re: $499 AR 15 at Primary Arms right now

Good finds. I’ve been looking at the Radical AR, but also came across this AM15 by Anderson in the same price range ($500). Know they’re a reputable company, but curious if anyone has seen or experienced this one. It comes available every now and then. It’s their non-RF85 version, but at this price, it’s intriguing.

Sportsman’s Warehouse - AM15

Thanks for the links to other good deals guys!

GunBuyer has the Ruger optics-ready version with MLOK rail for $819.

https://www.gunbuyer.com/ruger-ar-5-56nato-16-1-barrel-30-1-08529.html

Found a site with the Anderson at $500.

LINK

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He's saying those rifles are trash and aren't worth $500

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Well, I gathered that much. I'm asking for why?

Are you saying they're dangerous?

Edit to add: let's be objective and practical with this. Times are fricking crazy out there, we are being mandated to stay at home and wear masks whenever we leave the house. There are riots and general lawlessness in several major cities, and just about every politician who can find a microphone has talked about defunding the police. I don't expect to find a mob storming my house, but I'm also a LOT less comfortable than I was 6 months ago. So I've made the reasoned decision to add an AR in 556 to the stable. I have enough handguns, I have shotguns and 30 cal, I wanted something light with high capacity in case of total disaster (and otherwise for fun plinking at the range). I don't care if it's not a sub-MOA gun, I don't care that it's not the coolest brand for the tacticool crowd, I don't care if "operators" don't recommend it for amphibious assaults on offshore platforms.

I want it to feed, cycle and hit a plate at iron-sight distances, and not blow up in my hands. And I'd like it to cost as little as possible.
If you have a better option at this price, or a better price, please point us in that direction.

There’s a plethora of youtube vids and blog reviews demonstrating various issues throughout the years. Maybe they’ve got their act together these days, who knows. I will say that a $499 price tag in the midst of possibly the biggest gun grab in our history (along with the rate they are pumping them out) doesn’t offer much reassurance from a quality control standpoint.

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There’s a plethora of youtube vids and blog reviews demonstrating various issues throughout the years. Maybe they’ve got their act together these days, who knows.

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When I searched, I found 2 videos, both of which were positive. Mrgunsgear and someone else. Pewpewtactical and somewhere else (TTAG I think) were positive in the written reviews.
I've seen references to something a few years back, somebody had a quarrel with the brand and got harrassed by them, apparently, when they gave a bad review.

A lot of the reviews seem to be favorable, and mention negative reviews but almost uniformly, those are defined as "I heard someone said ...".

I'm new to ARs, but not new to guns. I'm very familiar with what you'd call "gun snobs". I have seen people shite on Armscor 1911's because they lack prestige; but they run.
I'm not looking for the Ed Brown version of an AR, I want something cheap and functional.

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I will say that a $499 price tag in the midst of possibly the biggest gun grab in our history (along with the rate they are pumping them out) doesn’t offer much reassurance from a quality control standpoint.

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understood... and considered. I'm buying a complete gun because I haven't built, and not sure what to examine. They offer a lifetime warranty, and I know a couple of gunsmiths.

And I don't consider price to be the end-all in quality, never have. I know people search for brand names, you can charge a premium for a logo and it will sell. And right now, you can double your price and somebody will still buy it. I'm watching that with ammo.

This isn't meant to be a brag on HEY LOOK AT MY NEW AWESOME TOY thread. We can go back to that when things settle down.

It's more about finding something functional, for the best price you can.

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There’s a plethora of youtube vids and blog reviews demonstrating various issues throughout the years. Maybe they’ve got their act together these days, who knows.

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I watched several reviews on Radical Arms AR's in recent days. The ones with issues were from 3+ years ago and the issues all seemed, to me at least, to be related to the reviewers putting the guns through torture-type tests.

One reviewer put 4000+ rounds through one without cleaning or lubricating and gave it a glowing review until it did fail on round 4310.

Here's his review from 4 years ago at 4000+ rounds. He gives it great reviews.

Here's where he has a bolt failure at 4310 rounds. The bolt rings were worn badly and the cam pin broke at the firing pin hole. Remember though, if you watched the above video, he never cleaned or lubed it once! Your average shooter will clean and lube every 500 - 1000 rounds. Your anal shooters (me) will clean after every range trip. AR's typically like too be run clean and wet(lubed). Rings, cam pins and cotter pins, etc are items that most owners should be looking to maintenance around 5000 rounds or so anyway.



Here's a follow-up he did after replacing the bolt where he's still happy with the gun even though it is a budget AR-15. Most owners that purchase a budget rifle go into it knowing they will eventually upgrade internals and add accessories. I don't see anything truly upsetting or bad about bolt rings and a cam pin breaking at 4300 rounds after someone purposefully went that long with no cleaning or lube.

Here's a different reviewer with a video from 1 year ago that mentions the prior issues R. A. had and he addresses it starting around the 5:25 mark. He also mentions the new testing processes R. A. uses in testing their bolts (magnetic particle inspected and proof tested) which are now built in-house.

Thanks for that, informative.

Whenever someone calls a gun "trash", I like to clarify it. Sometimes, it's not an elite or prestigious model, but will function and serve it's purpose. Other times it's literally dangerous to use (Ring of Fire).

Considering the times we're in right now, people "in the know" need to differentiate between those levels, be it for rifles, handguns etc. Like I said, I'm not looking for an Ed Brown or Nighthawk version of the AR. Totally fine with an Armscor or Tisas level... meets spec, runs.