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60K views 61 replies 25 participants last post by  0002S 
#1 ·
it has the Spikes logo on the lower, but,

no STI roll mark on the bolt or bolt carrier,
no STI roll mark on the barrel under the forearm grip,
no brandname buttstock
no spikes logo on top of the rail under the removable carry handle,
castle nut not staked

This was a cash deal from an individual who said the rifle is 6 years old. He told me the rifle was bought when spikes was first starting out. The guy I bought it from swears up and down the rifle came straight from Spikes. He also said its been fired 5 times and has been kept locked up. The rifle is very clean, there is just a slight amount of powder residue on the bolt and muzzle. And I am talking about a very, very small amount of powder residue. Either he did a great job cleaning the rifle, or it really has been fired 5 times.

Model number ST15
Serial # - 140XX (5 digital serial number)

Is it possible this is an early Spikes like what the guy said, or is it a spikes lower with some no-name upper?

The barrel is marked 5.56 NATO 1:7 between the front sight and the flashhider.

I have a couple of calls into spikes customer support.

They said they were being overwhelmed with phone calls, so they took my number and said they would call me back.

Part of it is my fault because I did not take more time to look at the rifle.

Maybe this will help, the only marks I have found on the upper is a square on the right hand side, and the hammer is marked F2.



 
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#48 ·
Thank you, but no.


I am going to put the buffer that came with the rifle back in, leave the mil-spec recoil spring, then fire off a few rounds.

Its supposed to rain all today, so it will probably be a couple of more days before I get back out to the sand pit.
 
#46 ·
Thanks, I am going to give them a call. The website says nothing about the quality of the parts, and I want the mil-spec components, as outlined above. The BCG is the heart of the rifle, as you know, and I don't want to scrimp on my friend's gear, there. If they are G2G, then thanks a TON!

ETA: Every google-search I do on them results in a "Meh, save up and buy something nicer". I would rather wait and find some good gear (as outlined in my post above) than jump now and put parts in my friends weapons that are sub-standard, especially the BCG. The staking on this one looks pretty hap-haphazardly done, as well. OP's BCG has MUCH better staking. It doesn't look like a drunk monkey did it. I guess that yes, there are some cheap BCG's currently on the market, and cede the point!


The bolts are probably not C158/MPI at that price, either.
 
#49 ·
I think a lot of the answers have been covered, but I thought I'd try to add a little help just in case.

There are some things that are good to have on hand for replacement anyway. A few good examples are an extra bolt and trigger group. In my experience having at least these two things will cover a lot of what might go wrong with the AR in the future. It's easy to carry and swap a bolt out if things go wrong and then fix an extractor later if that's all that went wrong. I'd keep extra extractors/springs as well, they're cheap anyway. Every once in a while you will see an AR bolt bust a lug. There are different BCGs and that is relative to the weight. I like the heavier BCGs.

I find it best to try multiple buffers to see what performs best in your AR. They can all be a little different so I actually keep 4 different weights to try until I decide what will work best in an AR. I like the heaviest buffer I can get to run reliably with the ammo that fits my intended use for that AR. So, I have different buffers in different ARs if that makes sense. I use my 4 weights of buffers to help friends figure out what's best for their AR and intended use/ammo choice. Some of that depends on what bcg is used and also the gas ports (just as an example). If you swap BCG or upper later you would want to test again to see what buffer performs best. Maybe you can find someone local to you that has different ones for testing. I do that for folks all the time in my area and I know there are a lot of folks like me that enjoy this sort of thing.

I said all of that to say that there is nothing wrong with wanting to get different/better parts like the bolt or bcg, but you may find that what you have runs just fine. It pays to have a few extra parts anyway. You could either just install what you consider to be the better parts or run what's in it and keep the better parts as spares.

I wouldn't feel bad about what you have. Just get a bunch of rounds through it and dress it up how you want it. If you have issues then keep asking and folks will walk you through possible solutions. I like to keep mine clean and lubed, but I also like to really run them hard and get them dirty with lots of rounds through them - that way you get a good test of how it runs when it's under hard use/conditions. You may end up like some of us with multiples of everything anyway :D:. Two is one, one is none.
 
#51 ·
Does it function properly and shoot straight with no broken or missing parts? If it does you got a good deal on a good rifle, shoot and enjoy. Reload and repeat. Most manufactures don't make all their own parts the farm out parts from reputable industry suppliers. Some of the better ones today started out as parts suppliers. Again shoot and enjoy, reload and repeat.
 
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