Quoted: Quoted: OA2.org is not associated with Olympic Arms. It says so right at the bottom of the web page. Hey markm, what other AR15 manufacturer is offering a tour of the manufacturing facility, a BBQ and range time with their firearms? Clot? Bushhampster? Fake-a-lite? Yea, I thought so. Um..... Cavalry Arms and Ameetec..... yesterday....

And they had  real Alaskan Crab .
So put that in your pipe and puff on it .

I have some buddies who have worked at Olympic. Lot of first class assholes and pot heads there. Some of their employess are good guys. Their products are pretty good since the fire, when they cashed out the insurance on some CNC machines.

It doesn't help that they pay a CNC machinist $10 an hour. When Armalite put an add out for help, they offered $14-$18 for the same job.

I only own Olympic arms AR's, (Two lowers and three uppers)
They are fantastic and have never given me any problems.
100% reliable, very accurate and seem the be very good quality.

I can only compare what I have seen other rifles do like fail to feed or fail to extract etc....
I believe most of the AR's I have ever seen have been very good, mostly Colt, Bushmaster and Olympic and I believe Olympic rates right up there with those two.
When I think of reliability and accuracy, I think Olympic may be even better.

The customer service I got from them has been some good and some bad.  I had ordered a complete rifle from them many years ago as some of the bans were just beginning to be talked about.  After months of waiting I got a letter stating the prices were going up and they could not guarentee certain features like rates of twist or barrel length.  In other words they were putting rifles together from the parts they had and even if you ordered a 20" 1 in 10 twist with A2 sights, you might get a 16" 1 in 7 twist with A1 sights.  And you would be happy about getting a rifle at all.

Well this was unacceptable to me and I wrote a letter (an actual letter on a typewriter) to the owner of Olympic Arms Mr. and I don't remember the spelling something German sounding like Schuetzen and mailed it on a Monday afternoon.  On Wednesday I got a phone call at work from an employee who said they had 20 rifles that were almost exactly what I had ordered.  These were actually a step up from what I ordered and I got it for the original price I had been quoted, not their recently higher price.  They shipped it that day and I had my UltraMatch rifle about 13 days later.
(10 day wait of course)

So I was unhappy it took so long but those were wild times and they were selling tons of rifles and I believe doing the best they could even if there were some problems.  But after I ttok the time to write a letter to the owner I got great, almost unbelievably fast service.

My next dealing with them is much more recent about a year ago when I ordered a 16" upper.  Again it took a month from time of order until it arrived and then it was wrong.  I had ordered one with flash suppressor and bayonet lug and it arrived without those features.  I sent it back, they paid the shipping and I finally got my upper almost another month later.  Longer than I thought it should have taken but it is a very nice upper and shoots like nobody's business.

Again a problem but they were very nice and in the end took good care of me.  I am totally happy with my Olympic firearms.

If they were rude and incorrectly thought they were mistreated on this board, that is a shame.  You can tell in Goatboys posts in this thread that he and I would guess Mr. Avila are taking the high road and I commend them for that.  I just wish someone in a position of authority over there at Olympic would make an effort to come back.  Ego are a powerful thing and it may never happen.
I believe if things could be worked out that Olympic would be welcomed here and more people would find out just how good their stuff is.

As was said earlier they are an American firearms company and it is in our interest that we keep as many American gunmakers in business as possible.  (as long as they make good stuff)
In the words of a truely fine American Rodney King, "Can we all just get along?"

Quoted: Quoted: Clot? Bushhampster? Fake-a-lite? Yea, I thought so. you are really gonna say that oly makes a better AR than Armalite, Bushmaster, and Colt????

Quite possibly equal...

The methods for making an AR leave very little room for 'trouble'...

Apart from Hesse & OA's budget 'Plinker', the mass-market AR makers all basically produce an interchangable, equal quality product... If we did a site wide survey of 'experience', it would likely show that among ArmaLite, Colt, Bushmaster, Oly, RRA, and DPMS there are about the same percent of problems per maker. Bushmaster's might be slightly inflated as there are probably more of their guns owned by the membership here, allowing more chances for issues as a statistical error...

If you're going to pay for quality, might as well pay for White Oak or similar...

For the 'regular' companies, the question is, how much for a name?

Might as well throw my two cents in on this one. I have a PCR-45 that ended up needing some work done to it. After several calls to Tom regarding the status of the repair, the dealer that I purchased the rifle from had to step in to get things moving. I was also supposed to have my shipping charges refunded as well. That took another two months of calling by myself and the dealer on my behalf. Tom also promised to include some spares when the rifle was returned ... it's a good thing I wasn't holding my breath.

Overall, I have to agree with others that Tom does Olympic Arms a great deal of disservice. Someone with  his personality and obvious lack of interpersonal skills should not hold the title of "Sales & Marketing Director"

I wasn't here then & didn't know any of this.  I have wondered why any mention of Olys here seems to bring on an immediate and relentless group bashing - and now I know.

FWIW, my Olys aren't the favorites of all my ARs but I've never had any trouble out of either one of them.  (But what do I know?  I've had good service out of DPMS ARs too... )

I was around when they had this crazy controversy. Tom S. didn't have too many nice things to say about Goatboy on his website. Basically he just mocked and made fun of the guy. Personally, I didn't think that was called for, Goatboy is a good guy.

Too bad Tom S. went away in huff, but Avila family own this board, and they can make any rules & exceptions and do anything they please.

I've personally shoot one of the Oly Arm Ultramatches the one with the stop sign, and they are the cat's meow.

tagged for a later read and reply

Quoted: Olympic arms guns are made out of recycled beer cans that they've drank while making them!!!

I have two OLY's and have to say when examined next to my buds Bushbuster gun, mine has tighter clearances.

He has sent his in twice for problems, while I was shooting the piss out of mine ???


edit:for campy

Quoted: Hey markm, what other AR15 manufacturer is offering a tour of the manufacturing facility, a BBQ and range time with their firearms? Clot? Bushhampster? Fake-a-lite? Yea, I thought so.

So offering tours of their facilities makes one better than the rest??? I think not. I've only owned a 9mm upper conversionof Oly's and it wasn't that great so I sold it. Colt (PC), BM, and RRA make a much better product. I cant speak about Armalite since I have no first hand exp with them.

I remember the blowup of Tom S and his awful statements about the Avila fam.

There will never be an Olympic product purchased by myself, and I have already stopped multiple Olympic purchases from taking place by people who didn't know any better.

Sounds good to me.

Quoted: Um..... Cavalry Arms and Ameetec..... yesterday....

And they had  real Alaskan Crab .
So put that in your pipe and puff on it .

Quoted: for the last gawddamn time...it's CLEARANCES!!!!!!!1 all ar15's are manufactured to the same tolerances on assembly dimensions!!!!!!!!!!!! 98% of all ar part manufacturing is done on cnc equipment and the parts pass over the same acceptance/rejection gages. 'some' manufacuters allow more space or 'clearance' between the mating parts than other manufacturers. all manufacturers buy most of the component parts from the SAME group of sub-tier suppliers. there are only a very few aluminum forging houses (alcoa, martin, etc) and the forging dies are shared among the manufacturers with a letter insert in the die to denote 'who' that run of forging was for. good lord.

Hey, not everyone here is an engineer. You should have more tolerance clearance of others' opinions.

I could say the same thing about any of the other AR manufacturers who provided tours and food to their facilities.

Neener neener neeeenerr..

Quoted: Quoted: Hey markm, what other AR15 manufacturer is offering a tour of the manufacturing facility, a BBQ and range time with their firearms? Clot? Bushhampster? Fake-a-lite? Yea, I thought so. So offering tours of their facilities makes one better than the rest??? I think not. I've only owned a 9mm upper conversionof Oly's and it wasn't that great so I sold it. Colt (PC), BM, and RRA make a much better product. I cant speak about Armalite since I have no first hand exp with them.

Does PIE have a tolerance, or a clearance?

I have owned Olympic prodcuts in the past. I have had trouble with the quality of the products and service from the company. There are manufacturers that make higher quality products and have better service. Personally, I would rather deal with DPMS, RRA or Armalite.

Here are some of my complaints:
1. I bought a stripped cast lower from Oly. The lower had an undersized hole that was not drilled straight. I had to re-drill it to hold the pin correctly.
2. I bought a 9mm upper that had a problem. I sent it back for repair. They took 1 year to fix the rifle and return it. The problem was in the bolt. They could have simply replaced the bolt and sent it back in 1 week. Instead they rewelded the bolt (with what looked like JB weld) and sent it back (1 year later).

I will never own another Oly product.

Quoted: Does PIE have a tolerance, or a clearance?

Depends on what kind and how old the pie is.

[Wendy Testaberger]Don't....F@#k.....with.....ARFCOM.....!!![/Wendy Testaberger]

Quoted: Quoted: wow, I was around then (I think) and don't remember anything like that! You only have three thousand posts! Of course you missed it!  You need to LIVE ON THE SITE!

And I'm REALLY slackin'!

I remember the Oly/AR15.com fireworks...but does anyone recall  the approximate date?

Quoted: Quoted: Shit... Goaty doesn't have a safe... HE'S GOT A VAULT! Gun Nut! No kidding--last week he was bragging about having a nice ass--now it's his "gun vault."  Elitist bastard.

Yeah...he was saying something about clearances...

...or was it tolerances...




*runs really fast*

Hmmm, interesting response from Tom S.....


Interesting article, but hardle an indication that the doors will close. If anything, thay'll just hire a bunch of Cuban imports that live in the area to do the same work for minimum wage and sell lower quality guns for even less money!

Colt's doen't really manufacture anything any more either. This is all assembly work, so anyone can be taught, except for custom shop work.

Tom Spithaler
OA2 Staff
aka "The Rattler"
"Mung-Ho, Sir!"

http://www.oa2.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1204&start=15

Ahhhhhhh   Memories of the good ol OLY Forum days !

I've met and talked with Tom a few times and he is a 1st class jerk ! My fav experience is listing in on a conversation with a potential customer at a gunshow with him going on and on about Oly being a military contractor yada yada and the guy asks Tom who and he says " Bolivia ! "

Hey, CAMPYBOB, check out these rulers!

Quoted: Hey, CAMPYBOB, check out these rulers! www.misterart.com/grouppix/528x352/7000/g7961.jpg

Quoted: Hey, CAMPYBOB, check out these rulers! www.misterart.com/grouppix/528x352/7000/g7961.jpg

"It's a SCALE, not a ruler!"

Ahhh, the fond words of Mr. Kowalski, my tenth grade architectural design teacher.

Between the gun, fishing, and boat boards I frequent, I am surprised ANY manufacturer/business participates in a open internet "fan" forum they have no control over.  Too many times I have seen today's hero tomorrow's scapegoat.  Sometimes justified, sometimes not.  

Agree that Oly's Spit man was a bit "abrasive"

Quoted: <Removed--not cool, accounts are locked for this.> I don't own an Oly. I have before. Never had any problems with them. Never had any problems with any AR15's I have owned. Quoted: Just went to CavArms yesterday.  Food and All.  Don't be mad at me because you bought a POS, <Removed following demand to do so by KA3B>. And it's spelled "Yeah"!

Aside from the history repeated here, their Stinker model caused me to cross them off my list forever. It's THE worst piece of junk ever sold as a gun.  I hate to trash talk any gun maker, but there are other companies out there turning out better guns now.

Well since this thread won't die, here's my Olympic story. When I sensed the natives getting restless in the golden shower state, I went online and started poking around and found this site, sometime around 1998. Olympic was here then and I decided to get into an Olympic kit carbine. I bought a reciever which has a tight and not very neatly broached magwell, and the kit had a muzzle brake which didn't center well(as evidenced by bullet strikes) and which I removed. Otherwise, it has run well. It cost me less than $600.

My experience buying the rifle was another story. I placed the order for the kit and got the endless "two week" run-around. I don't remember how many months I waited, but somewhere along the line someone doubled up my order. They shipped and billed my debit card. Twice. They didn't give me any trouble about picking up over a hundred dollars in bounced check charges though.

ARRRGHHHHHH!!!!!!!  Delta's birds are finally put to rest so I can finally reply.  I have found this thread interesting, and I will share my story.  I had not known about the bad blood that some of the people at Olympic have for ar15.com.  But I digress.  I purchased my first AR about a year and a half ago when I finally got my tax return back.  I had purchased it off of another member from this fine web site.  My Olympic AR is the first american gun I have bought, infact I'm known in my hometown forum as that commie bastard due to my love of the Klashnikov design.  I paid 600 for my used AR, and I really haven't had too much trouble with it at all.  I have shot other member's Bushys and homebuilts, and really the only difference I could tell was the ejection of spent casings.  Where everyone else's were sending them back about 4 feet and 4 feet to the side, mine would drop right out of the ejection port.  I called Olympic, and I do not recall who I talked with, but we spent the better part of 20 minuites going over my AR and finally getting the problem fixed.  I has run beautifly since then, and the only change I have made to it was that I had put a pre 94 PWA A1 upper with all the goodies on it on Monday because I wanted all the correct features.  

After reading this, if I decide to pick up a used ar, and I see that it is oly, I might think twice about it, but it won't totally preclude me from buying it.  Now dealing with Interordinance LLC for another matter is for another thread.