Quote History Quoted:And to clarify - because the connection made in this thread is somewhat broken... RCM is or isn't associated with a Bailey?
RCM is gtg?
ETA: looks like a
thread over at HKpro has a ton of love for RCM and guessing that the man who made the video is TB.
View Quote
You could search for weeks for the information I'm about to tell you and
still not arrive at the correct information. Some of the people who have been involved with these clones for years may already know it, while some probably don't because they simply never cared. Then there's the complete newbies who are just parroting information over and over again but without context, let alone technical and/or business comprehension.
RCM was the original supplier for many of the parts in the early clone days. RCM had a contract to supply the Bailey companies with said parts. Those parts were made to Toad Bailey's specs, not factory HK specs, and in some cases it caused some issues. One example is the bolt heads; the diameter of the breech should measure .40" for 9mm guns, but Toad spec'd them to be larger. RCM provided the parts according to the specs laid out by the volume purchaser.
Bailey's video was originally made as a response to a video I produced years ago called "The Truth About MP5 Clones." In that video I pointed out some of the potential problem areas with US made clones, and how they could be corrected. I recommended RCM parts as a viable course of remedial action for issues like the aforementioned bolt head dimensions. Toad got his panties in a bunch and decided to do his own version, claiming that nobody else's bolt heads would headpsace properly, all the while using the incorrect method for checking it. When Google decided that data farming was more important that data sharing, I deleted my old YT account, despite it having tons of videos and a strong subscriber base going back to 2006. At this point, Toad's video resides on the internet without proper context, which only leads to the confusion and makes him look like more of an ass.
RCM decided to enter the market themselves and sell some very well made parts that are properly spec'd. At this stage, it is my informed opinion that RCM produces higher quality parts than those found in the Pakistani and Turkish guns. People have put way too much stock into "Licensed Clone" and in many cases incorrectly using the term "Contract Guns" to describe them. The POFs and MKEs are licensed copies. This means they are using real HK tooling and some percentage of royalties is being paid to HK in order to be allowed to produce them. Now, POF and MKE are not "Contract Manufacturers" for H&K. Contract Manufacturers would be producing items
FOR H&K to use, which is to say they would actually be providing them to Germany to be used in the manufacture of MP5s. Heckler and Koch is not actively monitoring the production lines of POF and MKE, like some would have you believe by their choice of words.
There is another issue, and that is one of material and dimensional specs. It is quite clear that neither of the licensed manufacturers are using the same grades of steel to produce bolt heads as they are in Oberndorf, Germany. In fact, it seems clear that MKE in particular is using cast bolt heads, as evidenced by the small casting voids visible on the surface. Yes, I have asked, and Zenith chose not to respond.
Although the information is intentionally squashed or hidden, there have been many, many problems with the licensed clones, just as there have been with the US made clones. One need only look to find out about cracked locking pieces, guns made from used parts kits, improperly aligned barrels, 3-lug interfaces that are out of spec...the list goes on. Yes, Atlantic Firearms has done a great job in taking care of those
problems, but there continues to be problem guns that exit the factory
from these Licensed Manufacturers. Guns that are truly made 100% to HK's specs would not display these problems, yet people would have you believe that they are the next best thing to a factory German gun. In fact, the next best thing would be a German parts kit properly built using an LSC flat.
Now back to your regularly scheduled US made clone bash fest....