[JimJD]

Oh boy.
My apoligies ahead of time for posing a question and subject that might get heated. Add to that, the subject of my query has been beaten to death.... but I need some guidance and don't know where else to turn.

I'm currently saving for an M1911-A1 type pistol.
But I find myself thinking about an AR more and more these days.
As far as semi rifles, I own a WASR-10 that's been ok. In the reliability dept., it's been unbelievable. Cleaning is a dream. Accuracy could be better though. Eh, it's a lower cost AK clone and I enjoy it.
For years I've read and heard about the pros and cons of the AR design. But I still have some problems separating truth from the chaff and whatnot.
I've talked to some Ex-Marines and Army personnel at My job and have heard SO many different things. The most recent activity seen by one of them was in the opening days of our current operation in Iraq(Gave Me a pack of Iraqi cigarettes to boot!). He wasn't exactly crazy about the rifle he was issued. He stated he did everything right and any time he had the chance to strip it, he would clean her up. Just enough cleaning and lube according to him. It was stated he and his buddies had one too many malfunctions during firefights. Hmmmm...?

Is it really that much harder to clean? Will I be plagued by stoppages and other gremlins? If, god forbid, it got dirty and I couldn't clean it soon, will I be looking at malfunctions galore? Oh, and the caliber is not an issue for Me. I have 7.62 X 39, 7.62 X 54R, 30-30, and 12 Ga to pick from already. And they'll be others in the future. :-)

Anyway.... what's straight dope?

If I go with one, I'm looking at spending about $800.00 give or take. It would be for the range and everything else under the sun. I'd like to be able to trust My life with this thing. At least as much as anyone can with a piece of machinery I guess...
Full size, carbine, I like them all. I'd start out with iron sights and possibly move on to some type of optics down the road.
Am I on the right path here, or should I think about other options/rifles?
I'd love to get an M14 type, but that's a bit pricey for me right now. A higher grade AK clone will be somewhere in the future as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[TIMC]

I have 3 ARs, Colt H-Bar, Bushmaster AR-10 and a Bushmaster M-4. All have performed great, a lot has to do with the ammo and cleaning. I wouldn't want to put more than a few hundred through mine without cleaning, depending on ammo I start having occasional FTF's after about 300-400 rounds, even less with really crappy ammo. I guess that could be a problem in a fire fight but in my limited civilian play toy capacity that is fine.

[g56]

I have 2 ARs and have thousands of rounds through them, I've never had a stoppage of any sort, both of mine are home built Franken ARs and just shoot beautifully. I can't really comment about how reliable they are in the sandbox, but domestic use is substantially different, and most people don't have any real problems. One of mine is a standard A2 type AR, very standard, that was the first AR I built, for the second one I wanted something special so I built up a varmint model, average groups from that one run around 1/2" at 100 yds, best group to date was under 1/4" at 100 yds.

http://www.pbase.com/wingman26/image/42663724.jpg

[JimJD]

I just realized something...

Can anyone post a link or direct Me to an online version of a operators manual for an AR?

Thanks!

[Capital Punishment]

www.ar15.com


and for the record, i love my fullsize Bushmaster AR. :)

Ive personally never had a problem at all and cleaning really is kinda easy. Its very easy to disassemble. Then again ive only put about 700 rounds through her, shes only a month old.

http://www.supermotors.org/getfile/275364/fullsize/m16small.JPG

[MudPuppy]

I had problems with my issue A1 back in the 80s (two different ones, actually). Extracter spring, ejector, easily bent feed lips. The direct gas system that blows crap right into the bolt face and chamber was nice, because it gave us something to do on saturdays...clean, clean, and clean.

I hear they're better, but was watching a show on the history channel about some marines--i think--in a firefight and both ARs and SAW were done due to malfunction. The M-203 was still up (they weren't clear on whether it was the grenade launcher or rifle--or rather, i don't remember) and a shotgun (but that operator was down injured). And if I'm recalling correctly about those troops being marines, I'd reckon the weapons were as clean as could be expected. :)

I've got an olympic that shoots accurate and never jammed. They have pretty good ergonomics, pretty easy to take down to clean. Common caliber, lots of goodies available. I'm building a DPMS out now.

It sounds like you want another gun to enjoy and shoot--and the AR will give you that. I personally don't think I'd want to trust my life to mine (any AR)--but lots of folks would. I'd recommend getting one--you'll for sure like it, even if it isn't you're "go to" gun in a pinch.

[chopinbloc]

i'd like to clear the air on this issue. sure, the ar/m16 type systems are slightly more prone to failure in a dusty environment but most likely the failures of the m16s related in earlier posts were magazine related.

i don't know if afghanistan is more or less dusty than iraq but i can tell you that parts are about the same as the little bit of kuwait that i saw so i must assume they're about the same. i shoot my rifle about once a month here in afghanistan and i clean it as needed - usually about every week or two. i don't get outside the wire often but when i do, i've noticed that the weapons get filthy when riding in a vehicle. i tried a couple of times to stop the rifle. the first was with a normally lubed rifle and an ammo can full of old, beat up, dirty, nay filthy ammo just poured into the can. when i say old, i mean some of this junk was stamped '91. anyway, just grabbing handfuls of the crap and stuffing mags with it, without any regard to the dirt on it or misshapen cartridges, the weapon still made it through about three or four mags before a malfunction. the second time, i went to the range after completely wiping all the lubrication from the rifle. it was absolutely dry. it still made it through about six or seven mags. the first time was slow fire prone, the second time we were doing close quarter drills so it got a little warm. i sprayed a little strike hold in it and it ran just fine. btw, strike hold is more of a solvent than cleaner in my book. my point is that while you can make the rifle cough by abusing it and you can experience malfunctions due to damage magazines, if you give your rifle a little lube, good ammo and good magazines, you should be just fine. there are exceptions to the rule, of course. my girlfriend's ar had issues out of the box but ran just fine after better fitting gas rings and a more powerful extractor spring were installed. by comparison, an ak with an out of spec gas piston and weak extractor wouldn't function well, either.

bottom line: get an ar, you already have an ak so if YOU feel that YOU are uncomfortable trusting YOUR life to the ar, trust it to the ak. either way, you have two fun rifles for the range and it's unlikely you'll have to use a gun to defend yourself, anyway. as to what you get, i recommend a midlength system from rra. if there is any possibility the rifle will be pressed into defensive, shtf type use, you need an absolute MINIMUM of seven mags. i also recommend keeping at least a thousand rounds of reliable ammunition on hand in addition to the ammunition you keep loaded in your magazines. the same goes for the ak. and i swear if someone brings up that crap about magazine springs fatiguing i'm gonna scream. tell you what, keep standard, gi mags which are in good condition loaded with the proper number of rounds and if, years from now you experience malfunctions due to a weakened spring, i'll buy you a beer.

oh, and while my example included an issued fnh m16, that's probably not a good example. an ar-15 from a reputable manufacturer should be more reliable 'cause it hasn't been abused by knuckle dragging neandertals for longer than you've been alive.