AR Sponsor
Posted: 9/4/2007 5:22:16 PM EDT
| I was looking into buying a Bushmaster AR-15 with a ASA flatop Bull barrell upper. I never heard of ASA and was wondering how good they are? |
|
I had a bad experience with ASA. Beside the fact that the old owner (not sure if there is connection now) was a total asshole, the rifle would not work. I went back 9 times to have them fix it and they could not. It was a flattop bull barrel. After an unpleasant exchange with the owner I took it to a real gunsmith. He polished the chamber and bored out the gas return hole and it worked fine. Their history is that the lowers seem to be OK but the uppers can be sketchy. I was far from the only one to have problems with their uppers at that time. Good luck. |
He has nothing to do with the "new" ASA. I do not know how to tell the difference, having only bought "new" ones, but last I heard the "new" ASA was still doing warranty work on the "old" ASA weapons/uppers, if that helps. |
|
Well if the current crop knows what they are doing and provides service without throwing things at customers then good to go. The sad part of my experience with them is that the lower was quality from day one. And after I found a gunsmith to fix what are really small issues the upper ran fine and was very accurate for a bull barrel carbine. Why they couldn't figure it out in over 9 visits is beyond me. They even replaced the upper. Didn't work. But the bad taste remains for me. If the new guys have nothing to do with the OLD regime, meaning none of the old family have any interest in the business, I think it was a mistake to retain the name. It doesn't really have a great reputation. |
I understand where you are coming from regarding the name and it has been brought up before. Joe, the owner of ASA, has stated in the past that he liked the name American Spirit Arms for obvious reasons. However I believe that he has recently started manufacturing lowers under another name, whether or not this means he has stopped using ASA is unclear to me right now. Knowing him, though, he will continue to warranty all ASA products. |
AR Sponsor