What brands of AR to avoid?

[strongtactics]

Avoid DPMS, I personally saw one of these (brand new) completely fail.

I have a Spikes and it has been very good to me, feeds any ammo that I use, no issues at all for 3 years now.

 

[Teefman]

High end I have: Noveske, Colt, Daniel Defense, LaRue, LMT
Mid range I have: BCM, Spikes
Low end: Del-ton, DPMS
super low end: SOTA, DSA, Olympic

Just my opinion.

Price wise, right? Because I have a Del-ton and its just as good as a Colt (without the high price).

 

[nSquared]

Friends don't let friends buy Spikes.

 

[Optimus Prime]

High End - Noveske, BCM, Daniel Defense, Headdown Products, Colt, Larue, LMT, AAC, Seekins, Sun Devil, Armalite, LWRC, Adam Arms, Charles Daly, White Oak Armament, CMT, FN, JP Enterprises

Middle - Spike's Tactical, Rock River Arms, Stag Arms, Adcor Defense, 2 Vet Arms, Anderson Manufacturin, Palmetto State Armory, Doublestar, Windham Arms/Weaponry, C3 Defense, S&W (questionable), Core 15, Alexander Arms, Ruger, Aero Precision, Mega Arms, Lancer Systems, CMMG, Sabre Defense, LAR Grizzly, Yankee Hill Machine

Low End- DPMS, Del-Ton, DSA, Elite Arms, SOTA, Olympic Arms, Century Arms, RGuns, Plum Crazy, ATI Omni, New Frontier Armory, Bushmaster from the last few years, RedX Arms, BlackThorne, Black Rain Ordance

Tiering is generally determined by finish and fit, base materials used, markings from milling and forging as well as the processes themselves, and quality control and testing for quality (MPI, HPT, shot peening, etc). Furthermore, some middle tier manufacturers, specifically Yankee Hill Machine, Aero Precision, and Mega Arms make many parts for high end companies and even a few low end, per the purchasing company's specs.

I deliberately choose to leave out "features" such as M4 or rifle feedramps, upper and lower flex, and commercial vs mil-spec stock setup because for most manufacturers, they have options to add these or leave them out.

DISCLAIMER - It should be noted that some manufacturers do not list and or publicly report testing measures and quality control measures and may differ between product lines of individual manufacturers. As such the tiering system should be taken with a grain a salt because some rifles from one manufacturer of a lower tier may indeed be of better quality than a lower end rifle from a manufacturer of a tier above it. However, the general purpose of the tiering system is to show the consistency of quality across a manufacturer's entire line.

Furthermore, most manufacturers get their FORGED uppers, lowers, and lower parts from 5 basic forgers. However, the manufacturer, not the forger, sets the acceptable testing and QC testing of their products, which will cause noticeable differences between similiar parts from the same forger but different manufacturers.

*Updated to include a few others and explanation of tiering - 1/30/13 @ 3:52pm
*Updated to include more manufacturers and disclaimer - 1/30/13 @ 5:31pm
*Updated to include a few others - 1/30/13 @ 7:59pm
*Updated to include a few more and further info - 2/2/13 @ 1:05pm

 

[ARCman47]

Avoid them all

 

[Teefman]

I have a Del-ton with a Stag lower. Very good gun and I have had no problems at all.

Another good brand that should be around your price would be Rock River Arms.

Avoid big brand name manufacturers like Colt, S&W, etc. They are good guns, but you will be paying more just for having their name stamped on them. My Del-ton is just as good as the big brands, just less expensive.

 

[Echo 1]

Sun Devil,BCM,Noveske,LWRC,LMT

Plum crazy,DPMS

 

[Buckhead]

I have a RRA lower with an Sota upper and no problems so far after about a thousand rounds. As far as finish my Colt is much better but functions the same.

 

[timbgtm]

I have high end AR's also.And some lower end ones.Depending on your budget prices are dropping.
I personally would wait a few more weeks for prices to drop.Colt,DD,BCM are great rifles and older Bushmasters.I also have a Sota upper on a stag lower that shoots and holds zero as well as the top line rifles.Keep a look out here for the people making panic purchases and need to pay the credit card bill soon.

 

[Ben2988]

Why would someone wanna buy a 1500 dollar gun that costs a buck every time you pull the trigger?

That's a very good question and my reasons are not very logical but, here ya go.
1. I'm fascinated by all the hype going on
2. I think the styling of the ARs is cool
3. If someone tells me I may not be able to have something, I want it even more
4. I bought some ammo today (for a gun I don't even have) lol

Do you recommend something else? BTW the rounds I bought today were only.47 per round after tax