I had a talk with a gunshop owner today about my favorite black rifles.  We discussed what the different quality of the different manufacturers were.  We agreed on where most stood and what some of the major problems were.  He has seen alot come and go over the years. Then he said something that I thought was weird.  He said the "old ones" were much better.  I had shot a few old SP1s and a Nice shorty slab side Colt from the 70's.  They shot great but looked old and well kinda rough.  I had always thought the new stuff to be of better quality.  What say the experts?

If by "early" you mean 1959-1964 yes there are some cosmetic items done then that are not done now.  That does not mean quality is down though.  Purely from a function standpoint AR's made after 1967 are vastly superior to earlier models.

Quoted: If by "early" you mean 1959-1964 yes there are some cosmetic items done then that are not done now.  That does not mean quality is down though.  Purely from a function standpoint AR's made after 1967 are vastly superior to earlier models.

I'm not sure what he ment by "early" but he did say something about one made in 1977 that he was fond of.  It was an SP1.

I can tell you EXACTLY why the older guns are better. Because once Colt's rights to the design expired, every assclown with a machine shop made ARs and dropped them on an unsuspecting public.

And no, I am not a Kool-Aid drinker. I don't have a Colt AR.

Quoted: Quoted: If by "early" you mean 1959-1964 yes there are some cosmetic items done then that are not done now.  That does not mean quality is down though.  Purely from a function standpoint AR's made after 1967 are vastly superior to earlier models. I'm not sure what he ment by "early" but he did say something about one made in 1977 that he was fond of.  It was an SP1.

In that case I have no idea what he is referring to.

Quoted: I can tell you EXACTLY why the older guns are better. Because once Colt's rights to the design expired, every assclown with a machine shop made ARs and dropped them on an unsuspecting public.

You got a point there.  That said in the last 10 years or so things have gotten better.  I just bought a Brand X rifle, just for the lower (early Eagle Arms Coal Valley A1 forging), and the parts kit was much better then what I have seen in the past with Brand X.  Still pretty funky though.

I can tell you EXACTLY why the older guns are better. Because once Colt's rights to the design expired, every assclown with a machine shop made ARs and dropped them on an unsuspecting public.

Including Colt, Armalite was the original designer. Hence the designation AR

In December of 1959, Colt acquired manufacturing and marketing rights to the AR-15.

YMMV, but you'd be hard pressed to shoot the current line of heavy-weight bullets in an old 1/12 twist rifle.

I'll take a new 1/7 twist over the older AR15/M16s anyday.

Mike

Quoted: I can tell you EXACTLY why the older guns are better. Because once Colt's rights to the design expired, every assclown with a machine shop made ARs and dropped them on an unsuspecting public. Including Colt, Armalite was the original designer. Hence the designation AR In December of 1959, Colt acquired manufacturing and marketing rights to the AR-15.

Key word being "acquired", rather then some "assclown" making a poor copy of something the patent has expired on.