Seriously late tax refund on the way!!!
 I'm planning my 2nd AR. I already have a tricked-out DPMS M4gery build that I'm happy with. I now want a 20" flat-top.
 I've been looking around for a few days and I've found  some good deals from both M&A Parts and Model 1 Sales.  
 Does anyone here have any experience with either of them? Good? Bad? What says the BRD support group?
 Thanks in advance for any and all info.  

M&A is not bad. But I dont think there barrels are crome lined. Model 1 is kind of so/so. I personaly would hit the EE and pick up what you need there. Some good deal's to be had. Both new and used. Good luck

J&T distributing 14.5 chrome lined 1/7 barrel kit with Phantom Flash Hider- $575.


Double Star Lower $99.


Have the flash hider pinned and have CMMG cut the feed ramps $35.


Total invested give or take shipping and transfer: $709


C77

Quoted: Model 1 is kind of so/so.

How so-so? Could you elaborate?

Quoted: J&T distributing 14.5 chrome lined 1/7 barrel kit with Phantom Flash Hider- $575. Double Star Lower $99. Have the flash hider pinned and have CMMG cut the feed ramps $35. Total invested give or take shipping and transfer: $709 C77

Already have something like that....
 To clairify, I'm planning a separate, complete 20" rifle.

Bump for more info?

I have built up about 10 of the Model 1 kits and have always been satisfied with the quality.  They use ER Shaw barrels and all have proven accurate and reliable.  I would also reccomend Del-Ton.  I have built up several of their kits and have been impressed with the quality, fit, finish, etc.  I also like Del-Ton's cust service.  They are very responsive to questions and let you know right away if something is out of stock.  I have found Model 1 doesn't let you know if the product is out of stock, when it ships, etc.  Never used M&A.  Everytime I would decide to try them, the items I needed were out of stock.

Just my .02 worth.  Good luck with the build and be sure to post lots of pics!

Depends if you like getting Darth Vadered or not?

Del-Ton, and in case you missed that, Del-Ton.

Best stuff on the cheap in the AR world, and a great company to deal with.

try to use j&t or del-ton, i have biult 7 rifles with j&t, all where flawless. i haven't used del-ton yet but most people on this board are consistant with service and quality

I have used Model 1 and J&T and have had no problem with either.  Chromelined barrels are not standard so if you want Chrome you need to ask for it and it costs an extra $50.

I bought a kit from M&A, 20" E2 and it works, looks and fits great.  First shot was a dead center bulls eye.

Mine was good but I know some people don't like them because of the owner attacking a customer at the Houston gun show, you can find that if you search for the Darth Vader incident.

I don't know how many are, but, I do know that LMT builds some of M&A's stuff.  So I would say that that makes M&A pretty good.  I bought an M&A upper that was built by LMT and it was nice.  I called LMT personnally because the upper had one of their brown tags hanging off of it.  They said they do build for M&A.

I would just watch the EE and buy stuff used...  Better Quality and Better prices.

Very few people use up their equipment before they decide to sell to get something else.

Quoted: I don't know how many are, but, I do know that LMT builds some of M&A's stuff.  So I would say that that makes M&A pretty good.  I bought an M&A upper that was built by LMT and it was nice.  I called LMT personnally because the upper had one of their brown tags hanging off of it.  They said they do build for M&A.

Quote from M&A
Most of our uppers are from Lewis Machine and Tool (LMT) unless specified otherwise as being Rock River. Our barrels are Wilson Match Grade unless otherwise noted. LMT cuts, finishes and chambers the barrels. LMT assembles, times, headspaces, chambers and function test fires each barreled upper.

Quoted: Depends if you like getting Darth Vadered or not?

Please elaborate?

Quoted: Quoted: Depends if you like getting Darth Vadered or not? Please elaborate?

The M&A guy got Vader-choked by a forum member at a gunshow when he had a tempter tantrum and got in the customer's face. I won't name the forum member to respect his privacy.

Ive built several model 1 kits and never had any real problems

DEL-TON!!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry to get off topic, but please explain "vader-choked", was the guy just kidding or something?

i can tell you, Not model 1!!

Del-ton and Pkfirearms have had the best prices I have found and personally dealt with.

I've had zero problems with Model 1 products, and have heard great things about J&T.

Much thanks to all!!! Any further input and opinions will be appreciated.

You guys have been more helpful than a year-long subscription to Shotgun News!

+1 for Del-Ton or PK-Firearms great to deal with

My friend bought a 7.62X39 upper from Model 1 and I had to re-insert the gas tube as it was no seated in the gas block and re-align the FSB so it line up w/the gas hole because when he got it it was like a bolt-action. Was it a fluke? My $.02

Quoted: I have used Model 1 and J&T and have had no problem with either.  Chromelined barrels are not standard so if you want Chrome you need to ask for it and it costs an extra $50.

Same here. I would go with J&T over Model 1 though just cause they do support this site.

height=8

Quoted: sorry to get off topic, but please explain "vader-choked", was the guy just kidding or something?

Here's one of the many posts that truthfully described what happened:

xxxxx
Member
Joined :: November 2004
TX, USA

 I lurk here all the time and finally registered after going to the Reliant Gun Show in Houston yesterday. I have never seen anything like this. I had my two boys there with me and we witnessed the M&A guy attack a customer.

I think this guy from M&A parts was the owner. He is a stocky guy with a goatee.

Earlier in the day, I had seen the customer having some sights put on his Glock at the Glock spare parts booth (he was carrying his Glock concealed and chewing on a cigar) so I figure that guy was LEO. The night sights weren't the cheap kind either.

Anyway, A while later, I was at the M&A booth about to drop $800 or $900 dollars on an upper and parts when I see the Glock guy with the cigar again. He was wearing a blue pullover. He was talking to one of the helper bees at the M&A parts table and that guy told him the prices of a handful of rail covers. I know those things aren't cheap.

The Goatee guy came over and told the Glock guy a totally different price. I think the difference was over $35.00 from what the helper bee had told the customer. This large difference even caught my attention.

The Glock guy asked the M&A Goatee boy what the difference was and the M&A Goatee guy answered him like he was an idiot. I mean, he talked to him just like you would talk to some stupid retarded guy that was trying to date your sister.

The M&A guy's voice was mean, condescending and devoid of any ounce of customer service. The Glock guy said that was fine, and asked him if he took American Express. The M&A guy said no in that same condescending mean voice and took the Glock Guy's visa card. I would have told the M&A guy with the goatee to shove his parts up his rear end right there! The Glock guy didn't.

I was amazed that a vender would talk to a customer who was buying $100.00 of plastic rail covers like this.

I decided that I would not do business with these guy and spent my money elsewhere. In fact, I will never buy from M&A parts again.

After the Glock guy with the cigar handed the M&A goatee guy his credit card, the M&A guy screwed around for awhile and told the Glock guy that it wouldn't read his card. Why he didn't just punch the numbers in manually, I'll never know. That's not hard to do. The Glock guy had this annoyed look on his face and the M&A guy with the goatee told him "ITS NOT MY FAULT IT WON'T READ YOUR CARD!"

The Glock guy took his card back and asked the M&A Goatee guy if they took checks. The M&A guy responded in that same condescending tone of voice that they didn't. The Glock guy told him fine, he could keep his merchandise then and started to walk away. At no time did the glock guy get rude or say anything that was out of line to the M&A parts guy.

This is where it started to go bad. The M&A guy made a comment to the Glock guy about his attitude (which I had not seen a bad attitude from the Glock guy yet).

The glock guy stopped walking away and told the M&A goatee guy that he was the one with the crappy attitude and proceeded to detail each instance of his bad attitude and poor customer service from start to finish.

The M&A Goatee guy told the glock guy with the cigar that he could take his bad attitude somewhere else (which I thought the glock guy was trying to do) and then the Glock guy told him "Fuck You" and turned and walked down the aisle toward Lone Star Gun safe's booth.

The M&A goatee guy started yelling "SIR" SIR" "SIR" "SIR" "SIR" after the Glock guy like a little girl whose feelings were hurt and then ran out into the aisle after his former customer.

This is where I decided that the M&A guy with the goatee was proving that not only was he stupid, but that he was trying to become a candidate for the Darwinism award.

The M&A Goatee guy grabbed the glock guy's shoulder (1st mistake), spun him around, put his face into the Glock guys face & yelled "FUCK YOU" in his face. there faces where inches apart. I think the M&A guy actually stuck his eye onto the end of the Glock guy's cigar. Luckily for the M&A Goatee guy the Glock guy was only chewing the cigar and it wasn't lit.

The M&A Goatee guy then proceeded to try to swat the Glock guy’s cigar out of his mouth. He hit the cigar.

The Glock guy grabbed the M&AQ guy's collar and pushed him back. The M&A Goatee guy made a grab for the Glock guy's collar at which time the Glock guy finished the fight:

The Glock guy grabbed the M&A guy by the THROAT & squeezed. It looked like he squeezed it real hard. The M&A guy suddenly stopped running his mouth and talking smack tothe Glock guy with the cigar!

I thought to myself, the Glock guy with the cigar just went Darth Vader on M&A guy: fingers around the adams apple, squeezed hard enough for the M&A Goatee boy's eyes to pop out (looked like one of those dolls that have the pop out eyes that pop out when you squeeze them. Looked him in the eyes and told him in a very loud voice that he was going to kill him right there and squeezed his throat even harder.

It was amazing. It looked like Darth Vader had come to Houston. The M&A Guy's face was turning red, eyes popping out and the Glock guy was just standing there, fingers inserted into the guy's adams apple and wind pipe, chewing on his cigar, holding his bag of stuff with the most chilling look I have ever seen on a guys face. I thought the Glock guy wasn't going to let go of the M&A Guy's throat until he was dead.

Some other people intervened and the Glock guy let the M&A goatee guy go and started to walk off. The M&A guy apparently wanted to be embarrassed some more and decided that having his throat almost ripped out once that day wasn't enough and followed after the Glock guy a second time. I thought the glock guy was going to test out his new night sights on this moron, but he didn't. Four or five really big guys came out of nowhere and stopped the M&A guy from getting embarrassed a second time.

I was shocked that my two boys had to witness any of this. The way the M&A Parts guy with the goatee talked to the guy with the Glock and then the attack. At least my boys saw one way to stop a stupid bully. Grab his throat and choke the life out of him. BUT, they should not have to see this stuff at a gun show



  Posted :: 11/14/2004 1:29:38 PM
  Last Edited :: 11/14/2004 1:50:42 PM by xxxxxxx

I had nothing but problem's with Model 1. Now I'm wondering about M&A. I have bought some stuff from them and was satisfied. Don't like the last post though. As of late I have been using Only Bushmaster , YHM & Larue. Definatly top notch stuff there

Hey Cerberus,

Here's an on topic post: have you considered an Ameetec complete upper and lower?  This sale is for a 16", but you could sell the barrel assembly on the EE, then go to CMMG or J&T and buy a 20" to your liking or go to AR15barrels.com and have Randall make the 20" of your dreams.  As low cost as this Ameetec setup is and factoring in the offset from selling the 16", you could end up with a serious tack driver and an economical buy.  Just know that like most of the good deals, the lower is on backorder, so you'll buy the upper now and pay for it and get on the waiting list for the lower.  But, since your not buying a whole gun, I believe you don't pay FET. Ameetec can spell it out for you. You might want to call them as this sale could end anytime.  (I have no ties to anyone, just looks like a good deal. YMMV and caveat emptor.  Hasty lumbago, baby!Halfhttp://www.ameetecarms.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=11&zenid=1b7ae40c7eb0508f3b3044b18751d65d

Ameetec complete M4 Upper Half w A3 receiver $415 (16% off reg $495)
http://www.ameetecarms.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=55&zenid=1b7ae40c7eb0508f3b3044b18751d65d

I am finishing up my varminter build using M&A stuff. Even after reading the vader story I gave them a shot and have been more than happy. I called and talked to a couple vendors before going with M&A. I could tell the first time I talked to Doc on the phone that he was gettin my money. Very friendly and helpful guy.

And if this helps any, here is my upper from M&A. Look past the lint and scuff that rubbed right off and look more at the logo.


And here is 3 of the first 15 shots out of the rifle.

Even with the darth vader story the guys at M&A have always been alright in my book.  I bought an M4 upper from them and it is super accurate with zero malfunctions.

The M&A Goatee guy then proceeded to try to swat the Glock guy’s cigar out of his mouth. He hit the cigar.

The Glock guy grabbed the M&AQ guy's collar and pushed him back. The M&A Goatee guy made a grab for the Glock guy's collar at which time the Glock guy finished the fight:

The Glock guy grabbed the M&A guy by the THROAT & squeezed. It looked like he squeezed it real hard. The M&A guy suddenly stopped running his mouth and talking smack tothe Glock guy with the cigar!



Wow, that is amazing. The store owner actually slapped a customer then got his ass handed to him. Well he probably deserved it.


C77

So,what does that logo meen?

Well,I bought an A2 20" barreled upper from M&A parts that was marked RRA,and I was happy with it,it matched the RRA lower I already had.
But,after reading the story about the gunshow incident,I don't know if I would spend more money with them.That's funny.At least the guy who posted that had his sons learn a lesson about not getting in someone's face.
I see J&T at the gun shows here in Tenn.,and they're super nice,I buy stuff from them there.
They get my vote for future purchases.

either is good for budget builds, but get a DPMS lower parts kit, a hell of a lot better than the parts from M1 or J&T

Quoted: So,what does that logo meen?

Cardinal Forge, who also does LMT, Bushmaster, some Colt's I believe, and just about everyone's upper. Basically it's a good thing.


C77

.

Quoted: Quoted: So,what does that logo meen? Cardinal Forge, who also does LMT, Bushmaster, some Colt's I believe, and just about everyone's upper. Basically it's a good thing. C77

My Stag has the same mark.

EE, Del-ton or PKFirearms.