At least they're trying

[Balog]

A while back gunblogger Andrew Vuurwapen reviewed Battle Rifle Company's AR's. That review was titled "Pretty Much The Worst AR-15's I've Ever Seen." http://vuurwapenblog.com/2013/05/04/pretty-much-the-worst-ar-15s-ive-ever-seen/

Much to their credit, BRC took his criticisms to heart and made a number of changes. Here's his review of the new and improved rifles.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/10/07/battle-rifle-company/


Some highlights...

[Brad Johnson]

Good to see they are (hopefully) using the failures as a tool for improving the product rather than launching into a self-righteous tirade of "he just doesn't like us!" I'm willing to cut folks like that a little slack. Time will tell if they can make it stick.

Brad

[Hawkmoon]

Good to see they are (hopefully) using the failures as a tool for improving the product rather than launching into a self-righteous tirade of "he just doesn't like us!" I'm willing to cut folks like that a little slack. Time will tell if they can make it stick.

Considering how long ARs have been made by just about every company in the known universe, you really have to ask how they could possibly screw it up that badly, and why anyone would give them a second chance.

[mtnbkr]

Considering how long ARs have been made by just about every company in the known universe, you really have to ask how they could possibly screw it up that badly, and why anyone would give them a second chance.

This.  The one and only AR I've owned was assembled by yours truly.  I didn't buy top shelf parts, but also didn't buy trash.  Gun ran perfectly the entire time I owned it, roughly 1500 rounds, before I sold it at the height of the first Obama scare in 2009.  I barely cleaned it, mainly just lubing the moving parts every few hundred rounds.

If a complete n00b can assemble one, why can't these bozos?

Chris

[Boomhauer]

Considering how long ARs have been made by just about every company in the known universe, you really have to ask how they could possibly screw it up that badly, and why anyone would give them a second chance.

When you buy crap parts and assemble them according to the drunken monkey assembly guide (see Century), well, this is what happens

Parts is not parts, despite the gunboard claims...

For cheap ARs done right, see Palmetto State Armory and Smith and Wesson.

For examples of cheap ARs done very wrong, Vulcan/Hesse, this company, Olympic, etc.

[brimic]

All of the internal components are buffed, filed, polished or smoothed to make them fit perfectly.

Bubba makes AR-15s now

[brimic]

Good to see they are (hopefully) using the failures as a tool for improving the product rather than launching into a self-righteous tirade of "he just doesn't like us!" I'm willing to cut folks like that a little slack. Time will tell if they can make it stick.

Brad

Anyone with a modicum of mechanical skills can order up a box full of quality parts and assemble a decent rifle. It takes a special kind of halfwit to not only screw it up, but market and sell them.

[AJ Dual]

Anyone with a modicum of mechanical skills can order up a box full of quality parts and assemble a decent rifle. It takes a special kind of halfwit to not only screw it up, but market and sell them.

My gut feeling is that it's a matter of getting into the market at exactly the wrong time, and there's no way for them to have a sustainable margin with quality parts.

[KD5NRH]

Good to see they are (hopefully) using the failures as a tool for improving the product rather than launching into a self-righteous tirade of "he just doesn't like us!" I'm willing to cut folks like that a little slack. Time will tell if they can make it stick.

Meh.  It's not like he brought out some special equipment and unobtanium ammo.  They could have just gone out and fired 10k rounds themselves to find these problems, and fixed them quietly even before going to production.

[Brad Johnson]

Yes, they could have. But they willingly accepted an open and very public testing session instead. That speaks to their general mindset, something which I appreciate more than the success or failure of the product in this case.

Does the product need significant improvement for it to ultimately succeed? Absolutely. Improvements come from recognizing and correcting shortcomings. Their openness to change makes that a much greater probability. That's the kind of company mindset that can ultimately result in a superior product, not just a "competitive" one.

Brad

[AJ Dual]

Yes, they could have. But they willingly accepted an open and very public testing session instead. That speaks to their general mindset, something which I appreciate more than the success or failure of the product in this case.

Does the product need significant improvement for it to ultimately succeed? Absolutely. Improvements come from recognizing and correcting shortcomings. Their openness to change makes that a much greater probability. That's the kind of company mindset that can ultimately result in a superior product, not just a "competitive" one.

Brad

I agree. I think they're falling victim to the wishful thinking/"it's good enough" mindset, and I do agree that some simple common sense QC/QA processes and production standards would have prevented this in the first place.

The good news is that they're willing to combat it. The problem is that in the AR glut market, they may not survive as a company if they keep on improving in drips and drabs like this.

[Brad Johnson]

The good news is that they're willing to combat it. The problem is that in the AR glut market, they may not survive as a company if they keep on improving in drips and drabs like this.

Agreed. They would do themselves a favor to implement a wholesale back-to-the-drawing-board revision. If they're perceptive they could also use it as the foundation of a PR effort.

Brad

[brimic]

On a related note, Chris told me about a Marine sniper who had a problem with his issued rifle. None of the Marine armorers could fix it, so he was given permission by his commanding officer to buy a commercial rifle. The Marine bought a BR4 and was allowed to deploy with it. Chris told me that the sniper made “twenty or thirty kills” with the rifle. - See more at: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2014/10/07/battle-rifle-company/#sthash.wets6g2L.dpuf

when you come out of the gate spewing bullshit along with using garbage parts and doing stupid stunts like a carbine handguard with a midlength gas system because "looks cool," don't be surprised when people don't think too serious of you.

. In a post on M4Carbine.net, the owner of Battle Rifle Company gave alternating explanations for their use of the wrong rail, from “people saying it looked cool” to unnamed federal agents wanting to use it because it “looked intimidating.” - See more at: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/05/07/battle-rifle-company-ar-platform-rifles/#sthash.7t89RtBK.dpuf

[AJ Dual]

when you come out of the gate spewing bullshit along with using garbage parts and doing stupid stunts like a carbine handguard with a midlength gas system because "looks cool," don't be surprised when people don't think too serious of you.
 

That kind of a lack of self-awareness to see how transparent your own bullshit is probably reflects on the culture that produced such flawed rifles in the first place.

[Boomhauer]

They ought to change their name to Bubba's AR Emporium and offer AR/ Taurus Judge packages..."We can only sell to you if your family tree is a broomstick"

[Scout26]

Making a seriously flawed product (still) in a highly over-saturated market.   Helloooooo, Mr. Dodo-bird !!!!

[MechAg94]

I was thinking that Wideners still has Anderson AR rifle kits for sale.  That was another company that had QAQC problems that affected their brand at least from what I heard.

Of course, Wideners also has LRB M14's.  if I only has a couple grand to spare.

[Hawkmoon]

For examples of cheap ARs done very wrong, Vulcan/Hesse, this company, Olympic, etc.

I've owned an Olympic Arms AR-15 since 2000 or 2001. Hasn't missed a beat. IMHO there's nothing wrong with Olympic ARs.

[AJ Dual]

I've owned an Olympic Arms AR-15 since 2000 or 2001. Hasn't missed a beat. IMHO there's nothing wrong with Olympic ARs.

Taken as a whole since SGW started Olympic their history is damn spotty. Especially their cast lowers and some really whacked stuff they built in the 80's when the got into the AR, and other out of spec stuff.

They did pioneer factory A3 flattops and free-float when that used to be a rather custom option.  I'll give them that.

That said,  as an AR parts ecosystem developed with lots of competent subcontractor parts mfg's and forgings,  Olympic improved greatly.

They'll never be a LaRue or Noveske, but these days Olympic is a solid middle of the road,  or perhaps decent end of the value end/bottom of the AR market and worth what you pay for them.