Del-Ton AR15 Upper Problems

[Gunner3456]

And he's never heard of red loctite

Dang. I took all of my AR's out today and fired them and every single one of them went kaboom. Wish I'd have remembered that loctite. Post sooner next time, willya?

 

[m469699]

When did Oly Arms turn out to be one of the bad ones? Honest question, since I have an Ultramatch that is more than a decade old. It has held up well and is really accurate.
Has the quality of their stuff gone down?

 

[SnackCracker]

Anyone that owns a xxxxxx brand AR never wants to hear that their choice was a "bad choice" or is one of the worst AR's you can buy. Plain and simple. Yes, there ARE some big differences between a lower tier AR (DPMS, Delton, Oly as examples) and top tier AR's (Colt, Noveske, LMT, BCM are prime examples):

- 4150 MPI tested barrels
- True 5.56 chambers that don't get sticky after 100-200 rounds of 5.56 and the chamber gets warm
- STAKED gas keys (red lock tight is a false sense of security. True, your gas key might never come loose.. but if they do? Why risk it?)
- MPI tested BCG

Those are just SOME of the benefits that come with an upper tier AR rifle. Sure, you probably don't need that when shooting paper at the range. More power to you - spend the money saved on extra ammo and carbine classes or beer, or whatever But don't kid yourself that the DPMS, Delton etc "are just as good" as a Noveske or BCM - you're just wrong. Period. Plain and simple.

So, yes, the BCM and Noveske etc are more money - so it comes down to "what are you gonna do with your AR?" Is it worth it to spend the extra $$$ for a higher tier rifle for your needs? For 95% of the guys out there, it is probably not worth it....
BUT if you are gonna use it in the line of duty (LEO etc) and your life may depend on it, then look at this objectively and consider spending the extra couple hundred dollars.

The price difference between a DPMS and a BCM upper/lower you build yourself is literally $200 ish. To me, that is money well spent to know that is CAPABLE of being a real duty/battle rifle and it has all the MPI parts etc.

ANALOGY: If you were buying a sports car and had the choice to buy a new Corvette for only a couple thousand dollars more than a new Mitsubishi, would you spend the extra $$$ for the Corvette? Sure the speed limit is only 70 MPH, and you will never use it to it's potential... but don't tell everyone the Mitsubishi "is just as good" as the Corvette. They both will get you to grocery store and back.


I went through all of this for months when deciding which AR to buy/build. After months of research (reading and handling everything I could get my hands on) I spent my money wisely and bought a Noveske complete mid length upper. Noveske had a special running at the time and I received a free cosmetically blemished lower (though I can't tell what the blem is) I ended up with a top tier rifle COMPLETE w/ Magpul CTR, PMags, MIAD for $1050 - including FFL and shipping fees. To me, it's worth it knowing the rifle will outlast and out shoot me. I had to do some price shopping, but it is hands down nicer quality than any of the Oly or DPMS AR's I see at the range.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

ANALOGY: If you were buying a sports car and had the choice to buy a new Corvette for only a couple thousand dollars more than a new Mitsubishi, would you spend the extra $$$ for the Corvette? Sure the speed limit is only 70 MPH, and you will never use it to it's potential... but don't tell everyone the Mitsubishi "is just as good" as the Corvette. They both will get you to grocery store and back.


I went through all of this for months when deciding which AR to buy/build. After months of research (reading and handling everything I could get my hands on) I spent my money wisely and bought a Noveske complete mid length upper. Noveske had a special running at the time and I received a free cosmetically blemished lower (though I can't tell what the blem is) I ended up with a top tier rifle COMPLETE w/ Magpul CTR, PMags, MIAD for $1050 - including FFL and shipping fees. To me, it's worth it knowing the rifle will outlast and out shoot me. I had to do some price shopping, but it is hands down nicer quality than any of the Oly or DPMS AR's I see at the range.

1st off, give me a mitsubishi evo over a corvette ANY DAY!

Secondly, I had the same thought processes as you when I spent $1200 on my new colt ar15. But after the 2nd time returning it to colt for the same problem, they finally just replaced my entire upper. Having been let down by colt, I sold it and bought a dpms with a few more goodies. Sure it was cheaper, and it didnt go through all of the testing, but.... it works, which is more than I could say for my thoroughly tested, top tier, tougher than nails colt ar15.

 

[SnackCracker]

1st off, give me a mitsubishi evo over a corvette ANY DAY!

Secondly, I had the same thought processes as you when I spent $1200 on my new colt ar15. But after the 2nd time returning it to colt for the same problem, they finally just replaced my entire upper. Having been let down by colt, I sold it and bought a dpms with a few more goodies. Sure it was cheaper, and it didnt go through all of the testing, but.... it works, which is more than I could say for my thoroughly tested, top tier, tougher than nails colt ar15.

HAHA! I do agree on the Evo... (Wasn't thinking EVO!) So devils advocate here: The Evo is just as good as the Lancer, right? They are both basically the same thing.... You see where I'm going.

Also, Colt is considered "The Standard" to which all others are compared (by most). Does that make them best? I don't believe so... There are others that SURPASS the standards all the time.

But there is something to "You get what you pay for" with just about anything. And AR rifles are included. There will always be those low end rifles that are 100% flawless and there will always be those "high end" rifles that crap out. But that doesn't change the fact that the lower end ARs still have inferior materials and parts.

YMMV

 

[Blitzkrieg]

When did Oly Arms turn out to be one of the bad ones? Honest question, since I have an Ultramatch that is more than a decade old. It has held up well and is really accurate.
Has the quality of their stuff gone down?

I have one that's 20 years old and had never failed me. Easily drops bowling pins at 400 yards with SS109 surplus

 

[Merle]

Dang. I took all of my AR's out today and fired them and every single one of them went kaboom. Wish I'd have remembered that loctite. Post sooner next time, willya?

You mean the loctite that loses its adhesion qualities at around 400 degrees? Sure, that's just as strong as staking I wonder how how hot the bolt carrier group gets under sustained fire? Why don't you go and remove your gas key and fire your rifle and let everyone here know what happens?

 

[Blitzkrieg]

You mean the loctite that loses its adhesion qualities at around 400 degrees? Sure, that's just as strong as staking I wonder how how hot the bolt carrier group gets under sustained fire? Why don't you go and remove your gas key and fire your rifle and let everyone here know what happens?

Actually it's 500 degrees and I am willing to bet the threads never get to that temp unless it's full auto and extreme use

 

[Gunner3456]

You mean the loctite that loses its adhesion qualities at around 400 degrees? Sure, that's just as strong as staking I wonder how how hot the bolt carrier group gets under sustained fire? Why don't you go and remove your gas key and fire your rifle and let everyone here know what happens?

Hey Merle, please tell me again how they put those primers in bullets? I'm losing sleep here trying to figure it out.

Let's not get sidetracked on how loctite will keep the gas keys in place, or how you have the option of staking them yourself until we get that primer thing figured out, OK? I'm going to load up another 1k 5.56 NATO tomorrow and I don't want to be up all night.

 

[NoAim]

Merle,

I still want to know why an AR-15 will "kaboom" if the gas key comes loose. Can you explain that?