The AR15 just works

[steves]

I purchased my firsr AR15 in 1973 more of less a Colt it worked well ,then I sold it and purchaced an Olympic arms "I think" with the collapsable stock and the 11 inch barrel with the 5" permantly attached flash hider . It looked cool but it sucked so I sold it and bought another Colt Heavy barrel AR15 and it worked flawless. Then I sold it at the first Calif. Assult weapon ban at a good profit . Then later I bought 2 AR15 heavy barrels and sold then at the second round of Calif assult weapons ban at a good profit . Now I have 2 more AR15s with what they call in Calif off list lowers with all the best parts I learned the best parts make the best rifles from the Olyimpic arms I bought and sold a long time ago. I am sure I will sell last 2 as well these as well . ARs are really easy to sell . Why did I post this blather? The Ar series of carbines and rifles are so easy to shoot well. It seems I can pick up one every 5 years and with in seconds feel like I have been practicing every day the ergonomics are great. I really like ARs . Though I have no passion for them . Gun love is different.

[BarryinIN]

I haven't owned one for as long as you (1984, which was long enough before they became popular that I had to order it, since nobody stocked a rifle that would sit on the rack for so long) but I agree.

Like most guns, if made reasonably close to right, they work fine. I've seen some of the lesser ones crash in classes where they get used harder than most guns ever get used, but that's to be expected. I see the same thing with handguns too, and might say I've seen a larger percentage of handguns go down.

Come to think of it, I have only had one shotgun class, and a third of them didn't make it through, and a shotgun is (seemingly) more simple and robust than an AR and we fired fewer rounds at a slower pace than in a carbine class.

Of the ARs that died in classes, many of them were repaired at the first break. Maybe most of them. The problems were fixable because they were assembly problems, not design problems (loose/not staked carrier key screws are too common).

The biggest design flaw in my opinion is that when popped primers fall from the case (it happens) they fall into the trigger mechanism and tie it up. But that is really an ammunition problem.

I need to preface the following with: I love the Garand. Love it. I take at least one on every range visit, I keep a Garand handy as a car gun instead of an AR, and I used a Garand in the last carbine class I took.

But- I have had more trouble with Garands than ARs.

It still wasn't much, but it was more. Little things like gas cylinder plugs getting loose enough to leak, rear sights loosening and dropping elevation, or trigger guards popping, but it's more than I've had to mess with on ARs. And even though the gas cyl plugs and rear sights perhaps could have been caught earlier, I don't have similar things happen on ARs.

Granted, the ARs were bought new or nearly new, while the Garands were decades old, but a couple of them were rebuilt to nearly new condition and the ARs have seen a lot of use since. I know of some registered M16s that have had a ton of ammo through them and their owners haven't had to do much, if anything to them aside from cleaning.

When I started shooting Highpower, Garands were still pretty common there and someone was always fiddling around with one that was giving them fits. I'm sure it was from wear; something like trying to get by without replacing a worn operating rod that keeps jumping the track, but there are a lot of ARs that have seen as much use now that don't seen to have trouble.

I'm not saying the AR is superior. I just don't think it's a piece of junk in comparison, as some people make them out to be.

Some individual ones are junk, but so are individual examples of a lot of guns.

And yes, they are easy to shoot well. I always thought it was one of the easiest rifles to use to get people shooting reasonably well with the least effort. They often help already good shooters become better shooters.

At a place I shoot 3-gun, they started setting up some 300 yard stages. Most of these guys are close range burners, so I know most of them didn't shoot at 300, and I have my doubts they did much at 100. But they hopped down with their ARs and did pretty well from the start. I think if they had used any of a number of other rifles, they would have a lot more trouble, just from fighting the rifle if nothing else. With the AR, they know the rifle is perfectly capable, the trigger and sights are good, recoil is negligible, so they just have to shoot.

I used to see it in Highpower too. When the change was on from M1/M1A/M14 to the AR15, people would change rifles and their scores would climb immediately. I came within two points of my best M1A score the first time out with an AR, and moved up in classification within three matches. That was typical.

[CamuMahubah]

As long as you lube the BCG they will run until you're done...

[steves]

I have a Garand that just sits in the safe I will look at it, think about it, then put it back in the safe for the next time I want look at it. I am in a process of selling all my rifles "the 30 caliber ones" and most likley keeping my favorite 22 L.Rs. I have the most fun with pistols. I have been shootng one of my friends 338 Lapuas Some kind of Rem 700 series? as I am sure I have mentioned and I like it better and shoot it better for some strange reason than any of my rifles. ut I most likly will try to pick a 223 bench rest or varmit type of rifle after I sell off the 30 caliber rifles.

[G-MAN]

I have a Garand that just sits in the safe I will look at it, think about it, then put it back in the safe for the next time I want look at it.

Why don't you shoot your Garand?

[steves]

I do not know why I don't shoot it. There are certain guns that I usually pick and the Garand for some reason isn't one of them. I used to have some real nice MIAs years ago and I sold them. I really am not into rifle shooting I prefer to shoot pistols to me it is more fun . "can't shoot good enough on a consistant basis too be happy about shooting a rifle" I suck big time! I shot a DCM match to qualify for a Garand with an AR.

[BarryinIN]

I'm digging this thread up because last weekend I saw my first AR malfunction o

since this thread began, and the first one I've seen this year. It stood out because it was so unusual to see.

I'm not getting to any carbine classes this year (the year isn't over yet) but that is where I usually see them crash, if any crash at all. Classes are hard on guns; that's all there is to it.

But without a doubt, I've seen more rounds go downrange from a ARs this year than any other rifle, and malfunctions have been nonexistent until that one last weekend. I don't know what brand of rifle that was by the way, but I'm pretty confident in saying it was a magazine problem. The lips were wider than they should be, which led to the double feed, and I'm kinda surprised it happened before from the looks of the magazine.

This happened at a 3-gun match FWIW.

Also since this thread began, I recalled having one problem AR of my own. It was a FrankenGun (parts gun) and the trouble was asked for. I had bought an Eagle Arms lower receiver in the winter of 1988-89, when they came to a gun show. They were just getting started and would not own the ArmaLite name for a couple of years or more. I bought one receiver for $90 and passed at two for 160 because they were an unknown company. I should have gambled and bought them all.

Anyway...I bought that receiver because it looked pretty good, and I wanted a CAR-type to match my old A1/Viet Nam era style 20". I thought I'd do it someday.

Then the first "Assault Rifle" scare came in mid year (1989), and I decided I'd better complete that lower receiver like everyone else was scrambling to do. Remember, in 1989, there were only a handful of AR parts sellers, and they ran out fast. I had to settle for my last choice, Nesard. What arrived six months later was a box of junk, but I got my little CAR. And I still had well under $500 in it.

I still have that nasty barrel somewhere around here, although I wisely buried it deep in my junk so I haven't seen it in years. Roughly turned in and out, strange contour, and my favorite- the gas port hole drilled so a big chunk of steel was hanging down into the bore. I could barely see light past it. I also could barely knock it out by banging against it with a cleaning rod from each side until it broke free. And a huge gas port it was.

I got it to the range, chambered a round in the rough chamber, and got it to function most of the time. Back then, 22 years ago, we didn't know about short ARs needing a little more attention in areas like extractor tension (at least I didn't, and I was one of two people I knew of who owned one), so I suppose I was lucky to get it working at all. As rough as it was, I still got it working pretty soon.

Looking back, I'm pretty impressed it ran at all, let alone most of the time. I guess that's a testament to the design.

I was disappointed with the accuracy and after a year or two, ordered a new barrel from Quality Parts (they became Bushmaster*). I was kinda disappointed with that barrel because even though it looked a lot better, it only trimmed a quarter inch off the ragged barrel's groups.

How did that nasty barrel do? 1.5" at 100. I was unhappy with that, but should have been in shock over it. Any rifle that could shoot 1.5" with that rough sewer pipe of a barrel is doing something.

* Does anyone here remember the toll-free number that Quality Parts/BFI had in the late 80s? 1-800-556-SWAT. That might still be their number for all I know.

What was significant about it was that when you called it, you heard the monotone voice of Tom ("Hello, this is Tom at Quality Parts...) who would give you a running report on the firearms legislative news of the day. Some people don't remember, or want to remember, that things were touch and go for "Assault Rifles", especially for a few weeks there. They made up a small portion of the market, and believe me, no competitor would have cared much if Colt couldn't sell them anymore. It was also in the old days when a toll-free hotline was the most rapid source of info.

How things change. Some things