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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:35:01 AM EDT
A local pawn shop that I go to a lot called and asked if I would stop by and look at a rifle for them. I swing by and she brings out this tapco fucked Olympic Arms AR and tells me that the customer said that the gun was cracked. So I pull the upper and off and sure as Shit,Thera crack in the mag well.
 Attached File Attached FileI've owned a few Oly arms rifles over the years but this was my first time seeing this. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:39:17 AM EDT
[#1]
There was a time, back in the early 80s, that Olympic Arms made very good rifles. I had their version of an HBAR that was every bit as good as a Colt. Heck, even DPMS made some really good receivers. Kind of a shame that their later guns tainted everything they made.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:39:54 AM EDT
[#2]
Is it one of the early cast Oly lowers?
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ID, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:41:38 AM EDT
[#3]
Just as gud.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:42:42 AM EDT
[#4]
The only Oly I had was a .45 ACP upper conversion. Crude, but it worked well on a select-fire lower.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:43:47 AM EDT
[#5]
I think one of my friends welded up one of their transferable MG lowers that did that.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:46:21 AM EDT
[#6]
Probably an Olympic Arms "Plinker" cast lower.
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KY, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:46:24 AM EDT
[#7]
Pick it up for a song and get it heliarc welded and call it good
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:50:19 AM EDT
[#8]
My PCR lower is forged and way better machined/finished than that. definitely looks like one of their cast lowers.
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ID, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:50:55 AM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By kychas: Pick it up for a song and get it heliarc welded and call it good Clearly your understanding of TIG welding cast aluminum is non existent. . |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 12:56:22 AM EDT
[#10]
You can tell a cast receiver from about ten feet away. Dreadful stuff. Had a few, not that I am bragging. They did make some good stuff, but this ain't it. When I first started making AR pistols, around 1991, I used those sand cast pieces of shit, because they were as close to free as I could get. They looked like they were made of Play Doh. Tolerances were measured in kindas and sortas.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 1:01:50 AM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By kychas: Pick it up for a song and get it heliarc welded and call it good |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 1:02:44 AM EDT
[#12]
My one and only OLY melted in their factory fire. They sent me an Olympic rifle replacement once the FTAFT proved it was in the fire, not shitting you, Olympic…I promptly sold it and never looked back.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 1:03:45 AM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By mak0: Is it one of the early cast Oly lowers? The receiver actually had 2012 on it near the model. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 1:05:22 AM EDT
[#14]
What was he trying to jam in there?
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Posted: 4/27/2024 1:55:59 AM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By cavedog: What was he trying to jam in there? |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 1:59:31 AM EDT
[#16]
Friend of mine had one of their uppers split in half. Olympic used to shill here on this very forum. They were and are junk.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 2:17:21 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By IdahoPCCinc: Clearly your understanding of TIG welding cast aluminum is non existent. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By IdahoPCCinc: Originally Posted By kychas: Pick it up for a song and get it heliarc welded and call it good Clearly your understanding of TIG welding cast aluminum is non existent. I just welded some cast aluminum last weekend  Not that I'd bother with a cast Oly lower.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 3:34:14 AM EDT
[#18]
I would wait for PSA to put their blem lowers on sale again for $29 and replace the lower.
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Posted: 4/27/2024 8:43:32 AM EDT
[Last Edit: pukindog]
[#19]
All I have ever owned by Oly Arms was a 9mm upper. Still works as good today as when I bought it 15 years ago, despite the odd ejection system.
It even worked well with a (non-Oly) lower that included a bump-stock back when those things first came out and were perfectly legal. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 8:50:58 AM EDT
[Last Edit: hockeysew]
[#20]
I have a handful of Oly lowers that have performed flawlessly through the years. They frequently see rough treatment.
Did I mention they are the “CT Trainer” models that are for training and display purposes The OA93 was cool though. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 8:58:03 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By IdahoPCCinc: Clearly your understanding of TIG welding cast aluminum is non existent. .  Attached File |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:06:09 AM EDT
[#22]
My old issued LE rifle was an Oly. Piece of junk but it never jammed and was accurate enough. It was nearly impossible to zero because the rear sight was out of spec and bottomed out. And after firing a few shots the free float handguard would rotate around freely.
My agency bought about a thousand of them! Supposedly they were $50 cheaper than Bushmaster (the good Windham ones). I hope someone got a big bribe at least. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:09:12 AM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By pukindog: All I have ever owned by Oly Arms was a 9mm upper. Still works as good today as when I bought it 15 years ago, despite the odd ejection system. It even worked well with a (non-Oly) lower that included a bump-stock back when those things first came out and were perfectly legal. I have their 9mm upper too. Tons of fun with my built lower with a Franklin trigger system installed. I even have a spare Oly bcg for it but have not needed it as of yet. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:10:19 AM EDT
[#24]
My oldest AR is an Oly Arms. I sold several back in the day when I ran a side business and there was never an issue with them. They made a damn good product but they did have a flop with the cast receivers, which was quickly fixed.
That crack in that location makes me think something was shoved in the mag well that shouldn't have been there. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:11:53 AM EDT
[Last Edit: arowneragain]
[#25]
I’ve had an Oly lower for 20 years now.
The hammer spring wore out. Stopped igniting CCI41 primers after thousands of rounds. Seriously. Replaced the whole assembly with a Timney. Otherwise it’s great. Mag well might be a hair tight but perfect for what I use it for. *shrug* Eta: I originally had a 9mm Sten mag upper with it. Ran perfectly. Shoulda kept it. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:25:29 AM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By ITCHY-FINGER: My old issued LE rifle was an Oly. Piece of junk but it never jammed and was accurate enough. It was nearly impossible to zero because the rear sight was out of spec and bottomed out. And after firing a few shots the free float handguard would rotate around freely. My agency bought about a thousand of them! Supposedly they were $50 cheaper than Bushmaster (the good Windham ones). I hope someone got a big bribe at least. @ITCHY-FINGER JSO? |
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PA, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:32:36 AM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By kychas: Pick it up for a song and get it heliarc welded and call it good You can probably pick up a new forged lower for less money than it would cost to have that POS welded. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:40:23 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Strela: The only Oly I had was a .45 ACP upper conversion. Crude, but it worked well on a select-fire lower. So has my 10mm upper. Good pig gun. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:42:53 AM EDT
[#29]
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Posted: 4/27/2024 9:44:32 AM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JackRebney: I just welded some cast aluminum last weekend Not that I'd bother with a cast Oly lower.https://i.imgur.com/dgns9Bf.jpg Llewelyn Moss: I'm retired. Carson Wells: What did you do? Llewelyn Moss: Welder. Carson Wells: Acetylene? Mig? Tig? Llewelyn Moss: Any of it. If it can be welded I can weld it. Carson Wells: Cast iron? Llewelyn Moss: Yeah. Carson Wells: I don't mean braze. Llewelyn Moss: I didn't say braze. Carson Wells: Pot metal? Llewelyn Moss: [annoyed] What did I say? |
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MI, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 10:14:02 AM EDT
[#31]
Anything is a
That said, I have a late 90's SS HBAR that I built into a high-power rifle. It was my first AR and I didn't know the issues with Oly before I bought it. It was a pretty good base rifle the only issue I had was the internal machining in the lower was on the small side so fitting the match trigger turned out to be a challenge and, of course, I had to select my mags on the small side of the spec so they wouldn't drag in the mag well. |
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Posted: 4/27/2024 10:18:02 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JackRebney: I just welded some cast aluminum last weekend Not that I'd bother with a cast Oly lower.https://i.imgur.com/dgns9Bf.jpg |
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MO, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 10:28:17 AM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ghetto: I was wondering that myself, I wonder if a mini 14 mag would cause that? Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Ghetto: Originally Posted By cavedog: What was he trying to jam in there? My money is on one of those mag conversion blocks... The ones with the screws that you tighten to get it to stay in. Bet he tightened them enough to put just the right amount of pressure on the questionable metallurgy. Or maybe the magwell is super tight and after years of having mags inserted on the larger side of "in spec"... It cracked. |
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FL, USA
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Posted: 4/27/2024 10:30:42 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By colklink: I would wait for PSA to put their blem lowers on sale again for $29 and replace the lower. This! |
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USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:43:39 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By pukindog: All I have ever owned by Oly Arms was a 9mm upper. Still works as good today as when I bought it 15 years ago, despite the odd ejection system. It even worked well with a (non-Oly) lower that included a bump-stock back when those things first came out and were perfectly legal. Ah, the good old days. A Kurt's Kustom Firearms magwell adapter, some $3 sten mags, and $9.88 for 100 rounds of WWB at Walmark's. Of course, not long after I got my oly 9mm upper, 9mm started getting higher, and eventually the "go out and shoot 400 rounds a day" got too expensive to keep up. Wonder what happened to it? I can say I got back out of it what I paid for it, and that was after several thousand rounds down range. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:45:43 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Bud]
[#36]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By lukus: There was a time, back in the early 80s, that Olympic Arms made very good rifles. I had their version of an HBAR that was every bit as good as a Colt. Heck, even DPMS made some really good receivers. Kind of a shame that their later guns tainted everything they made. I have never encountered an Oly rifle that was not embarrassingly made. Shitty cast garbage. I'm talking Hesse level stuff. |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:48:22 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By KA3B: Probably an Olympic Arms "Plinker" cast lower. https://www.collectorsfirearms.com/325134/olympic-arms-plinker-223-rem-caliber-rifle-upgraded-with-flash-suppressor-pre-owned-r2454.jpg The original OLY ARMS lowers and later the plinker lowers were cast. Back when they were still in business, you could send in the cast lowers and maybe 50 or 100 bucks and they would remanufacturer the lower on a forged receiver for you. I had a few preban lowers remanufactured back during the 94 ban days. Never cared all that much for OLY ARMS even though their lion logo was one of the better ones IMO |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:49:49 PM EDT
[#38]
If they were willing g to sell it really cheap it could be worth swapping g out the lower with a blem PSA. Of course if the lower is that as, what does it say about the quality of the other components?
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IA, USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:50:46 PM EDT
[#39]
Their cast stuff wasn't good. Their forged stuff was very good. Their barrels were excellent. The guy that ran the place was......difficult.
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:53:23 PM EDT
[#40]
Having thought about it a little, why not just put a hose clamp around it? That will keep it together indefinitely.
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Posted: 4/29/2024 4:58:03 PM EDT
[#41]
My Oly Arms/SGW RR transferable had a crack like that. I bought it from the guy who had an accident with it directly form 4 to form 4.
I had it at a shop to fix and weld it, Andrewski until I heard Oly Arms was fixing it. I told him to send it back and I did that. Oly Arms replaced it with a new receiver and same SN. This was about 2002 or so. They stopped it 3 months later I believe but I got a new receiver and my local ATF said its fine. 
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Posted: 4/29/2024 5:03:15 PM EDT
[#42]
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Posted: 4/29/2024 5:09:12 PM EDT
[#43]
I have seen a factory colt M16 with a crack in the mag well....
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Posted: 4/29/2024 5:51:44 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By mak0: Is it one of the early cast Oly lowers? |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 5:55:54 PM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Strela: The only Oly I had was a .45 ACP upper conversion. Crude, but it worked well on a select-fire lower. |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 5:56:54 PM EDT
[#46]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By kychas: Pick it up for a song and get it heliarc welded and call it good |
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USA
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Posted: 4/29/2024 5:58:21 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By KA3B: Probably an Olympic Arms "Plinker" cast lower. https://www.collectorsfirearms.com/325134/olympic-arms-plinker-223-rem-caliber-rifle-upgraded-with-flash-suppressor-pre-owned-r2454.jpg Ah, I remember as a high school student right as the ban was expiring wanting one of these (because it was the cheap option and back then even a cheap AR cost more than a pretty decent one nowadays). Glad I didn't get one, because they were not great guns as I came to learn... |
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Posted: 4/29/2024 6:00:46 PM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By ITCHY-FINGER: My old issued LE rifle was an Oly. Piece of junk but it never jammed and was accurate enough. It was nearly impossible to zero because the rear sight was out of spec and bottomed out. And after firing a few shots the free float handguard would rotate around freely. My agency bought about a thousand of them! Supposedly they were $50 cheaper than Bushmaster (the good Windham ones). I hope someone got a big bribe at least. Well we bought a bunch of the old Bushmasters, as they were a lot cheaper than Colts at the time, and as the armorer I had a lot of regrets about them at times as I found plenty of problems, but now you have made me feel a little better about the situation! Local state agency had Oly’s as well, lots of problems, so they got rid of them. I actually did carry one for a short while, it performed fine, took it thru an instructor class and a fair amount of training, but it was a pre ban and I came damned close to having it stuck in evidence for a few years once, so I replaced it with a Colt. My first AR, but I later sold the lower to some poor bastard in CT who needed it more than me…. They were basically hit/miss in my experience. I sure wouldn’t touch one of their cast lowers, but I would have no concern swapping all the parts into a PSA blem lower if you got the fubar’d rifle cheap enough. |
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