Thread: First AR reccomendations

Pretty keen on the VEX myself - but would prefer a shorter barrel say about 16" so I can run a suppressor and keep the length down. What does chopping the barrel involve - you obviously need to adjust the gas port size or fit an adjustable one (but you would need to do this when running a suppressor anyway?) but otherwise is there anything else involved? I am completely ignorant about AR rifles hence the question ...

A friend has got a VEX cut down to 18" with no port adjustment. Works fine.

If you cut it down to 16" it would probably only cycle when suppressed.

I put a carbine barrel on a mid length lower then cut it back to 12.5 inches from 16 and it runs perfectly as of the 250 shots so far
when you start changing things you are at risk of FTE and soforth

Lower doesn't matter for barrel length/gas system. Unless you have nonstandard buffers.
E: like, there's no such thing as a mid length lower.

Originally Posted by dogmatix

Macca I would forget about getting a Tavor. They are too short to qualify as E-Cat.

I have seen a Tavor in NZ, so they are available. The person also had a FN SCAR-H, first one I have seen in the country.

Another option is the Rainer Arms RUC that SAI Guns has imported. Excellent components and build quality. Rainer Arms are building an excellent reputation for producing ARs.

Rainer will sell directly to you as well so long as you pay for the export permit their end, and have the paperwork done this end. Good guys to deal with

This might help.

What Makes an AR Accurate — Whitley Offers Answers « Daily Bulletin

Originally Posted by sneeze

So slightly back to original post, what do you get from a Daniel Defence over a say windham carbine or NEA for the extra $800 ish?

Hammer forged barrel and individually HP/MPI tested bolt and barrel.

The newer NEA's have MPI inspected bolts now

If you can afford it,get the DD-they are very nice rifles. As a the windhams to be fair.

It's actually hard to go wrong with a AR of any sort,some (like the norincos) are just over priced in NZ

Originally Posted by Banana

Hammer forged barrel and individually HP/MPI tested bolt and barrel.

And QC and all small parts actually made in house and better features like free float tubes/rails

Originally Posted by res

The newer NEA's have MPI inspected bolts now

Last I heard they were only batch testing bolts and barrels. I see on their website it lists HPT and MPI in the specs for the barrel and bolt, so maybe they are testing all of them.

Windhams are only batch tested.

After all the egg on there face with bolts breaking(that the made right) I'm guessing they decided that checking them all was the only way to get any credibility back.

Regardless of brand I will now only use bolts that are marked as being inspected,had a bushmaster one lose two lugs on me. I only found out when I went to clean the rifle so probably still safe but it put the wind up me. Also,it's "easy" to get parts now but I can see a day when a broken bolt could put your rifle out of action for a long time-so I am trying to make sure the parts I have are less likely to leave me with a parts rifle in the future.

not that I don't believe you but , I googled around a bit to see about nea bolts breaking but can find anything online , as im going to get one of theses rifles I want to know as much as possible , do you have a link to the breaking bolts saga please
cheers

Originally Posted by res

After all the egg on there face with bolts breaking(that the made right) I'm guessing they decided that checking them all was the only way to get any credibility back.

Regardless of brand I will now only use bolts that are marked as being inspected,had a bushmaster one lose two lugs on me. I only found out when I went to clean the rifle so probably still safe but it put the wind up me. Also,it's "easy" to get parts now but I can see a day when a broken bolt could put your rifle out of action for a long time-so I am trying to make sure the parts I have are less likely to leave me with a parts rifle in the future.

Feel free to ask the nz agent when you ring him to order,he has replaced a few for people. I only know about it from seeing broken bolts at the range.
This is a old problem and not one that you would encounter with a new nea rifle.
There were threads on the old imas forum about it,but that's gone now

Originally Posted by stumpy

not that I don't believe you but , I googled around a bit to see about nea bolts breaking but can find anything online , as im going to get one of theses rifles I want to know as much as possible , do you have a link to the breaking bolts saga please
cheers

Some of the very first NEAs into NZ were part of a batch that had flawed bolts fitted that spat lugs at relatively low round counts. For those that had problems, and my brother in law was one, digit shipped them new bolts straight away no questions asked.

From what I've seen amongst our american cousins, shearing bolt lugs is not all that uncommon on a lot of brands of AR, and if your bolt lasts over 10k rounds, you've done quite well.

It looks like NEA are into the 4th generation of rifles now, and it is very unlikely you'll have any problems. Mine is a gen2, and I've run over 3 k rounds through mine without any problems whatsoever.