I have never owned an Armalite product but a close friend of mine is a retired Marine Corps Gunny who builds AR's as a diversion. I have heard him make favorable comments about Armalite products. I trust his evaluations of firearms.

 

I don't have a recent Armalite, just the match version I got in the early 2000's. After a year of playing with it, I sold my Colt SP1 and have never looked back. I like the match barrel, the match sights, free-float tube, the match trigger (something like a 2.5 lb take up then a final 2 lb let off), and the green furniture stands out when compared to most others. Mine is the fixed carry handle as that was all that was allowed in High Power competitions at the time. Just as an aside, this rifle replaced both my M14/M1A's in competition. (still got them though).

Edit to add: I just recalled that two of the other lowers (in the photo of 5 below) are also from Armalite. I built them from bare Armalite receivers. They are marked Eagle Arms. My understanding is that complete rifles were marked Armalite but parts alone were marked Eagle Arms.

 

I don't have a recent Armalite, just the match version I got in the early 2000's. After a year of playing with it, I sold my Colt SP1 and have never looked back. I like the match barrel, the sights, free-float tube, and the green furniture stands out when compared to most others. Mine is the fixed carry handle as that was all that was allowed in High Power competitions at the time. Just as an aside, this rifle replaced my M14/M1A in competition. (still got them though).

View attachment 454727 View attachment 454728

Very nice collection! Thanks for the posting and the positive review!

 

I don't have a recent ArmaLite either. I've wondered about them after the ownership change and look forward to what you think about yours, @Double vision .

I got my M-15 near the end of Mark Westrom's reign before Strategic Armory Corps bought them. I went with ArmaLite back then due to their experience with mid-length gas carbines, before that became more common.

Something new to me is they are apparently located in College Station, Texas now.

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Short update…picked up the rifle yesterday and broke it down for a cleaning.
I have owned a lot of AR’s thru the years to include a Wilson which I still have.
The Armalite came well packaged, but no owner’s manual. Researching this, found you can contact the company for a manual or download one from their site. I like having a manual..so a few points off for that.
The upper and lower receivers are in my opinion, extremely well made. Both fit and finish I would give a 8 out of 10. No tool marks/scratches were observed and it appears the company gave attention to details. Bottom and upper units matched up tight and clean. Both take down pins were tight and smooth but not excessive. Barrel is 1-8” SS and appears to be medium weight with a great looking comp on the muzzle. Could do without the logo on top.
The BCG I was a little disappointed in the finish which appears to be a military grade park coating which was even but rough texture. The BCG was staked well and the raptor dual wing charging handle is a big plus.
The rifle comes with a Timney 4lb single stage trigger which is fantastic. I put it almost on the same level as my Wilson. The overall weight to length of the rifle makes it easy to maneuver.
The LuthAR stock is solid for being all plastic, but does not have a lot of adjustment. So it will either fit you and your scope set up or not. YMMV…I’m 6’0 and seems to work for me. I put a Leupold prismatic 1x on mine. I’ll decide after some shooting if it gets replaced.
I’ll take it to the range when the weather improves…(it’s 10 deg right now)
I picked this up from PSA when they had a one day sale for $999. I think that I got more than my moneys worth and I am very pleased with the quality of the rifle.
But as we all know…looks are one thing..but performance…
We’ll see.

 

Finally got a chance to take the rifle to the range. Weather has been either cold or rainy for a while.
My initial shooting was to sight the rifle/scope at 25 yds. I used a Caldwell rest and fired both 5.56 and 223 ammo, both being fmj 55 grain.
I made a few adjustments to the rifle before shooting. First the gas valve was open all the way, so I closed it one complete turn. Second…I drilled a hole in the gas port on the brake at the 12 o’clock position using a 1/16” bit.
At 25 yds, all the rounds were touching. I know felt recoil is subjective to each individual, but this weapon shoots flat with about 30% less recoil than my other AR’s in the past. The casing’s ejected at 3 o’clock position.
At 50 yds, again using rest, I had no three shot groups larger than .5 moa.
I achieved these results with standard ammo, not target variety. I’m impressed with this finding.
No FTF or FTE occurred, but I only shot 100 rds.
The range was too wet to shoot paper targets at 100-200. But shooting steel plates at those distances was easy. The rifle setup encourages you to fire double taps and does not disappoint.
I have been shooting over 50 yrs and have owned numerous AR’s by Colt, DD, LMT, LWRC, Sig and Wilson. As far as overall quality I would rank this rifle above Sig and almost touching DD.
As far as accuracy…for me..it beats out all but my Wilson. YMMV
I see that a few folks have been watching this thread wondering the way I was about Armalite.
For the price of the rifle, I think it punches far above its weight class. To me, it also looks, handles and feels just as good as the higher priced options.
It checks the boxes that I was looking for in this configuration.
If you have been on the fence about a Armalite for whatever reason…don’t be. It’s a solid gun that can run with the big boys…and in some ways, beat them.
Well, that’s one guy’s opinion about this subject. Hope it helps.
Stay safe and enjoy life!

 

Thanks for the follow up commentary, @Double vision !

Does the factory marking on the lower receiver indicate that is was made in Texas or elsewhere?

 

You’re welcome!
My rifle says it was produced in Phoenix Arizona.

 

I just picked up a ArmaLite m15 9mm with 9” barrel . I havnt got to shooter yet but I’ve looked at er pretty good and so far im satisfied. Ordered 200rounds of aac ammo and gonna stretcher legs a lil this weekend and will let you know how she does . It did come with a very nice trigger ambi saftey ambi radian raptor charging handle and actually came with mag pull mbus I got it for 599 I searched for hours the other night and couldn’t find it ANYWHERE else for less than 1000 so I’m optimistic

 

Hey Sam,
congrats on the new purchase! Let us know how it shoots. I also have been thinking of a 9mm carbine and had been looking at the CZ. I have shot one of those…looking forward to your take on the Armalite.

 

I’ve been an Armalite fan for many years and have several from the Westrom era…..problem is that, especially the original carbine, that the parts aren’t interchangeable and won’t work with these new models aka gas tube among others.

Called over a year ago, spoke to them in AZ, ordered a tube….among other items….it wasn’t correct and they’d never get back to me.

 

I've never had an issue with Armalite's customers service they where fast nice and very informative. I also have the M153GN18 model and I absolutely love it. The only thing I needed to change on it was an ambi mag release other wise it's great for left and right handed folks. It has zero recoil once you tune both the adjustable gas block and the adjustable 3 port muzzle break. This rifle for the price out shadows alot in my book. There parts are top quality and I ended up selling my sig and s&w cuz both couldn't touch this thing in every aspect. I think too many people sleep on Armalite and they should be way more popular I've also tried thier normal rifles and they also have extremely high level of detail fit and finish. I want to try thier supper sass Gen 2 so badly! My rifle still shoots absolutely great and has only gotten better over time... I can't recommend Armalite brand anything enough more people need to just jump in they won't be disappointed since 2019 to now everything I've ever bought from them is absolutely amazing products.

 

I bought a 16” M-15 in 2019 and I’ve been pretty happy with it. The only knock I have on it is that after about 800 rounds the castle nut started to loosen up on me and I had to tighten it back up and stake it again. If it loosens up again I’ll probably just buy a higher quality nut and end plate but other than that it’s been a very nice rifle. No

 

50 years shooting and the new retooled Armilite is equal to a DD. 😂😂😂 Armalite is an entry level gun at entry level prices. Happy you got a good one. Eugene Stoner no longer works there. Those original guns are worth stupid money. As a gun guy why didn’t you get a Stoner Vero Beach FL. Just wondering.
What are your thoughts on NEMO. That’s a Niche boutique type of AR.
Let’s not forget Bushmaster/DPMS was a masterpiece of gun writers in early 2000s . PSA has good prices and the PSA AR15 and 10s have a lot of value for the money but they are not BCM COLT or DD . Buy once Cry once .

 

I bought my first Armalite Eagle Arms M15 in 1998. I own many AR's - DD's, Rock Rivers, Armalites, PSA's, and more. My most accurate rifles are my Armalites. I recently bought the new M15TAC20. Only had it to the range twice but it also is very accurate.

 

I've only had one armalite. Howa manufacturer. Costa Mesa designed(Stoner) ar180. Pretty interesting bird. Only other ar type was dpms lower with bcm upper 20". Shooters both. Went away with the collection.

 

I adopted this one recently. 20" heavy stainless barrel. It was still new in plastic.

 

I'm confused ... aren't all "ARs" Armalite Rifles? Isn't that what AR stands for? If you have another brand it's not an AR just because of the looks or caliber ... right?

I have an IWI TAVOR 9mm that uses AR 32rd magazines but it's an IWI not an AR ... it wasn't made by Armalite.

I swear I'm still surprised by the number of people that think AR stands for Automatic Rifle.

Rant over ... I'm going to bed.

 

Yes AR stands for Armalite Rifle.
But if you want to get technical , only one company makes an AR15 , and that is Colt.
Colt has the trademark on AR15.
Everyone else has their own designation for it.

I always wondered.
If they ban AR15's , does that mean only Colts are banned ?

 

I have an Armalite M15 (T) and an AR 10 (T). The 10 is old enough it takes the proprietary mags from back in the Clinton years. Both are great shooters. Don't know about quality now.

 

Picking up ar 10t to go with the 15t. Both are 2011 era 20" stainless. I hear they are shooters. Not sure about current era.