First AR revised: COLT, BCM, or STAG
- Thread starter Killzone2kX
- Start date
zombieslayer
New member
I vote BCM.
You DO realize that Colt buys parts from CMT right?
Like I said before... I've owned all 3.... all 3 were great.
I sell guns all day every day... I shoot 2-3 times a week... my AR's get shot the most for private use and for work on the range... they all see high volumes of rounds.
99% of customers purchasing AR's will never shoot it enough or abuse it enough to matter. Some of the Mil-spec standards are also out dated as technology gets better and better.
I generally tell them to save their money and buy the Stag... the extra $250 they save over the Colt is a bunch of ammo they can train with.. or put it towards magazines, a sling, or a decent optic.
The reason I favor my BCM? Because I put the most time... and money.. into it really making it exactly what I wanted. The Stag I have actually has almost double the rounds through it as my BCM since I'v had it longer... and its also the AR I abuse the snot out of....
I have tried to get my Stag to fail... I even shot 1100+ rounds of dirty steel cased in an afternoon with no cleaning and it ran fine... it also took a ride down a rocky hillside with me when i rolled a four wheeler down it.
The only issue I ever had with my Stag... was the sent me a magazine with a 6.8 follower.. and it wouldn't feed right... one quick phone call.. a good laugh.. and they sent me new magazines.. but it really wasn't an issue because I only run Pmags.
The gun smiths at work give me spare parts the have laying around the shop...... short of receiver halves... I can rebuild my AR's a few times over. That's the beauty of the design... you clean it.. and replace worn parts as necessary.. and it will run a life time.
Like I said before... I've owned all 3.... all 3 were great.
I sell guns all day every day... I shoot 2-3 times a week... my AR's get shot the most for private use and for work on the range... they all see high volumes of rounds.
99% of customers purchasing AR's will never shoot it enough or abuse it enough to matter. Some of the Mil-spec standards are also out dated as technology gets better and better.
I generally tell them to save their money and buy the Stag... the extra $250 they save over the Colt is a bunch of ammo they can train with.. or put it towards magazines, a sling, or a decent optic.
The reason I favor my BCM? Because I put the most time... and money.. into it really making it exactly what I wanted. The Stag I have actually has almost double the rounds through it as my BCM since I'v had it longer... and its also the AR I abuse the snot out of....
I have tried to get my Stag to fail... I even shot 1100+ rounds of dirty steel cased in an afternoon with no cleaning and it ran fine... it also took a ride down a rocky hillside with me when i rolled a four wheeler down it.
The only issue I ever had with my Stag... was the sent me a magazine with a 6.8 follower.. and it wouldn't feed right... one quick phone call.. a good laugh.. and they sent me new magazines.. but it really wasn't an issue because I only run Pmags.
The gun smiths at work give me spare parts the have laying around the shop...... short of receiver halves... I can rebuild my AR's a few times over. That's the beauty of the design... you clean it.. and replace worn parts as necessary.. and it will run a life time.
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Crow Hunter
New member
You do realize that just because a supplier makes something for one customer, it isn't always produced to the same specifications with the same amount of QC for a different customer.
Prime example. The company I used to work for made OEM brake rotors for Ford pickup trucks. What we sold to Ford had a Lateral Run Out specification of 20 microns.
We sold the exact same rotors to aftermarket with a LRO max of 80 microns. Basically we sold the reject parts because aftermarket did not have the same specifications....
Similar things go on in the AR market as well.
I disagree. Colt is still the standard by which others are judged. Just like you stated. Some are as good as and some are better than. When you reference something like that it is the "standard" by which you are measuring.
I don't think Colt is the gold standard anymore... like I said... "Mil-Spec" is getting pretty out dated. Colt makes a fine gun... but GI Joe and Average Joe aren't the same person.... like I stated.... 99% of people buying an AR won't shoot or abuse it enough for it to matter.
MOST people aren't running on select fire, or with a suppressor, so really other than my brand is better than your brand... its getting to be a pretty level playing field.
Now... do I think Colt makes a better AR than Stag... sure.... but do I think the difference is worth an extra $300.... No not at all. Not to mention Stag comes with a lifetime warranty.. so if anything did go wrong.. it gets fixed or replaced.
MOST people aren't running on select fire, or with a suppressor, so really other than my brand is better than your brand... its getting to be a pretty level playing field.
Now... do I think Colt makes a better AR than Stag... sure.... but do I think the difference is worth an extra $300.... No not at all. Not to mention Stag comes with a lifetime warranty.. so if anything did go wrong.. it gets fixed or replaced.
Micropterus
New member
And apparently BCM sources their receivers and receiver parts from CMT (and their barrels from ER Shaw). CMT is a huge USGI producer of AR-15 parts. They make good stuff.
shooter_john
New member
I finished up a generic AR armorer's school this past week... Stag was not spoken highly of at all as far as their recent production models go. Colt's CS was not spoken well of either, and I don't necessarily believe they are the be all end all like they are often made out to be.
I've never had a problem with any of my "hobby" AR's either (Frankenbuilds and DPMS primarily) but I won't buy or build another one. To me it is worth an extra $100-200 to know that I have the best quality I can get. I expect to have my Daniel Defense build done within the month...
I've never had a problem with any of my "hobby" AR's either (Frankenbuilds and DPMS primarily) but I won't buy or build another one. To me it is worth an extra $100-200 to know that I have the best quality I can get. I expect to have my Daniel Defense build done within the month...
Micropterus
New member
I own a Colt (LE6920MP-R) and I don't think so, either. It's a nice rifle but out of the box it had several dings on it, including marks on the delta ring, at the slide-stop pin hole and some bigger marks at the trigger gaurd pin hole. These marks were clearly from careless assembly. I had to paint them to cover them up. I understand its a tool, but damn, you'd think Colt could figure out a way to assemble their rifles without damaging them.
The Colt has all the things some people insist are of utmost importance. It also comes with a 1 year warranty. My Sig Sauer M400 performs equally well, was cosmetically perfect, has a few nicer features, has all the same important stuff (except MP marked bolt and barrel), cost less and has a lifetime warranty.