I recently stumbled upon Palmetto State Armory. I’ve seen a lot of people recommend their stripped lowers, but have heard and read nothing else. How are their complete uppers? Pricing things out, I could build a complete rifle for about $700 shipped to my FFL. Seems like a pretty good dang price to me. I’m not looking for anything extraordinary, just really want to get into AR’s. What are your guy’s thoughts?
I am going to be the kinder, gentler version of what most responses are going to be.
Click on the orange search button above, enter “M4 vs. M4A1” and you will find that answer.
Using the same button you can read the multitudes of threads about PSA by entering “PSA” or “Palmetto”.
I happen to think that the PSA build at that price is a good way to get an inexpensive “decent” carbine. I almost went that route, but decided to by an already assembled high quality rife…a DDM4 V7
As far as M4 vs M4A1 maybe I didn’t understand correctly, but I didn’t find anything pertaining to civilian uppers, only military rifles.
As far as PSA, I only found build threads, none containing mentions of quality.
This was a brief search, but I couldn’t find anything in the firs 3-4 pages.
I actually was leaning towards a Daniel Defense, they look like great rifles and all the reviews agree. But then I really did some thinking, and at this moment I don’t need to be spending that much. Whichever rifle I get will be taken out 1-4 times a month just for target shooting. I’d rather go a bit cheaper but still keep quality and spend the extra on ammo. Once I’ve become aquainted with the AR platform, I figure I can drop some real cash on a high quality build when I know what to look for.
I hope that didn’t come off as dickish sounding, I appreciate the help.
Just remember, a company making ARs for civilian use can call them anything they like. In this case, an M4A1 is pretty much whatever PSA says it is. They do provide a pretty good description of what goes into their upper. They do mention the barrel has an M4A1 profile, which might mean the newer Colt M4A1 barrel that is heavier under the handguard.
As far as quality, as you can see from my signature, I have a couple PSA rifles, which I built up from bare lowers and complete uppers. While my Colt and Daniels are my go-to guns for home defense or SHTF, the PSA is a nice low cost addition to the safe. So far, every thing looks to be high quality. Down the road, assuming they keep performing and making quality equipment, PSA may even get the same high-quality rep BCM and Daniels have.
People here aren’t going to recommend you a cheap AR. I also don’t advocate AR’s for plinking 1-4 times a month. If you want to plink get a .22 rifle. It will be much cheaper and so will the ammo.
If you are counting pennies to buy the rifle then you need to wait or get something else. In addition to ammo you will also need magazines, cleaning kit, etc…
Many of our members tend to look at them as fighting rifles first.
Save your money until you have enough to buy the Daniel Defense. There is no sense buying a “beginner” AR then upgrading to a “professional” version. Rifles from Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense, LMT, Noveske, et. al. are of known quality. Buy once, cry once.
Palmetto State Armory appears to be making a good product, but there have been some slip ups in terms of quality control lately. It seems that the general consensus here is that they have a ways to go before they’re at the level of Colt, BCM, DD and so forth.
The difference between an M4 and M4A1 isn’t the upper (they’re both 14.5" barrels, which would require a permanently attached flash hider to make the barrel 16" in length to be considered a non-NFA item). The difference is the fire control group: the M4 has a 3 round burst setting, and the M4A1 is fully automatic.
It’s not that I’m counting pennies, I could go buy a Colt now. I’m just worried about spending a lot of money on a gun again. I had bought a Benelli instead of a Remington and really regretted it. While I liked the Benelli, it was 2x the cost was more gun then I needed. It really got me to thinking about next purchases, if I really need to be spending a lot of money when something less expensive can satisfy my needs.
I’d LOVE a Colt, but if a PSA will fit my needs, then why not go with it?
I am not going to justify your purchase. Simply put, if you want a good solid AR with years of use and experience then get a Colt 6920. They can be had for under 1000.00. Grant usually has them in stock and even many Walmarts are carrying them as well.
You are not going to get the same quality from a PSA rifle/carbine as you would from a Colt. The Colt is also not going to cost twice as much.
From how you described the intended purpose of the rifle it will work just fine. I recently built my third AR and bought the PSA M4A1 upper. My intended purpose isn’t much different than yours.
I built a 20" target rifle/varmint hunting rifle and then bought a 6.5 Grendel for target/hunting. I didn’t want to shoot high volumes of ammo through my target rifle and certainly didn’t want to put high volumes through the Grendel so I decided a cheap carbine build would fit the general range fun rifle. So far I haven’t had a single problem with this rifle and I have shot everything from M855 to my target handloads and haven’t had a problem. I burned through a 420rd can of the M855 last week and didn’t have any problems with the rifle.
I understand what a lot of the people here post about budget rifles not being a good choice especially if they are for heavy use or your life depends upon them. In that case I would say buy the best out there.
I have a PSA and really like it. It’s got the stainless steel barrel which I’m told is made by Wilson. It’s a good barrel, but I had to have the feed ramps re-cut to match the upper. There is one other minor issue, but I won’t go into it here because I have not contacted PSA about it and have not decided whether or not I will. I got the SS barrel simply because PSA was out of the hammer forged barrels and I was impatient. It shoots great and I got to start shooting my carbine much sooner than I would have if I’d waited for the hammer forged barrel to become available again. But my recommendation to any future PSA customers is to get the hammer forged barrels.
My experience with PSA customer service is that it’s top notch. I was unable to reach them by phone, but when I PM’d them from this site, they responded quickly. I think I’ve had my carbine about 6 months
I am not going to do your homework for you. They are out there. I know that in this age of instant gratification and microwave burritos everyone wants it now.
Unless you can justify it, I don’t see why you can’t 1-4 weeks for one to pop up. Or even 2 months if necessary. It’s not like Obama is going to ban them anytime soon.
I have found LE6920’s on Gunbroker, they’d be about $1210 after shipping and FFL transfer fees. Now I know the only differences in the LE vs SP are the rollmarks and stock. That being said, would LE roll marks have any advantage on resale value?
Basically contemplating if the extra money is worth it.
I’m gagging as I type this. Have you checked your local Walmart? They have them for a little of $1000 here in Alaska according to a couple of my friends.
In my opinion an LE or SP rollmark shouldn’t make a damn difference, but there are already idiots attempting to charge more for the original LE markings at gun shows and through private sales.
NONE of my local Walmart’s (within 30 miles that I have been to) sell guns. They have very little ammo selection as well. I live in Illinois, don’t know if it has anything to do with that.
I bought my Colt 6920 from DSG Arms. They were in stock at the time, and the gun shipped the next day. DGS is excellent to deal with. Enter your email address on that page to be notified when they are in stock. If you really want a 6920, do not hesitate an instant when they come back into stock. The demand for them right now is more than Colt can manufacture, hence, they sell out fast when they do come in stock.