20 thoughts on “How Low Can You Go: AR Edition Pt II”

  1. And now I just ordered another lower. I thank you for posting this deal, I was about to trade off a fee 300blk upper.

    • Suspect enough that it would not be my first choice over my Stag/Colt/Bushmaster ARs, but not suspect enough to keep me from selling them to someone else.

  4. There’s a message in that….I cannot think of a reason to not have a couple “spares” on hand because there may easily come a time when it’s beneficial to provide one, or two, to family or “family” members for, uh, “occasional use.”

    Along the same line, I was recently in a discussion with an aquaintance about AR-10s; he didn’t have one and was beginnng to think it might be worthwhile to get one, and was fixated on the Ruger 762.

    I had the ‘puter on, and pointed out that – on that particular day – the Daily Deals included a $359 complete 18″ PA-10 upper with BCG and CA, AND a complete lower assembly kit – all the small bits, receiver extension, Magpul MOE stock, everything but the lower receiver – and same page had $79 for a stripped Betsy Ross lower, both with free shipping. $438 for a you-assemble-it AR-10 missing only a rear sight.

    No idea what the wound up doing, but now I wish I had ordered two. Or three….

  5. If it comes a time when your handing out AR’s to family I’m sure there will be a few laying around. If not already then soon.

    • I’ve got 2. 800 rounds each without a problem. These are like a 15 year old Buick. Don’t abuse it and it will get you where you need. No repeated mag duimps, regular cleaning, quality ammo ie no steel cases, etc. Would I want it to repel massed Chinese hordes coming down the frozen Mississippi? No. Will it run a couple of mags over 3 or 4 minutes? Yup just fine. Bottom line is for defensive use don’t worry about it. 4 MOA or better (mine are 3 MOA with Black Hills 68gr OTM which tells me I’m a 3 MOA guy so maybe better with different shooter) all day. Goes bang every time. Mags fit good lockup. No complaints from this household.

  7. Question: Are you going to hold on to that $1500.00 Daniel Defense semi-auto, or are you going to pick up the first full auto you come across? Personaly whatever I have is just to get me to something better.

  8. They currently (sat, noon central time) have two similar model complete uppers in 5.56 in FDE for $179, and low prices on other calibers. They’ve got several uppers, minus BCG and CH for even less.

    Can’t even get a Del Ton at that price….

    nick

  9. I’ve put together a couple of their cheap AR packages. The both patterned rather than grouped. Both have since been given away. One came with a BCG that had obviously been used before.

    Other ARs that I’ve built from scratch shot really well, though obviously they cost more.

    Probably better than nothing, as handout rifles, or to sell later. Just realize what you’re getting for that low price.

  10. At the very least, grab up the lowers at this price. Then build or buy a better upper. The cheap uppers are great for plinking, and whatever else a common shooter would want from a carbine. Imo ymmv

  11. @matt, I can’t see any reason at all to pair a $400-600 upper with an 80% lower, which I think is the perfect use case for these uppers.

    Lots of folks stocked up on 80%lowers, but if they did, and they intend to actually have to build and use them at some point, they are going to need uppers.

    So for everyone out there who put back a couple of 80% lowers or polymer kits “just in case”, take the opportunity to put some complete uppers away too. If you can’t actually make a rifle out of the 80%s, then they are just a magic talisman and not an actual prep.

    After all, what makes anyone think uppers will be available if things get sporty? They’ve shown their willingness to redefine reality with the bump stock ban, and they don’t care at all about ‘illegal takings’ do they?

    As far as accuracy complaints, when you need a rifle, ANY rifle is better than NO rifle. Don’t lose sight of the big picture.

    nick

    (don’t let smugness or “privilege’ get you killed, plenty of people have been robbed and killed by crappy HiPoints and no name .32s)

    • Nick,

      I assume this post was meant towards me. I am neither smug or privileged.

      Yes people have robbed and killed with HiPoints and .32s (not sure that’s something that I’d use as a positive example though). Let’s be realistic though. The two I referred to shot AT LEAST eight inch groups at 100 yards, with quality ammo. And that was from a steady rested position. That’s probably the best they’ll ever shoot.

      Whether today, or when WROL rolls around, YOU are RESPONSIBLE for every single bullet that comes out of the end of your barrel. Not every situation is sterile where it’s either all good guys or bad guys. If you can’t accurately put the bullet where it belongs you may well end up shooting someone or something that doesn’t need shooting.

      You accidentally shoot someones kid, no matter how many bad guys you kill you’ve made an enemy for life. Possibly turned an ally into an enemy.

      Choose wisely, or cheaply. Your choice.

      Matt

      • Sorry Matt, only that first line was directly to you, the rest just slowly wandered to the general “you” and I wasn’t very clear. The post script was absolutely not directed at you personally.

        I’m glad to get real world feedback on the rifles. I’m wondering when you got them and what do you think was wrong with them? If your experience was typical, there’s no way they’d still be in business. I’m no gunsmith, but something was wrong with the execution as we know the design is capable. Every manufacturer has occasional bad runs or lapses in quality control from time to time. Is it more likely that current production is fine?

        Most of the rest of my comment I’ll stand by. If you need a rifle, ANY rifle is better than none. And someone’s home completed lower (put away “just in case” they come for all the papered guns) is never going to be as good as factory, so it really doesn’t make sense to put an expensive upper on it. Does it make sense to cache $2000 rifles?

        I’m also a bit curious why you didn’t try to return the rifle parts, their website lists a warranty… and why if you’re worried about where every shot goes you’d GIVE SOMEONE a rifle you knew wasn’t working well? There has to be more to the story than that…

        My postscript was meant in general to point out that while you or I or any ‘gun guy’ might look down on certain brands, especially very low cost brands and generic ‘sock drawer’ guns, they will kill you just as dead as someone’s hand tuned ‘race gun’. And yeah, I purposely used the word ‘privilege’ to trigger some people. The number of good people who we want armed and on our side that can afford a sub-$300 rifle is a LOT bigger than the number that can afford a $1000 rifle, or a $4000 rifle. Spending $300 on a rifle and $300 for a thousand rounds of practice gets you a better rifleman than the guy with the $1000 safe queen.

        In short, I hope your experience wasn’t typical. Given modern manufacturing and a proven design, I don’t see how it could be. I believe there is a place for everything, and a sub-$300 AR has a lot of places where it is a good fit, especially when it’s a cheap upper matched to an unpapered lower….

        Respectfully,

        nick

        • Nick,

          I may have gotten Friday afternoon rifles or Monday morning rifles, it’s hard to say. I will concede that maybe it was a fluke and I just got two bad ones. But I will never again spend money on one of their rifle kits again. I have and will buy other items made by other manufacturers that they are just reselling though.

          When I was having problems with them I contacted them about the one BCG that was heavily used. They replied back that all of their uppers are test fired. This was not the case with this BCG as it had A LOT of copper deposits on the bolt face and on the underside of the BCG. Judging by other BCGs, I’d say that this BCG had fired AT LEAST a hundred rounds. So I replied that no I didn’t think that was the case, I explained why, and even sent photos. That’s the last reply that I ever got from them.

          I later read that their customer service can be snarky at times and it certainly was in my case. So what the problem is I can’t be sure, but as attractive as their kits appear I’ll not buy one again and I will share the story as it might help others from making a mistake.

          As to giving them away, yes I did. I tried what I knew to do and asked around for help, but could not make them shoot better. So to end my frustration I gave them to other people who wanted them, WITH the clear understanding that they were POCs and didn’t shoot well. Both were basically used as parts in other builds.

          I won’t pass along a known problem firearm (or car, or house, etc.) to another without them having a clear understanding of the item’s problems and what they’re getting into. I’m suspect of those that do.

          Matt

  12. Nick, I suspect Matt’s results and mine, combined, shows the truth is somewhere in the middle. I have read a couple of comments about poor results, but many more that match mine. My two have been as good as my S&W Sport II. Mil spec is only about 4 inches an I read a lot of folks that claim 1 or 2 inch groups, but funny at the range I rarely see much better than 3 inches unless a big scope is used (I use a 1.5-6x on mine). If I had a rifle like Matt’s, I certainly would have sent it back for repair, as I have never heard anyone say a grouping rifle is OK (well, except for Ruger and their Mini). Or, I would just change the most likely culprit, the barrel. PSA has hammer forged FN barrels for a good price. If I needed a precise shot, that is what the 7mm08 is for. My ARs are light weight defensive tools, kind of like a “melee” weapon of the past.

    • “My ARs are light weight defensive tools, kind of like a “melee” weapon of the past.” Which, of course, is the purpose for which the military adopted the M16 in the first place! It was an ASSAULT rifle.

      As I recall, the Army’s Request for Proposal for the M16 required a 5-inch group at 100 yards. That’s similar to the accuracy of the AK-47. This group is considered “combat accuracy.” If things get “spicy,” depending on where one lives, for most people, it is “survival accuracy,” too.

      I have a friend whose very core of his being makes him want “the best of the best.” The problem is that he cannot afford the best of everything, and his preps are sadly lacking in so many aspects. (For example, I expect that he, his wife, and son, would have to consider ketchup an entrée after a month.) He has one of the Colt M4s that Rawles at Survivalblog said recently are going from $1,400.00 to $2,500.00. I told him yesterday that he could have bought five of the Palmetto State Armory ARs if he sold his Colt, which I suspect that he has never fired in the last 5 years, if ever. And, of course, he could have purchased a considerable amount of food with the money, as well, and still had a couple of ARs for him and his son.

      It is said that “the enemy of the good is the perfect.” Patton put it slightly differently, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.”

  13. As soon as I get some time, I’ll put the PSA upper on a colt lower and see how she runs… Then it’s the deep sleep, as our host says (and possibly some more when the next sale comes around, assuming they work ok.)

    nick

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