mhannah1,
You seem to have seen a lot of really bad AR's. I am surprised to hear your description of the match where all the AR's were having trouble. Were they all built by the same local "gunsmith" or something?
I have shot NRA Highpower with an AR for 4 seasons now and am starting my 4th year shooting combat rifle matches with the National Guard state rifle team. I can go back through my data books and add up all the rounds for you, but the 2 AR's I use in Highpower are both on their second barrel. I shoot rack issued M16's in the combat matches. Last year alone, I shot just under 6,000 rounds of 223 through black guns (both combat and Highpower). I had two malfunctions last year, both while testing loads for a 1000 yard match. The loads were a WEE bit hot and had sticky extraction. In actual match shooting over the course of 4 years, I can think of only 1 malfunction in a Highpower match and a couple in the combat matches. The line at Highpower matches is thick with AR type rifles and I have yet to see a rashive outbreak of function problems. What type of match was it where they were shooting Mini's?
As I put out in an eariler post about Mini's. I have owned 2 of them. Both shot VERY poorly. Both had function problems. And yes, using factory mags, handloads or relaods. I suspect we all base our opinions on our own experiances.
We could beat this subject to death, but bottom line is, some guys like the Mini's and some like the AR. Some like both, and good for us all. If we all liked the same stuff it would be a boring place.
[This message has been edited by Tom D (edited January 29, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by Tom D (edited January 29, 2000).]