Chainsaw Repair

I gave  my new 18" Longer branded bar a good thrashing for a couple of days recently.  It's a machined (not laminated) bar with replaceable nose sprocket.  It came witha Longer chain, which I felt had looser joints than I was used to,  so I didn't use that.  I used an old chain that I caefully sharpened.  I'm wondering if the bar is softer than the old bar I had (don't know the brand).  Other than that,  for the seasonal firewood get,  it seemed a good deal for under US$50 for bar+chain,  even if the new chain is demoted to reserve duty.

Do these bars show up in the US,  Canada?  Anyone with a report?

Cheers,
Gregg.

When I searched a while ago,  it looked like "Longer" was the actual brandname of the manufacturer in China and that they were producing reasonable volume.  In my most paranoid moments I imagine someone inventing the whole idea,  hunched over a laptop in a tent in Uzbekestan.