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**Bang** · April 8th, 2020, 11:53 AM

Going with a name brand is still a crap shoot. After the purchase the 'net commandos vilify it, or the company folds.

**Emptymag** · April 8th, 2020, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Bang

I read years ago that DPMS was a major supplier to our military for a time. Since "military spec" seems to be the sacred cow of standards, seems odd that DPMS got a bad rep. Actually, on second thought, it isn't odd at all. That's just the way people are.

Of course we all know that "Mil Spec" has very little meaning in terms of "quality" - it just means that the parts meet the measurements and basic standards in order to be interchangeable. (or something pretty close to that)

**Bang** · April 8th, 2020, 12:06 PM

Gee, I would think that important things such as grade of materials, hardnesses, torture testing et cetera would be part of the purchase order submitted by the DOD

**Emptymag** · April 8th, 2020, 12:56 PM

OK. Whatever. This isn't a pissing contest I'm interested in.
As always, buy what your little heart tells you to buy.

**Bang** · April 8th, 2020, 02:06 PM

I (and no doubt others) didn't have the luxury of choosing whatever brand's advertising "rang true" post election day 2008. I grabbed the last lower on the table of the (old) Valley Forge gun show for $100 if memory serves, and spent the next three months getting the rest of it and the products needed to reload for it. The lower happened to be a DPMS. I still have it. I still shoot it. Sorry if it came to a pissing contest. Thought I was contributing worthwhile observations.

ETA- also have a Spike's Tactical I paid $1250 for used. Hope that is as "good" as it shoots.

**alpacaheat** · April 8th, 2020, 02:16 PM

I was looking at Spike's uppers earlier this morning.

This thread isn't offering many deals these days, due to no stock, but it's been educational for me as I'm trying to complete my first AR, completely "from scratch".

Thanks for all of the help. I am not yet up on which vendors and manufacturers are reliable, so it's really helpful and I probably avoided a few bad decisions already. For instance, that CDNN deal was really tempting and looked good on paper, not knowing their reputation some of you informed me about. I've bought a pistol from them before, but a "custom" AR component is a different animal.

It seems to me that my best course of action is just to wait on PSA to get back in stock, that was my original plan anyways. My goal is to build a budget-friendly, reliable range gun. That's all I'm after for this first one.

**Emptymag** · April 8th, 2020, 02:57 PM

I think everyone is mostly on the same side of the pissing contest here.

**sota** · April 8th, 2020, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by alpacaheat

Interesting...

"These Barrels Are Part Of A Production Run For The US Military That Were Not Delivered."

https://davidsondefense.com/Davidson...ed_p_7412.html

so, they're inferior quality?

**HKusp 45** · April 8th, 2020, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by alpacaheat

Interesting...

"These Barrels Are Part Of A Production Run For The US Military That Were Not Delivered."

https://davidsondefense.com/Davidson...ed_p_7412.html

I call Bullshit on that but then again there's no way to prove otherwise.

**HKusp 45** · April 8th, 2020, 04:56 PM

Originally Posted by Emptymag

Yeah, nothing "wrong" with DPMS unless you're an arfcom poster.

And yes, "AR Stoner" is the Midway "house brand". I'm sure someone on arfcom knows who makes that stuff, but it's likely all sourced by different places.
I always question "house brands", but some are just fine, I'm sure. (but given a choice, I'll go with a name brand)

At the end of the day a lot of the barrels that are of the AR stoner quality are made with the same material and the same process. Nothing wrong wth a lot of them if they hit what they are supposed to (operator dependent as well) I have no beef with them. There's plenty of "high end" barrels that are more hype than they are worth and there's those that are not.