Oly Arms...where are all the used ones?

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Anyone ever notice that Oly Arms lowers are rarely seen on the used market?

I know there are a ton of them out there.
Maybe no value since it's an unsupported product so folks tend to keep them?
 
Olympic Arms were hit and miss. Some complained about them, but all the ones I saw ran well. I think it depended on year of production. I remember a guy in the middle of building #1 at the fair grounds in Charlotte sold bunches all day long at the shows. Then there was that mess with creating a rifle caliber pistol that ended up causing, whatever caliber that was, being banned from import. People hated them after that.

But, also remember, all their paper records were destroyed in an unfortunate fire at the plant. So, vast groups of serial numbers between certain dates became recordless.
Perhaps, that's why you don't find them?
 
georgel said:
Olympic Arms were hit and miss. Some complained about them, but all the ones I saw ran well. I think it depended on year of production. I remember a guy in the middle of building #1 at the fair grounds in Charlotte sold bunches all day long at the shows. Then there was that mess with creating a rifle caliber pistol that ended up causing, whatever caliber that was, being banned from import. People hated them after that.

But, also remember, all their paper records were destroyed in an unfortunate fire at the plant. So, vast groups of serial numbers between certain dates became recordless.
Perhaps, that's why you don't find them?
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I saw a few that were under gassed, but never any that were full Delton. The worst I've ever seen were mid panic Delton stripped lowers.

In Olys defense, thier warranty service was top notch, at least in my experience.
I still don't really understand why one one bought the company. It was very well established.
 
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Back when I bought my Only, during the AWB, the options in my price range were pretty limited. A couple of things stand out to me.

The magwell is tight and won't drop most mags. Trigger is mushy.

The rifle is a carbine but came with the wrong FSB height. Oly didn't care and told me to buy a taller post.

I remember some ballsy marketing wank back then. Something like "you don't need a chrome lined barrel, it's chrome molybdenum steel, there is chrome in the steel!". The virtues of the HBAR were also forced down our throats, so this thing is a 16" pig.

It came with a bare muzzle. At some point after 04 I sent it off to Adco for threading, though I'm not sure why.

Some of the parts don't seem to want to interchange with milspec parts.

I don't shoot it much anymore, but I recall it being pretty reliable and accurate enough. It would be the rifle I'd hand the neighbor if everything went to hell.
 
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Back then, everybody was pushing HBAR and the bare muzzle was AWB. That's when we all learned those little flash suppressors actually did something. Malaysian surplus was a big ole fireball. I think I remember GI mags worked better and the then "new" MagPul mags were tight. And I do remember Oly did develop an attitude.
 
I had one of the last pre-ban XM177's they made - bought it in Galveston, TX in '96. Ended up selling it to a buddy in KY who STILL has it... and I wish I had it back! ☹️

He's enjoying it thoroughly!
 
Oly was at the forefront of ar pistols. They did pistol calibers and rifle calibers. The industry begged them to not do a pistol in 7.62x39 but they did. Sold very few and overnight all the dirt cheap chinese steel core ammo became armor piercing. I believe that is why .308 ap is illegal as well.
 
LeeMajors said:
Can you cite the regulations that make this illegal.
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18 U.S.C., § 921(a)(17)(B)

  • A projectile or projectile core which may be used in a handgun and which is constructed entirely (excluding the presence of traces of other substances) from one or a combination of tungsten alloys, steel, iron, brass, bronze, beryllium copper, or depleted uranium; or
  • A full jacketed projectile larger than .22 caliber designed and intended for use in a handgun and whose jacket has a weight of more than 25 percent of the total weight of the projectile
Only applies to handgun ammo. So, any steel core rifle ammo becomes regulated as soon as a commercially available handgun is chambered in it. A few things have the "common use" exemption (green tip)
 
Yeah, they were warned what would happen and did it anyway. They ruined it for everyone. I think this came about the same time when the KTW bullets were around and everyone labeled them cop killers because they could penetrate vest. It was an unintended consequence of trying to outlaw handgun rounds capable of penetrating vest. IIRC
 
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My first AR was an Olympic bought during the AWB. Put a @$450 bid on it on Gunbroker on a Friday at work (didn't have internet at home) came back Friday and I'd won it. Had the dealer pin on a flashider. First time I shot it it shot the thing off. He had almost cut into the barrel to attach it to boot. Had someone else fix it. Wanted to see how reliable the DI gas system was with cheap steel case ammo. I think I shot @500 rounds out of it before it started to malfunction. Cleaned it and it was fine. Taught me that DI is fine and steel case cheap ammo was fine for my purposes.
 
My Olympic 16" with a carry handle has been my beater trunk/camp rifle for years. I can't remember the last time I shot it.

Well, I took it out Sunday. 100% function and still zeroed. 👍
 
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First AR I bought was Olympic Arms and I still have it.Haven't shot it in a long while but would grab it in a heartbeat.
 
I have one I assembled in the mid to late 1980s. Low serial # in the 4000 area. It has functioned excellent. I assembled this before internet so all I had was a photocopy of the instructions and a multitool. It appears to be a cast example.
 
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