

Quality over quantity.
This is the correct answer which by default ends in KAC SR-15. |
|
|
I’d rather have one high quality rifle over several lower quality rifles. That being said, my choice for that one rifle would not be a BCM.
|
|
Quoted:
PSA has a generous selection of stuff that might be worth something someday. View Quote |
|
Buy a PSA and paint a white star on it.
Use extra money for a couple cases of ammo and a lesson from a good 3gun shooter. BCM: Honda civic with a Mercedes badge glued on. |
|
Quoted:
Buy a PSA and paint a white star on it. Use extra money for a couple cases of ammo and a lesson from a good 3gun shooter. BCM: Honda civic with a Mercedes badge glued on. View Quote ![]() |
|
Quoted:
So you're saying it's reliable, well built, and lasts forever despite not being the one that all the "patriotic" people like? ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
Buy a PSA and paint a white star on it. Use extra money for a couple cases of ammo and a lesson from a good 3gun shooter. BCM: Honda civic with a Mercedes badge glued on. ![]() ![]() |
|
You can't shoot two AR's at once. Well, realistically at least. Always build a go to with emphasis on knowing it's "the one". Anything after that is a novelty.
I say get the BCM. Or maybe build your dream gun with parts. |
|
Quoted:
Quality over quantity. Centurion arms , sionics, bcm any of these will work great View Quote Fortunately, I know what to look for, otherwise those "quality" uppers would've destroyed my can. |
|
Quoted:
I've had 2 BCM uppers that I had to fix. The bores were not concentric to the barrel, and I had to have the ends cut and rethreaded, and the muzzle device permanently attached because of it. My one PSA upper was fine out of the box. Fortunately, I know what to look for, otherwise those "quality" uppers would've destroyed my can. View Quote |
|
I'd rather have one quality AR than several low-tier ARs of questionable quality. Though to be honest I wasn't pleased with my BCMs and sold them for Colts.
|
|
Quoted: So you're saying it's reliable, well built, and lasts forever despite not being the one that all the "patriotic" people like? ![]() View Quote Yeah, I'm saying it performs like a Honda Civic. Basic transportation that gets you where you are going for a decent price. If broken down in the front yard is what you mean by "lasts forever" then I have a car that I will sell you for cheap! In fact, I'll pay you 40$ to take it. Neighbor has two you can likely score for cheap as well. Bring a trailer! |
|
People that are raised with less, desire quantity.
People that are raised in the middle, desire quality. People that are raised with more, desire rarity. |
|
I'm currently downsizing myself. Went the quantity route first and have finally realized that its quality that counts. Dont get me wrong, I'll keep a few of the PSA or the likes around but my money and time from here forward for all my firearms will be QUALITY.
|
|
My advice to a new guy is buy a good rifle, BCM fits that category. Once you have a solid, reliable rifle, go nuts buying less expensive stuff, buying and trading used parts, building and modifying.
|
|
|
|
I'll take the 4 PSA's. There was a gif of a bomber with the PSA logo on it dropping AR's all over. I thought it was pretty accurate as the guy who founded the company said his goal was to get an AR into as many American's hands as he could so it would be even harder for them to take all the people's guns. Companies like PSA, Anderson & a few others have been doing great work making AR's affordable, especially for people who can't afford to run out & spend $1K+ on a gun, they can get a piece here & a piece there until they've got all the pieces to build one. For me the most important parts of an AR are the barrel & trigger & that's where I like to put the most money into an AR. Spending 5-10x the amount of a PSA or Anderson lower to get a cool roll mark doesn't do much for me. There's nothing they do that's worth that much more.
|
|
This has been a very interesting thread so far that judging from others’ positive comments suggests maybe I should give PSA another chance. To date, I have bought exactly two PSA products, purchased at the same time.
They are the: PSA Complete Classic Pistol Lower and: Premium Full Auto BCG with PSA logo While the premium PSA BCG is IMO inferior to all of the BCM M16 BCGs I have, it works fine and I have no problem with it. It was a bargain buy and serves its purpose. The Complete Classic Pistol Lower is another story entirely, and a bad enough experience that prior to reading these posts, I had sworn off all PSA products. After firing 13 rounds of factory new Federal XM193 without issue, the 14th pull of the trigger resulted in this: ![]() |
|
My new pistol blew apart in my hands leaving the entire buffer tube assembly, springs, pins, etc. scattered around me at the range. I found some parts, but lost several. It was mildly embarrassing, but extremely dangerous.
|
|
Originally Posted By Vehemence: My new pistol blew apart in my hands leaving the entire buffer tube assembly, springs, pins, etc. scattered around me at the range. I found some parts, but lost several. It was mildly embarrassing, but extremely dangerous. View Quote Holy shit! mil spec stuff ! |
|
To their credit, PSA repaired the lower and sent it back in a timely manner, but replaced the receiver extension with the exact same type of buffer tube that had the catastrophic failure.
I have never seen nor heard of another failure like that and to this day am not confident enough to try shooting my PSA pistol again until I spend more money to replace the entire PSA buffer tube assembly. And yes, I’m still kicking myself for not noticing that the lower didn’t come with a castle nut (not that I believe that was the sole culprit), but I was shopping with my iPhone when I bought it and the picture was small so I didn’t notice it was missing... and because... who the hell sells a lower without a castle nut??? I digress... |
|
lol at all the BCM haters. Gotta hate guns that just run.
Anyway, OP, once you grip that MCMR rail you will be happy you got the BCM. |
|
I have enough AR-15s that range from Colts to PSA I'd spend the money on a WW2 M1 carbine. (I already have a 1943 Garand)
|
|
Personally, I would buy PSA stripped lowers, then build a couple midrange ones. Or one full PSA and a midrange, then spend the rest on ammo/training. Both being different setups.
I'm doing the second. First build with a PSA lower, then caught sales and went budget where it won't be significant. Toolcraft bolt, Faxon barrel, sionics parts kit, budget rail, Aero upper etc... 700ish build with irons. Second build is a PSA lower and pistol build kit and an 11.5 upper. Too good of a sale on the upper. Might drop an 11.5 Faxon barrel in if it doesn't shoot right. Sub 500 with a fixed rail mount front sight and Matech rear. |
|
Originally Posted By ct78: If I had the $ and I was trying to decide, I would buy the same amount of budget stripped lowers instead of complete PSA rifles. That would leave you with 75-80% of your budget left over View Quote Three years ago PSA had the stripped lowers for $29 with free shipping and I bought "a few". And interesting enough four of the lot are sequential serial numbered, and they have been sitting in my parts bin in bubble wrap. This lock down....three are now built up, using parts I have in the bin. in addition to these I do have a higher end collection, but do like the PSA quality for the price. Look at it this way I will have a complete AR cheaper than the MAMS brake on my KAC rifle....this needs some perspective....build while you can Like @SurtrsFire said get both....I have both in my collection....I have built PSAs in the past and their function has been great. Chris Bartocci with Small Arms Solutions routinely touts these as the best buy for the money. |
|
Still hearing good things about PSA... which is a good thing. So am I the only one to have such a bad experience with their products? (See post with pic above) Did I just get the ultimate lemon? I have been very tempted to try another PSA lower because they are such a bargain, but first, how the hell does the entire buffer tube assembly break/sever itself from the lower receiver right at the threads by firing 14 factory loads? I didn’t bang/bump or drop the gun - just cleaned, lubed, assembled it, went to the range, fired 13 rounds, then it self destructed on round 14.
|
|
Originally Posted By Vehemence: Still hearing good things about PSA... which is a good thing. So am I the only one to have such a bad experience with their products? (See post with pic above) Did I just get the ultimate lemon? I have been very tempted to try another PSA lower because they are such a bargain, but first, how the hell does the entire buffer tube assembly break/sever itself from the lower receiver right at the threads by firing 14 factory loads? I didn’t bang/bump or drop the gun - just cleaned, lubed, assembled it, went to the range, fired 13 rounds, then it self destructed on round 14. View Quote Did you try contacting them about it? They are slow, but will take care of their customers. Also, lemons do happen. I have a Ruger Security 9 I bought for a beater handgun. I've sent it to Ruger more times than I can count for failures to extract. Every time it comes back with the same issue. Luckily they paid for all the shipping, but I won't swear them off for it. Their MPR has been flawless. |
|
Originally Posted By Liaztraht: Did you try contacting them about it? They are slow, but will take care of their customers. Also, lemons do happen. I have a Ruger Security 9 I bought for a beater handgun. I've sent it to Ruger more times than I can count for failures to extract. Every time it comes back with the same issue. Luckily they paid for all the shipping, but I won't swear them off for it. Their MPR has been flawless. View Quote I did, and to their credit, customer service was polite and promptly repaired it. I am definitely not dogging on PSA, their customer service was attentive and I know so many people like their products; my issue was with the fact that they sent me a repaired pistol with the exact same part that broke the first time around under the best conditions possible. I guess I am still trying to wrap my head around why they would still be selling the same configuration, without the castle nut, after seeing evidence of what happened to me. I guess I’ll just go for it, order a second lower and hope that my first one was just a rotten lemon. |
|
Originally Posted By Vehemence: I did, and to their credit, customer service was polite and promptly repaired it. I am definitely not dogging on PSA, their customer service was attentive and I know so many people like their products; my issue was with the fact that they sent me a repaired pistol with the exact same part that broke the first time around under the best conditions possible. I guess I am still trying to wrap my head around why they would still be selling the same configuration, without the castle nut, after seeing evidence of what happened to me. I guess I’ll just go for it, order a second lower and hope that my first one was just a rotten lemon. View Quote I ordered the shockwave blade build kit myself, just waiting on the lower. Hopefully yours was just a lemon. I'm sure it would be a huge deal if everyone's broke in the same spot. |
|
Originally Posted By Liaztraht: I ordered the shockwave blade build kit myself, just waiting on the lower. Hopefully yours was just a lemon. I'm sure it would be a huge deal if everyone's broke in the same spot. View Quote Looks like that kit has a different buffer tube and does include a castle nut, so I’m betting you will be fine. |
|
Buy quality it if is going to be a serious gun, you get what you pay for.
|
|
I'd buy an Andro Corp. I've personally been present when they dump 22,000 rounds at a full auto shoot with no malfunctions. I've never seen a BCM do that, and I have a BCM.
|
|
1 dont buy a complete rifle, ever. That will save you about 200 bucks in luxury tax.
2 for the most part, a lower is a lower is a lower. Buy three psa lowers for the price of one bcm. 3 buy a quality upper, from psa, bcm, dd, whomever... they will all run well. For me, I built my own around a dd barrel and a bcm upper and rail. |
|
|
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2023 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.