Need Your Help- Most reliable AR-15 Rifle!

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Dog Wonder

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Hello shooters!
I am looking to purchase a AR-15 rifle that is extremely reliable for both home defense & plinking at targets! I am no beginner to shooting this style of rifle --I shot Colt's M-16 for 3 years while active in the Marine Corp! I need a AR-15 rifle that has a barrel lenght of 18 thru 20 inches long and is extemely resistant to jamming!

Thank-You for your thoughts!
 
Stick with a rifle that's as close to standard issue as possible. With what you're looking for I would go with a standard 20” with a fixed stock.

After it's broken in keep it clean and well oiled. Feed it good ammo from good magazines and you shouldn't have any problems.

The more crap you bolt on the more there is to go wrong.

Mine at a local match. BSW

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The closest thing as possible to an issued rifle.
This includes the following brands:
Colt, LMT, BCM, Noveske, and you can build your own AR-15 using top quality components such as the BCG and the barrel assembly, which are the parts that will determine a rifle's reliability.
Keep out RRA, DPMS, Stag, and the other popular brands that are not assembled properly and do not use top quality parts.

You can refer to THE CHART: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA&gid=5
It concerns M4's, but other than the M4 feedramps and carbine buffer, it's the same gun. Colt is never a bad choice obviously.
 
Good advice from both BSW and Artiz. The 20" barrel with rifle length gas and a fixed stock (with rifle type buffer) is the most reliable configuration. You also want a high quality bolt and a properly staked bolt carrier.

The brands listed as good by Artiz are all good. I would also seriously consider Armalite, which in this configuration has pretty much everything going for it as well. I am not as negative on Stag as Artiz is, but it wouldn't be my top choice.
 
Buy something from Lewis Machine & Tool (LMT), Bravo Company (BCM), or Colt. As long as they are properly maintained and built with quality parts they will run.
 
Stag doesn't stake their BCG properly IIRC, they are not shot peened nor are they MPI or HP tested
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Ah. Those would all be problems. The staking is easy enough to fix, but the other two aren't. I believe Armalite does do shot peening at least. You can always get any brand and drop a $70 BCM bolt into it and be sure the bolt is good.
 
Not sure why you would stray from Colt. If you liked it then, you'll still like it now. And it's priced just fine when compared to the others. And frankly the specs are probably the best just because of the extensive military contracts. I used this as part of the reason I went with Colt.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pwswheghNQsEuEhjFwPrgTA&hl=en
Make sure you check out all the tabs across the bottom.

And: http://zombiehunters.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&p=681708

This one's ok too: http://www.kc7hxc.us/links/gun/ar15/AR-15 Man Comparison.html

Hope that helps a little. I love the Colt, but I'm sure I'd love most any AR that I would have purchased, I just went with what I thought was best and have zero regrets.
 
We have 3 DPMS's in the family and no problems have occurred whatsoever. Any of the major manufacturers make AR's that are very good rifles for the average shooter for both self defense or target shooting...
 
Z-Michigan said:
Ah. Those would all be problems. The staking is easy enough to fix, but the other two aren't. I believe Armalite does do shot peening at least. You can always get any brand and drop a $70 BCM bolt into it and be sure the bolt is good.
Click to expand...
That's why I said he can build a reliable AR-15 by himself, by putting a good BCG and barrel assembly by himself.

But when I hear people saying any big AR company is created equal, I can't do anything else than say NO, they are not. People who don't run their AR-15 hard don't know the difference between AR brands.
BUT, some people actually run their AR daily, and run them hard, and are there to tell you which AR is gonna work, and which one is gonna fail. The parts that fail in an AR are the BCG and barrel assembly (those fancy triggers brake all the time too), and the brands that make parts that do not brake are Colt, LMT, BCM, and a few others who make good products like Daniel Defense.
 
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If he wanted "the most reliable" would their be anything wrong with a piston system?

Sure a tiny bit less accurate and more expensive, but wouldn't be a lot more reliable?

Not knocking the DI system, just sayin'.....
 
None of the piston ARs have enough real-world use and testing to be sure how well they're going to work and hold up over time. They are also generally much more expensive than DI rifles. The closest to being well tested is probably the HK416, and it's not exactly an inexpensive and readily available item for us civilians. Stray from there and even with quality piston designs like POF and LWRC, you don't really know how it's going to be running at 10,000 rounds, not to mention you're spending almost twice what a quality DI AR costs to find out.
 
If he wanted "the most reliable" would their be anything wrong with a piston system?
Click to expand...

If by piston you mean an AK, FNC, or FAL then, yes, they can be more reliable.

If by piston you mean a retrofit kit glommed onto a AR15, stay away from them. They all use propitary parts and none have enough units in production for anyone to say anything about lifetime and/or reliability.

BSW
 
Artiz said:
That's why I said he can build a reliable AR-15 by himself, by putting a good BCG and barrel assembly by himself.

But when I hear people saying any big AR company is created equal, I can't do anything else than say NO, they are not. People who don't run their AR-15 hard don't know the difference between AR brands.
BUT, some people actually run their AR daily, and run them hard, and are there to tell you which AR is gonna work, and which one is gonna fail. The parts that fail in an AR are the BCG and barrel assembly (those fancy triggers brake all the time too), and the brands that make parts that do not brake are Colt, LMT, BCM, and a few others who make good products like Daniel Defense.
Click to expand...
And he stated that it was for self defense and target shooting, and I assume that he is not going to shoot a 1000 rounds a day and run them HARD... most average shooters don't... When I go to the range I usually run 100-200 rounds through mine and for some reason I think that is enough with ammo being the cost it is today...
 
Sure enough, you run anything hard and parts are going to fail. I run my trucks hard, and replace tires, brake pads, shocks, fuel lines, etc. more often than your average driver does, I'm sure. At the same time, I run my weapons a little harder than normal, and replace the parts accordingly. My suggestion would be to get a decent AR, a DPMS or such and as you get used to the idiosyncrasies of the rifle, swap out lower quality parts for those of a higher quality. Less of an initial outlay, and in the end you have a rifle practically built by you, for you, and one that you are very nearly intimately familiar with.
 
If by piston you mean an AK, FNC, or FAL then, yes, they can be more reliable.

If by piston you mean a retrofit kit glommed onto a AR15, stay away from them. They all use propitary parts and none have enough units in production for anyone to say anything about lifetime and/or reliability.

BSW
Click to expand...

No I ment something like a POF, LMT, LWRC, or other.
 
Stag doesn't stake their BCG properly IIRC, they are not shot peened nor are they MPI or HP tested.
Click to expand...

Their staking is much better as of late. They do MPI also, and have for quite sometime now.
 
so long as you maintain it well.
Click to expand...

The golden rule for a long, fully-functional lifespan of any firearm.

I'm sure my M&P-15, maintained correctly could outperform any of the uber-expensive AR's on the market that don't see routine maintenance, cleaning, lubrication, etc.
 
Never had a problem with my Bushmaster gas piston rifle (POF M-4 with bushy name), or my DPMS. Thousands of rds, and never skips a beat.
Choose what model you like, and dont believe all the hype about a few models being so much better. So far the gas piston ARs tested by independant sources have been far more reliable, cleaner, cooler, and there is only a small difference in the accuracy as well they are louder. Most gas piston ARs are designed on carbines because carbines have a reputation for being less reliable, and running hotter.
 
RMT posted the BCM 20" above which would get my vote as well.

Important to note that it is MUCH easier to get a full-stocked (meanin A1 or A2) 20" AR15 to run reliably than a 16" or less. The longer gas and buffer system make them MUCH more forgiving and MUCH less stressful on the various parts, meaning that initial reliability as well as long-term durability and lifespan of parts are all greatly increased.

Personally, I have no use for a 20" barrel, but for those that do the biggest thing you gain (besides internet misinformation about supposed increased accuracy) is the added reliability and parts life.
 
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