Got my Olympic Arms Plinker today!

RattlerXX

RattlerXX

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Nov 7, 2000
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A while back I got rid of my Bushmaster M4, so I ordered an Olympic Arms Plinker(AR15) back on the 18th and UPS finally got it to me. The gun came with one 10rnd mag, a green hard case stamped Olympic Arms, sling, forward assist, 16" heavy barrel, A2 sights, and comes with OA's lifetime warranty. The only gripe that I have about this gun is the finish of the receiver is a little rough, and not near as clean looking as my old Bushmaster, but hey its a black rifle. If it performs the way that it should, I really don't care about the finish. (Its not that bad really)

I've attached an image of her, and threw my GLOCK 30 in for good measures. I'm not too good writing reviews, but I will do my best after I spend a day running a couple hundred rounds through her.
 
RattlerXX,

What kind of muzzle is that? Is the bird cage off of it? Nice rifle, BTW, that'll keep the neighbor kids out of your garden.
 
No bird cage. They offer one for an extra $25, but it attaches with four set screws. I thought I would like it better without, but it may blast a blinding fireball in low light.
 
My current AR is a flat-top with a thick/short stainless varmint barrel. I reload with A/A2230 powder, and if there's a flash, I don't see it. However, I'm not a big 'low light' shooter.
 
Your right, it really isn't that bad at all. Shoots good, but I still need range time to really tell. For some reason I can't see a damn thing in the dark.:p

Tourist, what brand are you shooting.
 
looks like a carbine with a fixed stock :)
btw, do you find the 10rd mag a little too small?
 
My flat-top is a real deal Colt. As I said, I had a peculiar HBar, and a friend of mine had to have it for a particular upper.

He's an FFL dealer and has many Class III weapons for his personal use. Due to the volume of cheap ammunition he had, he mated a 7.62 upper to a M-16 lower and basically went target shooting.

The BATF dropped by to check his business books, and saw the Franken-shooter. They told him they wouldn't fine him, but the two vintages could not be kept assembled together. My HBar AR-15 was the right vintage. He promised to build me a rifle in exchange, and I got more than even in the trade.

The lower is a Colt with a target trigger. The upper is a mil-spec flat top with a heavy stainless barrel--a Shilen (sp?) or a Cake-Davis, maybe. We are in Wisconsin, but I don't think it's a Boots Obermeyer from the rifling, 1:9 twist.

He threw in a VarX-II Leupold with turret knobs and with with a heavy mount.

If I can see it, I can hit it.
 
Want flash? Try Wolf 223 out of a 16" barrel. :eek:

Yeah, just a bit more than I was expecting the first time I shot it. Since I don't have a job at the moment, reloading 223 is going to have to wait a while.

My gun is a mix of parts, and a but wobbly as a result. Some ancient Colt A1 large hole upper, unknown bolt and carrier, used A1 stock, and a brand new Stinger Arms lower from various gun shows, and then a DPMS lower parts kit and Bushmaster "Patrolman's Carbine" M4 profile barrel from mail order. So it ended up being fairly cheap. It works, but I want to get a new upper receiver that will fit tighter to the lower, the current setup has too much play in it, mostly from the eccentric pivot bushing to make them fit together.
 
I spent some time today burning up rounds with my OA Plinker. The fit and finish of the gun aren't as good as my old Bushmaster, and it doesn't group near as good. I believe I will either sell or swap this gun off in the shop, and maybe buy another Bushmaster. My Ruger Mini 14 may even shoot better than this gun. I'm not very impressed!:(
 
RattlerXX,

Try a different load. It seems the best ones work with ball powder instead of rod or flake powder. If you handload, wiggle the charge weight up or down. Change bullets. And seriously, you might want to rip it down for a total cleaning.

I've had to putz around in my life, but I even got my CAR to shoot decently. Yup, you guessed it, I took two whole grains of powder down from the maximum load and it started to tighten up. I think half of the fun is putzing.
 
Dang man, being compared to a mini-14 in the accuracy department? Sounds like a serious lemon to me! Think I'd consider unloading it myself if I were in your position, unless you really got a passion for tinkering and the time to do it. Awfully sorry to hear about your disappointment. I was kinda halfheartedly looking at one myself, so I guess maybe you saved me some grief.

good luck on the next one, eh?
 
Originally posted by jrollins
Want flash? Try Wolf 223 out of a 16" barrel. :eek:

Yeah, just a bit more than I was expecting the first time I shot it. Since I don't have a job at the moment, reloading 223 is going to have to wait a while.

My gun is a mix of parts, and a but wobbly as a result. Some ancient Colt A1 large hole upper, unknown bolt and carrier, used A1 stock, and a brand new Stinger Arms lower from various gun shows, and then a DPMS lower parts kit and Bushmaster "Patrolman's Carbine" M4 profile barrel from mail order. So it ended up being fairly cheap. It works, but I want to get a new upper receiver that will fit tighter to the lower, the current setup has too much play in it, mostly from the eccentric pivot bushing to make them fit together.
Click to expand...

How do you license a beastie like that?

Home built? Do they let those into the system? :eek:
 
In general, it's legal for you to build anything that's legal for you to own. Since the 1968 Gun Control Act you have to put a serial number on it....

One exception is high-capacity magazines. Although it's legal to own magazines that were made before the deadline, and it's legal to buy (or make) all the parts of a high-cap magazine, if you were to assemble those parts into a magazine that did not exist before the deadline passed, that would be illegal. (Your descendants can keep the magazines you have forever, though, replacing each part as it wears out until the heat death of the universe....)

There's some discussion of making guns on rec.crafts.metalworking from time to time.
 
RattlerXX,

It's been +/-one week since you started this thread. Has the rifle tightened up?

Have you checked the simple stuff? Headspacing? What does the brass look like? Burn marks? Flat primers?

I'm not familiar with the brand of barrel in that rifle. Is it chrome lined? I was going to suggest a good cleaning, and you can do so with a chrome liner, just a bit more Hoppes Nine and a ligher touch. Then patches until the 'color' goes away.

What's your thinking? Has anything improved the search?
 
:( Haven't really had time to work with it yet. I have been busy at the office, but I did manage to get several different boxes of good ammo, and I did give it a good cleaning. You wouldn't believe how black the cloth was when I was through. Anyway, I plan to take some time out on the range this weekend. I will be sure to let yall know. I'm sure the gun is going to be ok. I HOPE!
 
The Oly Plinker is not intended to be a tack driver so comparing it to higher end Olys or Bushys or whatevers may be unfair. OTOH, the advice to clean well and then try different ammo to see how it behaves is the best advice. If you find you don't like it look at trading uppers instead of dumping the whole gun.

I've got an early Colt SP-1 that was configured like a Commando and I've got a couple of uppers for it to trade off. Only one of them is the original Colt upper. Now if I were buying the thing today I'd never pay extra for the pony. I'm glad to see military mags finally drop to $20 each (thermold ~ $10).

BTW what did you pay for it? If it's a good $300 less than the current version of you Bushmaster then you could just replace the upper for the cost of trading up to the Bushy and sell the Oly Plinker upper off for a little return.

WRT pre-ban and post-ban parts - If the lower receiver (the serial numbered part) is pre-ban you can put anything on it that doesn't make it an NFA weapon (machinegun or <16"). If you put a pre-ban upper on a post-ban lower, that's a No-No. The other way around is fine. Caliber doesn't matter. The M16 with another upper may be a different story if the 16 is a registered machinegun (the whole gun not just the lower receiver or a registered lower), but I'd have to check on that.
 
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