Windham Weaponry is the same as the old Bushmaster. I've held, shot, and even owned one with the old snake logo on it. It's the same people in the same plant, with the same suppliers, with the same tooling, with the same QC department. They changed the name on the building and the rollmark on the lower. They are a known quantity and quality, not "New! and Improved!" :lol: It's called marketing B.S. Don't believe it.
Where did I say you have to spend $1500 to get a good gun? That may have been the case when you got all butt hurt and ran away from ARFCOM years ago. Times have changed, competition is fierce, and prices have dropped a lot my thin skinned friend. Seriously dude, you got so bent out of shape about what someone said about your choice of XYZ on the INTERNET that you quit going to the site? And you call me excitable? :rotfl2: :rotfl2:
anic: :rotfl: :rotfl: In psychology they call your problem "projection". You may want to look it up. :screwy: :lol:
S&W's can be had for $800-$900. They're very decent rifles as long as you avoid the ones with a Mossberg barrel. Colt's can be had for right at $1000 if you are a diligent and careful shopper otherwise they're easily found starting about $1200. Daniel Defense's and LMT's are $1150-1250 ish. PSA has a 16" M4 for $1100-1200 with an Aimpoint PRO RDS. If you have a little patience you can pick up some incredible deals on lightly used high end stuff.
Take a Xanax and stop conflating hobby grade with crap. I haven't said WW was crap. It's hobby grade. There's a difference. Crap grade is a distinction reserved for the likes of Olympic Arms, Vulcan, Hesse, Century, Plum Crazy, The Bushmaster carbon 15 series and a few other stinkers. BTW Clmreg, feel free to criticize me on calling these crap. I haven't owned any of these brands but then again I don't have to pick up a cow turd to know it's a cow turd either. I've seen, and read enough about the crap brands both in person and the InterWebz to recognize their inherent turdiness. :lol:
Hobby grade guns are guns that the manufacturers have consciously decided to use substandard parts and manufacturing methods to produce the gun at a lower retail price. Substandard does not automatically mean bad. It means that whatever it is may not be checked as thoroughly to make sure the steel is really 4150 chrome moly that meets the mil standard specs. The chrome lining may not be as thick or even present, the aluminum may not be as strong. The machine work may not be as fine or as close to specified tolerances.
What the consumer does when they buy a hobby grade or crap grade gun is take more risk. The further the gun is made from spec, the more risk there is that it will not function as well or last as long as a gun made to the military standard Technical Data Package specifications. The mil std TDP is the MINIMUM specifications set forth by the military for a rifle with adequate reliability and accuracy for people to go into combat with and have sufficient service life so it doesn't need constant maintenance and servicing. The military didn't set the bar super incredibly high with the TDP. They pay about $750-$850 per rifle or carbine before they hang all the optics, lasers, lights, etc... on them.
It's just like buying a Snap On wrench and a Harbor Freight Chinese no name wrench. They look pretty much the same. They both claim to be a 3/4" wrench. Do they work the same? Maybe maybe not. Do they both give the same service life? Maybe, maybe not. If I take a sample of 100 wrenches of each make and test them will they hold up the same? I can tell you with near biblical certainty that the China made wrenches will have more functional problems and wear out faster. It is the exact same thing with a hobby gun versus a tier 1, mil spec, high quality, or whatever you want to call it gun. Do I need to buy 200 wrenches and hire testing engineers? Do I need to buy samples of every high quality American made wrench and every Chinese made wrench to know that? :roll: Cmlreg and others seem to think so. :screwy: :hardhead:
Cmlreg, why are you and several others here so defensive? You acknowledge that you bought a substandard brand gun. It works great according to you. I merely pointed out it's substandard. Why care what anyone else says either way if it works so great? It's a piece of machinery not a observation or judgement of you as a person.
Oh and the 400 round thing was not specifically directed at you. There have been lots of posts I've seen here and on every other gun board in the universe where someone just getting into ARs gets their 1st shiny new toy and shoots it a bit before pronouncing it the bestest thing evar!!!!!! They're new, excited, and happy. They usually have very little idea what they're talking about. It gets old. Other folks that don't know anything see it and think oh it must be a great gun then. That's wrong. I'm not a "give every kid a trophy just for showing up" kinda guy. I have no issues with telling you or them they're wrong and there is no Santa Claus. I'm sorry. I know Christmas will never be the same for you again. :cantsay:
Regordon, thanks for posting the pictures. What you posted looks good like Eman said. Can you inspect the small parts in the lower and post some pics? Look for pinholes, pitting, rough casting lines and rough looking machining marks in particular. You may want to take a Q-tip and some decent quality automotive grease and lightly lubricate the contact points on the hammer, trigger and disconnector. It'll improve the trigger pull some and lessen wear on the parts.
MP stands for magnetic particle testing. In car circles it's called Magnafluxing. A metallic powder is sprinkled on the part and a magnetic field is applied. If there is an internal flaw like a crack or void in the metal part the technician will be able to tell by the disrupted pattern of the powder as it forms lines and whorls that coincide with the magnetic field lines. With ARs this is supposed to be done to the bolt and the barrel AFTER a very high pressure "proof round" is fired through the gun. It's a standard step in the TDP. It costs time and money to do so some manufacturers don't do it to meet a lower price point. It doesn't mean you have a good barrel or a bad one. It just means WW didn't check it to find out so you could save some money when you bought it.
Oh and if you do swap the buffer tube out for a mil spec unit and want a plain jane mil spec diameter M-4 stock, shoot me your mailing address via PM. I have a box full of them. It'll save you about $25.
Everyone else, that is not an invitation for you to pm your addy as well. :shattered:
E-man, I ain't doing it for folks like Cmlreg or others here that I talk about this stuff all the time. It's for the new folks that don't know anything but are willing to learn the whole truth and not a line of BS about "just as good as". I've already written off folks like SeaJay and Cmlreg and their like. Folks like them will be the death of this country. :lol: (I'm kidding.......maybe :sly: ) Besides it's fun to poke at people's sacred cows.
