It seems that whenever a new member asks what rifle to buy everyone says bcm, colt, dd, or noveske. They are great rifles no doubt but lmt are seemingly just as good and can be had cheaper than dd and noveske. Biggest question I have is I know their reputation is good why does it seem they get passed over or overlooked as much as they do?
Here is some light reading. :blink:
I don’t think LMT has been as consistent as Colt, DD and some of the others over the years. But I have three of them here and they have all been 100% reliable. They don’t look as nice as my DD or 6920 but they shoot just as well.
There’s nothing wrong with LMTs. It’s a quality manufacturer who produces quality weapons. I think it’s often overlooked because Colt, DD, BCM, & Noveske brands drowns out everything else, but you won’t find anyone here bad mouthing them. I own Colt x 2, DD x 2, and an LMT. Out of all my ARs, the LMT has the smoothest stock trigger IMHO.
LMT flat out rocks. WHY? Glad you asked.
They are every bit as well built as Colt, mine has a great trigger, they
put a lot of work into their barrels, including cryogenically treating them, Ive got a post on that in the Technical Section, btw, and just overall a good sound weapon. I too, have wondered many times why LMT isnt included in the Colt, Noveske, BCM, DD recommendations. They should be, imo.
The MIM the entire gun now. The just poor that shit in a mold and a complete L MIM T gun comes out like Willy Wonka or some shit!
Some people are affraid of this for whatever reason. :rolleyes:
When did they start MIM-ing the LMT?!!
Mine is from May 09, the others Ive shot/handled are from around then too.
When did this start, and do you know exactly what parts are MIM’ed?
That was a joke. They were MIMing their gas keys at one point. Everyone went crazy over it, and there was a huge debate over it being good/bad/no different.
The fact that they use straight pins on the FSB and pint the FSB before finish… and thus before the barrel is installed is corner cutting clue enough for me to buy elsewhere.
LMT make a phenomenal product. Mine shoots great but we have seen a few flaws in their products as of recently. Very minor things but nonetheless. I would agree with the prior post stating they aren’t quite as consistent. This seems to be the norm when a company wins a big contract though. I recently saw a DD with a pretty serious problem. These very few instances (LMT or DD) could just be the typical bad few from the batch kind of deal. In summary, LMT makes a great product with incredible features that no one else offers. They are very accurate and durable as all hell.
Thanks for the replies my lmt has been a dream and was just interested as to why they don’t seem to get the press the other big names do.
Thanks markm-
I did know about the gas key, just wasnt aware if it involved other parts too. Myself…Im no fan of mim parts, but thats just me.
Ive always wondered too, why they use straight pins on the fsb, any guesses anyone? Thanks for the info.
I think someone inquired on their straigh pins at one time… might have been a member here… But they claimed they contacted LMT, and LMT had no plans to change the straight pin construction.
Straight pins alone haven’t shown to be too problematic… but when you combine it with the pre finish install… forget it…
You can just get a BCM upper for the same price, and it’s built right.
Thanks for that info, markm. It is good to know the pro’s/con’s of a thing.
Recently seen LE/gov LMTs have been GTG. Ship times have been slow. They cut a few corners as noted, but they are a viable option. Others don’t cut those corners, so they tend to rank higher on the preference list.
If we are talking about their standard model (not an MRP) with the M4 profile, I don’t know why anyone would buy this over a Colt 6920 (which is cheaper).
If you want Middy (that isn’t an MRP), LMT doesn’t make one. So that rules them out of a lot of the market.
C4
Yeah… LMT has a couple of cool proprietary guns… MRP, MWS…
But for a standard DI AR carbine… There’s better options.
I think this is a legitimate beef. When every little shop and their mother are out there striving to check off every box on the chart, LMT has just sat back and watched. And, honestly, they have no reason to. Just like lower tier rifles, theirs fly off the shelves, so why improve a product that’s selling just fine?
As far as the people being opposed to MIM parts… well, there isn’t much to say about them. They seem like the sort of peoples who are also concerned about voodoo dolls, demonic portals, and other unscientific hysteria.
Grant you would know better than my does colt and lmt set their prices fair trade or is there give in the mark ups? I ask because my lgs sells 6920s for 1120 and I got my std 16 for 950. I knew when I bought it colt makes good product and I knew lmt made good stuff also so the price was my only real hiccup. I see your colts are close to what I got my lmt for in January.
I’ve enjoyed my LMT, it has been a reliable and accurate rifle and has never failed me. I did have some ejector/extractor scoring on my brass for a bit but changing my buffer weight took care of that.
LMT’s MRP/MWS platforms are one of the nicest rifles you can buy, they’re a freaking work of art.
Did you get the STD16 or the SPM16? The price you are listing for the STD16 is BELOW dealer price. So either the dealer was trying to dump it, or bought it used and passed it off as new.
6920’s can be had all over the net for under $1100. MAP on a STD16 is 1,287 and the SPM16 (which is more like the 6920) is $1,272.
C4