Next Generation Arms, Tidewater, OR - AR clones

[YosemiteSam357]

Is anyone familiar with Next Generation Arms (http://www.nextgenerationarms.com/) (NGA) of Tidewater, OR.?

These guys are just down the road from me a bit, and I'm trying to find out more about them. Pretty small outfit turning out allegedly high quality AR rifles. Ceramic coatings and a hydraulic buffer standard. 60% reduction in movement. No oil after initial break in. I'm looking at the JC382 (http://www.nextgenerationarms.com/products/guns/jc382pat.html) currently.

My main concerns are the same as that of buying anything from a brand new company: No reputation that I'm aware of; Potential for not being around long enough to honor their lifetime warranty (a risk with anyone, no doubt); Potential resale value issues if they don't take off in popularity.

My local shop owner is sold on these, has bought one himself, sold some to local LEOs, and says this is the basic chassis for rifles costing a lot more; I can't remember the name off hand.

The others I'm looking at right now are DPMS and Bushmaster. The NGA wouldn't cost me much more than either of these options, and it sounds like it's got some good features. My dealer is pushing them hard, and he's a Bushy dealer, too. I just can't figure out if I should put my trust in this company, despite the fact that I'd be supporting a local business (two, actually, as I'd buy it through my dealer).

Has anyone ever heard of these guns, or have an opinion on my quandary?

-- Sam

[PDXGS]

I've been to the same shop and heard what the owner has to say about them.
The Coast Guard has placed a large order with NGA recently.
I'm impressed and will likely buy one next month if , like you, I can get some input from owners/users. Otherwise I'll likely get a RRA.

[YosemiteSam357]

From what I've learned since I posted the original, these are good guns but truly no one outside our corner of the universe has heard of them. I can see the friction reducing properties of the ceramics as well as the h-buffer being beneficial in a full auto gun in a harsh combat environment, but for my use at the target range it seems a bit overkill.

The in-shop retail prices are way, way below the inflated MSRPs listed on the manufacturer's site, but still high compared to name brand off-the-shelf ARs. Still, when you see a $2500 price tag on an AR (higher end one, of course) it gives one pause. With the basic model you're paying about $200-250 for the ceramic coatings, all told.

Also, be aware that shop is the sole retail distributor at this point, for good or bad. I know and like the proprietor, but competition is always healthy.

-- Sam

[PDXGS]

I'm taking the plunge and picking up a Patrolman this week.
I'll post back with my impressions.

[YosemiteSam357]

Great! I for one am interested to hear your perceptions, both short and long term.

I ended up buying a Stag carbine, then realizing that a carbine isn't the best choice for the kind of shooting I do most. So I sold that and built a custom from the ground up. It ended up costing as much as a Patrolman. :p

-- Sam

[PDXGS]

Yeah, I did the math and concluded roughly the same.
I'll report back in after a few hundred rounds.

[PDXGS]

http://rubbercow.smugmug.com/photos/403145303_QG2KU-M.jpg
OK here's the first range report.
I took the JC 382 Patrol to the range today to break-in the barrel. Next Generation Arms suggests one shot every 5 minutes or so. Each shot is followed by a bore clean of copper solvent and a windex patch chaser for the first 10 rounds.
The good news is that I got to shoot today, the bad news is that I spent the better part of an hour shooting ten rounds!
The best news is that at 50 yds, on the bench, this rifle is wickedly accurate-as it ought to be. I walked the first four rounds to the nickle-sized flourescent center of the sight-in target and then placeed the remaing six shots on the periphery of the center -all within an inch and a half or so. Windage was dead on. The ceramic coatings do an odd number on the heat dissipation. After each shot I removed the bolt carrier assembly (within fifteen seconds of the shot) and it was barely warm to the touch.
Next weekend I shoot another slow twenty and then up the feed rate to about 200 per hour and the following weekend I shoot my first practical rifle match. Woot!