Different barrels in the ptac m4 rifle kits

[DT INC.]

Has anyone else ordered one of the ptac nitride m4 kits from psa lately? I recently received one and the nitrided barrel is identical to a radical firearms m4 barrel that I have. The 5.56 1/7 nato lettering is even the exact same. I wonder if psa got some barrel from radical firearms to fill some orders or something?

[Jct1911]

7 hours ago, DT INC. said:

Has anyone else ordered one of the ptac nitride m4 kits from psa lately? I recently received one and the nitrided barrel is identical to a radical firearms m4 barrel that I have. The 5.56 1/7 nato lettering is even the exact same. I wonder if psa got some barrel from radical firearms to fill some orders or something?

Radical Firearms most likely doesn't manufacture their barrel from scratch either. But PSA and RF most likely get some parts from same distributor. 

[Garufa]

9 hours ago, DT INC. said:

Has anyone else ordered one of the ptac nitride m4 kits from psa lately? I recently received one and the nitrided barrel is identical to a radical firearms m4 barrel that I have. The 5.56 1/7 nato lettering is even the exact same. I wonder if psa got some barrel from radical firearms to fill some orders or something?

PSA does not "manufacture" anything in the raw material to finished product/component way of thinking. They build AR's with parts sourced from other manufacturers.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Garufa

[DT INC.]

You both make good points. I should have thought about that. I wonder who does make the barrels.

[DasLimpet]

My father recently picked one up. I would probably avoid them. He decided to have me put a different hand guard on it. When I went to remove the muzzle brake the barrel unscrewed from the barrel extension. The barrel extension should be torqued to more than 6X that of the muzzle brake. These kits are so cheap because the parts and the cheapest that can be had. In my experience/my opinion PSA makes decisions based off of price not quality.

[Garufa]

42 minutes ago, DT INC. said:

You both make good points. I should have thought about that. I wonder who does make the barrels.

Their "premium" line or whatever they call it now has FN made barrels.

[Oh Shoot]

1 hour ago, DasLimpet said:

My father recently picked one up. I would probably avoid them. He decided to have me put a different hand guard on it. When I went to remove the muzzle brake the barrel unscrewed from the barrel extension. The barrel extension should be torqued to more than 6X that of the muzzle brake. These kits are so cheap because the parts and the cheapest that can be had. In my experience/my opinion PSA makes decisions based off of price not quality.

I've read that exact complaint regarding Radical builds, but not regarding PSA ones.

- OS

[seez52]

Had the same trouble with a radical anda  sseekins key mod hand guard. They replaced it but I ended up reworking it using both uppers. 

[Spiffy]

Isn't there only like 3 or 4 places that make barrels?

[Garufa]

1 hour ago, Spiffy said:

Isn't there only like 3 or 4 places that make barrels?

More or less.  Same with uppers and lowers.  

[felinesNfreedom]

1 hour ago, Garufa said:

More or less.  Same with uppers and lowers.  

BCG's too. 

[BillOReitz_II]

I've read that exact complaint regarding Radical builds, but not regarding PSA ones.

- OS

PTAC units are not even *assembled* by PSA. Only sold by them.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[BillOReitz_II]

I've put together 4 all-PSA guns over the last couple of years, but I've stuck to Premium and Freedom. No PTAC. My experiences have been excellent. Battlefield Vegas is a very high volume weapons rental range. They recently stayed they have had as good a track record with PSA guns as with Tier 1 guns. Rob Ski at AK Operator's Union also just put a Freedom model through the wringer with very good results.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[mikegideon]

On 8/26/2016 at 10:38 PM, Oh Shoot said:

I've read that exact complaint regarding Radical builds, but not regarding PSA ones.

- OS

My money says that PSA does not install their barrel extensions anyway. That's real gunsmithing.

[btq96r]

On 8/26/2016 at 8:51 PM, DasLimpet said:

In my experience/my opinion PSA makes decisions based off of price not quality.

So do their customers, but that's why they're deemed budget rifles among shooters.  I'm the first one to say that if you want to be certain of a quality gun, buy Colt, DD, or BCM...but I won't knock anyone buying a PSA gun, as I have an upper and a lower from them myself.  As long as you recognize the limitations on QA/QC against the kinds of specs you mentioned, it's still money well spent for overall value. 

[mikegideon]

11 hours ago, btq96r said:

So do their customers, but that's why they're deemed budget rifles among shooters.  I'm the first one to say that if you want to be certain of a quality gun, buy Colt, DD, or BCM...but I won't knock anyone buying a PSA gun, as I have an upper and a lower from them myself.  As long as you recognize the limitations on QA/QC against the kinds of specs you mentioned, it's still money well spent for overall value. 

The AR platform is a funny thing. If you take guns from the three premium "manufacturers" and from PSA, there is a good possibility that the receivers, BCG's and barrels could be from the same manufacturer between the PSA and some or all of the premium rifles. Those parts are all QC'ed by their individual manufacturers.

I'm not arguing against the premium brands. I have bought a lot of stuff from DD and BCM. I am just saying at AR parts overall are very good these days. Obviously, there are exceptions. But, it's not difficult, or even expensive to buy MPI tested full auto BCG's from PSA. Barrels? I just hot rodded a PSA upper with a receiver lapping job, BCM free float  handguard, and a Geissele trigger. That thing shoots sub MOA with my SMK handloads, and guzzles Wolf ammo like candy. Did I get lucky? Maybe.Not the first time I have seen great accuracy from a cheesy AR

Edited September 2, 2016 by mikegideon

[musicman]

Agreed on all points, Mike.  Though not my first choice these days, my second AR (and the oldest, most used AR in my collection) is built with a pre-assembled PTAC upper.  It has seen easily over 2k rounds of all kinds of ammo... steel, milsurp, match grade, and even tracers once for fun.  Not a hitch yet, except for one hangup with a ratty old thermold mag.  I blame the mag for that and threw it away.  Accuracy has been great, imho.  I just have a red dot on it.  Originally a cheapie truglo, I put on a Vortex Sparc II AR on it a couplemonths ago.  A buddy and I were at OK Corral sighting it in and I decided to try it at 200yds just for fun.  I kept 4 of 5 shots on a 6" shoot 'n see.  I couldn't even see that sticker.  I just had to cover the sticker with the dot.  I don't know what else I could expect from a $200 complete upper.  I don't think I'm a good enough shooter that more money spent would gain me anything, either.

Sure, I build rifles with different stuff now, but mainly because I want to pick and choose each part.   If a PTAC branded barrel were available that met the specs I wanted (length, twist, gas system, finish, etc) for a fair price, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another.

[DT INC.]

I have been messing with this ptac nitride upper some and I have been very pleased so far. No barrel extension coming loose while changing muzzle devices or anything like that. Reliability is perfect so far with pmc brass and monarch steel ammo and some 62 grain green tip just for the heck of it. Seems pretty accurate so far as well.