posted. Never gonna get rid of it!

That's one helluva find for the price. I let one slip thru my fingers at a LGS; priced way under GunBroker pricing, went back later in afternoon...it was already sold!

 

[gregr]

Moral of this story: People are cheap, very very very cheap and love to say "My $500 rifle shoots just as good as your $1500 rifle" well they say that until their PSA special bites the dust and my LWRC keeps on trucking. Also "good enough" might not be good enough to get you home one day, firearms are an area to never cheap out on.

Like with most things... in actuality, in every thing; quality matters, especially in the long-term, and, quality costs.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Like with most things... in actuality, in every thing; quality matters, especially in the long-term, and, quality costs.

HOLY NECROPOST, BATMAN!!

 

[zbloxzoid]

Budget guns are awesome. Yes some crap is - well, crap. It's almost like a game of jack-in-the box but instead of box opening with a puppet, your AR15 has an OOBD or a catastrophic failure in general. I will give PSA credit for making guns that seem well built, and last. There's a few 1000+ round reviews out now so it's not as obscure. I have an Andro Corp ACI15, a $600 gun on certain days. But it works and for the price the fit-n-finish is nuts. All-American, small company. They make higher end stuff, too. As long as the gun doesn't blow up in my hands I could care less.

 

[Expat]

That’s some pretty low expectations