Here is my review of the Anderson Manufacturing A4 14.5 upper. I know not everyone here is a gun nut like myself so I wanted to share my review and opinion on this budget friendly rifle.
I have always hated safe queens in guns. People brag about their "battle rifle and optics", take you into the spare room, put a mat on the table, put on a pair of white gloves, open the gun safe, take out a high end Colt AR with some name scope, and proceed to show you all its high points. Then wipe it down with a $25 gun rag, put it back into its $300 custom gun case, and back into the safe. When I ask how it shoots, they proudly show me the factory target. They really don't want to shoot it, have the original factory box, etc, and don't want to do anything that would hurt it's resale value. Much rather see even a kit gun with several spare magazines, open sights, and firing enough practice ammo that he reloads. And when he takes you with him to the range, everyone calls him by his first name. A rifle without ammo is a poorly designed club. Skip the pricey stuff and stack the ammo instead. Also it only hits where you aim it, so practice, practice, practice. Perfect is the greatest danger in getting a job done.
Great review - short, concise, and hits all the important pieces. They are inexpensive and adequate. A good choice if you are buying multiples for a family or small group. A great choice if you are on a budget or want to spend more money on ammo and mags. Were I doing multiples I'd buy a couple of good but reasonable bolt carrier groups like SOLGW or Sionics and put those in the ones that get used more often keeping the others as spares along with other spare parts (like spring and LP kits). An AR is fundamentally bolt, barrel, and trigger. Inexpensive bolts are usually where things will break or you will see performance issues due to inefficiencies. Anderson's QC is actually not that bad. I wish we would get away from government profile barrels as they put the material where it shouldn't be and take away from areas (like around the cartridge) where it should be, but they still work. It just a lot of extra milling steps that cost money to make a part worse and the rifle a bit more nose heavy. That's not a ding on Anderson, but more on industry marketing and consumer ignorance.
Enjoyed the very good review. Thank you for the time and effort, The bolt is closed and immobile as far as the rifle is concerned. Now the firing pin and the operating motions before and after firing, are a totally different story as well as the placement of the barrel, and its tendency to move, both as the bullet moves down it and the effect of recoil on it. M 14 auto shooting the moon vs AR being better controlled. Crown on barrel, helps to keep even push all around base, and weight of bullet, shape, and velocity all enter into the equation. The perfect rifle, fires a 23 bullet, perfect shape, going 2000 fps, spinning at a rate that it is about to explode, out of a barrel that is 3 in in diameter and mounted in a 200 pound block of steel, with micrometer sight settings in 1/1,000 and firing down a tube that is a vacuum chamber, with everything kept at 68 degrees. Now in the real world some changes have to be made in order to use the rifle. 1000 foot vacuum chambers are both pricey and non portable. 200 lb rifles lack a certain amount of portability, and the bullet exploding when it hits its target creates some problems in killing game to eat. In the late 1800 with iron sights and paper patched bullets and black powder, some records were set that are still very respectable by today's standards. The correct weight bullet, right spin rate, right shape, right temp comp, right velocity, fired from a rifle on a sled will shoot less than a mill, all the rest is aiming and compensating for variations. We don't do that much better today at 100 yards than they did in the 1850's with a good muzzle loader. The rest is the fun stuff that makes shooting such a pleasure and leads to very very small improvements.
Great review! An AR is and should be a simple deal, if should function and be reliable and accurate enough that ANY one can qualify on the Army Marksman course with out difficulty! The IDEAL AR is one that is both simple, and accurate, and it doesn't over heat and shift, or stop running when things get hot! I laugh my ass off when I see these $3000 and up custom build "Fighting Rigs" and then proceed to take my Poverty Pony and Whoop their ass and shoot a perfect score, and better, a cross the course run and gun perfect score! There is no need to spend any money above and beyond the basics, I would argue that the best money is in the Barrel ( Not too much here, just good enough will do) Trigger, ( No need for some fancy-schmancy high falootin big name ultra cool bang switch) here, a good factory "Tuned" trigger is all you need, and Bolt and Carrier assembly, ( Again, no need to spend on fancy coatings or exotic alloys and all that nonsense) a simple and proven brand will do! Pick your upper and lower, and what ever furniture and accessories you want and get busy! My Little Carbine ( Colt 607 replica) cost me around a grand to build, not that that is Cheap, but I also spec'ed certain parts I knew I would need to get it to run and gun the way I require! Starting with the Aero Lower, a Delta marked A-2 carry handle upper with National Match sight assembly and Diopter, A Voodoo Tactical Immolite/Melonited Barrel in the SOCOM profile ( 11.5 inch) 1/7 twist, CMMG Bolt and BCG Melonited and "Tuned", and CMMG Factory Tuned trigger assembly and springs! P-Mag trigger bridge for gloved hands, CMMG ejector port cover and springs, and a Aero Pistol buffer tube and spring with Carbine Heavy Buffer. Finally, I went with a Radian Ambi full alloy charging handle and an ultra rare Colt A-1/CAR-16 two position butt stock and matching carbine length triangle hand guard with alloy heat shields on the factory type delta ring. lastly, I installed a DS Arms trit front sight post and spring with 1/4 turn windage adjustment detents and tool. With the Carbine sighted to a Modified Zero, She shoots sub 1 inch from point blank to 400 meters and doesn't really open until much past 600 meters, I can still tag a tango center mass out to that distance with Mil Spec M-262, show me another Carbine that can equal that and I'll buy truck load of them! Is this Carbine a high zoot, mega dollar build, NOPE, BUT, it will outshoot most everyone else's builds and many factory built rifles, Why, because I spent the money where it counts, on the parts that actually matter, and combined with nearly 40 years of experience with this platform, I know what works and what is just a shine job! Now, don't get me wrong, I have a JP Enterprises billet rifle I bought for 3 gun comps, as well as match shooting, and cross the course, and she runs like a swiss watch and can really reach out there if needed, but it will never hold up under actual combat stress like my little Poverty Pony CAR-16 has proven!
Now this is what I love about this forum. No fight about which chrome plated thingabob is required. An excellent review, then a comment on what someone else has done. Not an AR man so will have to look into some of Uri-Ki suggestions. I know that they are what worked for him and are not some guy or gal's assigned ad copy for this week. I am not all that accurate with AR, but it is a very good tool and a lot of fun. Was even more fun when ammo was cheap and I really like the 300 blackout better than the 223, Just my old age I guess. Miss BTPost, he would have been all over this post with his usual excellent comments and the effects of shooting it in Alaska at -40 degrees.
Yeah, BT was a never-ending source of wide-ranging life experiences and information. I love to go back and re-read some of the old stuff...especially when y'all are being unproductive!
I gotta say guys. This is by far my favorite forum to post in. Most other forums I post in have a severe stick up their ass. This place is chill. If this were a bar I would drink here.
Appreciate the review! I like the style, no frills, no BS. Seems like most would hide their groups of 2.5 inches, or blame the rifle. Makes it a totally honest review.
Makes me think of when I used to golf and everybody kept wasting money on gear when what they needed more practice time to improve. I do Cerakote my rifles to keep them cooler in the sun, blend in better, and reduce the "black gun" reaction. Outside of that I use proven working man's components and build them myself so I know it's done right. There is a lot more to properly torquing and assembling than most people think to do it right and they don't have the time on an assembly line unless it's big bucks. My time and peace of mind is free for me. I trust my life to my own work and I'm cautious about the work of others until they have been used enough to be trusted.
Buy what you can afford, but splurge on a Daniel Defense BCG for a back up and buy QUALITY magazines. Also, for the best trigger for the money, A Larue MBT 2 stage trigger can’t be beat.
Just one quick question about the Poverty Pony you tested - how tight does the upper fit to the lower? For example, if you hold it up to a light source how big is the gap? The thing that makes an AR reliable is that it's a sealed system. My PSA upper example mentioned above leaves too large a gap for me to be comfortable. I'm halfway considering putting a few of these away for a rainy day, which we get here in the Portland Metro area in more ways than one.
There is a small amount of light I can notice from where the bottom of the buffer tube area is if I hold it up to the light. Also a really thin line of light near the front. It feels really sold though.
That's pretty standard, although my sole Ruger and all my Aero Precision sets (even 15 years apart) are pretty tight. My sole PSA is awful, but it's a sample of one. A small gap isn't an issue and depending on the environment. The bolt actually has cutouts designed to clear small amounts of debris out of the way.
People need to learn to accept their limitations and enjoy life! New golf clubs or a different ball isn't going to make you shoot par at your favorite course or qualify you for the PGA. Neither is a newer more expensive gun or ammunition going to allow you to shoot ten-out-of-ten bullseyes or make 1000-yard shots. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't strive to be the best that you can be, but for the vast majority of us adequate is the best we are ever going to be. So, enjoy the day at the golf course, range, or wherever.
No truer words were ever spoken! Jay Leno said it best, most men think they are race car drivers and phenomenal lovers, the fact is, most are actually pretty bad at ether one, so you gotta learn to accept it as is, and practice practice and then practice some more! We used to tell the youngsters to focus on getting as good as they could be, don't try and shoot one holers and be all tactical ninja and shit, just be good enough. I always point out that 99% of the deer rifles ever made are 99% better then the person shooting them, it doesn't make any real difference if it's a $499.99 special from Savage, or a $3000.00 custom shop Dakota, your not likely to ever see any difference between the two, and for the very VERY few who can tell, you know what they own, likely an old classic Winchester, or FN Browning, or one of the Sporter Mauser 98's like I prefer!
As stated above, take yourself, along with your cheep AR and as much ammo as you can afford to a good rifle range and PRACTICE your basic rifle marksmanship, which will lead you to becoming a long range marksman. Look around your AO and try to find ranges that offer what is known as Precision Rifle Shooting courses. Partake in them and better your skills for real world shooting situations.
