Any opinions other than or in addition to "low end".  I've owned two, Cohort 45 and AR 15, I guess I'm missing something.

Nothing wrong with Olympic Arms, imo. A lot of people on this board don't like them because they chose not to advertise with/sponsor ar15.com. I have an Oly lower awaiting an upper. I had a pre-ban Oly that was pretty nice. I would, however, not purchase a "plinker" model, myself.

I've seen a lot of threads from guys with serious probs with them over the years.  I personally would not buy a rifle from a company that has to remake lowers that they've sold, but are so out of spec people return them.

I can remember the idiot from Oly that used to post here.  He would say.. "Oly rifles are made to tighter tolerances"

Yeah, moron.  Its Colt, Bushy, and Armalite who haven't caught up to Oly's "Tight Tolerances"!

I dont own a Oly, (all Colt baby!)but to be honest with you, everyone that I have got my hands seemed to work fine. I think that if you get a Oly that was made in the last 3 years, you would be just fine. I dont think I would get the plinker.

I hear their Ultramatch competition barrels are very accurate.  The guys over at snipercountry talk about them a bit, I have personally never shot one though.  One of the complaints I remember hearing about them was their receivers were cast rather than forged so they weren't as good.  But I believe they forge their receivers now.

Quoted: I hear their Ultramatch competition barrels are very accurate.  The guys over at snipercountry talk about them a bit, I have personally never shot one though.  One of the complaints I remember hearing about them was their receivers were cast rather than forged so they weren't as good.  But I believe they forge their receivers now.

If you are talking about lower receivers, I think only the Plinker model is cast. I am not 100% sure of this, but I believe that is the case.

I have no experience with the Oly lowers, but I do have an Oly upper that I put on a Bushy lower. I have not had prolem one with that upper. In fact, I prefer the Oly muzzle brake to some of the others out there.

Oly's receivers use to have to be "fit" together at the factory cause they didn't have the machinery they have now. Their new CNC lathes mills produce upper and lower receivers that fit togather right out of the machine.

IMHO, "tight tolerances" was meant to indicate quality, but it was really to backtrack on rifles that made it past quality control with improper fitting. For those rifles that were improperly fit, "tight tolerances" applied to everything in the rifle, from the selector lever not turning freely to the takedown pins needing a punch to push out.
Thats all different now, and you can tell the difference between new and old production. Old production has a painted on looking finish, and the new stuff is anodized.

Overall I am happy with my Oly rifles and customer service has been outstanding in my many experiences with them. You cant go wrong buying Oly.




Edited to change "lathe" into "mill".

Yes.  "The WTF is wrong with my OLY?" threads have really subsided in the past year.  I can just picture a bunch of hill billies with drill presses cranking out their old receivers.  Each one was a one of a kind due to their lack of consistancy.

I think that peckerhead at oly used the term "Tight Tolerances" to attempt to explain their out of SPEC chambers.  It was Laughable.

What actually happened is OAI got a contract for lowers from Century. When Century sent the first batch (a couple hundred IIRC) back with no payment OAI finally went out and had the fixtures made to make lowers. Prior to that the fixturing consisted of clamps.

Contrary to what has been posted, OAI has had the CNC mills (uppers and lowers aren't made on lathes) at least since 1993 when I started there. When they finally gave up (mostly) trying to make their own uppers the largest part of the "fitting" problem went away.

Cockeyed barrels, poor chambers, and incorrect radii in the mag well and hammer area of the lowers are still a problem.

The above applies only to the forged uppers and lowers, the cast ones are still junk, but even they aren't as bad as they used to be.

[ed for speeling]

I have a car-97 and I have never had a problem with it. I would buy another one without hesitating.

Thanks for the real story, Tweak.  I might quote you down the road some time.

Thank you for the feedback on olyarms.  I've got a PCR 97(Poliically Correct Rifle) milled reciever with a Bushmaster HB, it rocks but had heard nothing but "low end".  Now I know!!!!!

All uppers and lowers are "milled" to some degree, as are most parts, the crucial difference is in how the part starts its service life, either as a casting or a forging.


[edited for grammer]

Quoted: All uppers and lowers are "milled" to some degree, as are most parts, the crucial difference is in how the part starts its service life, either as a casting or a forging. [edited for grammer]

Why don't you edit for spelling, instead of grammer(sic)?  

Just giving you a hard time. :)

JAFO,

Scroll up to my previous post in which I edited for speeling.

I was conflicted over whether to edit for "gramma" or "grammer". On further reflection, I have settled on the Kennedy version. I'll be editing for "grammah" in the future.

Yes, I know you're just jerking my chain.

Oly makes some damn fine rifles. The reviews have been good, except when pre-disposition is an issue.

Oly has stopped buying aftermarket parts as much as possible. They make their own parts, including bolts, and they are using a new finish (Blak-Tac) that is holding up very well in the field.

I keep in touch with them, so I am more than a little biased.