ATI Omni MAXX Hybrid AR-15, the true budget-minded AR for shooters?

Yes, I do own an AR-15.  To be specific, its not the best AR, nor the most reliable (at first), but it is the cheapest AR-15 around.  For all you CBS types, I'll try to detail out if it is worth it or not.

There it is, right out of the box.  It comes with some nice features, like the 12 inch quad free floating rail for lots of attachable goodies, and a decent SuperStoc.  Other than that its pretty much a standard AR the rest of the way.  This is a flat top M4 style AR, so I had to purchase a set of sights for it, which I did.  Oh, it also came with a single magazine, an Amend2 30rnd.  The barrel configuration is a 1:7 twist chambered for 5.56 or 223 rounds, and is the skinny pencil kind, keeps the weight down.  this is carbine length at 16' and uses the typical gas system, not piston.  Tucked inside the quad rail is a low profile gas block and lastly has a decent flash hider on the end.

So this began last year when I went to the FL gun Show in Orlando.  I had a mission: to find an AR that was cheap and buy it.  The show was fun; you get to ogle at a TON of weapons, talk to all kinds of people and get your fill of everything that goes 'bang'.  However like any tradeshow, there are reputable and shady dealers alike.  I walked around *every* booth (much to my wife's dismay) and wanted to see/hold/caress every weapon I could.  She wanted to leave after about an hour, but I reminded her about the last time she dragged me to the mall to go shoe shopping and she ended up quietly sticking with it :)

Well I thought I had it nailed, a really nice Bushmaster was calling me at $649 and I was about to tip and buy it, when suddenly I came across the Shoot Straight booths.  There was a sign saying 'ATI AR-15 5.56  $429'   I thought for a moment there was actually a heavenly beam of light shining down centered on this rifle with a chorus of singers making 'ah-ha' noises.  I went, looked, picked it up, shook it, tested its actions.  Strange there was not a lot of other people also doing the same.  Lots of folks passed by, glancing at the sign, but not stopping.  Hmmmm...

Well I talked to the Shoot Straight employee as best I could, asking him some questions about it.  In retrospect that was a waste of time.  Not like he was going to tell me anything that would dissuade me from making a purchase.  I made the purchase.  While I was waiting for them to run my name thru the FBI database, I went over to another vendor to find a set of sights.  I ended up buying a set of front and rear flip up sights (plastic) and a 20mm red dot sight.  Sometimes a bargain is too much a bargain.  Such was the case with these sights.  The red dot turned out to be too small, and needed a riser to really work well, and it had a bad habit of shutting off every time you shot the gun.  Was just a cheap Hong Kong made unit.  The plastic sights fared no better, as I could never get them adjusted to the point of any accuracy.

So I went home with my new purchases, and started to do something I should have done BEFORE the show:  Research AR-15's, specifically this ATI model.  Now I'll be honest, there's a lot I simply do not know about guns I have not seen before.  I spent the good part of three days researching and learning everything AR.  In hindsight, I may have been better off with the Bushmaster, but that would not be living up to my true CBS nature, now would it? 

The ATI AR is made of plastic.  Literally!  Now that's a very simplistic statement, as its actually a really tough polymer that is incredibly strong, but its still plastic...  The Lower part is cast of this polymer as well as the main case of the upper.  The rear of the lower however where the buttstock tube connects, is actually reinforced with metal as well as some key areas of the upper.  (seems that early models were 100% plastic and the stock would end up cracking and breaking due to the repeated firing stresses.)  I spent the first day taking the entire thing apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together, just to make sure I could do it.

Off to the range!  At that time I was still going to the Orlando Gun Club, so there is where I went.  Purchase a few boxes of 223, some paper bad guys to kill and in I went.  I had practiced at home every aspect of loading, charging, an operation of the AR, so I felt confident that I would come off as an established AR owner to the other people there.  Yeah. Did not happen.  First thing I did was load my mag with 20 rounds, and popped it into the mag well.  I thought it was locked in place, but found out it was NOT when I turned the gun into shooting position and the damn mag fell out, knocked on the bench rest and clattered on to the floor INSIDE the shooting alley.  You know, the place your not allowed to go into during range time. 

I was mortified, figured my inner noob was showing.  I ducked below the rest, hoping I could just reach the mag, but could not.  Then another patron poked me with the shell shovel, indicating I should take it to retrieve the mag, which I did.  I swear when I looked at him his eyes said to me 'Been there, done that'  Anyhow once I re situated, I again popped in my mag, this time giving it a little pull to make sure it is truly locked in, and it was.

Sight. Aim. Breathe.  Fire.  I had a blast, shot every darn Round and shredded the bad guy into bits.  It was every bit as glorious as I figured it would be. I was quite reluctant to leave, but hey, when your out of rounds, its time to go.  The second trip to the range a week later I was sporting a lot of reload rounds.  I had obtained a set of dies for my LEE press and just made a TON of 223 ammo.  Hey, its the only way you can be CBS with an AR, right?

Well now the issues started.  The rifle started to short stroke and misfeed, (ftf)  the bullets would either not eject or get caught between the BC and star chamber.  I thought it was my reloads, made wrong, or too light.  Went and bought a box of factory ammo but had the same issues with it.  I wondered if I broke my new rifle with my reloads...  Turns out I did not.  On closer inspection at home, I Discovered that the roll pin that secures the gas tube into the gas block was never installed.  The tube was slightly moving outward from the block each time I made a shot, until the holes were mis aligned to the point of not providing enough gas.  I took the rifle to the Shoot Straight Armorer who promptly fixed the tube and tapped a pin into it, fixing the issue.  I will note that I did Call ATI support and they sent me out a new tube and pin for this at no charge, with hefty apologies for the factory oversight.

Should be then end of this story, but NO! There's more...   I went back to the range a couple more times, each time with reloads or factory ammo.  The short stroking problem never came back, but I was still getting about 2 FTF;s out of every 20 shots fired.

I was getting very frustrated with this rifle by now, and after repeated conversations with ATI, decided to just send in the rifle for them to fix.  I did that, had to wait about a month for it to come back.  The end result was the gunsmith stoned a burr off the chamber fingers, and replaced the entire Mag Catch, indicating it was faulty.   The magazines were not locking in at the right angle which was causing the bullets to cant slightly during feeding.

THATS RIGHT! THE ENTIRE MAG CATCH WAS BAD!  It was totally not my fault now that first mag fell out and embarrassed me that day, it was ATI's fault!  Ok, Ok, so moment of happy revelation aside, I took my refurbished rifle to the range again, with hundreds of reloads (hey, I had a month to do nothing but make em)  and blew up every single one of them.  No FTF's, no Jam's, just a perfect system of shooting.  Now, its been many more range trips since then, and I am happy to report still no new issues have occurred and I am quite happy with the rifle now.

My final thoughts on this Rifle:  It is a bargain, buy one.  It shoots just as well as a $2000 rifle does, and is a hell of a lot lighter.  ATI has a lifetime warranty and they DO honor it with no hassles, I feel very satisfied with my purchase.  I am looking forward to my next trip to the range :)