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Any have or had a 1994 Olympic Arms MFR-CAR AR-15?
- Thread starter Rockrivr1
- Start date
Love the C7 CAR-15 style.
Never had one personally, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use their SGW “stop sign” lowers. They’re all forged.
Olympic Arms did make cast lowers at times, but I’m not sure if any of their pre-94 lowers were cast.
One thing I can say for virtually all non-Colt pre-94 ARs is to replace all the small parts/hardware/springs. A lot of the non-Colt stuff back then was pretty bad for the small parts.
I had a Olympic Arms from that era. I thought it was the biggest piece of shit ever made. I can't remember the exact reasons because I got rid of it quickly.
At that time I had a Colt and a Bushmaster, so those were my comparisons.
At that time I had a Colt and a Bushmaster, so those were my comparisons.
Yes, I've had a few of them. I still have two and gave away a couple to friends. I just cleaned one of mine yesterday, it's four digit serial number.
Never have had any issues with any of them.
Why the inquiry?
Never have had any issues with any of them.
Why the inquiry?
Rockrivr1
NES Member
A friend of mine has one and he's looking to sell it. He asked me if I wanted to buy it but I have absolutely no idea about ARs from back then so I'm asking. From doing a little reading on them I'm hearing tales of junk to great shooters. Figured I'd ask if anyone has any direct experience.
If it's being offered at a reasonable price, I don't think you could go wrong buying it....after all, you are in MA and your choices are much slimmer than most of the rest of the country.
I take the reports of "junk this and junk that" reported on the internet by gun owners with a bucket full of salt. Most are one off issues that are not indicative of any manufacturer's entire product line.
I've seen these "bad taste in their mouth" reports with everything.....ammo, guns, gear, etc. and either I'm extremely lucky or they are just people venting their mostly unfounded dissatisfaction with a product.
One product of past note was Olympic 5.56 ammo that people were parroting the bad issues with it way back when. Well, back then I bought a bunch of it (same Lot numbers that were complained about) and have fired about 8,000 rounds of it over the years in several different guns without a single issue.
If you want the rifle, buy it. You can always sell it. Few people could afford to wear out an AR these days.
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I was gonna say back when i cared about such things i thought oa really was only worth the value of the pre 94 lower it was on
It was. I do remember trying to change out the trigger and I had all kinds of problems getting a new one to work; the holes were all F'd up.
But then again, Glen Zediker cites Olympic Arms as having some of the most consistent parts available.
Reasonable price being a few hundred bucks. Anything exceeding that is pushing it.
Honestly I'd rather have one of those PSA skinflint specials than anything Olympic ever made. PSA even outdid them in that
segment, too, by miles.
The cheapest gun PSA probably sells makes an Oly Plinkster look like a pile of trash that it is.
![[rofl]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/013.gif "ROFL [rofl]")
There is a reason Olympic isn't around anymore, and it's not because of bad luck. It's because a lot of their guns were f***ing junk.
Ya, what ever.Reasonable price being a few hundred bucks. Anything exceeding that is pushing it.
Honestly I'd rather have one of those PSA skinflint specials than anything Olympic ever made. PSA even outdid them in that
segment, too, by miles.
The cheapest gun PSA probably sells makes an Oly Plinkster look like a pile of trash that it is.
There is a reason Olympic isn't around anymore, and it's not because of bad luck. It's because a lot of their guns were f***ing junk.
PSA is also using 30 years newer machinery, cad programs and tooling......but you'd find anything to complain about with them too.
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They did both. Actually, they did three types.
Early on they sold billet machined lowers, and after that did both forged and cast. Supposedly all the SGW stop sign lowers were forged. I’m not sure which of their lowers were cast.
Cast lowers are 100% to be avoided. From any of the manufacturers, like DPMS or Essential Arms.
Most Olympics were trash, but some of those lowers were ok.
Guns like the plinkster should be avoided at all costs.
Ya, what ever.
PSA is also using 30 years newer machinery, cad programs and tooling......but you'd find anything to complain about with them too.
Dude PSA put them out of business. And likely makes a better product for less. The oly plinkster back in the day went for $625. It was a smelly piece of shit. I bet if i bought a PSA $600 rifle its 100 miles better than the turds oly was squeezing out back then. Those were true gutter oil guns.
@Uzi2 I might not piss on PSA if they were on fire but I do think that they did the community a great service by raising the bar on what constitutes an entry-level AR-15. They raise the bar by a mile and they should be commended for that so I'll give credit where credit is due. We're a long way from the days of the plinkster and the shitty hesse/vulcan ARs.
We're a long way from lots of manufacturers. Time marches on and improvements continue to be made.
Never owned a Hesse or Vulcan so I can't comment on them.
One thing I will say is, I'd still buy three PSA or Anderson guns before I'd buy one Colt for the same money. Some people don't see the logic in that and that's ok. People are free to choose and spend their money as they see fit.
All AR prices were high back then, there wasn't that many manufacturers. Please when you comment, add a little true perspective.Most Olympics were trash, but some of those lowers were ok.
Guns like the plinkster should be avoided at all costs.
Dude PSA put them out of business. And likely makes a better product for less. The oly plinkster back in the day went for $625. It was a smelly piece of shit. I bet if i bought a PSA $600 rifle its 100 miles better than the turds oly was squeezing out back then. Those were true gutter oil guns.
And PSA didn't put them out of business. Olympic was in business before the owners of PSA were even born. They decided they had enough.
PSA saw an opening in the market, had the capital to invest and jumped on it.....and rightly so. They've done well, and lot of Americans are grateful for their company. Different times.
Coda
NES Member
I have a 9mm Olympic Arms, and I like it.
It runs on old Sten mags with a piece of welded sq. tube with a slotted hole. You can pick up these old Sten mags for cheap (less than 10 bucks) and weld on the piece of slotted sq. tube.
I have had really good luck with my Olympic Arms, but the experts here of course will tell you what a POS it is. I have only owned and used one for 30 years so WTF do I know.
It runs on old Sten mags with a piece of welded sq. tube with a slotted hole. You can pick up these old Sten mags for cheap (less than 10 bucks) and weld on the piece of slotted sq. tube.
I have had really good luck with my Olympic Arms, but the experts here of course will tell you what a POS it is. I have only owned and used one for 30 years so WTF do I know.
Dennis in MA
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I have a stopsign SGN. Never had an issue. Not that I'd expect any.
