The versatile ARs are now well accepted as legitimate hunting arms, after years of opposition from those who resisted hunting with what they viewed as “military arms.”

By Steve Gash

The AR-15 rifle is one of the most popular rifle designs of all time, and for good reason. It is reliable, accurate, durable, and can be had in an almost unbelievable array of configurations. Demand is at an all-time high, and everybody, it seems, is building ARs.

Olympic Arms, Inc., unlike some other AR companies, makes all their major components in-house, rather than getting them from outside sources. Olympic has direct and total control over their manufacturing processes, which results in high-quality end products. Couple that with very competitive prices and you have a recipe for business success. A comprehensive and highly varied product line doesn’t hurt, either, and it would be surprising if Olympic doesn’t make an AR that trips your trigger.

One of the (many) beauties of the AR platform is the almost endless variety of configurations that are possible. For example, a 5.56mm plinker or target model can quickly and inexpensively be converted to a great hunting gun by simply swapping out the uppers, producing a rifle similar to this K8-MAG in .25 WSSM.

The firm that is now Olympic Arms has been in the gun business since 1956, but it did not start out building ARs. Company founder Robert Schuetz began manufacturing gun barrels as the Schuetzen Gun Works in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1975, the company moved to its current location in Olympia, Washington, and in 1982, changed its name to Olympic Arms.

Olympic is still a family-run business. Robert’s son Brian serves as Vice President and oversees manufacturing. Robert’s daughter, Diane Haupert, handles the administrative side of things as Chief Financial Officer. The company’s 16,000 square-foot plant in Washington employees about sixty people, and their casting facility in Costa Mesa, California, employs another twenty folks.

Olympic’s manufacturing processes utilize state-of-the art CNC machines that finish parts in a single operation and eliminate “tolerance stacking” that can occur when several machines perform operations on a single part. Remember that the AR is an “assembled” gun, not a “fitted” gun. Top-quality component parts are the key to quality.

Upper receivers come either with a carry handle with a rear sight, or a flat top with Picatinny rails. Gas blocks can have an A2 front sight that is compatible with the carry handle rear sight, or can be flat top so as to not interfere with the optics. Heavyweight bull barrels with a crowned muzzle or more slender military weights with an A2 flash suppressor are made in lengths from 16 to 24 inches, and more than one twist rate is available.

As expected, lowers are pretty much interchangeable with different uppers so that the user can swap out a varmint upper to make a big game rig or vice versa. All of the controls are in the familiar places, and operate like you expect them to. And Olympic AR triggers are some of the best I’ve ever tested.

I count about 23 different models of ARs in the current Olympic line. The exquisite “Ultramatch” (UM) and “Servicematch” (SM) models come with true .223 Remington chambers while virtually all of the other .22-caliber ARs have mil-spec 5.56mm chambers. (Both of my Olympic ARs are 5.56, and shoot all .223 loads with no problems whatsoever.) Standard twist for the UM model is 1:10-inch, but a 1:8-inch is available. This is reversed in the SM rifle, where 1:8-inch is the standard and 1:10 the option. For the majority of the 5.56 models, 1:9-inch is standard.

Here are just four of the over-achievers for which Olympic ARs are chambered (from left): the ubiquitous .223 Remington; the 6.8 SPC Remington; the hot new .300 Olympic Super Short Magnum; and its parent cartridge, the .25 Winchester Super Short Magnum.

An interesting variant is the 16-inch barreled K3B-FAR, which has A2 sights and flash suppressor, and a six-position collapsible stock. The K7 is similar but comes with a fixed A2 stock. The K4B also has A2 everything, but comes with a 20-inch barrel. This model is also available in 6.8 Remington SPC. The Model K74 in 5.45x39 Russian features the collapsible stock. The LT series has ACE FX skeleton stocks, ERGO grips, and free-floating four-rail aluminum handguards that surround 16-inch barrels. The GI-16 is a military look-alike with a collapsible stock. The K3B-CAR has an 11.5-inch barrel, but has a permanently-attached A1 flash suppressor so it’s legal for civilians.

To my way of thinking, the K16 is the most practical AR around. With a crowned 16-inch match stainless bull barrel, 1:9-inch twist, A2 stock, flat tops, and free-floated handguard, it’s a gem. It’s also available in 6.8 SPC (as the model K1668).

Lovers of pistol cartridges in ARs are not forgotten, with the K9, K10, K40, and K45 models. in 9mm Parabellum, 10mm, .40 S&W and .45 ACP, respectively. They have 16-inch barrels, collapsible stocks and a specially designed pistol-caliber flash suppressor. There are even 6.5-inch barreled “pistols” in 5.56m (the OA-93 and K23P models).

For those of us on a budget, Olympic makes what they call their “Plinker Plus” models in 5.56. Of standard configuration, the MSRP on the 16-inch barreled model is only $713.70 and $843.70 for one with a 20-inch barrel. ARs don’t get any less expensive than that, folks.

For big game, the K8-MAG is available in .223, .243, and .25 WSSM calibers. These models are available with 24-inch, 1:10-inch twist barrels, and flat-top everything, so they’re optics ready from the get-go.

For those who think a big game caliber ought to start with (at least) a “3,” there is the brand new Gamestalker rifle in the equally new .300 Olympic Super Short Magnum (OSSM). Accordingly to company literature, this little gem propels a 150-gr. bullet at about 3,000 fps and is ballistically superior to the .30-06. The Gamestalker has a 22-inch barrel with a 12-inch twist. Hunter Shack Munitions (HSM) makes loaded ammunition, but the case is easily formed from .25 WSSM brass. Hornady makes the dies, and Hodgdon has load data in the works, so handloaders will have a field day with this one. For those who already have a complete AR, an upper in .300 OSSM is also available; I have one on order and can’t wait to try it.

At a SHOT Show a few years back, I decided that I would concentrate on ARs, and (if possible) pick one that, as Goldilocks said, was not too hot, not too cold, but just right. I didn’t know what I was in for. ARs were everywhere: long ones, short ones, fat-barrelled and skinny ones, odd-looking sights, and various appliances hanging off of the multitudinous rails that decorated the receivers and handguards. I was in a serious funk. Next Page

This  article is an excerpt from Gun Digest 2011. Click here to order your copy of the "World's Greatest Gun Book."