anyone know anything about these guys.just ordered an ar upper kit from them....... anything i should know?

Yeah, Return it. They have horrible quality there stuff is never in-spec and Customer service is even worse.

Dont knw much about them, but it sounds like you got the cart in front of the horse there. LOL

Here is all you need to know they have changed there name four Times I know of,

Hesse to Vulcan to Blackthorne and Now there also using Velocity branding.

WHY becuase every time they soil a name they need a new one to move all there crap out.

Hands down the worst of the worst. I personally saw a lower from Hesse break at the hub. Absolute junk.

Horrible quality. Hope you saved your receipt.

just received my blackthorn upper today,,its in awsome shape.....even got an armalite upper.the barrel is wilsoncombat..........shoots great also. and i built the whole thing for 535

Is the upper an Armalite or Blackthorne? I don't understand. I hope it works out for you.

my bad let me eplain. i bought it from blackthorn.. they dont make anything they sell. its all like contracted out to them........ yes the upper is armalite.......good so far........they must have changed becouse customer service isnt that bad either.......

from what ive seen of reviews and stuff the biggest problems were with the lowers, as mentioned above, chhep casting. but i had been temted to try them just to see for myself. i just couldnt bring myself to do it. only issues i had heard about on the upper assemblies were bad sights not properly installed.
glad your happy with it.
have you shot it yet?
keep us informed

The broken Hesse lower I saw was broken at the hub where the buffer tube threads into the receiver. I have never had any personal experience with their uppers though.

blacktorn doesnt sell lowers.and vulcan arms sells 'plastic'lopwers,,,,,,,,, who would shoot an ar with a plastic lower????????? shot about 500 rounds through mine and shoots better than my bushmaster........got my lower from gse...

Good luck with your Blackthorne

So is it not an Armalite? Im confused

Oh just the reciever is armalite with a bunch of blackthorne parts?

So do they just through together parts from other manufactures??

Ok so I have a legitimate question and will bite at the aurgument seeing is how I have built AR's and personally know there quality form seeing guns self destruct and having to deal with them because somebody insisted upon using them.

Why would one of the cheapest companys on the market cotract out parts from one of the most expensive ? that would be like Kia outsourcing there motors from Ferrari. Im just curiuos, does it Armalite ? Or did they tell you thats who manufactured it for them ?

Don't confuse Wilson Combat with Wilson barrels. Wilson combat doesn't manufacture barrels, they just chamber and finish them, and Wilson barrels doesn't manufacture guns, only barrels. Many of the large AR Manufacturers contract with Wilson (barrels) to manufacture barrels to their specs.. So if someone is telling you that your upper has a Wilson Combat barrel on it, I would be very suspect. I would be very leery of believing that Armalite is selling thier uppers, and Wilson Combat their barrels to such a questionable company as Blackthorne as well. Maybe so, but I seriously doubt it.

Wilson Arms (barrel maker) is located in Branford, CT, and their website is www.wilsonarms.com

Wilson Combat (Firearms Maker) is located in Berryville, AR, and their website is www.wilsoncombat.com

You will be lucky to get it any time soon. I ordered one last year and they kept pushing the delivery out, claimed they were always waiting on some part or the other. They eventually just stopped answering the phone and replying to email. I sent one last enmail and called the credit card company and had them remove the charges.

Funny thing was Gunbroker had no less than 30 for sale by this company at way marked up prices, they eventually started selling under another name, I assume because of the compalints from customers having the same problem as I did.

Bottom line stay away from these folks.

Try Model 1 Sales. They are a Texas company and deliver quicker than they quote.

Hmm, an Armalite upper with a Wilson Combat barrel made by Blackthorn ?? Do you have any idea what you actually bought ??

Blackthorne, Vulcan, Hesse are all the same company to my knowledge. Some manufacturers have had success with polymer lowers. Sabre Defence builds one that works fine. Vulcan/Hesse/Blackthorne makes one that is horrible. These charlatans have the worst reputation in the AR industry, period. Anyone that would buy this stuff needs to get their head examined.

^^^^ What he said.

and Im still waiting for an answer to my question

Me and my friend have bought two complete kits from blackthorne. There were alright for what we paid for them. Not to argue but blackthorne does not manufacture anything. They get all their parts from suppliers like model 1 sales. It is hit or miss on who they will be from. They get parts from wilson arms(not combat), mossberg, LMT, and various others. Basically they get the parts that arn't perfect from the other companies. With that being said it is hit or miss on the quality of the parts sometimes they are a homerun other are not. My upper was good and shoots great. The only problem was my rear pin hole was eggshaped. Not to hard to fix on my own.

Hesse started with the Cetme recievers and were not that great. but as stated befor the broker receiver above polymer so why use it???? Also im sure there are many factors one should ask about it breaking. Was the ammo hot loaded, was the rifle abused. could it have been damaged prior to breaking completely by something else?

What did y'all pay for them?

they were about $415 a piece for the complete kits less stripped lower receiver off of gunbroker. I think they're prices went up though