Should i buy a Eagle Arms for my First AR-15 HELP

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Should i buy a Eagle Arms for my First AR-15 HELP

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:02:31 PM EDT

Got a chance to buy a eagle arms ar-15 20" hbar with muzzle break and 2 mags for under $600 is this a good deal, are these good guns that are reliable and accurate. ive only had a ak-47 and love those. this will be my first AR. so i need some help guys. thanks.

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:17:02 PM EDT

[#1]

eagle arms is an armalite subsidiary. i have one of their lowers on the missus gun and outside of the name on the receiver it looks feel's and fits like any other ar lower out there.
not a bad price on the gun. they are selling for $650 + tax out here. seem to be a decent rifle for the money. unless you have to have a chrome lined barrel, then, i would suggest not buying as these are not chrome lined hence the price. but a fair amount of my guns do not have lined barrels and they do group a little better. of course barrel life is not as long as a chrome one, but how much do you shoot? and for the money you can always buy another barrel, or whole upper down the road.

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:18:10 PM EDT

[#2]

Your very first AR15 should be the LEGP, hard to beat the value!!

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:20:04 PM EDT

[#3]

I own one and am happy with it finish is great and the gun shoots well too.Have had no problems at all

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:32:25 PM EDT

[#4]

i would love to have a on of the ar-15.com guns. but it would be $200 more for it if you include the sight which you need. if it already had sights on it id probly get it. i love the m4 style though. can i put the m4 stock on my eagle arms and how much do they run. thanks.

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:38:13 PM EDT

[#5]

Yes, great gun. You can buy an M4 type upper and put on it as long as it is postban. When you described the Eagle you said muzzle brake, so I presume it is a postban. You can put the fixed telestock on it but not the telescoping one. You can put the M4 postban type upper on it. Bottom line, I would go ahead and get the Eagle and accessorize it later.

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:39:58 PM EDT

[#6]

oops forgot about the LEGP
you don't need that specific dot sight. you can find a decent tasco red dot either at a local gunshow or on line for about $50-70.
remember like you said this is your first ar. there will be plenty of time to buy, sell, trade ar items with like minded folks.

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:41:16 PM EDT

[#7]

Spend the extra 200 on the LEGP and the OKO. You won't regret it, trust me. [:)]

Best AR I have shot to date, including my colt preban.

Posted: 6/11/2001 7:47:05 PM EDT

[#8]

cant afford $200 more i cant really afford the $600 but i think this will be my best and most affordable shot at a AR-15 the prices will probly not get any lower in the time to come.

Posted: 6/11/2001 8:27:29 PM EDT

[#9]

im getting the gun for $566 is that good, should i wait for a better deal. do you think i might find something for less.

Posted: 6/11/2001 8:30:15 PM EDT

[#10]

One thing to check. Is there a white eagle stamped on the front of the magazine well? If so, it is a factory assembled rifle, so get it. If not, it is probably a parts gun and who knows about the quality. Is this a store and is it new?

Posted: 6/11/2001 8:40:18 PM EDT

[#11]

yes it has the white eagle stamped on it. it is almost new, the guy said it has about 200 rounds thru it.

Posted: 6/11/2001 8:47:02 PM EDT

[#12]

If it has the white stamp and is $566, get it most definitely. One more thing to check. Does the muzzle brake have two or three horizontal slots? That is the ArmaLite brake and insures that this is a factory Eagle. I know I am having you check a lot, just trying to make sure.

Posted: 6/11/2001 8:48:25 PM EDT

[#13]

buy it

Posted: 6/11/2001 8:52:12 PM EDT

[#14]

If you must learn one thing, Newbie... learn this....EVERY used firearm has "had only 200 rounds thru it" according to EVERY gun seller. Kinda like horse-trading, got to look at the teeth real close.

The Eagle is a decent post ban.

I bought an Oly lower and built my own for about the same $$$ you are thinking about spending.

My Son just got his LEGP last week and it is awesome.

So get what you can afford and have a little change left over to start a savings fund for your next purchase.

One final note, It's pretty much common practice in the firearms community to ask for and receive an agreed period of inspection, 3 days being the norm. Just makes for a good honest sale.

Posted: 6/11/2001 9:56:35 PM EDT

[#15]

btt

Posted: 6/11/2001 10:48:08 PM EDT

[#16]

now where can i find cheap mags and Cheap ammo for the gun. Should i shoot wolf, what about Barnual i heard its better than wolf. websites and names of good places needed. i live in oregon so somewhere close to oregon to find ammo would be good for shipping purposes.

Posted: 6/11/2001 11:09:59 PM EDT

[#17]

Buy the rifle! Sounds like a good price if it's in good condition.

Then buy some good surplus ammunition. Try to avoid the Russian ammo until you feel confident and get used to the rifle. A new guy doesn't need the POTENTIAL problems that MAY arise when using the Russian ammunition.

Get a manual and read it thoroughly.

Keep the rifle clean and lubed.

Save some more money, you're gonna need it!

Posted: 6/11/2001 11:26:22 PM EDT

[#18]

Here's a question for some of the AR Guru's out there.

How would you know if only 200 rounds (approximately of course), have been fired through an AR-15? That's just over 6 and 1/2 mags. I do that to warm up sometimes.

There are the obvious signs... like lands and grooves warn off, chamber throat worn out etc. But for the most part I wouldn't know if an AR has had 200 or 2,000 rounds through it.

I suppose I'd do a character analysis.

As far as this topic is concerned. If you trust the guy selling it. Go for it. Sounds like a very fair deal.

Posted: 6/12/2001 12:20:58 PM EDT

[#19]

btt.

Posted: 6/12/2001 3:37:26 PM EDT

[#20]

Thats a great deal. However, I always recommend that your first gun should not be a "kit gun". If it is an Eagle complete rifle it is most likely a pre-ban or a kit gun. Eagle switched its name to ArmaLite just after the ban and there arent many post ban Eagle RIFLES out there. If it is a pre ban defiatly buy it, you might get lucky with a kit gun but its better to start with a gun that you KNOW was assembled correctly than take your chances and not know something is wrong.

That is just my opinion, that is a really good price on a used good condition rilfe, not a very good price on a used kit gun though.

Posted: 6/12/2001 3:45:02 PM EDT

[#21]

Threegunar, Eagle Arms bought the ArmaLite brand and changed their name. That much is true. There are quite a few Eagle Arms postbans out there. I had one until I sold it to get my ArmaLite rifle. Same rifle. quality is great on both. ArmaLite claims that the Eagle is their lower end rifle, but it is as good as just about anything out there. That is why I asked him to check for the eagle stamp. That indicates a complete, postban, Eagle Arms rifle from the factory.

Posted: 6/12/2001 3:46:16 PM EDT

[#22]

The easiest way to tell how used an AR is to look at the bolt, carrier and hammer. The back of the lugs on the bolt will start to wear through the finish in a couple hundred rounds, it will wear smooth and shiny/polished after about 3000-4000. If it is shiny but not all the way, you can still see some fine tool marks and such, it is somewhere in between.

The hammer will start to wear at the top, where it rubs the carrier after about 200-300 rounds, it will pretty much stay the same after that. The finish will wear after only a few but it will smooth out the edge after 200-300.

You can also get an idea by looking at the bottom of the carrier, much like the hammer. The more polished it gets the more it has been shot. It usually takes about 1000-2000 rounds to start to really wear off the finish.

There are more exact ways to tell but you have to really know what your doing and dig a little deeper. Not to mention I dont want to type all of that out.

Posted: 6/12/2001 3:58:40 PM EDT

[#23]

Larry G,

I was speaking comparativly. Yes, there are a lot of post ban Eagles, but not nearly as many as there are pre ban and stripped post ban lowers. The odds are it is one of the two, it may be a factory built rifle but the odds are against it. Before the ban and before they became ArmaLite they were one of the largest selling stipped lowers out there, Eagle started as a parts house more than a rifle manufacturer, so did Bushmaster (formerly Quality Parts Co) but thats a different subject.

It may be a good deal, I just hate it when someone gets turned off of the AR type rifles because they bought a kit or kit gun for thier first rifle and it wasnt right. It happens a lot and if they dont know what to look for and dont know something is wrong they might wind up with a rifle that only works some of the time or not at all. Then they think ALL AR's are junk. It is a real waste when that happens.

Do you recomend someone builds their first car? I know a lot of people who build cars from the ground up but not until they know how to work on cars, and defiatly not their first.