I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I do not own an AR-15 rifle, yet, but that is what has brought me to AR15.com. I want an AR15 for weekend range shooting and in the future some varmint hunting. Right now I am considering the "Plinker" by Olympic arms because of the affordabilty and simplicity of the rifle. Is this a good buy? I would like to hear from any Plinker owners, Olympic owners, or anyone else that can give me any first-hand information on the Olympic Plinker, good or bad. Thanks for your help.

Brad

One of my AR's is a plinker.  I bought it because it was cheap and my other AR's are my babies and I can't bear to abuse them.  I also wanted to see if a cast receiver was any good.  I only use it for range stuff, so it has held up pretty well.  I actually like it alot.  

The finish is kind of rough, but not really that big a deal because I actually use it and it is not meant to be a safe queen.  For some reason, the handguards do not have the heat shields in them, though.  That is the only thing I found to be incomplete with the rifle.  It comes with the A2 pistol grip (not that wierd old style olympic pistol grip that you might see on some pictures of the plinker) and the A2 buttstock.  It's pretty standard except for it being cast and not having the liners in the handguards.

If you want to take it out into the field for hunting, you might want to consider a forged receiver.  For about a hundred dollars more, you can have an Olympic CAR-97.  Other forged AR's (Bushmaster, Rock River, and DPMS) also cost about the smae as a CAR-97.  The savings isn't that much more and you get a slightly stronger rifle.  

I know one guy on the boards had a plinker break on him just forward of the mag well.  This was bound to happen at least once with a casting process as air bubbles can occur when the molding process occurs.  I wouldn't worry about it if you do get it, the chances of it happening are slim.  There are guys with cast receivers from way back that have never had a problem  However, if this is going to be your first AR, get a forged receiver.  The first AR will always be a cherished item, so make her as nice as possible.

I say first because it surely will not be the last.  Seriosuly though, the plinker is decent.  It will serve you well for your intended purpose.  Olympics are prety good generally.  The fit and finish will not be as nice as a Rock River, Bushmaster, Armalite, or even DPMS.  However, it will function perfectly and will last more than a lifetime.  

Thanks for the info, it is very useful. Since you own a plinker, can you tell me how accurate it is? Thanks

Brad

It has pretty decent accuracy.  Within 2, maybe 3 inches at about 60 or 70 yards.  It could probably do better with optics, but this is about as good as I get with iron sights on any AR.  It's on par with any other rifle really.  No better, no worse.  

I assume the barrel is the same as any other heavy barrel 16" from Oly.  It's only the receivers that are different.  It's as good as any oly, the cast receivers are the only place (other than omitting heat shields in the handguards) that i can see where it differs from any other Olympic Arms AR.  

Accuracy of the Plinker will be roughly the same as the PCR-5, as the guns are almost the same except for cast upper/lower.

there is nothing wrong with this ar for 495.95 from fac you cant beat it the only thing wrong is the finish of the receiver is lighter that any other ar. and it is cast. which is not that big deal . if your looking for an affordable riffle , buy it,  you wont regret it

Yes, the finish is a little light, and also a little rough.  I have found though, that every time you clean it, if you rub the receiver down with a light coat of CLP, the receiver smooths out a little and it darkens a lot.  Over time, the receiver starts to look a lot nicer.

Ummm,... there was a post a few months ago. It regarded someone that had a "plinker" that broke in half!!!

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=74&t=155892&w=searchPop[/url]

I realize you might be on a budget, but I don't want tosee someone new to AR-type reifles get a bad taste in their mouth from an inferior product. (Or from a bolt exploding and putting a different bad taste in their face!)

"Saving" 100-150 bucks by buying a plinker isn't saving anything at all: It is blowing $499 to find out you don't want it, them having to spend $650 to get a Rock River or a Bushy.

Sure, people will come forward and say, "Ohh,... I have put 567,223,000 rounds of Wolf thru mine, nothing wrong with it!" But do you want to be the guy who is getting his face replaced from the rifle exploding?

Am I being too cautious? Nope, prudent.

-Don't eat the yellow snow.
-Don't whiz on the electric fence.
-Don't buy a "plinker"

Others before me learned these lessons so I don't have to. I see in my hotlink the pics have been removed. I think if you ask nicely (Via IM) someone from the original post will repost them....

Yeah since RRA's never built out of spec upper recievers with rails that wouldn't accept accesroies.

Bushmaster made purple recievers intentionally as part of their "up with Barney" promotion. Nor have they ever shipped weapons with front sights so out of kilter they couldn't be zeroed.

Blah, blah, blah.

If you decide to buy an AR, try to see the actual AR you will be getting BEFORE you hand any money over. Inspect it before paying for it.

I'm an Oly dealer myself and I actually refuse to sell the Plinker.  At first I chose not to because of shying away from cast uppers and lowers as well as their being constrained when I first started as an Oly reseller.  Then I discussed the model with one of the Oly sales reps and even he recommended avoiding selling the Plinkers due to the number of defective units they receive back either for repair or under their 60-day money back guarantee.

I would recommend saving another $150 or so and getting the PCR-5 as you would be much happier with the rifle for a much longer period of time.

Ditto ArmyInf.

I bought one cause I was one of those old early M16 skeptics and wanted to see for myself and find out cheap. In the longrun it's costing me more.

I liked the little rifle and obviously got lucky and got one of the good ones.  I have since moved on and now wish I hadn't bought it.  The quality of the forged upper and lowers over the cast is very obvious in appearance and feel.   My Plinker reciever for example does not have the forward mag groove and thus I have had mag tighness issues mainly with cheap steel mags.  I've had no feed issues not mag related and the acuracy was surprising.

It's a good rifle overall but I wasn't satisfied and as a result my kid has his own AR now.

So let's see if have this right.
You bought an inexpensive AR15 since you had some negitive preconcieved notions about the AR15 series of weapons  so instead of spending around $1,000 for an ABC gun you bought one for almost half the price to see if you liked the AR15 series of rifles.

[b]Hmmmmm....Sounds like the Plinker was the right rifle for you.[/b]

You bought the rifle and it is a "good one".

[b]Hmmmm...And this is bad?[/b]

You have problems using cheap steel mags and the only problems with misfeeds have come with cheap steel mags.

[b]Hmmm...So the rifle worked as advertised, your problems came with the cheap steel mags.[/b]

The Rifle is accurate.

[b]Hmmmm...So an accurate inexpensive AR15 is bad?[/b]

So after buying and owning at Oly Plinker for what it is and having it do everything you wanted it to do it is now not the rifle you want so you what, bought a better quality of an AR15 for yourself and gave the Plinker to your son.

[b]hmmmm...And this was a bad thing, right? Your son now has an AR15 that he can use to go shooting with his father. Sounds like the Oly Plinker was the right rifle for you.[/b]

AlphaMale, I suggest to you that you go to the Hometown Forum Boards and look at your state to see if there are any member there who would be willing to take you out shooting their AR15 so you can get a better understanding of what you might be looking for.

Look for the URL in my signature line for the Home Town Boards.

Ugggh! (hand to chest) Nailed to the wall!

I just went through the [b]same[/b] decision making process.

I knew I wanted an AR and then found the inexpensive "Plinker." No sooner than I started my research on the quality of the "Plinker" than this whole mess with the "Plinker" hit the fan! Man, I checked it out, up and down!...even spoke to the dealer that sold that rifle that "broke" (they were great guys by the way). Simply put, when I finished my research it seemed everyone had their own opinions about the Plinker model. Nothing was totally clear cut.

[b]So what did I do?[/b]

Well, I loved the price of the Plinker and tried to weigh all my options. This was going to be [b]my first AR purchase[/b]...so, did I want to go cheap (and [b]hope[/b] for the best) or spend a little more money and get what I [b]know[/b] is a quality rifle?

Results...
I bought a Bushy XM-15A2 from Aimsurplus. There price was so good that my local dealer couldn't touch it. Simply had it shipped to my local FFL, paid the transfer fee, and got it cheap!!!

[b]Bottom line:[/b]
For a bit more than a $100 more I got a quality forged rifle with a beautiful finish...and most importantly!...peace of mind.

No matter what the real story is over the Plinker...I don't have to worry about it. I can just enjoy the known quality of the rifle I purchased.

Hope this helps.

________________________
-SteelHunter
"Smok'em if you got 'em!"[smoke]