After reading everything I could about blackthorne from multiple forums I decided to buy a blackthorne kit. For something like $430 and free shipping I received an a3 complete upper (of unknown origin) with a 16" heavy barrel (also of unknown origin), a quad rail gas block (probably utg), unmarked bcg and charging handle and a very decent lower parts kit with what looks like a utg collapsable stock. After all negative shit I’ve read I was expecting a scratched up non-functional piece of metal but what i got was an unblemished sweet looking ar. I assembled it on a spikes lower and was shooting fist sized and much smaller groups at 50 yards with shitty tula and federal ammo using a utg red dot that, at that distance, covered the bulls eye plus some of my 12x12 targets. It also fired flawlessy dumping 2 30 round mags of tula as fast as I could pull the trigger. $520 is the total I spent on this thing ($90 for the spikes lower). So, two questions. How is this not an excellent deal for those of us who don’t have much cash? Does anyone else have any experience with blackthorne? And i’m not talking second hand hear say that seems to be the majority i’ve read about them.
Is this a joke?
The axiom of, “you get what you pay for” comes to mind. An excellent deal is a deal where value for the dollar is outstanding when compared to something comparative in quality. That differs from the definition of cheap. Tell us, why do you think this is an excellent deal?
Why do i get the feeling you guys think machining gun parts is a magical process? Like there are machine shops that employ rocket scientists and unicorns to make ar parts. Mil spec is mil spec… how hard can it be? Especially for a company like blackthorne that, from what i have read, just buys all these parts from various companies in bulk and then throws them together (sometimes very poorly).
If you really did read about Blackthorne you would have avoided it. You could have bought a bcm upper and bcg for a tad more and been miles ahead as far as quality
troll mania
SicTransit, it might serve you well to better understand your audience if you’re going to post here.
The culture of M4C is a bit different, and cheapest and best value aren’t typically a consideration here. I have a feeling you know that and just enjoy poking beehives with sticks, but just in case you didn’t, I would suggest that you read the stickies and a sampling of the threads so that you can get a better understanding of the audience here.
If your build works for you, great. I doubt, however, that anyone here will tell you it’s an excellent deal.
:blink:
Nearly full moon tonight - I wonder if the lunar cycle has something to with the number of trolls on internet boards…?
The claim was made that these are mil-spec parts aggregated from other mil-spec companies so it is up to the claimant to prove their claims. Sounds like you were fishing for a pat on the back?
Milspec means parts will interchange to most companies. Good companies go way beyond that in terms of gas key staking, type of steel used, tests, etc…
I’m not gonna say anything bad, as everyone starts somewhere. In time you’ll wanna change things out or even buy a new rifle (I went through 3 before my current ar15)
I read tons. Most posts i considered baseless because there was no firsthand experience just what looked like continuations of rumors. The few bits i read of people who actually owned a blackthorne ar seemed very positive. I purchased one out curiosity and also because i am cheap. If i went bcm it would have doubled the build price.
The Mil-Spec is clearly spelled out in the Technical Data Package, and means far more than interchangeability of parts.
A company cannot simply interpret “mil-spec” to mean whatever they want. Either they meet the mil-spec, or they do not.
I don’t fault anyone for showing interest in thr AR game. If people admit they had a Ford budget and got Ford performance, good job. I’m tired of people thinking they can buy a Ferrari for a Fiat price, then get upset when they don’t get a hi-five. If you’re cheap, say it was a cheap build, not an excellent deal. There is also no information on the role of the rifle. Range toy? Home defense? Safe queen?
Quite frankly, these individuals that are giving positive reviews of Blackthorne/Hesse/Vulcan probably couldn’t tell the difference between good and bad if it hit them in the head.
There are some companies (like the one in question) that you don’t need to buy their products to find out they are garbage. In this case, the company in question has a many years long history of throwing complete and total garbage out the door.
Sorry if that’s what you gathered from my post. Was not intended. Note the two questions i asked. I’m mostly curious if anyone else has had direct experience with blackthorne.
This is exactly what i’m talking about. I’m not saying your wrong but you’re repeating things you’ve heard. This is 99% of what I’ve found when I was researching the company.
Maybe ARFCOM would be a better place to check.
You will be hard pressed to find anyone on this site that has run any Blackthorne/Hesse/Vulcan products, simply because they are the lowest of the bottom feeding companies out there.
If you click on the orange “search” button at the top of the page and type “blackthorne” in the bar, then you can read all the threads that reference peoples first hand experience with their products.
Go out and shoot the shit out of it. Run a case of ammo and see if anything pukes.
I did. Was hoping to have a semi real-time discussion with other folks who have had actual hands on experience with these things. Didn’t think i’d conjure up a shitstorm of unnecessary posts and be accused of trolling, lol.