I shot both of my M4’s saturday after Christmas. we had a 65 degree day and I couldn’t pass it up! After, I had to clean, so I decided to look and see if I could tell any differences between the two.
The 2 being looked at are the Charles Daly D-M4 and the Stag Arms 1L. Both are 16" M4 Carbine rifles. The stag had no oil on it because this is its first day out. The CDD you will notice it wet with oil compared to the stag in each picture.
The first thing that jumped out at me is the feed ramps. The Charles Daly Defense M4 has the M4 style ramps cut down into the body, the stag does not.
It appears that in each comparison I make during this that the CDD rifle with its higher price tag…does buy you something over the Stag. Not that the Stag is bad, heck… I bought one… I hope it works out… but the CDD just appears to be a bit closer to what one would wish for when purchasing a rifle like these.
The CDD has clearly painted RED witness marks on the right side. The Stag has the stamps for witness, but does not color them to make easy tacticle recognition when compared to the CDD.
I am sorry. I should have started with this. Both guns complete and together, and both guns in a basic tear down getting ready to clean. At first glance, there is very little to differentiate between them.
This is a nice clear picture of the Stag and the CDD staking on the gas key as well as the nut for the stock. In both instances the CDD is a much more prefered method. Again, I am not saying Stag is good or bad, I am just comparing the two rifle that I purchased and noticing the differences.
This is comparing the Magazine well bevels. The Stag has the long side bevels shaped very similar to what the CDD is, but notice that the CDD completes the job and radiused/beveled the mag-well on all sides for fastest and most accurate mag insertion. For me, this is not an issue…my paper plates wont hurt me while changing magazines… But for a LE type dude, this could be something worth noting.
The other picture is of the lower internals. There are two 3 things I was able to notice here.
The hammer on the CDD looks to be all around beefier. The stag appears to be cast where the CDD appears to be machined? The Stag has very small pock-marks in its surface when compared to the ultra smooth CDD hammer.
If you look at the beef of the side wall just behind and to the right of the CDD hammer, it appears that the wall thickness is slightly thicker. I pondered getting out my dial calipers and start measuring things…but I was not that ambitious!
The third thing I saw and could not easily show in a picture is the safety height in the lower. For some reason, the stag safety “axle” that passes thru the lower is below the flat land machined into the lower as seen from this view. In contrast, the CDD is half below and hald above that same machined land. They are not at the same height within the chassis for whatever reason?
The Stag firing pin on the left has a sharp edge around the shoulder. The CDD has the radiused edge. This also does not clearly show, but the CDD pin when removed and cleaned has a more chrome/shiny finish than the Stag. The Stag pin has more of a softer…silver look than the bumper chrome look of the CDD. Does this mean anything…? Not sure! I will say, that any sharp edge or square corner is a likely place to encounter stress induced cracking or fracturing. The CDD pin with its neatly radiused head should be able resist compressional induced stress cracking much better than the sharp cornered Stag pin. I have no idea what number of hammer strikes it may take to even begin to deform this, but the science behind metal and its failure says that CDD will win on the fireing pin.
Here is one I noticed, but have no clue how to comment on. The extractor paw. Notice how the two…although similar, are not shaped exactly the same. The ID of the Stag extractor os radiused off more than the CDD. The Charles daly is chamfered more but the ID appears to extend a bit further towards center line. Good…bad…I have no idea.
I just prefer to let my thumb feel the position of the safety. I’ve never understood the need for that port side notching on the selector. I have one selector that has the notch, but I’ve never used it at all.
(It should be no surprise that the CDD rifle is primo. CD listened to what customers wanted in a rifle, and then they built it.)
And finally…the resting place for my new toys. Yes…It is a safe…in the bedroom! I broke the rules of putting the safe in the garage or basement so that I can have my tools where they would be most usefull in the event of the highly unlikely home defense situation. They are locked up safely away from the 3 children, yet within 30-60 seconds of being in hand should the need arise. My old 1990 Glock 17 is at the head of my bed in a Gun Vault. I got this thing about 10 years ago and I really like it. It is bolted into the side of my waterbed headboard.
I hope this is not a waste of all your guys time. I thought it was interesting to see the differences.