waterhouse
Member
Before I start, I have nothing against owning so called "lower tier" AR15s. My safe includes a $600 (used price) factory built gun as well as one I pieced together in the garage for $425. There are a couple other sub $750 ARs in the safe as well. They run fine for plinking at the range, but I've never actually tried to run them really hard to see if they can take it. I've always told people that my cheap guns run just fine, but since I choose more expensive guns when I intend on running them hard I don't really know how well my cheap ones would do.
I've been to a few high round count carbine classes over the years. Some of the classes are somewhat expensive, and most of the people that show up tend to have relatively high dollar gear, and most of the guns just plain work.
I recently attended a class that was more aimed at people who were new to the AR15. A huge variety and cost range of guns turned out. Over two days we fired between 700 and 1,000 rounds. Some people fired a lot less than other, because their guns kept having issues.
Two of us were shooting Noveskes, there were two Colts, a Larue, and an LMT, which all ran flawlessly. No stoppages of any kind. Some people were shooting high quality ammo, other shooting cheap steel stuff, but they all ran.
There were several guns from other companies which cost less money that were having problems. I wasn't paying close attention to what caused each stoppage, as I was working on shooting drills, but it was pretty clear that the more cost efficient guns were not handling the high round count, fast strings of fire, etc. Failure rates were very high, sometimes multiple stoppages per magazine. Instructors tried switching out magazines with no luck. A few students eventually abandoned the gun they brought and finished the class with borrowed Colts that the instructor keeps around for just such purpose.
Also of note, a few fairly expensive piston based ARs were also having lots of issues.
I often read that just about any AR is good enough for 99% of users. As mentioned, I own a few very inexpensive ARs, but after having seen what I have seen I certainly would not bring them to a carbine class and risk missing out on instruction while my gun was down.
I'm now curious. Without getting into brand naming or bashing, has anyone taken their "lower tier" rifle to a high round count class and had mechanical success with it?
I've been to a few high round count carbine classes over the years. Some of the classes are somewhat expensive, and most of the people that show up tend to have relatively high dollar gear, and most of the guns just plain work.
I recently attended a class that was more aimed at people who were new to the AR15. A huge variety and cost range of guns turned out. Over two days we fired between 700 and 1,000 rounds. Some people fired a lot less than other, because their guns kept having issues.
Two of us were shooting Noveskes, there were two Colts, a Larue, and an LMT, which all ran flawlessly. No stoppages of any kind. Some people were shooting high quality ammo, other shooting cheap steel stuff, but they all ran.
There were several guns from other companies which cost less money that were having problems. I wasn't paying close attention to what caused each stoppage, as I was working on shooting drills, but it was pretty clear that the more cost efficient guns were not handling the high round count, fast strings of fire, etc. Failure rates were very high, sometimes multiple stoppages per magazine. Instructors tried switching out magazines with no luck. A few students eventually abandoned the gun they brought and finished the class with borrowed Colts that the instructor keeps around for just such purpose.
Also of note, a few fairly expensive piston based ARs were also having lots of issues.
I often read that just about any AR is good enough for 99% of users. As mentioned, I own a few very inexpensive ARs, but after having seen what I have seen I certainly would not bring them to a carbine class and risk missing out on instruction while my gun was down.
I'm now curious. Without getting into brand naming or bashing, has anyone taken their "lower tier" rifle to a high round count class and had mechanical success with it?