AR with no lube or cleaning ability = not so hot shtf

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so far no one has made any mention of the things that a good many hunters take into the woods with them...
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as possible, though far-fetched explanation for this could be that this is a firearms forum that frowns on fantasy SHTF threads.
 
I really love it when people tell me how crappy and unreliable my ARs are despite the fact that neither my work or hunting ARs have never actually had a non-field repairable failure despite tens of thousands of rounds down range...

I guess I'm just saving up all my failures for one giant lock up...

Okay, here's a free tip for all you internet warriors worried about dropping your AR in the mud: Get a sling.

Okay, here's another one: Your t-shirt works wonders to wipe mud off parts. Take your AR down, wipe down all internal moving parts with your t-shirt. Reassemble. Magic.
 
Reid73 said:
Once you start thinking about what to include in a wilderness survival kit, it is hard to know where to stop. But everything adds weight and bulk.

Your list looks pretty good.
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Thanks... that list isn't everything, just what I could think of off the top of my head, spur of the moment while reading through the thread. It really also depends on what the plan is going in... a day trip, a weekend, a week, or however long... I tried to cover only the basics... rope, TP, other sources of light, fire building cups (egg carton, sawdust, and parafin), extra set of clothes, would also be planned in... if more than a weekend, I would also have with me MRE's as a food source. The list is never perfect, all we can do is prepare as best we can for the planned events... unplanned issues always arise and that's when we have to improvise...


As far as weight and bulk go, if it's more than a day trip, would there not be some sort of "base camp" setup? All of the things you mention wouldn't necessarily need to be with you at all times. i.e. being carried where ever you go... army shovel, tent, saw, screwdrivers, pliers, fishing line, a couple of fish hooks, etc... my pack tent weighs under 3 lbs, my pack sleeping bag under 2 lbs... we're not talking about 1000 lbs of gear or climbing Mt Everest... and chances are if you're going on that kind of hunting trip, it's going to be with a group and the load would be shared to some degree.

Yes, I agree that having EVERYTHING you'll ever need would be a very difficult task indeed...
 
FWIW: this post on a different thread claims that soldiers in Iraq are so unhappy with the reliability of their M-16s that they are using captured AKs.

Personally, I am rather skeptical. I don't say it never happens, but most military units tend to frown upon carrying / using non-standard weapons, if for no other reason that the logistical problems of ammunition supply.

All of the things you mention wouldn't necessarily need to be with you at all times. i.e. being carried where ever you go...
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Yeah, that's true. Some people are keen on carrying virtual toolboxs on their belts, which is a bit much. However, I suggest that anyone venturing out-of-doors always carry a whistle. A Fox-40 'Mini' is tiny, weighs practically nothing, but can save your life if you break an ankle etc. (a whistle blast carries farther than a shout, and it is easier on the lungs, too).
 
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Buy a Colt, BCM or other "tier 1" rifle and don't worry about it. In your hiking scenario, are you planning on shooting more than 500 rounds? Then don't worry, Pat Rogers says a dry gun should run about 500 rounds before problems arise. Lube it properly and that goes up to 1,000+. Your entire premise is flawed.
 
FWIW: this post on a different thread claims that soldiers in Iraq are so unhappy with the reliability of their M-16s that they are using captured AKs.
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I wouldn't give any credibility at all to the soldiers quoted in that post. I have not seen anything like that in 28 months in Iraq. If any soldier told me that his weapon was unreliable, I would ask him why everyone else's is reliable. I think the problem would be with the operator.

M4's run better than most people give them credit for I think, even pretty dry. The problem seems to be with dirt and sand in the action.
 
And got their ammo from...?
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Same place they got the AK. Ammo and AK's are all over. Most every house has an AK, and a mag, which was what was allowed (the last time I was there). If they had more than one mag, we often confiscated the rest of the mags.
 
Bear oil has many uses. Besides culinary and soap making, it is used in crafts, medicine, conditioning leather and hair, oil lamps, as a lubricant, as a skin softener, in cosmetics, as aphrodisiac and rejuvenator, to promote hair growth and countless other uses."
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As far as the 'hair' thing goes... years ago someone told me chicken poopie would grow hair...not!
No....do NOT ask....!
And yea... I'm bald now!

If you got far enough in the wood that you would run your AR out of lube before you found civilization..... your in deep! Way deep...sunk...hehehe
 
Thanks for reminding me not to fire an AR after it is "filled with water".:rolleyes:

To others who may not know, I recommend not firing an AR with mud plugging the bore.
 
Looks staged to me if I was to worry about anything blowing up on an AR it would be the bolt coming through the buffer tube, for the reciever to blow that way it would have to already have been cut or weakened. Not to mention the best way to submerge your rifle if you must is to close the dust cover first the one in the video was open, then when coming out of the water dump your rifle out. Again do I really have to say it use common sense, if your rifle is full of water dump it out.
 
I'll remember not to take the AR with me as I re-enact scenes from "Sea Hunt" in my backyard....

Mike Nelson used a pneumatic spear gun, those darned AR's were too unreliable.

Even an AK couldn't function well enough to save the Argonaut.
 
The AR15 was designed to use a buffer screw that is vented down the center to allow water to escape from the buffer tube if submerged. Some budget builds do not bother to use a proper USGI-spec buffer tube screw and (when using a solid screw) the water that gets into the buffer cannot readily and quickly get out. The result is that the buffer can hydraulic lock. I've never seen that blow out a receiver, but I suppose that it's possible.

But the point is that this demo likely indicates that somebody used a non-spec part and not that the platform has any intrinsic issues as-designed.
 
Just get a POF and you won't have to worry. Or send yours off and get the whole thing finished in NP3. Hunt down a sperm whale, best lube ever.
Really is no point cause any decent AR should be able to fire 1000 rounds without cleaning. Or at least a piston-AR will. :)
 
Just get a POF and you won't have to worry.
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Hmm. Since every piston AR on the market is different, with no interchangeability between manufacturers, I wouldn't subscribe to this notion at all. Just get a Colt 6920, LMT Defender 2000, or a Noveske N4 and call it a day.

vanfunk
 
I don't know if the video really proves much of anything. I'd like to see it performed under more controlled conditions, using several samples.

this demo likely indicates that somebody used a non-spec part and not that the platform has any intrinsic issues as-designed
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Perhaps. But as we all know, one of the biggest attraction of the AR 'platform' to many people is its ability to use non-spec parts.
 
I would phrase that differently.

It's appeal is that it's modular, and that you can add parts that are not part of the spec. There is no appeal in using a non-spec part when a spec part is available.
 
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