I think you’ve misinterpreted what I typed, or maybe I said it wrong. The term “milspec” is loosely used seeing as how companies like blackthorne and dpms consider themselves as “milspec.” What common properties do they share with colt? Mainly interchangeability.
Gotcha…
Correct. They falsely claim that the interchangeability of parts is equal to the mil-spec, even though it is not… 
So these companies are guilty of false advertising? Has there ever been legal action?
It’s all in advertising. They market the term that way. If they ever claimed to use the same steels, tests, etc and didn’t they could be sued for false advertising. It’s initially up to the owner to decide what is important to them.
I was looking at getting some Saiga conversion stuff from Blackthorne a few months ago. I was discouraged by what I found researching them. So I guess we both read similar reviews and each reached different conclusions. To each his own. I sincerely wish you the best of luck.
http://akpartskits.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6_16&products_id=649
I’m not sure what you mean by market the term away.
I think it’s more that they are using something of a loose and/or colloquial interpretation of the word, kind of like a hamburger from McDonald’s is “beef”—as long as some part of it came from a cow, it’s all beef. So, as long as some part of the rifle meets MIL-SPEC, e.g., dimensions, the whole gun is now “Milspec,” or “Mil-spec.” Or, most likely, “tactical milspec.”
It’s just that most of us don’t need to taste a dog turd to know it tastes like shit.
I have 1st hand experience with their “product” going back years ago.
Assembled their part kit for a friend who was new to AR’s & didn’t want to spend a little more money for a kit from Quality Parts Company later known as Bushmaster.
After hand fitting parts & replacing others that were so out of spec, it did function some of the time!
I will no longer waste my effort on bottom feeder products & those who support them.
Good for you for throwing the dice and avtually turning one into a rifle. Frankly, all I’ve ever heard was smack talk but have yet to see a Blackthorn, Vulcan, Hesse build. Throw up some pics to I can see this unicorn of the AR world!!
I’ve read this verbatim atleast 20 times on the same topic, lol. I actually tested this “dog turd”. It’s not a turd at all. Granted, this is my experience.
I will tomorrow after i put a 13" free float quad rail on it. I’ll take before and after pics.
Wow, what parts did you have to replace??
I’ve decided to edit this post, since I’m sick of throwing more fuel on the fire, just to watch the flame grow higher…
Please, don’t waste bandwidth posting pictures…
Roughly 200. And it’s inconclusive. Let me rephrase. As of now the bastard has behaved. But how many rounds would satisfy you? 10k? more? Even the treasured colts will need renovation at some point.
From what I recall:
Hammer in less that 500 rounds (soft) I still have it in the part box
hammer & detent springs
unusable buffer(IIRC filled with unknown substance)
extractor
Wasted about 1 hr smoothing the barrel extension(lugs) so the bolt head would actually close/clear without hitting/reworking to smooth the selector.
Glad you like your’s!
200 rounds does not exclude a turd. Go run it in a class where it will get pushed and see how it does.
While you’re waiting to do that PM Sully on here and ask him about Hesse(the owner of Blackthorne) buying parts that were rejected buy Defensive Edge from the supplier.
I do have first hand knowledge and I can tell you they are POS. I have seen come with excessive head spacing, improperly staked gas keys if they were staked at all, miss aligned fsb, and one with no gas port oh and one that the barrel extension had not been pinned. Now granted this was a few years ago but from the samples I have seen in the last couple of years they haven’t changed on bit. They still produce pos…
I’m interested to see some detailed photos.
That being said, if it suits your purposes and you’re happy with it, then WTF does it matter if anyone else likes it or approves of it?
If you are trying to prove to this crowd that Blackthorne can measure up to some quality/reliability standard that we/they collectively deem as “professional quality”, you’re simply never going to be able to do it. Even if you run your Blackthorne piece through endless carbine classes and it works as good as “Filthy 14”, you still aren’t going to change anyone’s mind as it will be deemed a statistical outlier.
Go shoot the crap out of it (or don’t if that’s what makes you happy) and enjoy it. Report back with photos either way, good or bad – I’m sure peeps here would be interested in the progress of such a divisive brand of rifle.
The dude has 12 posts, 6 of which in this thread.
Not that it matters much, specially here. What matters, though, is the tone of your posts and your general deamenor here. Consider that.
Rules of survival in M4C:
[ol]
[li]Read the stickies.
[/li]
[li]Search.
[/li]
[li]The fact that you have 2 eyes and 10 fingers does not mean you have to post 5 times more that you read.
[/li]
[li]Search.
[/li]
[li]Read a lot, then read some more, then search again, search other sites.
[/li]
[li] Search.
[/li]
[li]Go out and do stuff. Like shoot your gun. Like taking classes.
[/li]
[li]Search.
[/li]
[li]Get to know who knows what, who did what.
[/li]
[li]Did I mention Search?
[/li][/ol]