SmallCaliberCentral

looking for a custom 204 or a production gun, opinions on the Olympic arm predator ? whats ur opinions? Thanks

Spendy but VERY accurate.
http://www.jprifles.com/

KLR, me personally I'd stay away from the Olympic or DPMS. I've got friends that have not had good luck with them. I think they are discontinued now but if I could find a Rock River in 204 I'd buy that. My suggestion is to buy an lower off gunbroker or the likes & Put in the trigger & stock you want. You could get a 1st class lower with a Geiselle SSA-E trigger and a Magpul PRS stock for $600-$650. Then go to Precision Firearms and buy the Mercury Vapor IIA 204 Ruger upper ($1150). They come with a Lilja 24" match barrel and a bunch of other stuff. So, then you've got a complete custom 204 for around $1850. I've built several custom AR's (204's and 223's) with White Oak fluted match barrels and all the bells & whistles you can buy plus sending parts off to be color cerakoted. When I get through I have about $2200 in one but they are beautiful & will shoot bug holes. If you get one, PM me about magazines. With a 204 AR, reliability is all about the magazines. If you want to use PMAGS they have to be modified to properly function 100%. Good luck.
Jim D

I agree with jd, Precision Firearms builds some nice stuff and I am currently waiting for my 204 upper to come in. But just so you are aware, Mark at PF is very difficult to get a hold of, slow to respond to email. I went to the Great American Outdoors Show last week specifically to talk to Mark. I waited an hour and a half to meet with him and still didn't get to speak with him. An associate of his finally took my name and number and said they would call, it's been a week and still nothing. Patience is a virtue!

lumpy649, I sent you a PM.
JD

Thanks JD, sent you a reply

I keep reading posts saying Olympic Arms are sub standard guns, based on the experience of a “Friend”
May I submit a few facts (not net troll opinions).
Olympic Arms is a USA company based in Olympia Washington.
Olympic Arms is 2nd only to Colt, having built ARs longer than ANY OTHER manufacturer. You don’t stay around making crap.
All major components, Barrels, upper-lower, ect.. are mfg. in house.
Oly builds to minimum mill-spec. standard. I’m here to tell ya, these guns are tight. Just handle one and see.
Olympic was the first to introduce features now seen as commonplace on the AR-15 platform. It was the first company to produce flat-top upper receivers, free floating aluminum hand guards, pistol caliber conversions, and AR-15-based pistols.

In 2013, Olympic Arms flushed a MAJOR sales account by announcing that the company would no longer sell its products to New York law enforcement officers or agencies, following the state's passage of an assault weapons ban.

Olympic customer base is endless, military, law enforcement, competition shooters, and me.

My Oly .204 AR has never had a feed fail, stove pipe or and such issue, fact is it feels like its laser guided, It shoots ragged hole 5 shot groups @100yds EVERY time I shoot it.

What I can say about my OLY;

- It's a late 1980's manufacture.
- It has cleaned all 200, 300, 500 and 600 yard targets; with OPEN sights and, their reduced target counterparts; if the archer does their part.
- I believe OLY makes their own receivers [and for others] unlike a host of others, WRT Rock River, info I've received is they're made by one of five companies as are some of the big named outfits that is posted in the AR world.

Now, I'm figuring OLY is a lot like Springfield Armory INC. in the M1A world; some era's are better than others. WRT to OLY, I have heard that many QA problems were encountered in the early to mid 90's when the AWB's were being pushed out. I can't say either way but mine has served me well but again, mine was manufactured years before this tie frame

I just completed a put together 223 and I went with a Rainer Arms lower as suggested by MAGPUL. It consistently shots SMK 77gr bullets under 1/2" at 200 yards.

YMMV,

Jim

I just completed a put together 223 and I went with a Rainer Arms lower as suggested by MAGPUL. It consistently shots SMK 77gr bullets under 1/2" at 200 yards.

YMMV,

Jim[/quote]

Jim W, what brand barrel & twist? Do you load the 77's to mag length or single shot? Start a post & tell us all your tricks.
Jim D

I can do that, but no tricks really.

Back to the OP, I realize this is an older thread but if you haven't procured a lower receiver yet, do a google search for AR lower manufacturers. IIRC there is about 7-10 but my numbers could be off. I believe its on AR15.com that there is a post that list who makes who's [Colt, Rock River, Bushmaster etc] lower.

HTH,