How reliable is the AR-15? I've heard mixed reports. Some say they are crap, some say they are fine, soome say they used to be crap but are fine now. I want to know if you would ever trust your life to an AR-15 made by say...Bushmaster?

Yeah, if it's clean.

But the AK-47 will function even if it's full of dirt.

I have trusted my life to Colt's M-16. I've put literally tens of thousands of rounds through various AR-15's and M-16's with very, very few problems. The problems I've had stemmed from either poor quality ammo, or beat up old magazines which I should have replaced before I did. Since leaving the Corps, I got my department to go with Colt AR-15's in all the patrol cars. I'm biased towards Colt and recently went through the Colt Armorer's course, which only cemented that bias - the Colt rifles are held to pretty high standards.

Several different companies make AR-15 type rifles which are excellent for target competition, but I can't say that any I've seen are better than Colt for combat conditions. Keep 'em clean and feed 'em quality ammo and they'll do just fine. For what it's worth, Guy

[ 11-19-2002, 13:54: Message edited by: m700 ]

I shoot 2 different uppers in Service rifle competition and practice and have fired over 10000 rounds without a jam or misfire over the last 3 years.

I have a Bushmaster with over 3000 rounds through it. It has never misfired...........

Genghis:

You're right that an AK will fire when it's full of dirt. Most AK's strain to group 4"-6" at 100 yards while a good AR-15 will easily shoot an inch.

They are in no way similar firearms.

How often do you guys clean your ARs or how often would you say you have to before you start experiencing problems.

I clean mine every time I shoot (at least 50 rounds ) or weekly when I'm really practicing alot in summer maybe 2-300 rounds sometimes. Never could say that accuracy fell off, or problems developed when dirty though.

The ARs that are sold today are VERY reliable. If you drop them in the dirt or feed them dirty, dented, or corroded ammo they will give problems JUST LIKE ANY OTHER FIREARM - AKs included. IMHO those who badmouth the AR have never owned one and are passing on old stories. There were some early problems (mostly cracked gas tubes) but the GIs who used them also had to be trained on maintaining them. I've carried and used an M-16 made by Harrington&Richardson and owned Oympia, Bushmaster ARs and now shoot a Colt - no problems and I like(d) all of them. Would I trust my life to an AR/M16 - yes I would, and did....

I'd trust my Rock River any time. As far as cleaning goes I run a boresnake through it after I'm done for the day (50 - 100 rounds). I haven't put a rod down it since I bought it last December. I take down the bolt about every six months and clean and relube it (400 - 600 rounds). Most of the crap stories go back to the original M-16 and early A1's.

Is a person better off to buy a complete rifle or buy parts and assemble ??? I sure would like one,my last semi was the Garand Thanks

Well I have them both, a VEPR II AK and two ARs, a Colt HBar and an Armalite M15-A4 (T). To be honest, I've never had any trouble out of any of them. I cannot remember ever having a FTF that was not do to a bad mag, AR and AK, and I have never had a FTE or a "click." I clean them when I am done shooting, sometimes it's 20 rounds, sometimes it 200 to 300 rounds. As to reliability I cannot see a difference, but the VEPR II is the cream of the crop when it comes to AK IMHO, and it will hold 1.5-2" groups with decent ammo, like Win. white box, and the ARs will hold about 1 to 1.5" with the same type of Win. white box ammo. Match grade through the AR will easily go 1/2" to 1" but I have not found any match grade 7.62x39 to see just how accurate the VEPR II really is, but I suspect it is much more accurate than is with the white-box ammo. Guess I need to work up a load for it and see how the puppy really shoots.

Hello Moon,

Dillon Precision sells an American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) video called "Building the AR-15 from a Kit". Might be worth watching if you are still considering building one.

Bill

I took the AR plunge some time back with a new Rock River. I have never looked back or regretted it in any way! I shot about 300 rounds straight before the action got sufficiently dirty to affect cycling. After a good scrub down and lube, it has not failed to chamber a round since. And one time I pushed almost 500 rounds through between cleanings with out trouble. As for accuracy, most anything out of it's varmint weight tube will shoot under an inch. Winchester white box, black hills, HSM, etc. It takes some pretty pathetic ammo to chage the POI any. I've been thrilled to own this gun!

Hello Ghengis;
Yea, you might hit him eventually,if his buddy doesn't get you first, but you'll have a tought time reloading that brass. The ones I've seen and shot, [Chinese] just about bend the empties in half, when they come out.
Griz

If you want a reliable and accurate battle rifle go with the FN FAL

M700

Since you have attended the Colt armorer school maybe you could give us some tips on removing heavy deposits of carbon from the various areas of the AR-15 when they have been shot many hundreds of rounds without cleaning.

I've cleaned and serviced many AR-15's in the past but I have a couple in my shop to clean now that was used (abused) by a corrections department. The carbon build up is thick and rock hard. The normal solvents wont touch it. I'm having to scrape most of it off with hardwood dowels and chore boy pads. Any suggestions?

The AKs I have shot did good to group 5" at 50 yards. They are fun to shoot however, and the design is amazingly simple.

If it ever really hits the fan, however, you could (possibly) draw ammo from the National Guard for the AR, but probably not for the AK.