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Posted: 1/23/2009 10:13:51 AM EST
Is there a good source or can someone lay out the history of the AR clone business?

My recollection is foggy at best having not paid much attention for years when I've had good functioning rifles that didn't need parts.

In my experience in the time before the Internet there was SGW/Olympic and various bags of mystery parts (all Colt or FN of course) sold by guys in trenchcoats at gun clubs and shows.

Then DPMS appeared on the scene and suddenly SGW was junk.

Then Bushmaster appeared on the scene and suddenly DPMS was junk.

Then Eagle became Armalite and were shortly joined by RRA (which was junk).  And then RRA became not junk cuz they got part of a govt contract!

Then a plethora of other folks arrived on the civilian scene like Noveske and LMT and suddenly all of the above was junk again.

Seriously though, when did the patents run out and who jumped in when?

Link Posted: 1/23/2009 10:39:54 AM EST
[#1]
The first out was Palmetto Armory (B&H Service - Natalia, Texas), Also know as "Old Sarge". They were billet lowers manufactured for them by SGW later to be know as Olympic Arms. Back then the only LPK's you could get were surplus M-16.

PursuitSS
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 11:10:17 AM EST
[#2]
I beleive Bushmaster started out in 1975 but I beleive they only made the bullpup looking thing (M117 ?)  I don't think they started making AR's until the 80's.  

Pretty sure RRA started in the 90's

the new armalite came in the early 2000's I beleive, maybe the late 90's

S&W in the mid 2000's

not a whole lot of help, sorry



Link Posted: 1/23/2009 2:51:56 PM EST
[#3]
Tag...out of curiosity.
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 3:24:04 PM EST
[#4]
I remember buying my first AR-15A1 clone in late 1988. PWA? seems to ring a bell.
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 3:32:18 PM EST
[#5]
Quoted:
I remember buying my first AR-15A1 clone in late 1988. PWA? seems to ring a bell.


yes, I'm pretty sure there was a company called PWA.  I think their roll mark was just that a PWA
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 4:53:39 PM EST
[#6]
PWA started selling rifles in the mid-80s.  I was stationed at FT Lewis WA in '86 when one of my buddies bought a PWA rifle.  If my memory serves me well, PWA was headquartered in the Olympia area.  Word at the time was that it was started by an ex-SGW employee.  SGW (later to become Olympic) was just up the road from where I was living at the time.  

That was when I first got into ARs.  Bought my first one (a Colt Carbine) at the FT Lewis Rod & Gun.

There were not many clones to choose from in those days.  Besides SGW and PWA, there was Essential Arms, which had just started selling their cast lowers.  Sendra was selling lowers under a couple of different brands.  Frankfort Armory (Arsenal)(?) was a minor player at the time also.  Quality Parts (later to become Bushmaster) was probably the largest supplier of AR parts at the time.
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 5:00:04 PM EST
[#7]
So SGW (or supplying the Palmetto Brand) is sounding like the first in?  

Are the current Essential Arms owners the original Essential Arms people?
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 6:43:16 PM EST
[#8]
I still have my first AR.  It's a PWA make around 1990.  A car with a short barrel with a long flash hider permanently attached.  Probably worth more than most of my others because it would still be legal in NY and some other People's Republics scattered around the country.  Shoots well but don't use it often.

Olympic was not considered first line even back then.... although they had the most ads out at the time.

cheers, anteken
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 7:30:20 PM EST
[#9]
I remember walking the gunshows in the 70's, post-Vietnam, looking at boxes of "surplus parts" from M16's and thinking "Who'd buy that junk?". Home assembly of AR's was practically unheard of and you were looked upon as a little eccentric if you did. Having trouble remembering what stripped lower was available back then.
Link Posted: 1/23/2009 7:51:39 PM EST
[#10]
Nessard was was the first place I remember selling parts and clones. Lowers were later made and they were called Sendra. All of these business were run by Gerald Drasen. He was the guy that sold all of the M-16 parts and uppers that were at Waco.

M&A Parts, Model 1 and American Spirit Arms were later started by his other family members.

Duncan Long wrote several books back in the 80's that got me started building my own AR-15's. He wrote "The AR-15/M16: A Practical Guide" back in 1985. I think that is when I build my first AR-15 using a SGW kit.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 4:08:22 AM EST
[#11]
Man thats right! I remember Nessard now. Wow. While way pricier the quality we see today is head and shoulders above the offerings of that by-gone era thank god.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 4:27:52 AM EST
[#12]
If my memory serves me well,it seems you could get the Sendra lower receivers in our area for about $60.00 to $70.00 dollars in the late 70's to mid 80's.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 4:54:18 AM EST
[#13]
in the 80s I got parts from Amherst arms, Fulton, Bushmaster and stripped lowers from Essential arms but I am sure they where Eagle arms then changed their name, and the eagle arms name reappared as the cheap line from Armalite.  Nesard had a reputation back then even before they got busted.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 5:17:52 AM EST
[#14]
In the beginning, there was Colt.
The rest?  Does it really matter?



Link Posted: 1/24/2009 6:52:49 AM EST
[#15]
Quoted:
In the beginning, there was Colt.
The rest?  Does it really matter?





Errr, I thought in the beginning there was ArmaLite, who then sold the rights to Colt a few years later.

FB

Link Posted: 1/24/2009 7:52:13 AM EST
[#16]
Quoted:
Quoted:
In the beginning, there was Colt.
The rest?  Does it really matter?





Errr, I thought in the beginning there was ArmaLite, who then sold the rights to Colt a few years later.

FB

If I remember reading right, Stoner sold the patent and design to Colt. Actual production was by Colt, except for the prototypes. All civvy versions were initially made by Colt.











Link Posted: 1/24/2009 8:03:58 AM EST
[#17]
And to further clarify, let's make sure everyone understands that the current Armalite has no relation to the original Armalite.  Same name, entirely different company.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 8:07:22 AM EST
[#18]
Quoted:
And to further clarify, let's make sure everyone understands that the current Armalite has no relation to the original Armalite.  Same name, entirely different company.


True. I believe the present company was Eagle Arms and they bought the Armalite name. The original Armalite was a division of Fairchild Aircraft Corp.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 8:08:32 AM EST
[#19]
Another early maker of lower receivers was SENDRA in Santa Clara, CA.  Late 70's or very early 80's as I recall.  If you rearrange the letters slightly you get NESARD.  Someone once told me that there was some kind of a connection between the two companies.

I built my first AR in 1985 on a PWA (Pac West Arms) lower.  I recall that the serial number was 4000 something.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 8:38:51 AM EST
[#20]
Quoted:

Quoted:
And to further clarify, let's make sure everyone understands that the current Armalite has no relation to the original Armalite. Same name, entirely different company.


True. I believe the present company was Eagle Arms and they bought the Armalite name. The original Armalite was a division of Fairchild Aircraft Corp.


That's exactly the way I understand it.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 8:57:36 AM EST
[#21]
Quoted:
And to further clarify, let's make sure everyone understands that the current Armalite has no relation to the original Armalite.  Same name, entirely different company.




Thank you.  I've wondered about that?

Link Posted: 1/24/2009 2:06:47 PM EST
[#22]
No one mentioned the old BOHICA receivers.  BOHICA stood for "bend over here it comes again"

Others: American Spirit Arms and Dalphon
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 2:25:14 PM EST
[#23]
Quoted:
Another early maker of lower receivers was SENDRA in Santa Clara, CA.  Late 70's or very early 80's as I recall.  If you rearrange the letters slightly you get NESARD.  Someone once told me that there was some kind of a connection between the two companies.

I built my first AR in 1985 on a PWA (Pac West Arms) lower.  I recall that the serial number was 4000 something.




Sendra was made in Illinois by Gerald Drasen. Notice the roll mark of Barrington, IL.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 3:38:40 PM EST
[#24]
Quoted:
Quoted:
And to further clarify, let's make sure everyone understands that the current Armalite has no relation to the original Armalite.  Same name, entirely different company.




Thank you.  I've wondered about that?



"They" like it when they get you to do that.

BTW, Springfield more or less does the same thing.

Bill

Link Posted: 1/24/2009 4:00:23 PM EST
[#25]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Another early maker of lower receivers was SENDRA in Santa Clara, CA.  Late 70's or very early 80's as I recall.  If you rearrange the letters slightly you get NESARD.  Someone once told me that there was some kind of a connection between the two companies.

I built my first AR in 1985 on a PWA (Pac West Arms) lower.  I recall that the serial number was 4000 something.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/Chipperman/M16leftside.jpg

Sendra was made in Illinois by Gerald Drasen. Notice the roll mark of Barrington, IL.


Opps.  Looks like you are correct on the location.  These old brain cells aren't working too well today.  But Drasen spelled backwards is Nesard.  Maybe that's the connection.
Link Posted: 1/24/2009 4:03:17 PM EST
[#26]
Quoted:
Quoted:

Quoted:
And to further clarify, let's make sure everyone understands that the current Armalite has no relation to the original Armalite. Same name, entirely different company.


True. I believe the present company was Eagle Arms and they bought the Armalite name. The original Armalite was a division of Fairchild Aircraft Corp.


That's exactly the way I understand it.


that is true, it was Eagle Arms and they bought the Armalite name in the early 2000's

Link Posted: 1/24/2009 4:21:36 PM EST
[#27]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Another early maker of lower receivers was SENDRA in Santa Clara, CA.  Late 70's or very early 80's as I recall.  If you rearrange the letters slightly you get NESARD.  Someone once told me that there was some kind of a connection between the two companies.

I built my first AR in 1985 on a PWA (Pac West Arms) lower.  I recall that the serial number was 4000 something.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/Chipperman/M16leftside.jpg

Sendra was made in Illinois by Gerald Drasen. Notice the roll mark of Barrington, IL.


Opps.  Looks like you are correct on the location.  These old brain cells aren't working too well today.  But Drasen spelled backwards is Nesard.  Maybe that's the connection.


This was how bad many of the parts used to build clones were back in the day....Nessard used roll pins instead of solid taper pins to secure the front site base with.
They claimed the roll pin was Milspec.

Link Posted: 1/25/2009 2:14:02 PM EST
[#28]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Another early maker of lower receivers was SENDRA in Santa Clara, CA.  Late 70's or very early 80's as I recall.  If you rearrange the letters slightly you get NESARD.  Someone once told me that there was some kind of a connection between the two companies.

I built my first AR in 1985 on a PWA (Pac West Arms) lower.  I recall that the serial number was 4000 something.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y164/Chipperman/M16leftside.jpg

Sendra was made in Illinois by Gerald Drasen. Notice the roll mark of Barrington, IL.


Opps.  Looks like you are correct on the location.  These old brain cells aren't working too well today.  But Drasen spelled backwards is Nesard.  Maybe that's the connection.


The connection is Drasen, SENDRA and NESARD were both rearrangements of the letters in his name.  

~Augee
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