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AR rifle quality difference?
11BravoCrunchie
Member Posts: 33,423 ✭✭
Between Bushmaster and DPMS, which one would you say is a better buy?
Bushmaster M4A3 LE Patrol Rifle
or
DPMS AP4
Both flat tops with the 16" M4 carbine profile barrels.
Bushmaster M4A3 LE Patrol Rifle
or
DPMS AP4
Both flat tops with the 16" M4 carbine profile barrels.
Comments
But lastly don't forget Stag, Rock River Arms, S&W or Daniels Defense...all good names. Stay away from Hesse, Blackthorne, and Vulcan...all POS
Best
Stay Safe!
They are ridiculous excuses for battle rifles and have nothing to recommend them except a huge after-market.
This is a very highly stressed component and is potentially the weakest link in this rifle's design. You want the best possible one to start with if you plan on putting lots of rounds through your rifle.
Heads up when shopping:
A commonly seen issue with non-USGI rifles - particularly Bushmaster - is improper staking of the gas key screws. Again , take a look at your issued rifle and you'll see what this is supposed to look like. It's a fairly easy fix, but if possible I'd suggest inspecting it beforehand.
Another common issue is a step existing in the twin M4 feed ramp cuts where the lower receiver meets the barrel extension. Again, inspect your issue rifle to familiarize yourself with how it should appear.
Actually, you are better off to stay away from all AR15/M16 varieties.
They are ridiculous excuses for battle rifles and have nothing to recommend them except a huge after-market.
Come on. . .
AR-15 type guns didn't become one of the most popular rifles in North America and the world because they totally suck!
Sure, they're not perfect, and I wouldn't claim that there aren't better "battle rifles" out there, but the overwhelming majority of civilian owners of these aren't EVER going to get into a real gunfight with one.
Real world advantages of AR-15s include light weight and portability, high modularity (including easy caliber conversion), and good intrinsic accuracy.
Obviously, the mind-boggling variety of aftermarket parts and accessories doesn't hurt either, nor does the ready availability of expertise in building, maintaining, and trouble-shooting these.
I also had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by Gene Stoner. He was trying to convince the Army to buy his AR180. He stated unequivocally that the AR15 was an early, imperfect effort, and that he had scrapped nearly every aspect of it when he developed the AR180.
He gave these advantages for the AR180 over the AR15/M16:
1. Bolt Carrier: AR180 bolt carrier does not touch the sides of the receiver, thus is far more tolerant of dirt.
2. Piston system: AR180 piston system does not vent powder gases into the receiver, thus is far more tolerant of dirt and can fired many more times without cleaning.
3. Recoil spring and buffer: AR180 recoil springs are in the receiver, thus the rifle can be equipped with a strong folding stock. Stoner pointed out that the AR180 could be used in bayonet combat without risk of damaging the recoil spring/buffer.
4. Automatic fire: Because the AR180 does not have a buffer per se, it can fire at a higher cyclic rate without damaging the weapon.
5. Ease of Disassembly/cleaning: The AR180 does not have takedown pins. While it does have an assembly pin at the front of the lower receiver, no other pins need be removed to field strip the weapon. The only cleaning equipment required are cleaning rod, bore and chamber brush, normal mil-spec rifle oil, and a clean cloth.
6. Economy: The AR 180 costs about 1/3 as much to manufacture as the AR15/M16.
7. Ammunition: Because of its pushrod system, the AR180 can easily handle Improved Military Rifle powder. IMR powders will quickly foul the AR15/M16.
8. Optical sights: The AR180 includes an integral, quick-release scope mount that can be removed and reinstalled in seconds without loss of zero.
9. Accuracy: The M16 is inherently more accurate than the pushrod AR180 because the gas impingement system does not impose a levering force on the barrel. However, for a 5.56mm battle rifle that is intended for use at ranges up to 500 meters, the AR180 is virtually the equivalent of the M16.
The Army finally ruled against the AR180 for the simple reason that it had already purchased 1.25 million of the M16 and would be embarrassed to adopt another rifle so soon after. In the years since then, several hundreds of US soldiers have died because their AR15/M16 rifles failed them, and literally millions of man-hours have been wasted cleaning and maintaining the weapon.
I could not agree with you more and I was also at APG but I didn't get there until April of 70. Of course I was there to play with much bigger stuff. I wish I would have known all the stuff that was going on be hind my back when I was there, as it must of been pretty neat to see all of that testing which was going on that nobody new about.