AR-15 Reliability, like Glock pistols?

[RockyMtnTactical]

You probably wouldn't hear many people argue that AR15's are Glock reliable...

That said, I hate unreliable guns. I own Glocks and AR15's and they both work great for me.

 

[flyboy1788]

000buckshot: i didnt mean to say that all olys are crap or that all colts are perfect, i was just saying that in general, more problems are encountered with less expensive brands. Theres plenty of people out there who are content with olys, dpms, del-ton, and what have you, but the difference between you and the person i was responding to is that you seem to understand that not all ARs are finicky or unreliable. Its just that in general, there seems to be less problems encountered with more expensive brands. As far as jbauch saying that ARs are finicky with ammo. this is just another generalization. Some brands may be, but when you buy an AR from a reputable company and use decent magazines, your AR will not care whether you use fmj, softpoint, hollowpoint, wolf, silverbear, federal, or winchester. I dont spend more than 10-15 minutes cleaning my AR after a range session. But I clean ALL my guns after I shoot them, no matter what kind they are, so that is not a problem. I will not disagree that ARs need to be lubed properly, or the WILL eventually puke. Some people say that ARs need to be kept white glove clean. that is total bs. they NEED to have lube more than anything. So to answer the OPs question, as much as I love my AR, it is hard to come close to being glock reliable. you can probobly go through 50,000 rounds on a glock and not need to clean it whereas with a good AR, you will need to lube it probobly every thousand rounds or so to keep it going well.

 

[VegasOPM]

I love my AR's but I can't say that they are uber-reliable. They don't like dirt, or mud or cheap ammo. The extractor is a bit finicky- the "D-fender" helps. The gas system needs regular attention- as does the bolt and chamber. The front sight/ gas block does not like to be knocked around. But when they run, they are the best. My Glock pistols tend to be much more reliable than my AR's.

 

[SHvar]

My AR gets cleaned the way the army taught me.

Every time I shoot it, or any of my firearms I clean them spotless. After all, I find that one of the most relaxing things after shooting is to clean my firearms, its all part of the fun of shooting them. To me its what the weapon deserves, and what a rifleman should always do. Your firearms need to be maintained properly, if I dont have time that night, the first chance I get the weapon gets the maintance it deserves. Its also a great way to notice a problem that could get worse, or cost your life when you really need it.
A colt AR a friend has was bought used, it was only fired a few times by its first owner, the bolt was never removed from the carrier, and a few other parts were never removed for cleaning, but everywhere else you could have eaten your supper off of it.
I taught him to maintain it properly, he has so much fun cleaning it properly, and the bolt fits a noticeable amount better in the carrier with proper cleaning, and lubrication.
He has now fired around 400 rds through it, it has been cleaned and oiled properly 3 times. The rifle was bone dry at purchase time with the only indication of oil ever being put on it being a few drips around the bolt and the upper reciever, period. It was amazing how much oil this rifle just absorbed.
Oh well the original owner lost out on alot of money, he paid $1500 plus for it, my friend paid less than $900 to buy it. The few hundred rds he has fired finally made the first wear marks on the rifle. He is always asking when we are going out to shoot next.

 

[scythefwd]

fulloflead.
That is asking a very broad question. How far back are we going? My garand hasn't had a ftfeed, ftfire, fte, etc. in over 20 years. There are plenty of semi's out there with near perfect records for that specific gun. Most guns are only as accurate as you are when using irons anyways. If the gun only shoots .75 inches instead of .5 inches with irons, will that be an issue (if you are doing comp, then yes it is an issue)?

The AR is a wholly different beast than pretty much all other semi's out there. I don't know of any that are gas operated in current production that were designed to have the reciever taken apart without tools while being extremely upgradeable with a minimal effort like the AR is.
My M16 fired well a few thousand rounds and never had a failure of any type while I was the operator and trust me, the bolt had been cleaned so much that there was little left that wasn't bare metal. I never spent more than an hour cleaning it after a range and could white glove it by the time I was done. I don't see where people say you need 5 hours in the locking lugs to clean one.

 

[SHvar]

On a side note about ammo.

I had one problem firing non jacketed lead bullets once in my glock (the manufacturer says not to). After firing 100 rds of lead non jacketed rds it finally had a problem loading, the lead had built up in the chamber and barrel pretty badly.
As far as ammo, I dont use wolf, but Im going to try it. I do use ALOT of barnaul brown bear, I find it to be actually very good quality, very clean, they are loaded hot and go bang a noticeable amount more than any other brand Ive tried. They make a big muzzle flash, and its noticeable during the broad daylight. In fact I get the same accuracy results with brown bear as PMC, federal tactical, and many brands costing alot more with both my DPMS lopro classic and with the Ruger model 77 target rifle I have that places 4 bullets almost in the same hole at 100 meters shooting one handed off of a bipod.
Ive never had a maintained AR, M-16, etc ever jamb. The M-16A2 I carried in the desert years ago had been through Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm, and was back into Iraq and Afganistan before being replaced by an M-4 with my old unit. I couldnt tell you how many thousand rds I fired through it, and many of them in combat. This doesnt include use by its former users and future users afterwards.

 

[anymanusa]

flyboy, you callin' my Bushy crappy? nobody calls my Bushy crappy.

Anyman-when you buy crappy ARs, there is a higher chance they will run crappy

Seriously, I don't think the make has a whole lot to do with it. I think the major issue is the chamber taper is too light to be reliable with laquer or poly coated casings.

AK all the way. Life is too short to be messin' around with cleaning all the time.