People are getting angry at Armalite for refusing to stop selling law enforcement firearms that civilians can’t own. I have a post-ban Armalite M15A4 AR, which I bought back in 2001, and I’ll give you another reason. I’ve always been convinced something has always been slightly out off spec with it. My Bushmaster XM15-E2S (back from Bushy’s Maine days) runs flawlessly with a wide variety of ammo. The Armalite is very picky about ammo. The factory 10 round magazine works flawlessly, but it’s jam-o-matic time with a lot of other magazines that function just fine in my Bushmaster carbine. Now, when 2004 rolled around, I converted the rifle to a “no-ban” configuration by grinding away the muzzle compensator and replace it with a birdcage flash suppressor, and adding a bayonet lug, but the trouble preceded me touching it. My theory has been that perhaps the magazine catch is slightly not where it should be, which causes a lot of the jamming issues when combined with certain kinds of ammo.
One thing I have not tried in the M15A4 are Magpul PMags, but I’ll get to that experiment once I can get over the fact that dumping a few mags of .223 these days is dinner and drinks at the local steakhouse. Even though I didn’t pay that much for that ammo, it’s still in the back of my mind.
Pmags solve problems getting guns to run right, for sure. Probably the single best thing to happen to ARs overall. (Lancers are mighty nice too)
The “purity test” aspect is a little worrisome to me. I like it that LaRue, Barrett, Bravo Company etc are taking their stands, but putting pressure on companies that haven’t adopted that policy… mmm, there’s a potential for divisiveness at a time when we need unity. I’d prefer that these companies take the Barrett/LaRue stance of course, but I like the idea of them doing it voluntarily.
I suppose we’ll see how it plays out. Lots of moving parts in this social machine…
A lot of AR manufacturers have issues getting the gas port size correct. They tend to either over or under gas the weapon which will cause ammo sensitivity…
In RE to your last paragraph, that’s a definite concern. These days, ammo isn’t just worth what you paid for it; it’s worth what it costs to replace it.
I paid an average of $0.50-0.75 per round of .308 WIN when I made my last purchase (before Sandy Hook). Now, when I can find it, the cheapest stuff is well over a buck a round. 9mm is pushing $0.50-0.75 per round, where it used to be $0.20-0.25.
It’s getting harder and harder to justify any trips to the range these days. I still have to try, especially where new shooters are involved. More chairs in this bar fight, and we need all we can get!
“The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.”- Lenin
Or, apparently, the gun and bullets to shoot them with.
As far as I can see, the company will not knowingly sell to government agencies in places where non-government people cannot buy stock AR15s or the like, but will not stop selling to individuals who work[ed] for such agencies. I can understand that the company does not want to punish such individuals for being employed by idiots, but the “[ever been a] LEO Exemption” is still not a good policy.
The drama for Armalite started when the sales rep who was first contacted decided to be a giant dick to the person sending the email instead of sending something that resembled a professional response.
It was pretty much all down hill from there, and there was very little Armalite could say, without stopping sales or firing the idiot, that would have made the arfcommers happy. Rightfully so at that point.