What the hell am I really buying??

[T1704]

After a lot of research, it seems as though the AR business is very incestuous. I've recently learned that Hogun seems to be connected with POF and better understanding the different forge markings on material that what we think we're getting from a particular distributor is likely the same as what other retailers are selling. Can anyone shed a little light for a newbie on the relationships between these manufacturers, coatings companies, retailers, etc. so one would know what they're really getting when purchasing misc. parts to assemble a rifle? I'm sure that most of you are up on this, but any help for the NEWB would be great. With so many trademarked items out there, its tough to distinguish whether you are buying a manufacturers name; a cotaings companies name, or a "no name" that actually came out of a high end CNC shop...

[Circuits]

All basic forgings are supplied by one of the three or four major aluminum forging companies in the country.

Some companies order stuff made with basic, shared forging dies, others specify and provide their own unique forging dies to be used for their blanks.

The material used can vary from order to order.

The way companies finish machining the forgings varies by their capabilities and product needs, and each company can have multiple product lines or levels of QC applied to any step in the process.

The finishes and treatments applied vary from company to company, lot to lot, batch to batch.

Even if companies buy their raw forgings from the same house, or have the same large machine shop do the work on them doesn't make them the same product.

[asmo]

There are very few companies that actually make the key components of most ARs -- lowers/uppers (forgings), barrels, etc.. The relationships among those companies is a loosely guarded trade secret. See if you can find a copy of the old Tactical Yellow Visor M4 Comparison chart and it will kind of show who is the same as who (you need to infer a bit). But there are different levels of fit-and-function depending on the various 'manufacturer' - regardless of who forged the parts.

[T1704]

Thank you for the responses guys.

[Colorado Osprey]

Not only are there just a few companies making casting, but there are also very few who actually do the machining, and many of the big names buy the same parts, same QC, same guys making them, with different roll marks identifying them as their own.

There is one company that gets a bad press on ARF, but they make or have made parts for all of the big names including the Pony. Olympic Arms... they make all their own parts here in the USA.

Also, there are some discount houses that also get trashed. Most of their inventory is bought by lowest bidder contracts and their part suppliers change from time to time, but most of their inventory actually comes from the big recognizable name places... you just aren't paying for the name. I have received Bushmaster complete uppers from Model 1 Sales for example in the past.

[ray1970]

I also here there are only one or two places making hammer forged barrels. So whether your barrel is marked Bravo Company, Daniel Defense, or whatever else, it probably came from the same manufacturer.

Or so I've heard.

[denverco]

Here's a list of forge markings and what they mean. I believe FN makes a lot of PSA stuff and I'm sure several others...
A (splintered) = Anchor Harvey Aluminum
AF = Alcoa Forge
C AF = Colt Alco Forge
C MB = Colt / Mueller Brass
Cardinal (stylized) = Cardinal Forge
CH = Colt Harvey Aluminum
Circle/Crosshairs w/"AR" = ArmaLite
CK = Colt / Kaiser Aluminum
CM = Colt / Martin Marietta
D (stylized) = Diemaco
DK = Diemaco / Kaiser Aluminum
E = Emco
EK = EMCO/Kaiser
E MB = EMCO/Mueller Brass
F keyhole = FNMI / Cerro Forge
FA = FNMI / Anchor Harvey
FK = FNMI / Kaiser Aluminum
FM = FN/Martin Marietta
FMB = FNMI / Mueller Brass
Keyhole = Cerro Forge
L = Lewis Machine & Tool
LK = LAR / Kaiser Aluminum
LM = LAR / Martin Marietta
M (under diamond) = Mueller Industries
PA = Capco / Anchor Harvey
PM = Capco / Martin Marietta

[T1704]

Thanks everyone.

[NightCat]

Will it go bang? Is it legal? Did you not pay out the ass for it? Is it made in the US?

IF yes to the above.

Why complain.

[T1704]

Will it go bang? Is it legal? Did you not pay out the ass for it? Is it made in the US?

IF yes to the above.

Why complain.

Not complaining, just trying to better educate myself. Thanks for taking the time to respond.