Here is the one Olympic lower that I own.  I have had it for 5 or 6 years and have had zero problems.  The upper to lower fit is very tight.  It is their forged model and for $120 I am completely satisfied.

MadDog

I have not had my Olympic plinker plus for very long, but its been perfect for the first 200 rounds of wolf.

lamarbrog: I understand that you are agreeing with me that Oly sucks.  I do not want to offend with all capitals, the system at work corrects these things automatically, and I have develoled the bad habit of typing like that all the time.  You threw up the BS flag on me about the laquer thing, so I want you to explain it in in other words than "it simply does not happen".  I cannot for the life of me come up with a better reason for this other than what I have originally posted.  When I use a cleaning rod to push out a wolf shell from an Oly chamber, there is a thin layer of stuff on the casing that is flaky and brittle.  My training and experience tells me that if the gun was clean before I fired a few shots and then it fails to extract; and then the gun is cleaned again and functions with regular beass for a while, then jams again with wolf (as it did in the start) that the flaky residue may by a result of the crap that the steel cases is leaving behind.  As for the reading comprenension part of the story; how else would a reasonably intelligent person recieve this: "In addition, just to put the cherry on top of this cake of crap... Wolf hasn't been using lacquer for YEARS. In addition... There is other ammo besides Wolf that uses lacquer. "  I have never seen Wolf without laquer.These experiences that I shared with the OP with 16 posts I feel do not qualify being called "a cake of crap", as they are true and I will not alter them because you say that "It simply doesn't happen."

Explain yourself for throwing up the BS flag lamarborg....

I say that the OP has the info that he wanted about Oly.  Lets start a new thread about the "lacquer myth"....

The chamber does not get hot enough to melt lacquer... Especially after just a few shots like you're saying.



What you are experiencing is back blast of firing residue around the casing. Steel does not expand to seal the chamber like brass does, so you get some crap in the chamber. The cases are likely sticking because it is an Olympic rifle... Not because it is Wolf.





First time I started using Wolf was about 4 years ago... They had already gotten rid of the lacquer by that time. Wolf phased out lacquered cases years ago.

Im not saying that it actually melts.  I am saying that when the shell expands, this 'funk' is transferred to the chamber and does not eject with the spent case.  The wolf that I just bought (which is lacqured) will jam in the Oly after a few, but the S&B wont extract at all; while the brass slipps through all day long (mostly).  It seems to me that if the cases did not expand as much, the blowback would take that funk out.  The funk is there.  how is this a myth?

I was watching a DVD I had of that Iraq War series "Over There" from a few years back. Oly must be ok because on the show that's the rifle our guys are using!

wow

i win...

Im suprised no one has mentioned it yet....

I hate Oly because of their 7.62x39 AR pistol. If i remember right they showed this thing at a trade show and the shooting public BEGGED them not to make it. I remember seeing email campaigns on the primitive mid-90s message baords urging people to call or write oly and ask them not to make it. Back then the cheapest surplus 7.62 on the market was chinese steel core that could be had for about $80/1000rds

Well Oly made their piece of dogshit pistol. within days of it hitting the market the ATF declared that 7.62x39 is now a handgun round and steel case ammo was banned from import. how many of those shitty AR pistols could they have possible sold. im willing to bet they sold less than 100 of them. Meanwhile everyone who enjoys shooting AKs and SKSes got the shaft. If steel core was still importable I think it would still be around $150/1000 even at todays prices when you consider that half of the 7.62 made isnt eligible for import.


So the next time you pay $250 for a case of russian 7.62 you can thank Olympic Arms for fucking you.

http://www.thegunzone.com/762x39.html

Not to defend Oly but that is not why cheap Chinese 7.62 is no longer available. Clinton banned it's import on some bogus foreign policy grounds (just like the MAK-90), he would have done it regardless.

The steel doesn't expand... That's the problem.



The firing residue gets between the casing and the chamber wall.



Where are you finding Wolf with lacquer?
Wait... You're getting Wolf Military Classic. That's got lacquer. I see... I was thinking of Wolf.
The fact that there is crap stuck to the chamber walls is true... The idea that it is lacquer is a myth.



 

Norinco products were banned by executive order by W because Norinco got caught selling "dual use" hardware and weapons tooling to Iraq and Iran. Norinco stuff was available until the Bush executive order sometime around 2002 or 2003 i believe.

now we are getting someplace.  What is that crap? and the ammo is Wolf Performance Ammunition.  I expect that the firing residue is a dark color, this stuff is a yellowish clear

ocala armory on Hwy 27, green cases (not grey)

Thank you all for your input. I guess that i got lucky with my oly for now. I do want to slowly start to replace some parts with better stuff until i have a half way decent rifle. But im a full time student, so that isnt happening any time too soon. =[

... Actually... I did some more research... It appears even Military Classic isn't lacquer coated anymore.





Can you take some pics of the ammo and box it came in? Maybe some of this stuff that's in your chamber if that's possible?



 

I evalute all my firearms based upon these simple criteria.

1) Is the gun reliable?

Yes my Olympic has yet to malfunction.

2) Is the gun durable?

Yes, so far no problems.

3) Is it accurate enough for its intended purposes.

Yes

4) Is it servicable.

Yes.

5) Price

The rest is just fluff for gearheads and people who like to spend money imho.

I have owned probably close to a dozen OLY products over the years. All have been accurate, all have been reliable. For me they were guns that worked, they were not pretty or refined. I am convinced that much of the OLY bashing that occurs is due to internet complaints and gun shop BS. I know that in the past OLY had some less than stellar quality control issues. But I think the number one thing that OLY has done to bring on this bad reputation is selling to many kits. There are a lot of people out there that have no business trying to complete mechanical tasks, let alone assembling a rifle. I have seen dealer that buy kits and assemble them incorrectly. Hell I bout an upper like this and took it to the OLY factory, took it, not shipped it. I had Skip (service guy at the counter) check the upper out and the upper and he could tell it was not factory assembled. He told me about how many returns they get from kits, I tend to believe him considering all the OLY's I have had came straight from the facotry and they had no issues.

I have an olympic 11.5" upper with long flash hider that I got as a light weight upper for my girlfriend. It looks like a bunch of blind, retarded, drunken, inbred monkeys worked on it and did the machining. The carrier looks like it was attacked by a shark. It's a pos as far as fit and finish goes. But I'll be dammed if that thing doesn't go boom every time with any time of ammo I have given it. I almost never clean it, just a shot of CLP before I put it in the range bag.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooook.

Yes, I can pic the ammo, but its in strippers/bandoliers now (black boxes as previously described).  I have talen the side off the 20rd box and stapled it to the side of the bandolier for ID porposes. BUT I do have the shipping case (I put other gun crap in it).  I can give that info also...

I don't hate them. I've had a couple of them. The 9mm glock mag guns are alot of fun. They may not have the fit and finish of some manf, but they work good. So why would I be bothered with something more expensive???

Riiiiight.



Olympic is the only Manufacturer I would put in the same category with Hesse/Blackthorn.



I owned one once that I got as part of a trade.   The hand guards melted off after 3 or 4 full mags of steady but not rapid fire.   The barrel came loose, the Muzzle break shot off the gun.  The last straw was the bolt lugs breaking.  



The gun was crap, the company was crap to deal with.  Every other one I have seen has been the same, junk only worth the scrap value of the materials.  



On the up side, they do have a pretty neat looking roll mark.  



 

Olympic is hit or miss.  I've seen some really good ones and some really crappy ones.  Eh, whatever.  I won't kick one out of bed.

/yawn

you got it in a trade, you have no idea who put it together or what parts were even in it

completely anecdotal

I have a Oly thats about a year old with a 16 inch bull barrel, Not one bit of trouble since day one. Very accurate and no slop between upper and lower. From what i have heard and seen i think they have come along through the years and are maybe not as bad as they once were.

I must have got lucky. I bought a PCR-45 in 1996. No Problems at All. The trigger is actually rather nice.
I just wish they would make magazines for it. A friend of mine has an indoor shooting range when I take it there
everyone loves to shoot it.it also feeds and functions fine with  .223 uppers I have tried several with
no problems

Bought one brand new in the early 90's. Had to return it because the thing would not extract/eject correctly.  Probably to tight of a chamber.  I hope they make them better these days but I am not willing to gamble again.  There are to many other options.

I inherited an OLY AR-15 Carbine from my father a while back. According to the serial number it was mfg'ed sometime between April of 91 and January of 92. A couple months ago I took it out and put 30 rounds through it just to see if it would fire.  No issues at that time but I didn't try rapid continous fire or any burst fire trials.  I got it home, broke it down completely and cleaned it for the first time.  I found that it was in pretty good shape except it was missing 1 gas ring on the bolt.  So I ordered a new set from Olympic and figured I would get a new firing pin just to be safe.  I didn't see any cracks but the tip looked a little smooshed.  Anyways, got those parts swaped out then I went and bought a nice new Trijicon ACOG TA11.  Pretty spendy little unit but figured it would last me for a long time and serve my needs out to 100 yards and possibly beyond if needed.  I mounted the scope and took it out to the range yesterday.  

Getting it sighted in was pretty much a snap although I wasn't going to win any grouping contests at 100 yards with this Rifle.  So far so good although I had one FTE and one FTF while sighting it in but I simply blamed the old ammo I was runnning through it.  I was shooting 5 rounds at a time slowly with precision aiming to insure my best sight alignment out at 100 yards.  Got it dialed in pretty well.  Then I decided to put it to the real test.  I loaded brand new federal premium 55 grain ammo in 30 round mags and went for a 10 round rapid fire trial at 50 yards to see if I could keep them in a group.  Got 8 rounds out before FTE.  This one was a pretty bad one.  I couldn't cycle the rifle and had to drop the mag and use a screw driver to pry it out. Ok, maybe it's the mag.  Switched  mags and tried again.  Got 6 rounds threw it this time and got a FTE and smashed the incoming round since the last round was still stuck in the chamber.  Didn't even come close to trying to eject.  Had to drop the mag and force the Bolt back down using the forward assist button a couple time then pulled the charging handle back to eject the shell.  So ok, now I've used 2 different 30 round mags and 2 different ammo brands.  Pulled out the third 30 round mag and loaded it up.  I figured what the hell and decided to unload the whole mag if I could.  I got about 18 rounds out the time before I got a FTF.  Gotta love pulling the trigger and hearing 'click'  These problems persisted thoughout the rest of the day at the range.  I broke it down a couple times to see if I could find the problem but I'm not a gun smith so I am not attuned to looking at such minor things and knowing if it's the problem or not.

I must say that I don't hate my olmpic arms AR-15 carbine but I certainly wouldn't put a lot of trust in it.  Now I have a thousand dollar scope on a 500 dollar rifle.  The good news is the grouping at 50 yards was about 4" on my rapid fire trials for the rounds I could get downrange.  I think I am going to see if I can sell this rifle and maybe buy me a gas pistoned ar-15.  maybe a colt?  Does Armalite make them yet?

My only experience with an Oly is from a guy at my range that I see unfucking his EVERY WEEKEND while the rest of us are shooting.

I have for many years followed the Oly stories here on ARF.com for the simple reason that I own one that has issues.  A 1989-ish forged lower A2 with stop sign logo, it has serious compatibility issues, mainly in that most uppers are tight on the lower and the upper won't fit any lower other than the one it came with.  It also averages about one stoppage every 300 rounds or so.  Not disastrous, but not great, either.


Anyway, after all my reading I have come to the conclusion that for most of their history about 1 rifle in every 3 that leaves Olympic Arms has a significant problem.  The result is that most people who buy an Oly have a pretty good rifle.  But, many, many do not.  I do get the impression that the ratio has improved in the last few years.

I had an Oly for my first AR. I had no problems with through 2K rounds but I will not buy another because I now know that there are many other builders who do a better job at putting together a rifle than oly. This does not mean that your rifle is less reliable than anything else. If just means that you got lucky with a good one. Many of Oly's rifles are good quality but they put out more lemons than many other builders. They make profit on first time buyers. Those buyers then learn that there are better parts out there and are worth the money.

Call jacksonville sherriff's office and ask most of the instructors how they think the Oly's perform...  I've heard of malfunctions and breakages first time on the range.

I guess I'm in the minority here. But a happy minority.

I bought a Plinker last year to try out. I wound up loving it. Nice crisp trigger. Very accurate. Finish is OK. Not as good as on my BM. Machine work was well done and nice snug fitment on upper to lower. My BM and a RRA upper swap in perfect to the Oly lower. Nice & snug. After break in I tried to get it to mess up on me. I ran a bunch of dirty Wolf though it quickly. About 200 rounds. Then started using brass cased PPU ammo. Wanted to see if the brass cases would stick. No worries. Ran flawlessly. With the irons at the 25 yard Marine range I was at I could easily hit simulated 250 yard sillouette targets. I didn't care for the front heaviness of the HB. But otherwise I loved it. I later swapped in a RRA flat top upper and lathe turned the barrel to a lighter profile and reinstalled it. Put a Trijicon Reflex on it too. Three shot cloverleafs at 25 yards are easy with it. I love it. Can't wait to get it to a longer range.
Great value for $569 brand new last Sept.

I bought one and ran great.  I use it as a beater / practice gun that I can shoot a lot with and not care about wearing it out.  I bought another one - it is a lemon: the front pivot pin (left side) is drilled a little on the oblong side.  When you pivot the upper / receiver, you can wiggle the two side to side (pivot the upper and lower side to side).  But when you close the two receivers, they are tight with no wobbles - Oly must have compensated through the rear take down pin, but I don't know how.  The gas key's boltsts are not staked in place on the second gun.  The first gun's gas key bolts are staked, but they are not functional stakes, in my opinion.

I got a $200 discount for it.  I use it just like the first Oly: a beater gun that I can just shoot the piss out of it and drag it through the dirt anytime I am playing Rambo.  I save my Colts and Daniel Defense for the zombies .

I would buy an Oly for a beater / range / camping gun, but no way in hell I will use it to do an incursion into the monster land.

Maybe I'm one of the lucky Oly owners??....my Oly K3B will eat any ammo I have ever fed it, has a great fit and finish (as good or better than any Colt, RRA, Bushy, ...that I've ever seen), and will get under 1 MOA groups pretty easy with my hand loads.  I've probably ran at least 2000 rounds through it since I've had it, and never had a single issue with it.  Hard to complain about it....

The oly i had ran like a champ with any ammo i fed it granted that was a sampling of one .... but i've seen several others run fine too.

I guess it's the yin/yang thing considering the luck i had with taurus

I have two Oly rifles.  One I have had since '95 and the other since around '99.  I have not had any problems with them to speak of.  I once had a failure to extract on the older one, but that was after firing about 100 rounds of Wolf steel cased (polymer coated) then shooting some brass reloads.  I guess the steel cases let more powder residue back into the chamber since the steel expands less than brass.  Then when I shot the brass, it failed to extract.  I routinely shoot Wolf ammo through both of them.  My 20" has a new flat top reciever, but uses the barrel from the original upper.  This gun will shoot into 1/2 inch @100 with any ammo including Wolf.  I use it for 3 gun matches.  My other has a 16" that now has an M4 barrel with YHM rifle length forend, I bought as a stripped lower reciever and bought a kit from Model 1.  I have had no problems with it either.  Sure there are nicer ARs out there, but mine seem to work fine.  From the previous posts, I must be lucky!   Is there an easy way to check if the lower is cast or forged?  

Thanks,
Buffhunter    

Oly arms are hit or miss, as has been said.  If you get a decent one and it works well for you then no worries, enjoy. But from my time spent in gun stores I've seen far too many have problems and have to go back to a manufacturer that doesn't really seem to back their products up.
It'd be one thing if you bought a S&W, or a Colt, or a Bushmaster, or something reputable, and there was a problem, because with those companies I've never had the manufacturer NOT stand behind their product.  But from Olympic Arms i've heard all kinds of 'janky' solutions for quality control problems where instead of implementing the Red Green solution they should have just replaced the firearm outright for lack of any semblance of quality control.

You get what you pay for.

our dept.is replacing their Army leased M16A1's with olympic arms ar's and they are garbage. unreliable garbage. let's see over the year that they have been buying them, i have seen failure to feed and eject. rear sights coming loose, etc... i'll keep my m&p in my trunk thank you very much.

My first AR (last year) was an Olympic K16.  16" bull barrel, free float tube, A2 stock.  It ran fine.  My rifle has completely changed now, but the lower receiver and LPK (other than the trigger) is still Oly.  I haven't had any issues.  The finish is great and the upper to lower fit has been great on all uppers.  It currently is fitted with an LMT upper and Magpul kit.  

I am replacing the LPK for peace of mind, although none of the parts have failed me.  Oh, while there is plenty of documentation of Olys breaking, one thing that is generally accepted as true is that their barrels are pretty fucking good.  That 16" bull barrel was a tack driver.

ETA: I am currently waiting to receive my packet of forms from the ATF to build an SBR.  When the time comes to do that, I will be buying a new lower.  I am not going to SBR an Olympic lower.

My only experience with OLY has been building on stripped lowers, I have an M4 built on one. Have owned it for almost 10 years now and other than a tight mag well no problems. USGI mags will drop free, PMAGS and other poly mags need a little tug to remove.

Oh, the only OLY lowers I have experience with are the forged lowers. I wouldnt touch a cast lower with a ten foot pole.

Been building ARs a very long time and olympic arms lowers were always a problem.  It always ended up being a handfitted gun by the time I was finished.  Only took one time for me to decide they were bad, but every so often a buddy will show up with a olympic lower that he wants "help" with (read that as "please put this together, cause nothing fits").  This has been the case so often that I always recommend against them.

My experience mirrors yours.
http://www.oa2.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9049&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I defer to the expertise of the other posters here....they know their stuff.

However, I have an Oly Plinker Plus purchased in 2005 or 2006 after the sunset of the AWB.  I am not a high capacity shooter so I can't say I put it through its motions as much as some of you guys.... but I like it so far.

Fit and finish is superb, all aftermarket accessories fit, and it looks cool.

Having said all of that, the information posted here from people who are dislikers with a reason but not necessarily haters (not all anyway) would dissuade me from buying an Oly Again.  In fact, I plan on buying a Colt 6920 when I complete my enrolled agent certification (taxes) as a reward.  I will build up the two Roggio arsenal lowers I have completed with a 20" upper of some variety and a mid-length upper with a quad rail.  Then I will be complete.  Yeah right.  


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