Buy Canadian AR

Okay, I will post again just to say this, which has nothing to do with ARs:

"Arc'teryx was founded in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 1991, where it maintains its Worldwide Head Office, design studios, and main manufacturing facilities."

All my Ax gear says MADE IN CANADA on it. The site where the stuff gets built is just a few miles from my house. They are local. I don't know where you heard that but it is wrong.
 
Speaking strictly to the issue of Norinco AR-15s and to a lesser degree Norinco pistols, M-14S'....the more ARs, 1911s, etc...the better it is for all Canadian shooters - makes it that much harder for any government to decide to ban/prohibit them as there is strength in numbers. If we could still use ARs hunting, they would be selling by the pallet-full down here on the Rock for sealing and coyote hunting. That we can't is proof positive of the stupidity and hypocrisy of the Liberal Party.
 
sillymike said:
I used to be a big fan of Arc'teryx and didn't really mind paying the premium since the goods were porduced in Canada...

Unfortunaly, they have long switched their production to China and jacked up their price to pay for their fancy stores...
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Just curious, can they still keep the same quality now?
I really like their jackets, but can't afford any of them.:(
 
What we have to realize is that the world is very small and we are all in it. If you cant compete with Norinco, you cant compete in the global market. The "Market" does not care about jobs in some town. It has a mind of its own and will support anything that gives it what it wants. This is the reality that we North Americans have to accept and alter our ways to survive. Laws and tariffs are not the answer. Making a product that is viable is the only way. China and India have us beat in numbers and technology. If we are not in the game with viable products, be it guns or tampons and toilet paper they will have us beat on every level. Canadian retailers benefit from inexpensive asian product. Consumers benefit. If a Canadian company came up with an M4 that was close to the Norc in quality and price Id buy Canadian. If not, Id buy the Norc.
 
Paulinski said:
When a Canadian company offers AR-15 Upper (we got lowers covered thanks to Rick :) ) that has the following features.

  • 1 / 7 - Twist Rate
  • 4150 Barrel Steel
  • HPT / MPI Testing
  • 5.56 Chamber
  • M4 Feedramps

Then I'll buy one - don't try to tell me that not all those are needed in an AR. I want those in my uppers.
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Well we are getting close with a few minor changes.
We have secured a good number of Rock Creek stainless steel Matchgrade barrel blanks in 1 in 7 twist that we are turning into 10.5, 11.5, 14.5 and 16" lengths.
They have the M4 feed ramps and can have 223, 223 Wilde or 5.56 chamber.
There are also the assorted contours from standard to M4 to SPR to full heavy barrel.
Most will be threaded for brakes or flash hiders.
We just finished up a run of breaks that are MORE effective than the SEI coastguard type brake.
They are 4140 CM parkerized and come with the jam nut, for $125.00
Barrels we are still working on the pricing and they will not be fully available until late May due to our relocation.:D

ATRSparts.jpg
 
Westicle said:
as farmer harv said.... even when buying a norc your supporting our economy.... canada does not have ANY firearms producers that make a commercial AR15.... yes we have custom shops that produce custom rifles, but honestly, do you think dlask does over 100-150 rifles a year ??

do you think after rick catches up with the initial orders that he will sell more then 200 per year ??

ask yourself the last time you saw a brand new dlask "spec" ar15 sitting on a dealers shelf ??

what we need to start seeing is canadian manufacturing capacity at a point that the USA and Chinese guns are replaced by a canadian manufacturer that will supply dealers with a product in the same price range.

problem is Dlask and ATR are not setup for "dealer" orders... they are smaller custom shops that specialize and people just order direct.
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The problem here is that we do not have the population to support large scale manufacturing.
I spent 1 day at the SHOT show with Glenn Seekins, in that day he took hundreds of orders for his custom lowers, since we started to make lowers have taken just over 50 in 3 months.
It is hard to get production costs down when small numbers are involved.
However Quality is much higher as you will see soon:D:D
 
Has Dlask ####ed something up lately? I've got a great lower from them, bought barrels, and lots of other AR15 parts they make. Never had any problems, and the price was always very good.
 
alberta tactical rifle said:
The problem here is that we do not have the population to support large scale manufacturing.
I spent 1 day at the SHOT show with Glenn Seekins, in that day he took hundreds of orders for his custom lowers, since we started to make lowers have taken just over 50 in 3 months.
It is hard to get production costs down when small numbers are involved.
However Quality is much higher as you will see soon:D:D
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Hi Rick glad to see you on hear and I agree that its hard to get the costs down when there is such a small population to buy a product. And it really does not help when that market is flooded with cheap stuff from China. What you are doing is great and we need to support company's like yours by buying your products and or investing in company's like yours.
I look forward to dealing with you in the future on other projects but I can only do one a year and we just got that one done.:)
 
Hope this doesn't sound like a ramble.

I believe a Canadian maker can do well with a lot of work and a bit of luck/backing. I believe the "niche" they could strive to occupy is say at the level of LMT, Sabre Defence, Noveske, Colt. I believe Alberta Tactical is getting there.

If a Canadian maker feels the need to offer a budget model, do so at the level of Stag for example.

Leave the $1000 product point to Norinco, Remington, et.al.

The above are perceived quality and desirability levels backed up and based on user feedback in Forums, firearms literature, marketing, resale value, etc.

Buyers will choose what they want at the time. You might desire the LMT or Canadian make, but only buy a Norc or used Olympic. The point is, when conditions are right you will be desiring the Canadian make and pick one up. Wether you sell your Norc or other item or keep it will also be different for each person.

In a nutshell, make good products, people will want them, keep the price down so more people can afford it.

Where am I personally in this equation? Well I really want a $2200 LMT or $2000 Sabre Defence. What I bought is a used Daewoo at $650, (no Norcs available when I had that amount). Make people richer and they will buy one or more or your nice items. Squeeze the heck out of them financialy and they are lucky to buy anything. None of this is the manufacturers doing. They should just be aware of it before making too grandiose plans. :canadaFlag:
 
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Part of the thing with Canadain made anything is that our labor costs are much higher as is our overall standard of living compared to countries like China.
Here a good CNC machinist gets $30.00 or more hour, an equally qualified machinist in China or Mexico gets considerably less per hour.
 
Petrock said:
Diemaco could not sell to civilians. All of their production is select fire when it comes to C7 and C8 models.
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Not true.

Diemaco/Colt Canada did make some semi guns.

They make guns for Law Enforcement.

Diemaco (now Colt Canada) had its license controlled by Colt and the Cdn Gov. The original license was for Mil production only, they had it altered to Fed Gov, and then altered again for Law Enforcement (Provincial and Municipal).
All of Colt Canada's items need a DSP-83 before shipping, kinda like buying from the USA.

IF Diemaco and Colt had a brain YEARS ago, they would have lobbied for a commericial license long before the ITAR issue cropped up.
 
I'd love to buy Canadian. The Dlask is out of my price range though and a stripped lower is useless to someone who doesn't know how to put together an AR....
 
Your not going to get a export cert for those.

But you will get them for barrel blanks...

Local CHF barrel - you can profile, chamber and coat in Canada outside of the export issues.
 
If you lack the basic skills to assemble and AR15 lower, you probably can't screw in a light bulb or hammer a nail. It's that simple. It's just putting in pins or the most part.
 
Armedsask said:
If you lack the basic skills to assemble and AR15 lower, you probably can't screw in a light bulb or hammer a nail. It's that simple. It's just putting in pins or the most part.
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+1 the only difficult part is assembling an upper reciever from scratch, that requires some specialized tool but you can order those from the States without any ITAR restrictions, the rest is roll pin punches, a small hammer (or a light touch), and a long multiheaded screw driver.

http://www.ar15builder.com/ has very extensive videos that explain step by step how to assemble an Ar15 from bare parts.
 
KevinB said:
Not true.

Diemaco/Colt Canada did make some semi guns.

They make guns for Law Enforcement.

Diemaco (now Colt Canada) had its license controlled by Colt and the Cdn Gov. The original license was for Mil production only, they had it altered to Fed Gov, and then altered again for Law Enforcement (Provincial and Municipal).
All of Colt Canada's items need a DSP-83 before shipping, kinda like buying from the USA.

IF Diemaco and Colt had a brain YEARS ago, they would have lobbied for a commericial license long before the ITAR issue cropped up.
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Agreed, my Diemaco C8 is semi only.
 
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