- Location
- B.C. (southern interior)
Wife is looking for an AR she kinda likes the shorter cqb rifles with 10.5" barrels. She was looking at the nea 15 anyone have one? Looking for thoughts and/or experience on reliability and quality.
Thoughts on NEA 15 rifles?
- Thread starter Max Renegade
- Start date
Well this thread will get interesting in a hurry. 
There are folks out there with NEA rifles and running them just fine. Then there are a few out there that have fallen under that black cloud that seems to hover over NEA with their earlier lack of QA checks etc. NEA has seen their fair share of growing pains and they sure heard an earful when they were site sponsors. They are great at replacing broken or faulty parts under warranty pretty quickly.
There are folks out there with NEA rifles and running them just fine. Then there are a few out there that have fallen under that black cloud that seems to hover over NEA with their earlier lack of QA checks etc. NEA has seen their fair share of growing pains and they sure heard an earful when they were site sponsors. They are great at replacing broken or faulty parts under warranty pretty quickly.
- Location
- B.C. (southern interior)
Well this thread will get interesting in a hurry.
There are folks out there with NEA rifles and running them just fine. Then there are a few out there that have fallen under that black cloud that seems to hover over NEA with their earlier lack of QA checks etc. NEA has seen their fair share of growing pains and they sure heard an earful when they were site sponsors. They are great at replacing broken or faulty parts under warranty pretty quickly.
We will see how it goes i suppose, i tried multiple searches but all i seemed to come up with would be a slight mention of a receiver, upper or lower that was used in a build buried in page 8 of a 16 page thread..
Last time i let her impulse buy without any research i ended up stuck with a mossberg 715t piece of junk... Never again quick Google and i found out that Nea has a lifetime warranty policy, that's a bonus.
Oh boy, I'm probably going to get it from the NEA shooters but personally, if I was on a tight budget, I'd rather spend my money on a CORE15 for $1100. or for a $200 more, a Sig Sauer M400 or Ruger SR556E for $1300. If you aren't restrained by a budget, well, there are a number of amazing tier 1 AR rifles to be had. Again, that's just my opinion.
Truth hurts, there are many options at the same price or a little more that are a much better quality rifle.
OP, I've never used one or even seen one used but you certainly will have an interesting read of the stories that will be told. One thing I could say though in NEA's favour is if you're Mil/used to be, or same thing for the wife then you could take advantage of their IOP program that they recently started from what I've heard. $990 (shipping included) I believe it is for a 10.5 or 14.5. But if you could stretch the budget I'd go with a MK18 from Daniel Defense, haven't really heard of any issues with those.
NEA!
Lets see or shall I say, step back a few years.
1970's and onward to be exact.
What was on the market, Colt AR -15 , then onto A1, A2's and so on.
Quality OK, but I would say not great.
Quality for Colt started in A2 configuration and then went for a big dump during that time.
Believe me, they turned out some #### back then too.
Back then a few aftermarket players started emerging.
The small players back then that started the beginings of the AR aftermarket world that it is now.
Quality for them was good and bad, eh, lets move on.
Lets just say it was better to pick up U.S. GI parts at gun shows.
Bushmaster came on the scene at Camp Perry in the early nineties at the High Power Championships, then DPMS.
When DPMS first hit the market, lets just say, they had more growing pains than NEA.
Even FN had it's hands into Camp Perry.
Camp Perry was the place to be back then and where they all attended.
I even talked with the Engineers from Colt and Bushmaster at the time in development stage at Camp Perry.
You could sit down with Ballisticians from Sierra and so on.
They where all there.
I could go on for hours.
We used to build our own flat tops before they where even thought of.
Chopped off carry handles, machined bases and attached them to make our own.
Yah, I do go back that far.
Lets see early days with Blake Stevens, Black Rifle Story.
Hell he used to attend the Ancaster Gun Show.
I have built mine from a variety of manufacturers over the years.
I have read so much crap on here from guys that don't know #### from shine over the years.
Oh and yes, I do go back to the emergence of Diemaco on the scene.
Believe me, they had growing pains that where covered off by Colt back in the Vietnam M16 years.
I also reach back to full auto and Converted Auto ownership status.
I have owned them all at one time or another.
Hell AR's where first unrestricted, then restricted, back to unrestricted then restricted once again.
I eventually had to get a Business Licence to keep on going with the AR market thanks to
Kim Campbell.
After about 15 years of Licence I got tired and moved on.
I'm kind of a Bullpup man now but I do still build and shoot AR's.
My first Bullpups where the French FAMAS and Steyr AUG.
Back to the story.
Lets just say the moral of my story, NEA have and are paying their just dues.
The basis of my current builds, NEA and S&J Hardware.
They have come a long way and are Canadian to boot.
OP, you can't go wrong with NEA as some would make you believe
Oh and I'm far to busy to get into a #### fest here with some wise @ss who wants to discredit me.
If you walked in my shoes from the beginning, then you would know what I'm talking about.
BTW, how many of you have met and talked to Carlos Hathcock, I have.
Lets see or shall I say, step back a few years.
1970's and onward to be exact.
What was on the market, Colt AR -15 , then onto A1, A2's and so on.
Quality OK, but I would say not great.
Quality for Colt started in A2 configuration and then went for a big dump during that time.
Believe me, they turned out some #### back then too.
Back then a few aftermarket players started emerging.
The small players back then that started the beginings of the AR aftermarket world that it is now.
Quality for them was good and bad, eh, lets move on.
Lets just say it was better to pick up U.S. GI parts at gun shows.
Bushmaster came on the scene at Camp Perry in the early nineties at the High Power Championships, then DPMS.
When DPMS first hit the market, lets just say, they had more growing pains than NEA.
Even FN had it's hands into Camp Perry.
Camp Perry was the place to be back then and where they all attended.
I even talked with the Engineers from Colt and Bushmaster at the time in development stage at Camp Perry.
You could sit down with Ballisticians from Sierra and so on.
They where all there.
I could go on for hours.
We used to build our own flat tops before they where even thought of.
Chopped off carry handles, machined bases and attached them to make our own.
Yah, I do go back that far.
Lets see early days with Blake Stevens, Black Rifle Story.
Hell he used to attend the Ancaster Gun Show.
I have built mine from a variety of manufacturers over the years.
I have read so much crap on here from guys that don't know #### from shine over the years.
Oh and yes, I do go back to the emergence of Diemaco on the scene.
Believe me, they had growing pains that where covered off by Colt back in the Vietnam M16 years.
I also reach back to full auto and Converted Auto ownership status.
I have owned them all at one time or another.
Hell AR's where first unrestricted, then restricted, back to unrestricted then restricted once again.
I eventually had to get a Business Licence to keep on going with the AR market thanks to
Kim Campbell.
After about 15 years of Licence I got tired and moved on.
I'm kind of a Bullpup man now but I do still build and shoot AR's.
My first Bullpups where the French FAMAS and Steyr AUG.
Back to the story.
Lets just say the moral of my story, NEA have and are paying their just dues.
The basis of my current builds, NEA and S&J Hardware.
They have come a long way and are Canadian to boot.
OP, you can't go wrong with NEA as some would make you believe
Oh and I'm far to busy to get into a #### fest here with some wise @ss who wants to discredit me.
If you walked in my shoes from the beginning, then you would know what I'm talking about.
BTW, how many of you have met and talked to Carlos Hathcock, I have.
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I have an 18" gun and love it. Super accurate and runs 100%, even with the cheap norinco ammo which I've found diesnt work in everything I have.
Going to take advantage of NEA's IOP program and also probably play around with a 7.5" gun as well.
Going to take advantage of NEA's IOP program and also probably play around with a 7.5" gun as well.
- Location
- B.C. (southern interior)
Side note she was looking at the ruger rifles but they where a little "long" and not quite "spiky" enough.
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- Location
- B.C. (southern interior)
Thanks for all the feedback it helps, does nea use chrome lined barrels?
Not too sure about their built guns, but I recently (week and a half ago) put together an NEA upper (all NEA parts) for a member here.
I had fitment issues with the gas tube going into the upper, gas tub clearance with the barrel nut and the upper hand guard/floating rail interference fit with the barrel nut. All seemed to be well made parts, just slightly 'out' where it counts.
Can't say if these were newly manufactured or not.
Danimal247
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toronto, ON
I don't agree with some of the design traits of their rifles, and I've heard several first hand complaints about them if that means anything. Not for me
