Most reliable rifle?

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HBK

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What is the most reliable military rifle that is the easiest to clean. I have an AR-15, but it is a bitch to clean. It makes me wonder why our military uses it, it has to be cleaned so often. I know lots of people love it and have no problem with the high maintenance, but I like my guns like I like my women...low maintenance. Does the M-14 require such frequent cleaning? Any other suggestins would be welcome, and any flames coming my way for not liking to clean my rifle...those are welcome as well.:p
 
Hands down - AK-47 varient. However, along with the high reliability you get very poor ergonomics and not so hot accuracy.

IMHO - the FN-FAL is the best compromise between the two. Easy to clean, very robust and reliable, yet still accurate, and comfortable and easy to shoot.
 
Weapons maintenance, like other things, is all "set and setting". First, you need a comfortable bench to work at. This can be your kitchen table. Then you need to put on the proper music. For cleaning firearms, I suggest Mozart "Symphonies 35-41", Debussy "La Mer" "Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune" "Nocturnes" or something by your Russian composers, your Shostakovich and so forth. For sharpening knives, I suggest Chopin's "Nocturnes" or almost anything by Beethoven. A good cigar also adds a pleasant ambience to the aroma of honing oil and provides taste as well as olfactory delight. I wouldn't smoke the cigar during gun cleaning, though, as some solvents are flammable. Finally, you need something to reward yourself with afterwards. While the maintenance itself, done properly, is a pleasant exercise, you still need a refreshment after your labors. I suggest fine chocolate and a well-made mocha. For those who drink, a fine cognac would be appropriate. Set and setting. You may then recline after your labors and reflect with satisfaction upon having meticulously cared for your fine weaponry and know that they are absolutely in a high state of readiness whenever you need them or wish to enjoy them.
 
I'd say Mauser 98, which is a military rifle, but I suspect you mean semi-autos... In that case, my vote goes to the AK family or the FAL family.

Best,
Joe
 
If you want a low maintenance battle rifle, the U.S. 03/03A3, British Enfield .303s or Mausers is your best. Autoloaders, even the AK series, have many moving parts and require various levels of cleaning and lubrication if you want reliability. Bolt guns are a little more forgiving.

Sir Galahad nailed it though. Make the cleaning sessions enjoyable and the issue then becomes a non-issue. I'm fortunate enough to have become single again, so it is no problem for me to have a nice, comfortable area in the house to clean my firearms. Neither myself, nor my pets, have a problem with the house smelling like gun solvent for a few days a week.
 
I don't mind cleaning my weapons at all, just the thought of having to clean them in the field every day seems like a big pain in the butt. I'm all for cleaning them after I've used them.
 
When your weapon is a vital part of your life support system, it's not that much of an issue. If it is an issue, your priorities are misplaced and your NCOs are slack. :)
 
Sir Galahad: "set and setting".

LOL. Makes me want to run out in the back yard and crank off a round just so that I can enjoy cleaning my rifle. Ahhhh, the smell of good ol' Hoppes! :D

Regards,
hps
 
It's all true. This is how I clean/maintain my weapons. Firearms cleaning, knife sharpening...all go better with some good music, a fine cigar, and a delicious mocha afterwards. It becomes a ritual and, in so doing, you make the maintenance just as important and enjoyable as shooting. Further, you develop a greater, how shall one say it, affinity, with your weapons. One day you'll be driving home and hear a piece by Mozart or Beethoven on the radio (if you live in a region so blessed with a good Classical station) and you'll think to yourself, "Ah! This is the piece I like to clean my _______ to!" You'll visualize as you listen exactly where in the piece you stripped the rifle, where you took out this component, where you cleaned the bore, and so forth.

Trust me on this gentlemen. All my firearms look new and they have had thousands of rounds through them. All my knives look new and are SHARP. With proper maintenance comes pride. From that pride comes more confidence. When you take out a certain rifle and it's totally clean, standing tall and looking great. You think to yourself, "This rifle will take care of me as I take care of it."
 
Hands down, the AK and SKS are the most reliable self-loading rifles out there. The Garand and its derivatives (M-14 and Mini-14) are also outstanding in this regard.

ALL rifles require maintenance, some more than others. One of the designs which requires more maintenance is the AR-15/M-16. When well-maintained it is reliable, but if for whatever reason you cannot clean it, it is more vulnerable to the elements than an AK, SKS, a Garand or one of its derivatives. This is NOT to say that the AR is a POS, just that it requires more maintenance than the other designs I mentioned.

If you need a gun that will stand up to really bad abuse, though, get a Lee-Enfield, or a Mauser.
 
In my experience, an in-spec Garand is very reliable. The problem is that most of them are now 60 years old and many have worn-out parts, particularly the gas system. But, if it's in good shape, it should run very, very well...

Best,
Joe
 
HBK: No comparison between the Garand and the AR15!;) Oh, guess you mean in regards to cleaning.:D Can't honestly give a comparison, having never cleaned an M16/AR15, but guess I'm fixin' to learn soon. My grandson just got an AR match rifle and asked for some coaching so will have to learn.

The Garand, now, that's a fine piece of machinery and is rather easy to clean. If you are going to shoot it withtn a week or so, you only need to clean the bore (keeping rifle upside down to prevent bore cleanter from getting into gas cylinder) as you would a bolt gun. Then open bolt, stand rifle muzzle down and drop two or three drops of Breakfree on op-rod where it enters the gas cylinder. Open and close the bolt, letting spring slam bolt home a few times to distribute BF, clean the chamber with a breakfree patch and you're good to go. If you plan to store the rifle, you can do a more complete dis-assembly (see Sir Galahads instructions above:) ) and cleanup of gas system, but the Garand will run with a minimum of maintenance and is accurate to 600 yds (and beyond if match tuned).

Regards,
hps
 
I have an SAR-1 that will jam if it is not kept clean and oiled. My SKS hasn't jammed since break in and I have only cleaned it once. I think the SKS is a little more reliable but I am only basing that on my experience with one of each so take it for what its worth (not much).
 
gun cleaning music

Sir Galahad, love your choices in music. I would suggest Tchaikovsky(Nutcracker or Swan Lake) to go along with your cognac. Arise Rednecks! Expand your horizons! Peace ,
mothernatureson
 
Good points, all. How does a Garand compare to an AR?
Click to expand...
I don't have an AR, but I dread cleaning my Garand! Often, I just do what hps1 recommends, but I always feel guilty about it and try to give it a full field strip and clean when the next opportunity presents itself.

I'd much rather clean 3 or 4 SKS or FALs than one Garand. The nice thing about these two rifles is that one can quickly remove the bolt and get access to clean inside of the reciever. One has to do considerable dissasembly to clean the bolt and reciever of a Garand. I also never understood why such the otherwise fine M1 would be built so that it's impossible to clean the bore from the breach end.

However, I would imagine that any of them would work fine for quite a while without any cleaning in a moderate, dry climate. I just could never bring myself to find out.
 
Since there are quite a few repetitive motions in cleaning a rifle, I tend toward Ravel's "Bolero", truly the epitome of repetition in music. :D

Now, if you're doing touch-up cleaning in preparation for an SHTF "Come to Jesus" session, I suggest gospel music--or possibly Hank Williams' "Luke the Drifter" album. Maybeso Marty Robbins' "Gunfighter Ballads" could be of emotional assistance.

One should avoid music by composers such as Berg or Sternberg, as their dissonance could easily disturb one's concentration.

Afterwards, a snifter of Grand Marnier leads to contemplative reflections upon the next opportunities to go shooting...

:), Art
 
Get one of the new Armalite AR180s. They take AR15 mags, have 2-way bolt control, and a gas piston with full-length rod. AFAIK, should be as accurate as an AR15. About $675 new retail, IINM. Hard to go wrong with that or a nicely built member of the AK family.
 
Heck, I just thought I knew how to clean a rifle. Guess I'm gonna be forced to move my rifle cleaning operation out of the loading room now that I have been edumacated as to the finer points of firearm maintenance! After all, Mozart followed by one's favorite drink calls for candles and I am told that is not recommended in the loading room. Any recommendations on how to keep the Hoppes off the wife's linen tablecloth and napkins? ;)

Regards,
hps

Edited to read:
DMK: Don't feel guilty about cleaning your M1 in that manner. We were issued NM M1's for the 3-4 month match season in the early 60's and that was SOP. We never dissassembled the rifles unless something broke. They were well lubed at beginning of the season and cleaned as described for the duration. These rifles were fired at least 50- 100 rounds per day for the 3-4 months and were none the worse for it. I can't remember a single alibi with my rifle. Have maintained my personal M1's in this manner ever since. I do break down and clean thoroughly before storing the rifle for longer periods, of course.

You mention the difficulty of bolt removal on the Garand. All you have to do is drop the stock, remove op rod spring and then the op rod to get bolt out if that is necessary. Not necessary to remove upper hand guard and plumbing on front end. This allows you to get to anything that might need cleaning/lubricating. I don't like to remove stock any more than absolutely necessary as my M1's are all bedded and it is hard on the bedding to cam action out of stock.
 
FAL is by far the easiest semi auto to strip and clean ever. Lots of nice big pieces. Easy to get into.

AK is second. Almost as easy to strip as the FAL. Super easy to clean.

AR is a serious pain the butt. Stupid star chamber. Stupid little cotter pin. Freaking carbon everywhere.

The M96 is easier to clean than the AR as it doesn't get as much carbon in it, and you can pop the barrel off to clean the chamber, however it still uses a pin to hold the bolt in the bolt carrier. I would still rather clean an M96 than an AR.

G3 or Cetme ain't bad, but they ain't exactly fun. Still better than an AR. They get filthy inside, but they work.

The Garand ain't too bad. Pulling it out of the stock isn't so weird once you get used to it.

I hate cleaning. Cleaning is time that could be spent shooting or dry firing. I like rifles that clean up nice and quick, or even better require less cleaning to keep them working. Cleaning at a nice lighted table with soft music and a beverage is great and all, but the real test is cleaning the rifle while sitting on a rock on the side of a mountain just after the sand storm. :p

None of my weapons look new. All of them look like I use them a lot. When I started out I cleaned religiously. The more I shot, the older that got. Now many of my rifles will go several trips before being given a good cleaning. BLASPHEMY some of you will say. Hey its okay though, I don't own any AR15s anymore! :D :D :D
 
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