What will kill the AR platform?

[storm6490 2,768]

It will be the HK IAR (M27) but after the contract runs out for the jar heads, it will be stamped MADE IN CHINA and issued to our troops in 5.56 nato.

[unclejake 428]

You need to ask this at ARFCOM...

 

 

 

 

[unclejake 428]

The M16 used in the Vietnam war was a prototype weapon with a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG list of problems which all affected it's reliability, and ball powder ammo was not the greatest of these. I concede that, at that time, it was a piece of crap. The design is 55 years old though (going back to the original AR-10 prototypes), and we have quite well worked out its problems by now. Unfortunately the current standard issue carbines we have now are also a pain in the ass, but that's because the system is horribly off-balance. The gas pressure is too high while the moving mass is too light. The XM16E1 had the same problem because the Edgewater buffers weren't heavy enough. You can make an AK run just as poorly if you remove enough weight from the bolt carrier without somehow regulating down the gas pressure. There are otherwise-standard DI M4s out there with heavier-than-standard buffers that have run 20k+ rounds without cleaning, with the same reliability an an AK or a G36.

 

You want to see a rifle that runs really dirty in the receiver, try any H&K roller-delayed weapon. That's propellant gas leaking out around the casing at peak pressure, with the casing already backing out before the bullet has left the muzzle. They run FAR dirtier than any DI AR, I can attest to that from personal experience, and you don't see many people complaining about the reliability there. I certainly never had any problems with mine.

 

What I'm saying is, YES, SOME of the AR-15 configurations DO have reliability problems, including our current standard issue carbine, but it is NOT the design of the gas system that is to blame.

 

The general rule I go by is that a poorly made AK is reliable but inaccurate, while a poorly made AR is accurate but unreliable. Well made and properly configured AKs and ARs are great weapons on equal footing. If you were sending me into combat, and presented me with one AK and one AR and told me to choose one, uninspected with no idea who built each or with what parts, I'd chose the AK every time. Better safe than sorry. But if you gave me the choice of running a completely custom configured AK vs. a completely custom configured AR that I know and have control over every part, I'd choose the AR out of personal preference, and it would definitely NOT be running a piston conversion. I'm sure most of the other posters here think I'm downright insane for that, but a girl's gotta stick to her principles.

 

I'll make no real arguments in defense of the 5.56mm NATO round. I'll admit we could do better there. I'd personally like to be running 6.5mm Grendel... if I could afford it...

 

I swear to god I'm not trying to start a flame war here. I'm just tired of all the popular, sweeping generalizations. At the other end of the spectrum, I'm equally pissed off at the hard-core AR aficionados who will tell you all day that there is no such thing as an accurate AK.

Cas, I like your style!

[shades_of_grey 1,092]

Other-

 

Anything that does not shit where it eats, if you know what I mean.

 

I thought this thread was settled ~2 yrs ago. Nothing will "kill the DI AR", but obvously there are a few different systems as good and/or superior to it.

 

I still prefer the AK gas-operated piston-driven system, with the H&K, (and or any other delayed-blowback system), as #2, and the DI AR system a distant third.

Edited May 4, 2012 by post-apocalyptic

[Agent Lemon 157]

Oh shit, old thread. I guess I found it in the 'new content' tab.

[timy 1,185]

Obama.

[shades_of_grey 1,092]

Obama.

 

If he's "elected" to a 2nd term, I fear you're right.

[mgconnor13 206]

Re-dothe M855 and M855A1. We don"t need AP carbines we need anti personal carbines that can punch through cars and thin walls. Has any one looked into a EFMJ design for 5.56 or 300 Black Out?

[Lone Eagle 839]

Necro-post, but I'm game.

 

I have an AK and an AR. Both are reliable platforms, and both are man stoppers. My AR is chambered in 6.8SPC, shoots up to a 140gr bullet in .270 caliber, is DI, and is accurate as hell. It runs cleaner than my cousin's 5.56 AR based an a 200 round assessment. Basically, we both fired 200 rounds of quality ammo(I was running a mix of Hornady and SSA, he was running Federal and Fiochi), and checked the chambers after firing. His was far dirtier than mine, but still went bang. HOWEVER, if SHTF, I'm reaching for my Arsenal. It's just as accurate as an AR out to 200 yds, more reliable, and the M67 Ball and 8M3 JHP does more damage. The 6.8 is the wife's GTG simply because she learned on the AR platform in the AF.

 

The upside to the AR is versatility. It's one of very few platforms you can swap calibers by simply pushing 2 pins and slapping a new upper on it. I'm currently working on a third upper as money permits for her. 7.62x39mm piston driven upper so we can share ammo.