first build... olympic arms?

2651 Views 23 Replies 0 Participants Last post by John A., Oct 13, 2007

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Discussion Starter · Oct 5, 2007

I picked up a sabre defence stripped lower the other day and now it's time to buy the rest of what I need.

I'm going to build a 16" heavy barrel flat top. Main use will be target shooting at 50-100yds. It's basically a toy that won't get too much use.

I've been doing a lot of reading and I keep ending up back at olympic arms through model1sales despite some bad reviews. My reasons are that I can get the 5.56 nato chamber. A lot of the varmint/target guns from other manufacturers are chambered in .223 remington. I want to be able to shoot surplus ammo. The other reason is because I can get the kit from them and have everything I need when I throw in my lower and I can customize the kit to exactly what I want instead of buying all of the parts individually ($$$) or buying a kit and swapping out some of the parts for what I want.

This is what I'm thinking of getting...
16'' AR15 Varmint Rifle Kit; 5.56 NATO; Stainless steel,1-8, fluted, $50.00 option; Chrome bolt & carrier, $50.00 option; Wook ambi extended latch chg hndl, $6.00 option; 2 piece alum free float with swivel stud, $10.00 option; A2 buttstock; ERGO SG grip, LH, $20.00 option; Black
$671.00

I looked at a couple Olympic rifles in a gun shop and honestly I don't see anything wrong with them. I'm willing to work out some bugs or install some shims if need be. My life isn't going to depend on this thing, it's just for putting holes in paper.

Anyone want to put in their 2 cents regarding Olympic or where to get a different entry level kit or upper that I can shoot surplus ammo out of?

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Discussion Starter · #2 · Oct 5, 2007

The distance that you plan on shooting -
50 to 100 yards, I would suggest investing
in an Oly from Buds. He has a real sale going
right now. His pricing is about the same as
your build price. I would think that all ARs are
ARs while shooting at the distances that you
plan on shooting at. Anything further out, my
opinion would change.

Ed

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Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 5, 2007

Sabre lower with an Oly upper just doesn't seem right. Kinda like putting a sport car engine in a Yugo.

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Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 5, 2007

nsnate02 said:
Sabre lower with an Oly upper just doesn't seem right. Kinda like putting a sport car engine in a Yugo.

More like a Yugo motor in a sports car. Oly's are junk and you can probably get what you want off the AR15.com equipment exchange.

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Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 5, 2007

Let me ask this then...

If I were to buy a .223 wylde chambered gun from RRA is it OK to shoot surplus 5.56 ammo through it?

Its supposed to be a compromise between the .223 remington and the 5.56 military caliber and designed to shoot both rounds safely. Is that true?

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Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 5, 2007

YES! Wylde will let you shoot bolth.

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Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 6, 2007

what makes oly junk i here people saying that but not say why i have seen many people having problems with their ar and most were not olys and how many people have problems with them and not you people that had a buddy have a problem but your self personly in your hand have a problem

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Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 6, 2007

The CHART

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Discussion Starter · #9 · Oct 6, 2007

The Chart!

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Discussion Starter · #10 · Oct 6, 2007

marvin74 said:
what makes oly junk i here people saying that but not say why i have seen many people having problems with their ar and most were not olys and how many people have problems with them and not you people that had a buddy have a problem but your self personly in your hand have a problem

Periods and commas are our friends.

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Discussion Starter · #11 · Oct 6, 2007

Sorry, I did not know we had an English teacher looking over our typing

. I like the chart, But my oly has double shield handguard, m4 feed ramp and staked gas key unless it was swaped out at one time . Who knows.

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Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 6, 2007

darkvibe said:
Let me ask this then...

If I were to buy a .223 wylde chambered gun from RRA is it OK to shoot surplus 5.56 ammo through it?

Its supposed to be a compromise between the .223 remington and the 5.56 military caliber and designed to shoot both rounds safely. Is that true?

Yes, or you can just get any 5.56 and it will shoot .223 as well. If it is in .223, however, you can't shoot 5.56 safely.

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Discussion Starter · #13 · Oct 6, 2007

2

marvin74 said:
Sorry, I did not know we had an English teacher looking over our typing. I like the chart, But my oly has double shield handguard, m4 feed ramp and staked gas key unless it was swapped out at one time . Who knows.

WOOOO!!! A chart everyone PANIC!!!

Here is a chart that is just as good:

I have owned 3 Oly AR-15s. One was the "plinker" and while not the most accurate it lived up to it's purpose. The other two were PCR models (The same as the now K4 models.). They were spot on and trouble free. I sold them because they were pre-ban and I live in NH. I sold them to folks in MA.

I now have a MAX Hard upper/lower combo that I am building a CMP gun with using a SS Krieger barrel and RRA internals.

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Discussion Starter · #14 · Oct 6, 2007

I_Route said:
WOOOO!!! A chart everyone PANIC!!!

Hey the OP asked which was better.....So I posted the chart will the vitals of various ARs.
If you were happy with a cheap plinker fine with me.

But if

oh well

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Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 6, 2007

The chart seems to support the "you get what you pay for" mentality. At least for the most part.

RRA and Olympic, my two main interests, are pretty equal in what was compared there. It makes me wonder why RRA is so highly recommended and Oly is slammed most of the time.

I notice that the people who have actually owned olympic seem to have no problems with them. One poster above here that has owned three and my coworker who currently has two of them. The people saying to stay away have not said they've actually owned or even shot one. It makes me wonder if it's first hand experience or just

I also wonder how much difference there can really be on the internal parts. I don't know for sure but I would think that most manufacturer's order the internals from somewhere rather than manufacture them and different brands may even order them from the same manufacturer.

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Discussion Starter · #16 · Oct 6, 2007

darkvibe said:
The chart seems to support the "you get what you pay for" mentality. At least for the most part.

RRA and Olympic, my two main interests, are pretty equal in what was compared there. It makes me wonder why RRA is so highly recommended and Oly is slammed most of the time.

Yep, you do get what you pay for.

Oly has a bad rep from the past and once that happens it is hard to get rid of.

RRA gets recommended because it is a good product at a good price. Not to mention advertizing.

And yes there is a big difference on internal parts.....I've built with lower part kits from Bushmaster, CMT/Stag, RRA, and DPMS. Once again you get what you pay for.

Buy nice or buy twice/thrice

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Discussion Starter · #17 · Oct 6, 2007

I am just glad to see a decline in pirates what about a zombie chart. thats all i wanted to know is what kind of hands on problem people had. The ones who owned them not a friend or this guy down the road told me. But like i said the chart is missing things my oly has.And RRA and OLY does look equal. BUt how accurate is that chart?

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Discussion Starter · #18 · Oct 6, 2007

Buying/Building an AR is tough. Spending $1k when you don't know squat about them is hard enough but then complicate it with vastly different opinions and it makes my head hurt

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Discussion Starter · #19 · Oct 6, 2007

marvin74 said:
But like i said the chart is missing things my oly has.

Did you buy your Oly new or used ?

link to m4carbine.net where the chart came from.

http://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=6642&highlight=chart

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Discussion Starter · #20 · Oct 6, 2007

Used from the original owner from what he said but then again he could have got it used. Him self but i am happy with it. just as good as the dpms i got new.

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