Diamondback Firearms Fields A New AR In 6.5 Creedmoor
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 2 months ago
Guns.com has the scoop. I haven’t seen any reviews of the gun yet. I’d like to see some serious, critical work to vet this gun and others made by Diamondback.
But the great thing is that their rifles – including this 6.5 Creedmoor AR – are less than $1300. That’s right. An AR 6.5 Creedmoor < $1300. Competition is a wonderful thing. Diamondback is selling their rifles for under $1300, and that includes their rifles that handle larger cartridges than the 5.56mm (e.g., 6.5 Creedmoor and .308, which are both still short-action rounds).
If you are a firearms manufacturer who fabricates ARs, you seriously need to recalibrate. You need to ask yourselves if you really want to be in the business of manufacturing ARs if your MSRP is significantly more than $1300. This is the sweet spot. Because if a prospective buyer can buy yours for more, or a Diamondback for less, he must ask himself whether it’s wise to throw away his money like that in order to have yours. The calculus is simple, and you absolutely must begin to match the cost of the least expensive manufacturer, or if you don’t, you’ll have to find a niche market because of some features or quality you have that others don’t. Where do you think the real financial margin is in this calculus?
Diamondback Firearms can be found here.
On August 28, 2017 at 2:20 pm, Frogdaddy said:
I’ve been looking around for another AR in 300 BLK. They tend to be all over the place ( > $850) and without scouring the interwebs for research and/or vids, I find it confusing from a civilian standpoint. How would I determine quality:price when there’s so many manufacturers? You’ve got historical brand name manufacturers (charging sometimes on name recognition alone) and you have the new guys on the block that don’t have the history and charge less. On the surface they look the same. Is it enough for a company to indicate milspec as proof of quality met? Can you get a dependable quality AR for less? If it cost more is it better in the realm of AR’s? Is it barrel longevity or steel used? What are the things to look for? Or is the proverbial “depends on what you want to do with it” come into play? Let’s say defense or shtf? I like shooting them and want it handy for what-ifs. During a what-if scenario is not the time to find out if you bought a quality weapon.
A friend of mine always tells me his father was an old school DI in the marines and said “if your life depends on it, you don’t go cheap”. Where’s the balance?
I’m asking because I don’t know.
Thanks
On August 28, 2017 at 2:45 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Hey, I’ve got it. I understand exactly. We (on a limited budget) need to balance between buying a Knight’s Armament for $3000 and another less expensive AR that meets our needs.
That said, I put a LOT of rounds through my ARs, and mine have never once failed. I have two Rock River Arms ARs. They seem to hit the sweet spot I mentioned in the post, < $1300 for just about all of their models, except if you get into the larger calibers like .308 or 6.5. Many manufacturers are charging more for their larger caliber ARs, although I really don't know why. This is why I would like to see some good stress tests of the newcomers on the market. I'd like to see a stress test of the Diamondback 6.5, but I'm unwilling to pay more than about $1300 for a good gun. There are too many bolt action 6.5s on the market now to pay more for a good 6.5 gun, bolt or semi.
On August 28, 2017 at 7:58 pm, Ned said:
I have a DB 308 16″: https://diamondbackfirearms.com/collections/db10-rifle-series/products/diamondback-db10ckmb?variant=29900867596
Street price is a little over 700 bux.
I will update when I have wrung it out some. For now, I”m not too impressed with accuracy. It shoots some stuff OK but it’s finicky as all hell – shoots different loads of the same weight tip to radically different POI.
Beats the crap outta the DPMS G2 308 that I finally got rid of, though.
If I can’t make it shoot as consistently as I like, I’ll put a different barrel on it and still come in under 1000 bux.
On August 28, 2017 at 8:35 pm, TheAlaskan said:
Fulton Armory builds to order Creeds. A little spendy. Well worth the money. I got one. Now my all purpose hunting rifle.
On August 28, 2017 at 9:27 pm, Frogdaddy said:
Interesting. Not enough reviews for their 300BLK version. Still looking.