Olympic arms Review by Sturmgewehre/ Tier 1 to Tier 3 AR's's

[misanthropist]

1:9 is okay as long as you don't want the ability to shoot the heavier bullets...I don't particularly want to give up the option, but to each his own of course.

But most importantly, most of the 1:9 barrels with .223 chambers out there are amateur hour barrels like M1S. In conjunction with the company's bushmaster pedigree, the obvious conclusion is that they are not using particularly good barrels.

Now that may not be the case, of course. Maybe they are using a quality barrel that just happens to be 1:9 and chambered in .223. And maybe they describe it as ".223/5.56x45" because they want to be able to export it, rather than because their target marked doesn't know its ass from its elbow and they don't want to confuse the morons who want a regular army gun in two-two-three, and wouldn't know a quality barrel if it was collecting rainwater on the side of their barn.

Or, maybe the barrel is a POS. So far, there's nothing in this thread that indicates otherwise...but maybe they use great barrels anyway. I would be interested to see some evidence of that, if there is any.

 

[Satain]

1:9 is okay as long as you don't want the ability to shoot the heavier bullets...I don't particularly want to give up the option, but to each his own of course.

But most importantly, most of the 1:9 barrels with .223 chambers out there are amateur hour barrels like M1S. In conjunction with the company's bushmaster pedigree, the obvious conclusion is that they are not using particularly good barrels.

Now that may not be the case, of course. Maybe they are using a quality barrel that just happens to be 1:9 and chambered in .223. And maybe they describe it as ".223/5.56x45" because they want to be able to export it, rather than because their target marked doesn't know its ass from its elbow and they don't want to confuse the morons who want a regular army gun in two-two-three, and wouldn't know a quality barrel if it was collecting rainwater on the side of their barn.

Or, maybe the barrel is a POS. So far, there's nothing in this thread that indicates otherwise...but maybe they use great barrels anyway. I would be interested to see some evidence of that, if there is any.

Still bashng hey?

Core 15 Rifle Systems is happy to offer a special on our Complete MIL-Spec M4A3 Profile Upper Receiver. This upper is equal to any other M4 upper on the market and we back it with our standard Manufacturers Lifetime Warranty. This Special is only being advertised on ARFCOM although anyone can purchase this upper for this price. This is a limited time offer. Check out this Promotion on our website: http://www.core15rifles.com. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Below are the Specs as well as some pictures of this upper.

Price: $425.00 (Shipping Included)

Specs:
-16" 1-7 Twist 4140 Steel M4 Profile Chromoly Barrel
-Chrome Lined Chamber and Bore
-Barrel Chambered 5.56 NATO
-Manganese Phosphate Finish on Barrel, Including Under Sight Base
-M4 Feed Ramps in Barrel Extension
-M4 Feed Ramps Machined into Upper Receiver
-MIL-Spec M4A3 Flat Top Upper Receiver
-Dry Lubrication Finish in Upper Receiver
-Properly Installed MIL-Spec A2 Flash Hider
-MIL-Spec Type III Hard Coat Anodized Finish
-Laser Engraved T-Markings on Upper Receiver
-Magnetic Particle (MP) and Pressure Tested Bolt
-Chrome Lined M-16 Bolt Carrier with Manganese Phosphate Finish
-MIL-Spec Chrome Plated Firing Pin
-F Marked Front Sight Base
-Square Front Sight Post
-MIL-Spec 303 Stainless Steel Gas Tube
-MIL-Spec Hardware
-Barrel Nut Torqued to Proper Weight
-MIL-Spec Charging Handle
-Properly Secured Sling Swivel
-Manufacturers Lifetime Warranty

Before you bash it you should try it.

The Bolts are Manufactured by Barnes Precision Machine. And assembled into the Toolcraft Bolt Carrier. ~Josh M.

First laugh I've had all day. The sad thing is, I really considered that instead of 1-9 and didn't go for it. We do have 1-8 Stainless barrels that we use in our builds quite often with great results, unfortunately they aren't CL. ~Josh M.

Due to privacy policies I cannot disseminate the Manufacturer of this barrel. I can tell you that they are manufactured specifically for Core 15 Rifle Systems. We regularly use barrels manufactured by Daniel Defense, Black Hole Weaponry as well as Lothar Walther. This should give you a general idea of the quality of components that we use in our manufacturing. Thanks for your understanding. ~Josh M.

 

[misanthropist]

Still bashng hey?

Before you bash it you should try it.

You will (I assume) be capable of recognizing that I am NOT bashing the rifle but explaining why a gun advertised as a 1:9 barrel with an unclear description of the chambering is, and should be, a concern.

If it's a great barrel, awesome. I, like most, am capable of reading the specs off their site. If it turns out that they build good rifles, that's terrific, because one thing the AR market does not need is another mediocre builder.

How many rounds do you have through yours to have an opinion on its performance? Several thousand, I would guess, at a minimum, before you would be able to draw a lot of conclusions about how it runs?

What ammo does it like? How do you find it with steel cased? Have you put a few crates of MFS or something through it in addition to the usual AE or WWB stuff?

Or when you say I should try it before I judge, do you mean I should put a box or two of ammo through it and discover that what, it doesn't explode in my hands? Because the video in the OP shows a guy putting a box or two through an Oly and even that worked fine. I would hope you have the sense not to then come in to a thread and recommend a rifle based on extremely limited use, because this thread started with us all watch a guy do exactly that, and then discuss why that was a mistake.

So how many thousands of rounds does your Core have?

And again, for the really, really slow, I'm not bashing Core guns...I'm skeptical of any gun from a company with ties to Bushmaster people and with "red flag" descriptions of critical parts but I'm entirely open to the possibility that the gun will yet prove itself and I hope that it does. But at this point the rifle is a complete unknown, so I am really curious to hear the credentials of anyone recommending it at this early stage.

 

[Epoxy7]

I was under the impression that the only reason for the 1:7 twist in a military/police carbine was for better stability in extremely cold environments -30 or worse. Having gone shooting in -30 for recreational use I can say I only did it once. As for police or military, well my last posting it would go below -50 and for the military they need the flexibility to shoot in any climate. Otherwise I don't see any advantage to 1:7 twist in a 16" or less barrel. You're not going to be lobbing 77 grain ammo at 600 yards with these types of rifles. Well you might, but that's not what they were designed to excel at.

I have no problems with a 1:9 twist carbine. I prefer a 1:8 twist for precision AR15 rifles with longer barrels so you can use the heavier stuff with 69 grain being the aim.

 

[OldFrankHog]

A Little math goes a long way.

1/7 = 1.07/7.5 = 1.50/10.5 = 1.79/12.5 = 2.07/14.5 = 2.36/16.5 = 2.64/18.5 = 2.93/20.5

1/9 = 0.83/7.5 = 1.17/10.5 = 1.39/12.5 = 1.61/14.5 = 1.83/16.5 = 2.05/18.5 = 2.28/20.5

Oubviously you want to avoid going too low in lenght with 1/9 but it is not useless, it produces more FPS and it as a longer life too.

 

[MWL]

Specs

Not that I could care less, because I don't intend to buy one, or persuade/disuade anyone else, but I have a couple of questions about some of the specs.

1. 4140 barrel steel is not "MIL-Spec", so these particular barrels are not DD, etc., so who makes them?

2. Has anyone checked the "5.56 NATO" chamber with a Ned Christiansen 5.56 Chamber Reamer.

3. Are the "M4 Feed Ramps Machined into Upper Receiver" done prior to, or post anodizing?

4. The Bolt is HPT'd and MPI'd, but not the Barrel?

Again, not bashing, but does anyone have the answers?

Regards.

Mark

 

[jmiddy]

Since the question of the OP thread was in regards to Olympic Arms and as such I happen to have one, although the barrel is a SS WOA with a Vltor upper and other add-ons.

I just happened to attend a weekend Carbine course put on by HST and having fired over 700+rds in two days no cleaning etc, functioned awesome.

Just for you Olympic haters whom don’t even have one

 

[misanthropist]

Well, I don't think you could realistically expect people who hate Olympic - or any other brand - to own one.

I try not to own anything that I don't like, personally.

 

[Striker]

..I'm skeptical of any gun from a company with ties to Bushmaster people

Why all the hate for bushy? I have a good friend that works for them (he relocated when they closed the plant in Windham), had a tour of that plant, watched them build the rifles and from talking to the employee's, they took great pride in their product. Every brand has it's clunkers (my Colt was broke right out of the box) but IMHO Bushy rifles are just as good as any other mass produced ar.
I can't speak for the "new Bushy"s as I have no experience with them.
The original owner of Bushy has started a new business with a lot of the former Bushy employee's in Windham...http://www.windhamweaponry.com/
They are getting their name out pretty quickly considering how new the company is.

 

[jmiddy]

Well, I don't think you could realistically expect people who hate Olympic - or any other brand - to own one.

I try not to own anything that I don't like, personally.

No that is true Haters gotta Hate, but if you have never owned one how can you personally judge, because it's on the internet it must be true!~

You probably had no clue on Pie at the age of 10 does that mean you were never going to try it! Pie i mean, and judging by your girls picks you have posted , you probably like Pie now!!!

 

[misanthropist]

Why all the hate for bushy?

because they build mediocre rifles, traditionally with parts rejected by colt

The original owner of Bushy has started a new business with a lot of the former Bushy employee's in Windham...http://www.windhamweaponry.com/
They are getting their name out pretty quickly considering how new the company is.

not surprising their name is getting out, considering the astroturfing campaign they've been running

I don't need to own an Olympic to know what out-of-spec parts and lousy build quality means, thank god...imagine if you had no way of knowing that a Yugo would not be as reliable as a Honda. It would be like having some kind of dyslexia...very frustrating and expensive because you would have no way of evaluating anything without personally using it extensively.

I mean if you couldn't figure out what guns were likely to choke without running first for five thousand rounds, say, you would never be in a position to select guns for critical tasks unless you'd personally spend thousands of dollars making sure they worked. You couldn't distinguish between a dollar store fire extinguisher and a real one. You couldn't make a good prediction about whether you'd be better off with a TV from the future shop or from a garage sale down the street.

That would really, really suck.

 

[Leibermuster]

Windham makes a decent AR for the average plinker but it is not up to the standard it should be for the price we pay...WOULD I USE IN A BATTLE ????????? SURE if there were no other options available, it is better than a NORC by a long shot.

I bought a Shrubmaster in 2003(Very few choices back then) it has over 5000rds through the barrel(not a lot) I have swapped out all the none Mil-spec parts for the most part in there. Although most parts on the gun were up to spec, it has been 99.9% reliable, and i really never had to change anything on it in the first place.

Windham is offering nothing new and it shows, I won't be buying anything they make, when there are companies like DD,Noveske,POF,HK,KAC,LMT,ATRS,BCM,,STS,COLT,SPIKES etc etc there is just no point in that anymore.


The market has changed, and I'm not in the Walmart crowd, nor do I want to be...Bushmaster does have the coolest symbol though out there though, if anything buy a stripped lower for the symbol.......lol.

 

[Leibermuster]

Also they do batch testing and there standard is fine for most civilians but it should be up to date, there was just little innovation in there.

If I was Windham I would only be selling the rifles with Mil-Spec features, CTR stock and MIAD grip, possibly buy some KAC RAS with the rifle, trituim front sight. 1/7 twist, higher grade steel, CHF barrels or something New as it's entry level AR. Offer something worth while or don't bother...