AR Sponsor
Posted: 4/8/2007 6:33:49 AM EDT
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Many have commented on the fact that clean ARs are reliable. After how many rounds do you begin to worry about reliabiltiy? How much mud, sand and dirt can they take before they choke? Thanks. |
I have a homebuilt M4 with really high end parts. The first 1000 rounds I couldn't get it to feed reliably no matter what I tried. Then it started loosening up. Now after 3500 or so rounds through it, it's good and broke in and runs amazingly well. I live out in the country and it's either very dusty, or very muddy all the time. I've gone to the point of dropping a mag in wet clay (accidently) and slamming it in, dropping the bolt and running it through. I DID pull my face back a tad that time though  functioned 100%, I trust the rifle to absolutely run perfect now with good ammo. That being said, I don't go over 1 range session, typically about 500 rounds, without cleaning it. There's no need to let em sit dirty as it really doesn't take that long to clean em. If you plan on doing any marathon range sessions, go for it, don't clean or lube it during the session, and shoot till it fails. That'll give you a good idea of what your rifle will do. Take it home, clean it up, bit of oil on and in the BCG and CH and you're back to having a reliable rifle, if it was to start with.
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| I did a 1k round test on my RRA upper, Bushy lower. 1k rounds (mixed total) of IMI 223, HSM 223, Guano 556, and RORG 556. Done over 4 range sessions. Only maintenance done was to lube the BCG before each session. I did not have 1 problem. I HAD to clean the rifle afterwards, I hate having a dirty firearm. |
ahhh i kno what u mean... i cant have one sitting in my house |
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I appreciate your feedback. I have two carbines and consider them both extremely reliable, especially during the first 1500 rounds. After that, one of them occassionally has problems. They have been wet and dusty as well and still functioned just fine. I am also very meticulous about cleaning my firearms and taking care of the things that I own. As a result, everything I own works. Thanks. |
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I've been using ARs now for more than 35 years and I could say that they're very reliable as long as you don't put too much dirt, sand, mud, etc and clean it every time you use it. I've had 6 AR carbines and rifles in the past and now currently have four. Back then we didn't have the better components that we have today like full auto bolt carriers, heavier buffers, extra power extractor springs, extractor spring O-rings, etc., but I still fired thousands of rounds without any problems as long as you use good ammo, mags and lubricate your rifle well. Here's an thread about a 10K torture test of an AR if you haven't seen it yet, if you saw it already sorry but it shows that the AR system could take a lot of abuse when used properly. THE QUALITY OF THE PONY thread link |
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I don't think I'd ever worry about reliability with my AR. After 15,000 rounds all I would begin to worry about is a lug breaking off the bolt. I've ran 6,000 through a Bushmaster 20". (IMI, LC XM193, LC XM855 LP) My Colt 16" ran 5,000 and didn't want to run it torture it any more. Armalite 16" ran 7,000 rounds with 1 malfunction at the 3,000-3,250 point. Believe ammo was the problem. From my experience as long as you've got lube on you, I wouldn't worry about it ever stopping. |
With your ChromeLined name I would think your favorite would be chrome lined barrels?  Yup, it would be interesting if they did that test and until the barrel gave out with a chrome lined barrel like my former pre ban Colt R6600 AR-15A2 H-BAR. Anybody know what the average life span of a chrome lined military barrel or just post a thread/ website article link? |
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