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Posted: 1/26/2008 9:52:59 AM EDT
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Where would Armalite stand among the rest of AR15s LMT Stag Bushmaster RRA DPMS Colt Olympic |
I like mine. After all it was free--I won it here last year!! It comes with feedramps and has excellent fit and finish. Shoots well though I have not accuracy tested it with optics.The 2 stage trigger is MUCH better than standard factory triggers as well. From my "internetting", they tend to haev tight tolerances which may aid in accuracy and may be less forgiving to fouling but I haven't torchure tested mine. Armalite is good stuff. |
| In the last several years I've seen Armalie improve their line quite a bit. As far as I have seen, their guns have always been very good quality, but they have moved progressively forward. For example they changed from .223 to 5.56 chambers some years back, then more recently offering milspec receiver extentions, pinned gas blocks, parking under the front sight etc, etc. Things like this set them apart from a lot of other brands which skip these steps. |
Okay, it's not too hard to figure this out (on a Saturday night sipping my third martini). It's like this .... just look at the icons. Essentially, the snake (Bushmaster) slithers along the ground but gets squished by the hooves of a passing Stag and sprinting Colt, as the Stag and Colt bound across the plains they are quickly killed by a Panther (DPMS) and Lion (Armalite) that spring from the shadows. As the big cats saunter from the scenes of their kills, they are obliterated by a herd of initialisms/acronyms (CMMG, RRA,and LMT)!  
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Armalite is an outstanding rifle. Armalite's effort at the little things (the details) is impressive: such a small change in the upper receiver to ensure the charging handle catches positively (just a small boss change at the catch), or their improved bolt (stronger and slightly re-dimensioned depricated lug for better wear resistance, greater strength and improved function). Clearly Armalite is thinking ahead and continuously improving the AR15 rifle. I have other rifles too, from Stag and RRA. I like each of them and each has strenghts, all are reliable, all shoot well. IMHO, my Armalite is simply a joy to own and gives absolutely nothing away to the others. |
Have another drink.
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Pffffffft ...... you don't know the half of it, I just guzzled a mouthful of CLP by mistake. W-O-W! Seriously, it's the sub-zero temps up here that have me kinda wonkie tonight. Well, combined with digging my brass out of the snow at the range today. Ok ok ok .... I'll stop.
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| I intended on purchasing a Bushmaster AR-15 when I went to the gunshop about 2 years ago, but found the fit and finish of the Armalite to be superior and took it home instead. Aside from the overall quality of the rifle I also liked the bonus of the life-time warranty as well. The M-15 A4 Carbine that I have is extremely accurate and has an amazing trigger. I purchased a Bushmaster Target Model roughly a year later because I wanted a 20" AR and got a good deal, but came away disappointed at the fit and finish of the rifle. The Bushy trigger was also much like the one that I had in Basic Training so it earned no points here. In sort, I wished that I'd held out a bit longer and have got another Armalite instead. |
| I have one of the Armalite complete M4 uppers from the thanksgiving sale, and it is the equal of any upper I have ever had my boogerhooks on. It has the M4 feedramps and an M4 upper, the finish is nice and the BCG has a shrouded firing pin. I love it, but ymmv. |
1. Colt/Noveske/LMT 2. Armalite/CMMG 3. Stag/Bushmaster/RRA 4. DPMS 5. Olympic And no, I don't own any examples in the top two so I'm not a coolaid drinker. Let the flames begin. 
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We're glad you noticed. We had an Italian writer visit the ArmaLite booth at the SHOT Show. His observation summarized our strategy well: There are a lot of new people making ARs these days. Almost none actually make anything. They buy all the parts from various sources and assemble rifles. In the days of Eagle Arms we did that too... it's a valid business model. But assembling rifles, making them look different with various add-ons etc doesn't lead to technical excellence. ArmaLite took a different direction for higher quality and to provide the deeper technical understanding that produces a better product. And we've shifted gears for the past couple years to do extensive engineering studies using lab technologies that weren't availalbe to us earlier. Our 15s, 10s, 30s, and 50s have all been fine tuned, and the 180s are undergoing the effort now. We're focused on building great rifles with great fit and finish, but starting at the deeper hardware level. Sometimes its nice to have somebody notice. Thanks. |
Armalite makes good stuff. I would put them ahead of DPMS and Bushmaster. I do have several Armalites that are not staked very well though, that imho keeps them a notch under Colt, LMT, SDI, and Noveske, but then again, they also cost less and staking is cheap. |
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