I am going to a gun show this weekend. I am thinking about another AR15.They never have any LMT’s there, but last time they had Charles Dailey and S&W. Between the two which one would you choose and why?
Both are good, but CD has the advantage of a 1/7" twist and a 4150 barrel vs 4140 chrome moly.
The barrel and twist is why I went with CDD. Plus I like the under dog if they put out a quality product.
I am impressed by the S&W quality although some specs one the CDD are nicer. Either is a good call I say. In the end I’d go S&W though. Later,
S&W RELIABILITY/CUSTOMER SERVICE.
I have a Daly M4LE and a S&W MP15. If I was buying a new rifle tomorrow, I’d take the Daly. They took their time and did their research to see what shooters wanted before they began producing the rifles.
I’ve had no issues with my S&W, but I have more confidence in the higher quality materials used in the Daly…barrel, receiver extension, etc. Not to mention the simple details such as properly staked gas keys and castle nuts. Sure, I can do that myself in just a few minutes…but I shouldn’t have to. It’s those kinds of details that separate the good rifles from the great ones.
S&W does stake the gas keys and castle nut. They also ship with a M16 BCG that has an MPI bolt that is MPT, whereas CD dont. The CD has the better barrel no doubt, but they dont HP test it, and neither does S&W.
I guess its a trade off between the two, however the better barrel will not do a bit of good if the BCG happens to have an issue. Its not likely, but still worth say’n. Ill stick with my S&W. YMMV
Are you sure of that? The 15A I bought in 2008 came with a semiauto bolt carrier, but the firing pin was shrouded. I have head other reports of this as well.
Edited to add: But I would not hesitate to buy either the CD or the S&W, and price would be my determining factor.
if you’re asking me, i’d get one of each.
Guess mine was built on a Friday last year. No gas key or castle nut staking on my S&W and it came with a semi-auto carrier.
The other thing I would consider is that I think the S&W would be easier to sell / have better resale value.
I don’t know about that resale thing… the Charles Daly Defense rifles are gaining respect by the day. One note to the OP, is the CDD rifle the D-M4 or the D-M4LE? I have the non LE model, but I know that that the guys above are comparing to the LE only.
What kind of price did you see on the CDD compared to the SW?
If the CDD were priced better, I would not hesitate. I love my CDD D-M4.
Had the LE been available I would have gotten it, but last year whe I found this one, it was a choice between a CDD and a Bushmaster… so really there was no choice.
I’ve never seen a M&P15 that didn’t have its gas keys staked, nor its castle nut staked.
Call them up and ask about it…
This was 6 months ago. Staking the gas key and castle nut took less time than a phone call. And I certainly wouldn’t return a rifle to the mfg for such a menial task. Just annoying that some companies choose to skip these steps in the first place.
You should have inspected it when you picked it up at your FFL. Mine was properly staked.
I did. That’s when I found it wasn’t staked. After waiting for 7 weeks to get the rifle from S&W, I certainly wasn’t going to send it back. Again, it’s a trivial task to do this…even with basic tools. I was simply annoyed that something so simple was neglected at the factory, even if it was the exception to the rule. It’s not like S&W is the only company who has been guilty of this. In fact, the list of manufacturers who actually pay attention to these details is much shorter than the list of manufacturers who don’t. That’s why I keep a MOACKS and a center punch in my AR tool box. After 20yrs of buying AR’s, I’m used to doing these things myself.
It’s a pleasant surprise when I find an AR (other than Colt, LMT and KAC) that’s properly setup when I open the box.
I hear ya! And yes, it is easy to do yourself.
I did a lot of research and went with an M&P15A. This was a month or two before CD started making ARs though. I felt that the smith came very nicely equipped. Aside from the 4140 barrel it is very comparable to the higer end guns. From what I hear, they now come with m4 feedramps even.(if that matters). I especially liked the fact that it came equipped with a troy folding rear sight on there. Im sure the CDs are top notch as well, but I have not held/seen one first hand so I cannot comment on those. But if you go the CD route, make note that the most Mil-Spec one is the CD M4LE model. This I believe is the only CD model that uses mil-spec barrel steel among other nice features. Someone correct me if Im wrong on that btw.
Speaking of CDD, where did they go? I clicked the link at the top of the page and went nowhere. I tried Google and click on those links and went nowhere as well.
I was going to check CCD’s warranty as I couldn’t remember if it was lifetime or not. M&P15s have a 1 year warranty (handguns are lifetime) if that matters. I wouldn’t and didn’t let that stop me from buying one.
The several I saw in a gun shop were M16 carriers and the the gas key and castle nut was staked. I have an early model 0966* and it cae with a semi auto CMT BCG. It was staked, CMT style, which is not what I would call properly. The castle nut was also staked in three places. I just went and looked back on the chart and it does show S&W’s shipping with a M16 BCG that is properly staked.
Are you sure the rifle you bought was not NOS? (New Old Stock)