Greetings everyone,

After 2 Ruger mini-14's I seem to have gotten the Ar-15 bug. I purchased a ASA lower last week and looking to build an AR-15 kit.

I have decided on a M-4,a3 kit.The wife has set my spending limit to 600.00. My question is which kit should I purchase. The one from Model one sales or JT distribution.Which one has better quality and would match my ASA lower? Is the chrome lined barrel from JT better than a plain chromemoly one.

Don't want the rifle super accurate just 1 to 1.5 moa would suffice for a home defense weapon.
Any input would be appreciated from any experienced shooters here that have dealt with these two companies.

Rules say no bashing....so all I can say is I have bought from both in the last month..the a2 kit from JT looks and shoots great(great product,great price,quick service)...the order from M1 sales has been on  backorder a month and all I got was a order #........buyer beware

I got my 16" CAR kit from J&T.  I have never dealt with Model 1, but you may want to check some of the previous posts.  There have been many discussions regarding J&T vs. Model 1.

The chrome lined barrel will last longer than the chrome-moly barrel, BUT will not be as accurate as the chrome-moly barrel.

Varmitgun and I were in the same boat...waiting for a lightweight CAR kit.  After a week without seeing my credit card charged, I called them.  It seems they're out of lightweight barrels.  There was no indication of this on the website when I placed my order.  

I spoke to a very friendly gentlemen in Customer Service on Friday, who said that the barrels still hadn't come in.  I changed my order to a standard CAR kit, and the guy said I *should* have it by the middle or end of this week.  I just checked, and my CC still has not been charged.  

I'll continue to give them the benefit of the doubt for another day or two...but if they haven't charged my card be Thursday am, I'm gonna cancel my order and go with J&T, unless they give me free overnight shipping, or give me a reasonable explanation of why my order hasn't shipped.  

Model 1 seems to have a few detractors, while I've never heard anything bad about J&T.  There's about a $50 difference between similar kits, but most folks will say the J&T kits are better quality, so you are getting something for the extra $$.  

I have no experience with either company. I just bought a kit from M&A. I ordered it wed. late afternoon was told it would ship out Thursday. I got it today Monday. The finish on the upper reciever matches my Bushmaster lower perfect. I don't have the experience the rest of the guys on the board do but so far M&A has made me happy. Can't wait till my Mega lower gets here.

I bought a 20" A2 from Sherluk Marketing for $425.00 Every thing except the stripped lower. It took about a week to arrive. Works just fine.

I went through this about 3 months ago. I went with a J&T kit and had it in less than a week. Model 1 sales was responsive to my email, but I read enough about out-of-spec parts that I didn't want to take a chance. I've seen good things about M&A Parts as well as Sherluk. You could go to ADCO and get a RRA upper and parts kit and still be under budget.

I think the only chrome lined barrel from J&T is on the M4, which will probably put you over your budget (does the $600 include lower receiver?). Don't forget that you need some magazines and ammo (ammoman.com!). I have the 16" HBAR, and when I build my next one will consider a chrome barrel, but not require it.

Good Luck

Thanks for the quick replys guys! The 600.00 is for the kit only as I already have the stripped lower. I think I'll go with the JT M4 kit. Anyone know where I can get USGI mags for under 20.00 on the web(used or new it doesn't matter)? [:D]

ADDENDUM:
Model 1 just charged my credit card, so that means the kit *should* ship today.  So far, it seems to be on the schedule the guy I talked to on Fri. indicated.  

I have bought some on e-bay. I got a brand new one for $24 and a VGC used one for $14, both Parsons Precision. There are a bunch of new Parsons there now, all are currently under $20.[headbang]

i used to be a defender of model one but the last three kits i have built from them have had bad safety selectors.  the milling on them was too deep and the detent stuck and the would not turn.  they get one more chance and iof they fail me they are history.  

I haven't bought a kit from J&T, but what I have purchased was excellent and the shipping was quick.

I have also bought from Model 1 and I also received excellent parts and quick shipments. My most recent purchase was a 221/300 barrel and it was very well made, headspaced perfectly, and is very accurate. I love it!

From time to time I have experienced backorders from virtually every supplier out there. All I can say is to be successful in business, inventory needs to turn fairly quickly. Sometimes it's hard to forcast spikes and dips in orders for certain products.

I've only experienced one incident which I thought was deception - taking a bunch of orders before the part was run. I can't mention the supplier or the manufacturer, but it was an FN FAL upper receiver. I ended up canceling the order and went with my old reliable favorite "Enterprise". Beware of "great" deals.

Go with J&T. Great product and great customer service

Check out the Equipment exchange on this site.  I bought 2 mags last week.  Wide variety.

I built a J&T, and am COMPLETELY SATISFIED with it!

easyl2000

Check around at Army/ Navy stores.  I am able to get USGI 30 round mags for $10 each.