Fulton makes excellent firearms. Their receivers and their assembled guns are, in my personal opinion, on par with LRB, though at lower prices. Both FA and LRB are quite a step up from Springfield Armory Inc, which despite an excellent warranty, are plagued with issues that should not leave any factory. Again - my opinion.
Someone will likely chime in about how their SAI is perfect and their LRB or FA is broken. I once owned a 1982 chevy malibu that was OK, likely not a Friday afternoon car, but it was no Cadillac. And sometimes the off caddy has an issue or two. I'm talking about the law of averages and overall quality of the finished product.
I will also say, a custom built M14 or M1 using good quality parts and receivers, will outshine ANY of the "factory" offerings from SAI, LRB or FA, as one-off builds are done with care (assuming you use a builder that knows what they are doing), and aren't being whipped to get a high volume of product out the door. Custom work comes at a price though, which isn't for everyone.
For example, I'd much rather have a rifle assembled by Ted Brown using a nice receiver and hand selected and fitted parts than ANYTHING leaving LRB, FA, SEI or SAI's shops these days. There are quite a few M1 or M14 builders I would also consider superior to factory, but I'll keep those views to myself lest it invite a sh!tstorm argument - lol.
Also, FWIW, I build my own M14's (and M1's too) - and it costs me more to do so than just ordering a decent completed one. There is a reason for that, and anyone who has purchased a rifle I decided to sell is free to offer commentary on whether this is a good idea on my part or not. There's a fair few CGN-ers on here that at some point owned one I assembled, no idea if any would be in this thread, but IMHO a few Canadians build excellent M14 rifles, and some are still taking work.
Someone will likely chime in about how their SAI is perfect and their LRB or FA is broken. I once owned a 1982 chevy malibu that was OK, likely not a Friday afternoon car, but it was no Cadillac. And sometimes the off caddy has an issue or two. I'm talking about the law of averages and overall quality of the finished product.
I will also say, a custom built M14 or M1 using good quality parts and receivers, will outshine ANY of the "factory" offerings from SAI, LRB or FA, as one-off builds are done with care (assuming you use a builder that knows what they are doing), and aren't being whipped to get a high volume of product out the door. Custom work comes at a price though, which isn't for everyone.
For example, I'd much rather have a rifle assembled by Ted Brown using a nice receiver and hand selected and fitted parts than ANYTHING leaving LRB, FA, SEI or SAI's shops these days. There are quite a few M1 or M14 builders I would also consider superior to factory, but I'll keep those views to myself lest it invite a sh!tstorm argument - lol.
Also, FWIW, I build my own M14's (and M1's too) - and it costs me more to do so than just ordering a decent completed one. There is a reason for that, and anyone who has purchased a rifle I decided to sell is free to offer commentary on whether this is a good idea on my part or not. There's a fair few CGN-ers on here that at some point owned one I assembled, no idea if any would be in this thread, but IMHO a few Canadians build excellent M14 rifles, and some are still taking work.
