Preban?

OP, get whatever your pocketbook can afford.

Colts are always desirable, particularly preban, but the differences really aren't all that profound.

Just get something. Then use it in accordance with the law, and if someone tries to come and take it, well... find a different law to follow.
 
Between the two, Colt. Olympic and some of their "SGW" or "Stopsign" lowers of the 80s and 90s were made of cast aluminum, some forged, and of varying....uhhh tolerances. Many of the preban ones are the cast with a gloopy black paint finish.

Colt is going to have a better forging, fit and finish. Yes, most Colt lowers of that era have a sear block, so you can only use a half moon bolt carrier or get it machined down by a gunsmith in order to use any normal bolt carrier (pretty easy and not a ton of $$$.) Or a wonky front takedown pin, but this isn't a big deal compared to the crap you may have to deal with on an Olymipic arms lower of that era.

The olympic lowers often only fit really well on the upper they came with from the factory.

Any random upper you put on may range from fitting OK all the way to needed filing, shimming, etc in order to get put on. I've had one where the front hole on the Olympic lower would not at all fit on any upper reciever without majorly egging out the hole and filing the edges of the takedown pin block.
 
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1994mass said:
Is preban a must have nowadays with the new laws coming in? I am searching for my first AR and not too educated on what exactly to buy. Also what is the consensus on Olympic arms pre ban vs Colt.
Thank you for responses in advance.
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If you want to have a collapsible stock and/or flash hider, then get a preban.

If you’re okay with a fixed stock and pinned and welded comp or brake and no bayonet lug, then just get a lower at one of the many shops selling them and out together a new AR.

As for brands of pre-ban, Colt are good quality, but they are not generally “milspec”. Some of them have front pivot pins that are too big so you need adapters and they can’t swap quite as quick from an upper. Some have larger trigger pins which limits your trigger options. And most (all?) have sear blocks that you’ll need to have (or do yourself) ground down if you want to use a normal full mass bolt carrier group. The Colt lowers are still perfectly fine to use, but they have those considerations.

Never handled an Olympic Arms preban, but have heard of some people having issues. Not enough to sway me from them if you see a good deal though. They made some cast lowers, but not until after the ban. Edit: apparently they made some preban cast lowers, but their lines are not quite the same as a mil standard forged lower

I like PWA. Eagle Arms and Bushmaster are also good to go.

Basically, stick with forged lowers and stay away from the cast preban lowers, like Essential Arms. Also, expect to buy a new lower parts kit and swap out all the lower parts from any preban. They may be worn out, but also the lower parts quality wasn’t very good before 1994 in anything but Colt.
 
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PappyM3 said:
If you want to have a collapsible stock and/or flash hider, then get a preban.

If you’re okay with a fixed stock and pinned and welded comp or brake and no bayonet lug, then just get a lower at one of the many shops selling them and out together a new AR.

As for brands of pre-ban, Colt are good quality, but they are not generally “milspec”. Some of them have front pivot pins that are too big so you need adapters and they can’t swap quite as quick from an upper. Some have larger trigger pins which limits your trigger options. And most (all?) have sear blocks that you’ll need to have (or do yourself) ground down if you want to use a normal full mass bolt carrier group. The Colt lowers are still perfectly fine to use, but they have those considerations.

Never handled an Olympic Arms preban, but have heard of some people having issues. Not enough to sway me from them if you see a good deal though. They made some cast lowers, but not until after the ban. Edit: apparently they made some preban cast lowers, but they’re relatively easy to spot. They’re gray instead of black and their lines are not quite the same as a mil standard forged lower. Picture in my post below

I like PWA. Eagle Arms and Bushmaster are also good to go.

Basically, stick with forged lowers and stay away from the cast preban lowers, like Essential Arms. Also, expect to buy a new lower parts kit and swap out all the lower parts from any preban. They may be worn out, but also the lower parts quality wasn’t very good before 1994 in anything but Colt.
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FWIW I've personally owned a jet black painted cast Oly lower... you can usually tell just by looking at it in person whether it was cast.
 
puška m70 said:
FWIW I've personally owned a jet black painted cast Oly lower... you can usually tell just by looking at it in person whether it was cast.
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Thanks. Updated my post. Did it have sharper lines in the raise bit between the mag catch and the trigger on the left side?
 
If you understand why colts are wonky and/or have a sear block, you’ll steer clear of them.
 
I have a colt sporter, has the sears block and large pin front, I haven’t had any issues with any uppers, I thinks it’s well made but I am on the fence about having the block filed down. Also the trigger group isn’t mil spec so limited on choices there. It is preban so I can have all the “evil “ features.
 
MAGA99 said:
If you understand why colts are wonky and/or have a sear block, you’ll steer clear of them.
Click to expand...
Not every colt has a sear block.

The biggest problem with a colt is that if you have an intact rifle most people don't want to mess with them because they don't want to destroy the value and this inherently limits what you can do with the gun. Not to mention large hole lower BS, odd trigger pins, etc.

In 2024 colts are basically collector guns.
 
drgrant said:
Not every colt has a sear block.

The biggest problem with a colt is that if you have an intact rifle most people don't want to mess with them because they don't want to destroy the value and this inherently limits what you can do with the gun. Not to mention large hole lower BS, odd trigger pins, etc.

In 2024 colts are basically collector guns.
Click to expand...

Ugh, large hole lowers.

I have a m4a1 authentic and complete upper and no completed lower for it because of that stupid thing.
 
I bought an Olympic Arms that had the castle nut installed backwards from the factory! Called them about it, and the said it was intentional, that they held tight better that way! True story.
 
I used to own a large pin colt. It was a complete pain in the ass with the offset takedown pin.

I shelled out some serious money for a new stripped upper that was large pin in the front. This way I could use it with a non offset pin.

Offset pins create major problems with reliable feeding as they allow for an insane amount of slop between the upper and the lower. And when the mags in the wrong position when the bolt carrier comes through it's jam city.

If you do buy a large pin plan on paying for the compatabile upper. Unless you hate yourself
 
puška m70 said:
The olympic lowers often only fit really well on the upper they came with from the factory.

Any random upper you put on may range from fitting OK all the way to needed filing, shimming, etc in order to get put on. I've had one where the front hole on the Olympic lower would not at all fit on any upper reciever without majorly egging out the hole and filing the edges of the takedown pin block.
Click to expand...
In the 1990s-early 2000s, I knew an avid AR-15 guy in WA who worked for a time as an armorer at OlyArms. The stories he told and the various posts by folks back then convinced me that I would never even accept an Oly gun as a gift!!
 
They both have their issues. Olympic have inconsistent quality. I've had Olympics that shot lights out and ran great. I've had ones that were inaccurate and ran like garbage.

And if I swapped the uppers I ended up with on that ran great but was inaccurate and one that ran terribly but was very accurate. Ha.

Colts have a front screw which is a pain in the ass.

My preference is Bushmaster and PWA. PWA lowers were made by LMT.
 
The question with all prebans is, how good a gunsmith are you? None are universally perfect. Colts have a better chance of being in spec BUT there is the large front pin and the sear block depending on exactly which lower. All the other brands have spec issues varying from "real close" to "please modify every part you install to make it work".

Until recently I have avoided like the plague the pre-ban lower game because of the inherit issues with compliance to specifications. Recently we got a large number of no-name prebans and not surprisingly, they vary lower to lower in terms of how easy it is to install parts and get them working. But I've had customers bring in every other brand for work to be done because of compliance too. Its just part of what you are buying into.
 

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