AR brand differences

[Mrhavasu]

Just curious about the price differences between some of the name brand AR 15 guns. For example, pre craziness, Turners was selling the colt 6920 for about 1,200, the Smith & Wesson for about 700, the Sig Sauer for about 1,000, and the Bushmaster for about 1,000. All appear to be very close in configuration except maybe the smith & Wesson. Not trying to start a brand war, but I would have thought the Sig would have been the most expensive as I have always felt they are a higher end item. Is there any real differences other than brand name? Thanks in advance.

Ps Kudos to Turners for not price gouging!!!!!

[mif_slim]

how they make it. quality control, etc makes them worth the price their asking for.

Company A has a 10 step QC to make sure everything is in spec vs company B with a 1 step QC or none. The cheaper the gun the less QC and care the company puts into making the rifle. Im sure a lot of cheap no namers puts the gun together as soon as it comes out of the machine.

[deephouse]

Just curious about the price differences between some of the name brand AR 15 guns. For example, pre craziness, Turners was selling the colt 6920 for about 1,200, the Smith & Wesson for about 700, the Sig Sauer for about 1,000, and the Bushmaster for about 1,000. All appear to be very close in configuration except maybe the smith & Wesson. Not trying to start a brand war, but I would have thought the Sig would have been the most expensive as I have always felt they are a higher end item. Is there any real differences other than brand name? Thanks in advance.

Ps Kudos to Turners for not price gouging!!!!!

2nd on the quality control.

[Mrhavasu]

Thanks, I understand that about the smaller names, but the ones mentioned are big brand names, supposed to be the better stuff. For example, why a 200 price difference between a Sig and a Colt? Same setup. Also, Smith & Wesson,, I thought was still really good? QC not there anymore?

[OverUnderClays]

In general, ARs are all built the same way, its about the fit and finish of the assembly process (Quality Control). Difference between Sig and Colt, IMHO, you're paying for the Colt name. Smith and Wesson produce fine rifles as well, and they offer a lifetime warranty on their firearms. That's says something about a company that stands behind their product.

[postal]

I think the big thing to consider is warranty, and companies that stand by thier warranty.

Beyond that, be sure you're comparing apples to apples, since some high lines are piston....

Beyond that, I look at some of these gun owner men, like women with their purse....

There are perfectly fine no name brand purses that are a bargain, and you have the 'coach' purse...

Women buy the coach purse to impress other women and look down on them that dont have one...
Men buy that coach rifle to impress other men and look down on them that dont have one.

Meh...

[LMTluvr]

I think the big thing to consider is warranty, and companies that stand by thier warranty.

Beyond that, be sure you're comparing apples to apples, since some high lines are piston....

Beyond that, I look at some of these gun owner men, like women with their purse....

There are perfectly fine no name brand purses that are a bargain, and you have the 'coach' purse...

Women buy the coach purse to impress other women and look down on them that dont have one...
Men buy that coach rifle to impress other men and look down on them that dont have one.

Meh...

Couldn't agree more!

My favorite EBR is a stag model 1 I bought when I first got back home from big army many years ago. It's accurate, reliable and tough as nails. I paid just over a 1000$
My lmt defender, it was expensive but I like the little things LMT does to stand out. But it still shoots the same and is on par with the less expensive stags.
However my personal experience with the Colt LE 6920 has been less than favorable.theur qc is supposed to be great. I can only surmise the qc who inspected my weapon was hung over. Is what it is I suppose. Don't get caught up in the mall ninja " it must be better because its expensive" thinking.

[00foreman]

http://gunfacts.webs.com/M4Chart1.gif

[sholling]

Other than gas piston vs direct impingement it's not so much about features as quality - as in as close to 100% combat reliability as humanly possible. What separates top tier brands like Colt, Noveske, Daniel Defense, and Bravo Company (BCM) from the mid-tier and cheap brands is top-tier manufacturers use military grade or better materials and do military grade quality control of 100% of critical components instead of the batch QC used in lower tier rifles. In other words 100% of their barrels, bolts, and bolt carriers receive military grade treatments and are fully inspected and where appropriate (barrel and bolt) 100% are tested for defects in the materials rather than (tossing out a random number) 1-2 barrels or bolts from each batch of a hundred or more, perhaps less with cheaper brands.

The comparison chart is gone but this page explains what to look for. Edit: This goes with the chart that 00foreman linked.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA&single=true&gid=5&output=html

Here's how I as a non-professional look at it:

3rd Tier: Good enough to take to the range and have lots of fun with.
2nd Tier: Plenty good enough for the average patrol car where it will see little more than normal use and to defend the home.
1st Tier: Built for the professional door kicker and/or combat soldier that can't afford a failure under fire.

[jbatzmaru]

Here's how I as a non-professional look at it:

3rd Tier: Good enough to take to the range and have lots of fun with.
2nd Tier: Plenty good enough for the average patrol car where it will see little more than normal use and to defend the home.
1st Tier: Built for the professional door kicker and/or combat soldier that can't afford a failure under fire.

[/QUOTE]

can you give some example of tier 2 and tier 3? Tier 1 is easy to identify.

[sholling]

can you give some example of tier 2 and tier 3? Tier 1 is easy to identify.

I'm my non-professional opinion (for what little it's worth) a couple of good examples of what I see as 2nd tier are Stag, Bushmaster, and S&W's bargain priced "Sport" line. Good stuff that I'd feel all warm and fuzzy comfortable defending my home with but not my first choice for the zombie apocalypse. I see 3rd tier as DMPS, Olympic, Del-Ton and a few others that are perfectly fine for the range and pest control but not my first choice if the crypts or bloods were ticked off at me.

http://gunfacts.webs.com/M4Chart1.gif

FWIW I went with a BCM mid-length upper for my "zombie apocalypse" build and will do the same for my next if I ever get around to it.

[JDay]

Not just quality control but the materials used. A lot of the cheaper AR-15 type rifles are not built to milspec and use lower quality metals. I.E. 6061 aluminum vs. 7075-T6.

[Mrhavasu]

Good info, thanks. Anyone know what tier Sig Sauer would be?

[stix213]

The M&P Sport model is a purpose built rifle to hit a low price point while still avoiding quality issues.

[TacticalChihuahua]

Stick to high quality milspec brands. What is the point in buying an $800-1000 bushmaster when you could (during normal market prices) buy a BCM for 1000???? Makes no sense to me. If u can't afford the 200 or less difference I would say you should cool off and save up for a month or two till you do. We aren't talking about a thousand dollar price difference here. More like a couple hundred dollars or less