Ar Question

[C7AR15]

Seems like there are dozens of companies making AR15s.

Are there just 3 or 4 companies that make the parts IE: top receiver, stocks, internal pieces, barrels, fore ends....

Just wondering who the main suppliers of components are? or
are all of these different AR manufacturers actually building from the ground up??

 

[Metal god]

There was a point not to long ago there were only a few makers of the receivers and that may still be true . I'm not sure where all these 80% lowers are coming from . More and more manufactures are doing more of there own parts . Then there's the question what do you mean by build it from the ground up . Most don't actually make barrels from scratch but many make there own barrels from barrel blanks . So your definition of "make" would answer that question .

Is finishing a a pre cut chamber , adding the barrel extension , cutting the threads for the muzzle device and drilling the gas port making a barrel or does one need to drill the bore and cut the rifling to be considered a barrel maker ? The closer you get to the raw materials of the firearm the less manufacturers make those parts and the more other manufactures buy from them .

I'm not sure now but at one point Del-Ton bought there barrels from Mossberg , PSA gets there premium line of barrels from FN . I'm not sure where they get there Freedom , PSA or P-Tac lines . I believe Ruger and S&W make there own barrels in house . Not sure about DD .

Some home builders say they build from the ground up . What they really are doing is just putting all the pieces together .

My point , depending on who you ask , you will get a different answer because we have different ideas as to what "made from the ground up" means .

 

[cdizzle223]

Daniel defense makes their cold hammer forged chrome lined barrels in house, superior quality.

 

[Metal god]

Daniel defense makes their cold hammer forged chrome lined barrels in house, superior quality.

"makes" ? This is my point , From what ? They extrude the blank steel rod , cut the bore , hammer forge the rifling then apply the chrome lining ?

EDIT : found this to answer my question https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4qEnBCkxfY

Superior quality compared to what ? all others or just many ? S&W makes a pretty fine barrel . Rugger is getting up there . FN is no P-Tac . This is not a challenge to your comment but a straight up question . As I indicated before , I don't know a whole lot about DD .

 

[marine6680]

DD and FN CHF barrels are awesome.


There are only a few forge houses in the US... all receiver blanks (when it comes to forged receivers) come from one of these forge houses... they all leave a mark on the blank, which you can find on the upper easily, under the rail section.

Most of the big names take the blanks and then do the finish machining and anodizing. Some smaller companies contract out for their stuff. I have 2 lowers marked rifle gear but are made by Mega Machine. (Noveski lowers look a lot like Mega, but not sure if they make them, similar features and profiles)

Some places source their small parts from other companies... I have seen CMMG stuff relabeled.

The top tier makers all do their own stuff for the most part though. Some may contract out barrels from a known quality barrel maker, and source stocks from other makers like magpul or troy or others.

 

[tirod]

The top tier makers don't "make all their own stuff."

Colt doesn't even forge - they contract the platters and machine. There are dozens of makers of the smaller parts, some obscure but major players. They supply the tiny parts the bigger players know aren't worth the hassle. Even the biggest players can't consume the production capacity of one spring wire forming machine working two shifts five days a week.

You can make small parts much more quickly than the big ones, what do you do with 2-3 years of production capacity in house? You either accept contracts for other stuff, like S&W does milling Harley transmission parts, or support your competitors? Not.

Just buy the springs and things from the big contract spring makers and be done with it. QC them on the dock before acceptance and move on. No capital investment amortizing another machine or having to keep an operator, supplies, etc. going all the time running it. You expense a parts order without all the overhead. All major corporations do that now. Even if they own the subsidiary, they make each one it's own profit center that has to bid the job. That way there's no corporate accounting that disguises how bad the plant is.

Having depth in sources is a strategic arms issue to DOD - they went so far as to set up LAR as an outsource for uppers. That got absorbed by Grizzly, who sold to "Remington." With FN and Remington both getting contracts there's no huge impact losing LAR.

Ruger might make all the parts for their own proprietary brand, but move into the AR world, not so much. Don't forget there are foreign plants across the world who insisted they get the machinery for their own production - same as the Pakistani's having their own G3 HK factory. Korea and Israel come to mind. That's why you don't see the little US flags on every item in the Brownell's catalog - they are being honest that a lot of gun parts for the AR are not US made.

It's just one of those things the American shooter doesn't want to know about, like all the budget 1911's coming from Turkey, the Czech's, or the Philippines - roll marked with some Big Name Brands at the factory.

It's all about outsourcing, it's not about making every spring and pin if you don't have to.

 

[marine6680]

If you read what I wrote... I didn't say they did everything.

Many small parts are sourced elsewhere... Springs are a good example.

 

[rickyrick]

Honestly, I couldn't tell you what superior quality is; at least as far as barrels go. I can tell you if a barrel has the following characteristics:
Doesn't blow up.
Finish looks pleasing
Feeds reliably.
Is satisfactory in terms of accuracy in relation to my needs.

Other parts. All I can tell is if they function as they should and it didn't break before a reasonable amount of use has been incurred.

I could measure parts to see if they meet a specific standard.


Anything else pretty much needs expensive and destructive testing in order to determine "superior" quality.

Now if a part looks crappy then it may very well be crappy.

 

[noonesshowmonkey]

Tirod did an incredible job of explaining the process.

So much of the AR world has to do with setting very specific tolerances, then QA/QC'ing to ensure that those tolerances are met. Much of what makes BCM a BCM is found in the QA/QC process, and how tightly they are inspected to what high standards.

There are only a handful of parts which so directly impact the actual function and accuracy of the AR, most notably the barrel. As has been noted already, there are a handful of makers turning barrels, and getting a cold hammer forced, chrome lined production barrel that shoots 2>MoA isn't too hard to do. With S&W's M&P line, and Sig's M400 / 516 series (I'm sure there are others, this is just a pair with good name recognition), the nitrided barrel process is turning more and more into the same kind of consistent quality. Past that, you'd be talking about smaller batch, stainless steel barrels from Green Mountain or White Oak, etc.

Other performance parts would be the bolt carrier group and trigger assembly. Both of these can be found produced to exceedingly high standards through a few companies.

The rest is a chassis.

 

[Ibmikey]

"The rest is a chassis" except for the sighting equipment, the best barrel can shoot poorly with loose fitting sights or a wandering dot in a scope. Loose mounts, risers or rings will certainly compromise the best shooters ability. I guess to get back to the OP's question-------making sure the quality parts used to create the whole are installed correctly is the key for a reliable and good shooting rifle.