Are "Gucci" rifles like Daniel Defense worth the money?

Well?

  • Total voters
    109
Colt is medium tier at best in today's market. I'd put colt on the same tier as Aero honestly, but they're less feature rich.
 
Never had a DD. Been running PSA's, Colts and Frankenguns with Anderson lowers. Never missed a beat. My rifle smith who builds my bolt guns for competition has been building a bunch of customer MSR's on Anderson and Aero parts with no problems, no bring backs.
 
i voted yes, but based on what you can get them for on sales/drop shippers etc. not what their price is at bass pro.

I personally built my own mid-upper tier rifle from parts but if someone doesn’t know what they are doing a DD on sale or a bcm is a good option.

I’ve had cheap rifles and I won’t again. So many people have 4 psa ARs they don’t shoot and they could have 1 KAC they know front to back.
 
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Don't worry colt will mess up cz as well.
 
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Aero upper, lower, and handguard. Then buy a high quality barrel, BCG, and trigger. Magpul or your choice furniture. You'll have about as good as you can get. As has been said, if you just want a packaged rifle, DD is great. You can build far better if you learn how to just put it together.
 
Tim said:
I haven't read all the responses, so forgive me if this has already been said. There's an option not on the list. The gucci rifles ARE better than the complete PSA, Anderson, etc. rifles. BUT, you can build a rifle that rivals the top-tier stuff using individually sourced quality parts using a PSA/Anderson/etc. lower as the chassis.

If you want the easy button, buy the DD. If you want to save ~ 1/3, piece one together yourself.
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Tim hit the nail on the head. The lower really doesn't matter as long as its milspec. Its what you put in the lower that counts. Now the upper I wont go lower than an Aero for a build. Your upper is were the extra QC and premium materials make a difference.
 
Only ever had a factory built S&W M&P15. Seemed fine to me for my use. I always wanted a BCM, but can't find the willingness to part with the cash for it. Again, for my use it's not going to be even a little bit better even though it's a higher quality rifle. Never even considered buying something better than BCM.
 
It seems like better question is at what price range do you cross over from “just as gud” to a quality, reliable rifle?
I have partaken in the PSA $300 ish build kits and honestly have not been disappointed. That said some parts were pretty cheesy and I would not bet my life on them.
I have also lusted for a DD but every time I get an opportunity to fire one I think, yeah, the part finish is nice and the action is smooth but $1800 for a stock trigger?!?
 
Rowsdower said:
where is the point on the graph where value and quality meet? What brand?
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Son's of liberty gun works.

Lowers with full auto pocket like God intended it. Great QC and reasonable price. Plus one of the owners is very based which as a squancher I enjoy. Mike was at the VA protests and has donated guns to good cops and big d*** Jack Wilson.

feesix said:
Don't worry colt will mess up cz as well
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CZ owns colt. Not the other way around.

DD makes a good rifle no doubt but I wouldn't spend the coin on one. As others have said DD is in a weird area pricing wise. I think a bcm and solgw offer the exact same stuff for cheaper. If you want real Gucci noveske LMT and KAC are the way to go.

@JRHorne has a noveske switchblock upper I'd consider top tier frankengun in BST if you want to flex. Edit: sorry full gun.

Whatever you end up getting put that fancy 1-10 vortex on it.
 
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Generally speaking, I'd say no. You can build your own rifle that will be very accurate and run just fine. Just pay attention, because you're your own QC. Buy American made parts from known manufacturers. I've got two factory built ARs, (Armalite and a Rugger SR556) and quite a few home built guns, and I've never had any issues with any of them. Each has been 100% reliable, and each has had good accuracy.

All things being equal, a $1500+ AR might shoot better than a home-built $500 gun, but I doubt its going to run $1000+ better. It really comes down to how much those small improvements are worth to you. I learned a lot of these lessons the hard way when I was dipping my toes into the benchrest rifle world, where decreasing group size another 1/10 of an inch could cost thousands in custom work and upgrades.
 
Rowsdower said:
Just looking at their rifles on PA and Big Tex, they are as expensive if not more than the DD Pro I mentioned.
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They run sales often. You can get a 13.7 pinned upper and a built lower for under 1400.

Also where is there a $1500 ddm4 v7 pro? Is it used?
 
I will say that I recently picked up a PSA complete upper that I am pretty disappointed in.

- Accuracy sucks. 4” at 100yds with a Night Force optic.

- MLOK hand guard is “soft”. I mounted a QD socket, and flashlight mount. Moved stuff around a couple times to get a feel for placement. The rail is all chewed up like it’s been dragged behind the truck.

That’s a $350 upper. I’ll pop it on a lower and use it as a loaner for matches.
 
Chuckman said:
I lower the bar. But you are very kind.
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Guess you haven’t been around the internet too much. The bar gets much lower than you think!
You’re gonna need a better excuse than that 😉
 
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Squanchy said:
They run sales often. You can get a 13.7 pinned upper and a built lower for under 1400.

Also where is there a $1500 ddm4 v7 pro? Is it used?
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Family Firearms. No tax either.

Edit: actually, the Pro is 16 and standard DDM4 is 15.
 
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Chuckman said:
I have zero issues with Colt. It's the Timex of the AR world: takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. I'd also add issued FNs to that list.
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Used to be really good but is now mostly a brand name slapped on Chinese junk?

Sounds fair.
 
Why by a $2k factory built rifle only to change stuff out when you can buy an upper and lower and build want you wanted in the first place? I paid 1300 for my first BCM. I like it but don’t shoot it like I do the one I had built.

Oh and I I have more in the one I built than the factory. But it’s exactly how I want it
 
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CZfool68 said:
Damn all of you! I didn’t want to be this guy because I am always this guy.

Buy a Barnes.
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Where would you propose one do that? They are out of stock on everything they make, including standalone uppers.
I don't think I've ever seen any big retailers carry them either.
 
Rowsdower said:
Where would you propose one do that? They are out of stock on everything they make, including standalone uppers.
I don't think I've ever seen any big retailers carry them either.
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I get mine from Fuquay Gun & Gold. They had some on the shelf last time I was there. You might have to order one and wait a bit. Such is our current world,
 
I say start at a price point your comfortable with. Buy a gun you like, kit it out, shoot it a bunch, and go from there.

Isn't that what we love to do? Invest, try out, report results, and then change our minds and start over.

I've bought way more guns that i can remember and only a solid few remain. To me it's the whole journey that i enjoy. If i get some keepers out of it, cool. In the meantime I'm just trying different stuff out and trying to learn something.

Im actually eating Ramen as i write this so take it for what it's worth.

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I voted No .

The reason I did is because if your safe is full of unfired guns ,you don't need a high grade weapon that collects dust. This group are the ones that talk about what they own ,but may not even know how to shoot well enough to defend themselves.

I shoot my cheap guns and don't own the high grade model, but nothing is wrong with them for sure.
 
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"Worth" is entirely the opinion of the person spending the money.

Years ago I was in the "just as good" and "buy cheap, stack deep" clubs when it came to ARs. These days I have 1/3 as many ARs but the total cost of them is probably 3x the old collection.
 
IrishCannon said:
Ha!

Earlier today I was gonna say I'd take my Aero over any Colt that has ever been handed to me.

I think a lot of the issue is when we see a Colt, it's like, "here, man. This is yours today." Vs MY Aero that I have setup the way I want it.
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Exactly. Aero makes quality stuff and you get to decide how you want it set up.
 
I really like Aeros recievers but I think their barrels and rails are lacking. My rifle has m4e1 reciever set but with a criterion barrel and forward controls rail. I consider it fantastic and it’s exactly how I want it at this point.

Some people simply don’t have the time or the interest to build their own and that’s ok, but they are gonna need to pay for that labor to have an equal rifle built by someone that cares.

Everyone needs different things, people that use suppressors will be much pickier about gassing, people that use nvg will be much pickier about rail quality etc
 
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DangerRanger said:
I really like Aeros recievers but I think their barrels and rails are lacking. My rifle has m4e1 reciever set but with a criterion barrel and forward controls rail. I consider it fantastic and it’s exactly how I want it at this point.

Some people simply don’t have the time or the interest to build their own and that’s ok, but they are gonna need to pay for that labor to have an equal rifle built by someone that cares.

Everyone needs different things, people that use suppressors will be much pickier about gassing, people that use nvg will be much pickier about rail quality etc
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IDK much about barrels as I haven't ever gone through the entire process of assembling my own AR from the ground up; I've probably gone as far as researching barrel lengths for the purpose of understanding velocity and what twist rates work best. - All that said, my Aero barrel groups just as good as my DD barrel.
 
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IrishCannon said:
IDK much about barrels as I haven't ever gone through the entire process of assembling my own AR from the ground up; I've probably gone as far as researching barrel lengths for the purpose of understanding velocity and what twist rates work best. - All that said, my Aero barrel groups just as good as my DD barrel.
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There is a metric crap-ton of marketing to barrels that will not matter in 99% of the cases for the end user: chrome lined, CHF, SS, etc. They all have a purpose and application but for most shooters it will not matter.
 
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