I think the problem here is, most guns you run across haven't really been properly maintained since they were last through the arsenal for a rebuild, and many of the bring backs never were.
And just from some of what a lot of people have said in the threads on gun cleaning around here, a lot of people seem to think you dont need to clean your guns, and 60 years of crap and crud doesnt help either. You should have seen all the dried up and gooey crap and crud that flushed out of the bolts Ive stripped and rebuilt.
Add to that, a lot of them are still running old, original GI and aftermarket mags, which are often a big part of the reliability problems.
Of the five Carbines Ive owned, all of them needed their bolts stripped and rebuilt, and recoil springs replaced. That in itself made a pretty big difference in reliable function right off. They all needed their rear sights reset and restaked too, and a couple needed their front sights properly zeroed.
That, and replacing the well worn GI mags that came with the guns with current, new Korean mags, brought things up into the high 90 percentile as far as function goes. Still, they do have stoppage on a pretty regular basis. Might only be one or two rounds every 2-300 rounds, but its enough to be annoying.
Keep in mind, on average, I normally shoot 5 or 6 cases of 5.56 each year, and I cant remember the last time I had a stoppage that wasnt set up. So one or two stoppages here and there every couple of hundred rounds is kind of a big deal, and not all that awe inspiring.
If you shoot them enough and are used to cleaning the stoppages, which usually arent much more than pulling the charging handle back and giving the gun a shake, it's probably not all that big a deal, or maybe it is. All depends on when it happens.
