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Posted: 6/24/2012 6:22:56 PM EDT
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Hey everyone
Still searching for my first AR. Went to my buddies shop over the weekend and he's sold out of PSA ARs so he was showing me a Del Ton I had never heard of them and wasn't really educated on the brand so I was hoping to get some thoughts and advice. Oh the other brands he's got in stock are Stag, Colt, Bushmaster and Ruger. Thanks |
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Out of those I would go with the Stag. However, there are too many good choices not to buy one of the best. Save a little more and order a Colt, Daniel Defense, LMT, etc... or wait on a PSA to come back in.
Having owned ARs of all quality, trust me, you will save money in the end by spending more in the beginning. |
| Out of what you listed I would get the Colt. I have a 6940 and it is a great gun. I owned a Del-ton a while back. I bought one of their rifle kits and assembled the lower. It was not a bad gun. The gas key was not staked very good and it worked loose. I bought a MOACKS and staked it. It ran great after that. I ended up giving the upper to a friend for Christmas a few years ago. He has put a good bit of rounds through it and he has had no problems. If you are going to use the rifle for home defense I would definitely buy the Colt. |
| You must remember, there are a lot of people on this board that will not buy it unless it has the expensive name brand on it. Do the research here. You will see that many many people have bought their own lower and a Del-ton kit and built a very good accurate and reliable rifle with a budget optic and Id wager a month of my MSgt pay could outshoot at least half of the Colt owners here with their Aimpoints and Eotechs. |
| I have no complaints about my Del-Ton upper. I haven't had any trouble out of it, and the only thing I did when I received it was upgrade the extractor spring since I had an extra. I don't think it's quite as accurate as my DD CHF barrelled upper, but if you want an AR now and are budget conscious I think you'll be fine. |
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You must remember, there are a lot of people on this board that will not buy it unless it has the expensive name brand on it. Do the research here. You will see that many many people have bought their own lower and a Del-ton kit and built a very good accurate and reliable rifle with a budget optic and Id wager a month of my MSgt pay could outshoot at least half of the Colt owners here with their Aimpoints and Eotechs. 
Since when are Aimpoints and Eotechs being bashed? Is this a new trend or something? "I don't need your expensive, name brand Aimpoint. I have my Burris red dot" Oh, and I don't even own a Colt. |
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I have both a Colt and a Del-Ton. The Del-Ton franken gun was built by me using Del-Ton barrel, Del-Ton upper receiver, PSA BCG, PSA LPK, and Cav-Arms polymer lower.
Both have gone bang every time but the Colt is much smoother but it has been shot a lot more than the franken gun. If its between all of the mentioned rifles and cost is not a concern then get the Colt. I would have no problem purchasing Colts and a Del-Tons in the future. |
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I have never owned Stag or Ruger, but my friends have them. Those or the Colt or Bushmaster would be a easy choice for me.
In this case, buy the one with the profile you most like, so you don't spend extra cash changing out barrels and stocks later. If you think you would rather have a different barrel, like mid length, Magpul furniture, A2 or flatop, buy a lower and build your own. You will be happier. |
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Kit guns can be great and Delton, Mode 1 and J&T to name a few are fine for what they are. Checking the Gas Key good idea on any of them. The Armalite s Bushmaster and Colt are status brands Good guns and great looking weapons. I personally have fallen in love with Yankee Hill. I know it will draw the people repeating old stories but personally I have had very good luck with Olympic.
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Do not own a DelTon but did research them as we did consider buying one. We did go the assembling route mostly just to do it as a Father Son project, but also to save some money. From most of what I have read from people that actually own one,I ignore the ones that just categorically state they are junk but have never had one. They seemed it would have been a decent rifle for the money. I do not think you can go wrong with 99% of the ARs out there. They all seem to work. I know this angers the guys that think if you do not have a brand they worship or you are stupid. I could care less about their opinions of my property. Heres a pic of a pieced together one I and my Son just did so thats a option too. We have around 640.00 in it using some new and some used parts. It does everthing a 1000.00 + one will do.
Its just a simple AR that works and is alot fun for him. To me a AR that goes boom everytime we pull the trigger is all we needed and this does that perfectly. Now I will get called a troll,whatever that is, but ARs are a simple machine and they do not have to cost 1500.00 to work. Yeah you may be able to shoot paper targets with tighter groups with some better than than others but I could care less about shooting paper. Paper is boring. Ours hits everything we shoot at and hits it everytime if we do our part. Can we shoot dime size groups. Probably not but I could also care less. So making one is a fun option but I am confident the Delton would be fine. Assembling one you can make the appearance more to your liking however.. Like I say do not worry about what some say. Its your money and a "piece of junk AR'" works very well in my opinion..The three things that are not used on this is the upper reciever (Spikes) Lower Reciever (Aero) And a DPMS LPK We could have saved a little more by being patient and looking for a used upper reciever and such but did get a good price new for the upper and lower. I am going to make a thread about this some time but we do not or would not ever consider a AR15 a home defense weopon. I have many that are much more suitable for that category. I would never use a AR as a primary defense weopon of a home. I am not military nor Law Enforcement so to us they are just a plinker. 
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I have built about 20 Del-ton rifles for friends family and such. I have two myself. NO COMPLAINTS! Mil-spec parts. They are all the same inside. Does this statement mean that 'all' ARs are the same inside? Because no, no they are not. OP- if you are just looking for an AR so you can say you have one and just shoot paper with it then buy whatever you want. But if you are going to rely on it to defend yourself or your family but the Colt or go online and order a BCM upper, sent to your home, and a BCM blemished lower, pick it up from your local FFL, pin them together, lube it, and then start shooting it, and sign up for a carbine class. |
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I apologize in advance if I am opening a can of worms with the this question but after reading everyone's comments the thought came to mind "would I be better to buy and upper and lower" and built it myself, I do want to add Magpul furniture, and rails, optics, and so forth. Would I be saving money buy building it myself? Like I said this will be my first AR.
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I have built about 20 Del-ton rifles for friends family and such. I have two myself. NO COMPLAINTS! Mil-spec parts. They are all the same inside. No, all AR's are most definitely NOT "all the same inside". The whole "parts is parts" argument is uneducated non sense. EDIT: OP, you will be able to save some money, or at the very least spend the same amount of money but get something of a higher quality by buying a lower and upper separately and "building" it yourself. That is the way a lot of people do it. |
No problem, this argument between the guys that worship a certain brand happens all the time. Nearly everyones opinions have atleast some portion of helpful info contained in their post but a few are just stupid ignorant replies..I have even made a couple of those myself But for the most part I really I do try to help other financially challenged AR buyers
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Bought a complete upper from del-ton for my Ar build, and it has been perfect ever since. I dont understand why people hate on brands esp the ones who havent actually used the product. My franken gun with a del ton upper has been accurate enough for me, gone bang everytime and has brought tons of enjoyment also. |
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I have built about 20 Del-ton rifles for friends family and such. I have two myself. NO COMPLAINTS! Mil-spec parts. They are all the same inside. No, all AR's are most definitely NOT "all the same on the inside". The whole "parts is parts" argument is uneducated non sense. Agreed , but the extra cost of one of the A.B.C. guns is not necessary justified for everyone. As pretty a Colt is (and they ARE) that beauty may not be worth a grand more than a reliable kit gun to the OP. For those of us with a budget A Kit gun and one piece at time mods makes perfect sense. The average person is able to check the Bolt Carrier and stake it if they need to, or swap in a different trigger if the choose , ad a rail or swap barrels . I would never tell you that My J&T Kit gun s as pretty as a New Colt. It is as reliable and because I swapped barrels I will tell you it is every bit as accurate as My buddies Colt and so will he. I would tell the OP Kit Guns require a little reading. Also the opinions expressed here are based in our personal motives and experiences. |
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I apologize in advance if I am opening a can of worms with the this question but after reading everyone's comments the thought came to mind "would I be better to buy and upper and lower" and built it myself, I do want to add Magpul furniture, and rails, optics, and so forth. Would I be saving money buy building it myself? Like I said this will be my first AR. Yes, you would save money, as long as you don't have to buy the best of everything. Like Aimpoints.... I bought an M4. mainly because I got a great deal on it. A cheaper Aimpoint would have been just as good. Plus, if you build it, you know what you have, and how it's done. If you have a budget. buy what's good, not name brand. Like a PSA lower. even their parts kits. Others are just as good, without the name brand price. |
| My dad has a Delton Dissy upper and it's shot great so far. About 100-150 rounds. It doesn't like steel cased stuff, but I'm hoping that will change as it breaks in. The bolt still cycles a little rough. I think after another 100 or so rounds it will loosen up a little. |
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I have built about 20 Del-ton rifles for friends family and such. I have two myself. NO COMPLAINTS! Mil-spec parts. They are all the same inside. No, no they are NOT mil-spec and they sure as hell are NOT all the SAME parts inside. Most of Del-Ton's barrels are unidentified steel type, 1:9 twist, not chrome lined, although 1:7 twist and chrome lined is an option. If you have had good experience with Del-Ton, then fine, share that experience. But do not represent them as something they are not. Del-Ton may be an adequate low-priced, commercial grade rifle but it is not of the same quality as a Colt. I would say that they are not even the same quality as a PSA. OP, what is your price range? What will be the purpose of this rifle? If this rifle will be a safe queen, or a plinker that goes to range 3-4 times a year and sees maybe 300-500 rounds a year, then get whatever. Just keep it cleaned and lubed and make sure to inspect it thoroughly prior to each use. Take care of the little things that you may find wrong, such as making sure the receiver extension nut is staked and the bolt carrier gas key is staked. Keep some critical spare parts around as well. If this rifle will be more than that and/or you intend to use it for self defense/home defense or SHTF then you need to put more thought into your purchase. For a hard use, bet your life on rifle, I would be looking at (in no particular order) Colt, Daniel Defense, Bravo Company Manufacturing, Lewis Machine Tool or Noveske. Any of these will serve you well for many years. Pricing as it is these days gives first nod to Colt as they tend to be the least expensive (LE 6720 ~ $950, LE 6920 ~ $1050) (or not much more than a BCM, if any) and most available of those I listed. Since this is you first AR, I would recommend getting a complete factory rifle in it's basic form. This gives you something with a warranty and higher resale value if you decide the AR is not for you. With a parts gun, your best bet would be to break it down and part it out to be able to get any kind of money back out of it. A basic rifle also gives you the opportunity to learn the weapon system and figure out for yourself what accessories you need, if any. To start with I would recommend just a good white light and a good sling, followed by a lot of shooting and some formal training if you can afford the time/cost. After that, a solid red dot sight and mount. Stay away from Bushmaster, DPMS and Olympic. Stag (with the "Plus Package") is OK, but for the price you might as well go with the Colt. The Ruger is an answer to a problem that does not exist and the added weight and compexity of the piston system coupled with the fact that it's non-standard parts really gains you nothing, especially for the price. If you are really hard and fast in the $600-700 range, then I would have to say stick with the PSA. For everything else, unless it is in the sub $600 range, I would pass (unless it's going to be a low use plinker). |
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One other thing to mention. I do not know what the SW MP15 pricing and availibilty is right now but that may be an option to look at for a plinker. My local Walmart has em occasionally but have not paid attention to pricing. I would think SW would carry a good warranty if something does go wrong. I am a person that lives within my means but if you can afford a 1200.00 0r 1500.00 AR go for it. In my opinion ones in that price range will not work twice as good as a 600.00 one however,are they a little higher quality,more likely,but two times better. I have to doubt that myself. To each his own but the most important thing is stay on a budget and do not buy what you cannot afford. My thinking is simple. If a I cannot pay cash it does not get bought. I did have to finance my home however. Every other thing I own was paid for with cash and bought within my means..
Unless you are Military or Law Enforcement,or you think you are going to be going into a all out all hell breaks loose War anytime soon like some commandos think they are going to do then a budget AR will serve you just fine in my opinion. |
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I have built about 20 Del-ton rifles for friends family and such. I have two myself. NO COMPLAINTS! Mil-spec parts. They are all the same inside. No, no they are NOT mil-spec and they sure as hell are NOT all the SAME parts inside. Most of Del-Ton's barrels are unidentified steel type, 1:9 twist, not chrome lined, although 1:7 twist and chrome lined is an option. If you have had good experience with Del-Ton, then fine, share that experience. But do not represent them as something they are not. Del-Ton may be an adequate low-priced, commercial grade rifle but it is not of the same quality as a Colt. I would say that they are not even the same quality as a PSA. OP, what is your price range? What will be the purpose of this rifle? If this rifle will be a safe queen, or a plinker that goes to range 3-4 times a year and sees maybe 300-500 rounds a year, then get whatever. Just keep it cleaned and lubed and make sure to inspect it thoroughly prior to each use. Take care of the little things that you may find wrong, such as making sure the receiver extension nut is staked and the bolt carrier gas key is staked. Keep some critical spare parts around as well. If this rifle will be more than that and/or you intend to use it for self defense/home defense or SHTF then you need to put more thought into your purchase. For a hard use, bet your life on rifle, I would be looking at (in no particular order) Colt, Daniel Defense, Bravo Company Manufacturing, Lewis Machine Tool or Noveske. Any of these will serve you well for many years. Pricing as it is these days gives first nod to Colt as they tend to be the least expensive (LE 6720 ~ $950, LE 6920 ~ $1050) (or not much more than a BCM, if any) and most available of those I listed. Since this is you first AR, I would recommend getting a complete factory rifle in it's basic form. This gives you something with a warranty and higher resale value if you decide the AR is not for you. With a parts gun, your best bet would be to break it down and part it out to be able to get any kind of money back out of it. A basic rifle also gives you the opportunity to learn the weapon system and figure out for yourself what accessories you need, if any. To start with I would recommend just a good white light and a good sling, followed by a lot of shooting and some formal training if you can afford the time/cost. After that, a solid red dot sight and mount. Stay away from Bushmaster, DPMS and Olympic. Stag (with the "Plus Package") is OK, but for the price you might as well go with the Colt. The Ruger is an answer to a problem that does not exist and the added weight and compexity of the piston system coupled with the fact that it's non-standard parts really gains you nothing, especially for the price. If you are really hard and fast in the $600-700 range, then I would have to say stick with the PSA. For everything else, unless it is in the sub $600 range, I would pass (unless it's going to be a low use plinker). This. A punch in the eye for 25 cents is no bargain. |
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thanks everyone, I think I am going to just go the route of buiding my AR-(a) I like the idea of building something of my own, (b) I want to know the gun inside and out when it comes to owning a firearm.
and....the fun starts...trying to decide what upper and lower I want to start with. Thanks eveyone! |
| This is a good choice. There is nothing hard about doing it either. They are a very simple firearm to assembly. Just ask for help here in the builders section and use the proper tools and you will be fine. To me a lower is a lower. Alot of them are made by the same people and they just add a rollmark to the manufactured lower to sell as their own. Most upper recievers are adequate also, just buy what is a good price range for you. We used a Spikes upper reciever as it was priced pretty decent at 105.00 shipped. The stripped Aero Precision lower was 80.00 local at the gunshow. A little tax but no transfer or shipping. Here I can walk in and buy a reciever in five minutes. Some are not as fortunite however in other places.. You will take more pride in doing it yourself and as you say you will learn alot. It will also be what you want hopefully from the day you finish it... |
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Del-Ton was my introduction to the AR-15 world and subsequent BRD. Affordable, nice quality, reliable - it's a perfect kit gun for the AR-15 beginner looking to save some cash.
The only reason I sold it is because I wanted some extra cash for a SOPMOD Block II project, otherwise I would have kept it. Del-Ton is GTG and they have great customer service. My Del-Ton mid-length before I sold it:  |
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I have had a DTI upper, 16" Mid length, for a year now. I have put a couple thousand rounds through it and had NO problems.
I have run Tulamo, Remington, Federal, Winchester, PMI, Wolf and an assortment of other random ammo through this thing with the intention of causing a failure. Nothing, I have run over 300 rounds through in under an hour. Hot as hell but GTG. I have intentionally not cleaned it between range visits to test its ability to run dirty. All good. There are very few people on this board who will tell you FROM EXPERIENCE that they had any kind of problem with their Del Ton. I actually own a Del Ton and my experience has been that they are GTG. Lots of folks who don't have any experience with this make will chirp about it being crap. They are full of it. Get one if you want and don't think twice about its ability to go BOOM. |
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Quoted: I have had a DTI upper, 16" Mid length, for a year now. I have put a couple thousand rounds through it and had NO problems. I have run Tulamo, Remington, Federal, Winchester, PMI, Wolf and an assortment of other random ammo through this thing with the intention of causing a failure. Nothing, I have run over 300 rounds through in under an hour. Hot as hell but GTG. I have intentionally not cleaned it between range visits to test its ability to run dirty. All good. There are very few people on this board who will tell you FROM EXPERIENCE that they had any kind of problem with their Del Ton. I actually own a Del Ton and my experience has been that they are GTG. Lots of folks who don't have any experience with this make will chirp about it being crap. They are full of it. Get one if you want and don't think twice about its ability to go BOOM. +1 It goes boom every time you pull the trigger - I can definitely vouch for that.
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Quoted: thanks everyone, I think I am going to just go the route of buiding my AR-(a) I like the idea of building something of my own, (b) I want to know the gun inside and out when it comes to owning a firearm. and....the fun starts...trying to decide what upper and lower I want to start with. Thanks eveyone! I think this is a good choice, make it the way you want it. It might cost a bit more but I think you'll be happier. Just watch out for project creep...you may have to make compromises, but make the least amount of compromises on the upper. Stocks, grips, triggers and sights are easy enough to upgrade later if your overall budget starts getting tight. Also, make sure to budget for a couple of tools that will make your life easier, like roll pin punches, starter punches. |
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Del-ton is good to go. Good to go in the garbage. 
Nothing wrong with Del-Ton for the average person. I have one kit and one upper and both are fine. GADeerHunter,just curious have you ever owned or shot a DTI? If you did own one I assume its in your garbage can so where is you garbage can I would like to get it out for myself ..Thanks
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My second AR was built using this Delton upper:
http://www.del-ton.com/Del_Ton_AR_15_Barrel_Assembly_p/dt2001.htm Several years of general range use and one carbine course with it and no issues. Feeds any ammo I feed it (~5K rnds). Building a new one with a PSA M4 Madness upper. Hopefully it will be as reliable as the Delton has been. |
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100% non biassed opinion. I have had a Del-Ton for close to five years. I bought the M4 kit with chromed barrel/bolt. Started out with a stag lower they didn't fit together to well. It now has a spikes lower that fit perfectly
The gun has around 17-20k through it. It's has had 2 double feeds, and fte out of 1500 wolf mil classic. After that it ran perfect. Around 10k I put a BCM sbr ejecter in it. When it hit around the 16k mark the buffer retainer broke. Replaced it and it has ran perfect. My buddy and I ran 2k of reloads through our rifles ( he has a BCM upper on a stag lower) We had failure to fires probably every 30 rounds or so. So that wasn't the rifles fault it was the ammo. So over all I like Del-Tons but probably will go with a Colt or BCM next. 
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