Well I promised I was through with the whole AR-15 by whatever name ya-ya game.
I have stated that in my experience the M-16A1 with the lubricants available before 1980 or so was not reliable. I am not alone in that experience though others do not agree with me.
My experience with A2 series guns and modern lubricants is limited, I shoot a Colt AR15 HBAR of the A2 style on occasion and other than that have merely handled and watched shot some M4 series guns some civilian M-4geries and a few Law Enforcement guns with barrels down to 10.5 inches.
I can hardly call myself an expert (or ex-spurt as an old demo school instructor used to insist was the proper term) on A2 (or greater) series or M4 series rifles or carbines. That said I have seen them stop, and on nice clean ranges and after recent cleanings.
I have even seen them stop and when I later asked the shooters about reliability been told “my rifle” has never malfed and that “these rifles” are utterly reliable. I think perhaps pride of ownership plays some part in those claims where I see a malf and the shooter insist one has never happened.
That is not to say that every one that reports never having a malf actually had one or more and failed to notice or that folks are actively lying about the lack of malfs in their experience.
I knew guys in my younger days that engaged in unprotected sex on a fairly regular basis and neither caused a pregnancy nor had to see a Doc about a STD. And some that did this and had buddies that had the same experience. That does not mean having unprotected sex is a good idea.
I fail to see how having a self fouling action on a rifle being issued for ground combat to human beings is a good idea.
Take a look folks, Stoner himself dumped the direct gas impingment system and went to a more traditional type gas piston system (much like the AK’s) for his Stoner 63 series rifle. Armalite which employed Stoner when he lead the team that designed the AR-15 had as their next rifle design the AR-16 and later AR18 that used a gas system like in the Tokerov and G43 rifles. I believe both did this because they recognized the biggest fly in the ointment for the AR15 design.....that gas system.
I believe the AR survives out of inertia. The US became entrenched in its use early on. And so it stayed. Parts availability, ammo availability, add-ons availabilities, and forty years of trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear ( and they have done a decent job) have made the platform popular for civilians as well as governments.
All that said and some of you having stopped reading the ramblings of an aging fart to soon to notice this.....the M-16A2 and later are not “bad” weapons. As noted they generally do wortk well when kept clean and properly lubed for the environment they are in. I love the ergonomics except for that goofy charging handle. Points well. As previously noted one can attach all manner of things to it. As far as accuracy, range and penitration go, the “newer” cartridge and “newer” barrels and twist rates make the AR a much more usable weapon...though the old stopping power up close where it most maters is still an issue for many.
In my younger days I loudly proclaimed I would rather go to war with an AKM than an M-16A1. Today if it were raining Cuban and Russian paratroopers a la “Red Dawn” (that just to keep the Survivalist among us happy) and there was any model of AK next to the back door and any model of 14.5 inch or better modeled A2 or later AR by the back door, I would grab the AR.
That does not mean I do not think there are things about the AR that can not be greatly improved. Chief among those improvements, based on my own experiences shooting and observing AR-15 series rifles since 1969 and my shooting of an AR-180 since 1977, would be replacing the direct gas impingment system of the AR15 with something like the gas system of the AR-180......which is exactly what HK and Colt both have offered and neither “invented”
If one could pick and choose from our desks what to issue it would likely be someing more than a basic A2 or M4......but many folks that read THR and other places are not at home or the office typing away at what they wish for, but in a bad place at a bad time with what the US taxpayers (or Canadian or beginning last week Iraqi or whomever) has seen fit to purchase for them, some version of the AR15.
When I used to teach folks about using the M-16A1 I found it not helpful to my students to tell them the rifle their life depended on was a piece of poo-poo, but rather to discuss and demonstrate and teach and test the students to insure they had the abilities to get the most out of the rifle they had today.
Rather than this constant ya-ya ing that makes some less confidence in their equipment and others so aggressivly defensive of their view that no one will notice the few kernals of good stuff that appear have, why not spend our time and bandwith on what the GI in the field or the target shooter on the range or the plinker in the back 40 or the Survivalist in his closet get the most from his AR?
.....and Bob’s tip of the day for AR users......learn the actual trajectory of the ammo and rifle you use at your zero. For example, with a full sized A2 set for 200 meter zero with Green Tip, the bullet only passes through the sight plain at about 93 meters. Targets at 25 meters or less will be struck pretty much the height of the front sight assembly low based on actual aiming point. If all you have is a small target, say someone pulling a Kilroy was here over a stout wall or peeking around a solid corner, a center hold can lead to a low miss. Aim a little bit high for small targets inside 50 meters. Don’t forget your eye protection!
Bobs mechanical tip of the day for AR users.....keep the drain hole in the stock screw clean. If it is stoppered by dried clay or such it may slow the recoil of the bolt assembly by causing the compression of air in the plunger tube. Should water enter an AR 15 system rifle while this drain hole is plugged it is possible for the plunger tube to fracture on firing, so in wet environment it is vital this drain hole be kept clear. Failure to feed from compressing air in the system or fracturing the system by firing it with water in it are rare even when the drain hole is clogged, but why risk it? Check the hole several times a day and right away after being in water.
See how that works? Now let's all try to at least add something like that to our posts if we can not stop the ya-yaing.
-Bob Hollingsworth
