Sick of my danged AR-15!!!!

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George, sorry to hear about your problem. I have heard increasing stories about problems with Colt and BM ARs in the days leading up to Y2K and the California ban. I would think the increased pace of production due to the increased demand led to some poor QC in both factories.
Victor, you're wrong on both counts, neither an out of the box 1911 nor an AR usually needs any work to reliable, barring a factory defect.
 
Easy way to solve your problem. Give me the Bushmaster. I'll make sure never to remind you that you gave it for free. Then go buy a Wilson Combat TPR-15. Fires like a dream and still has the same AR look. The important thing is to make sure you give me the Bushmaster so your stress goes away. :D

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Svt
Son's Place

Guns don't kill innocent people. People kill innocent people.

[This message has been edited by Svt (edited January 25, 2000).]
 
As a former AR owner I just want you to know that...I feel your pain. It takes a village of gunsmiths to keep those guns going...has anyone seen my new intern...
 
If I may be so bold...What ammo were you shooting? The only time I've had any problems with my ARs was when I had ammo that wasn't up to snuff.
 
Thanks for the support guys!
Problems get fixed with it as they arise... I have been "Fixing" ARs for many years. I guess that should have tipped me off!

Many good offers for trades. Many very tempting.
Jake - come on - you know I hate Rugers... I cant let them into my gun safe or my others will revolt.

Clean it... grrrr - clean that d@mned thing more than I shoot it!
The best suggestion I have heard here so far is FAL. Will have to consider that.
Good trade off is for a MAK 90. Solid. Thats possible. Will have to think that one over.

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
 
Out of 3 AR-15s I owned (2 Colt and 1 Bushmaster), 2 were junk and jammed all the time. The only good one was a CAR-15 made in the late 70s. The other 2 were made in the 90s and were totally unreliable. I the trend has been to turn the rifles into more accurate guns, which basically cuts down on reliability. I'll bet the older ones had a bigger throat to feed the ammo.
 
I bought a new one (bushmaster, 20") and out of the box, it jammed every other round. Feh!! Turns out the feed ramp of the barrel locking ring was dead-sharp. After careful, very careful, smoothing, the problem vanished, never to return (knock on some big old wood, here). Also, in my zeal for cleanliness, I removed the peened-in-place bolts on the gas port of the bolt carrier. Now, they come loose once in a while at the range, causing short recoil. Stupid, I know, but I just make a habit of checking the tightness every time I clean it and keep an allen wrench of the appropriate size in my range bag! If I hadn't done that, it would be trouble free (mags are another story entirely)... Good luck on your problem.

John
 
I've got three AR's, two Bushmasters and a Colt. I use the Colt in HP competition. I have NEVER had a problem with any of them. I also have a NM M1A, a NM M1 and a couple of Mini 14's. The only advantage I can see to the M1A/M1 is the caliber (.308/.30-06) and that only beyond 300 yds. The AR is more accurate than any of them, especially the Mini's. Sorry that you're having problems with yours.
Mike
 
George-Sorry to hear of your troubles-nothing worse than having your stress reliever go south when you're stressed.I too use a AR in the same fashion,but don't really know my way them from a mechanical intricacy/troubleshooting standpoint;fact is,I've never had any trouble out of the two I've owned(both Colt 16").Keep us posted on this one-I would like to know the outcome.
 
I consulted a Gun Doc on this and he will take this as a new patient.
We talked in detail and he thinks he already has a couple ideas.

My question is this for the group:
Would there be an adverse effect if you used an recoil buffer and spring from a 4 position stock in an A2 stock?

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
 
George, yes there could be a problem using the shorter buffer in the wrong stock. I never tried it myself but I'd change that spring and buffer to the nice military A2 parts ASAP.
 
See my post regarding "MINI 14- are they really as bad as I hear".

As I said in that post, at a recent large gun shoot at the local range, everybody with a mini-14 had no problems with reliability.
The mini's worked everytime.

Couldnt say that about the Jam-o-matics, ooops, I mean AR's.
They jammed and failed to feed consistently.

While most Mini-14's may not be as accurate as an AR, at least they are a lot more reliable. I'll take reliability over accuracy anytime.

By the way, the AK's and their variants didnt jam either. Kalashnikov is a genius, Stoner is an idiot, who got some of our boys killed in 'Nam thanks to his "brilliant" design. No one will ever know just how many of our boys died over there thanks to Stoner.

PS: my mini-14 shoots under 2" at 100 yards

[This message has been edited by mhannah1 (edited January 28, 2000).]
 
HK,FN-FAL,M14 Get the best. George why you still playing with those itty bitty rounds anyway, you should know better. If you want back up here ya go...And unlike many here (no offense meant) this guy has been there done that, bought the t-shirts, one says Korea and the other Nam.

""Time would prove that one of the major problems with the M16 in the war years was its ammo, bought on the cheap by an Army cutting costs at the expense of its men's lives(and later, when the ammo situation was straightened out and the mammoth teething problems were addressed, the weapon did get better). But in the final analysis, that situation--as obscene as it was-- was still secondary to the fact that the weapon was a worthless piece of junk that never should have gotten down to the troops to begin with."
Col David H Hackworth




[This message has been edited by oberkommando (edited January 28, 2000).]
 
oberkommando - When your right - Your Right.
.223 is small and sickly compaired to the mighty .308. This is well known to me. I will be buying a .308 Auto rifle soon. Very Soon.

Anyways to report on my AR - I have a diagnosis and a Cure. It took my smith no longer than 60 seconds. Here is the deal The Buffer was a factor. It wasnt pushing the bolt carrier forward fast enough or hard enough to reliably and effectively lock it all up like it should. This was suspected.
But what knocked me over was indeed the gas flow. It was suspected that there was a gas flow issue - but what I didnt know was that the gas tube was bent, pinching off the gass flow just enough to keep the flow from pushing the bolt back hard enough.
Simple tube replacement which only took a minute or two and swapping out the buffer... DONE.

Do not ask me how the gas tube got bent - I have NO IDEA. I suspect my brother or father in law played with it or something because I RARELY remove the handguards.

Anyways - the dang rifle is running better than ever.

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
 
George,

There is a significant difference between the A2 and Shorty buffer springs (the fomer being much longer than the latter). If this is the case, I would correct it immediately and see if your problems clear up.
 
now that the problem was found to be sabotage by some Mini 14 or FAL lover,
you must repeat the mantra
stoner, stoner, stoner
while anointing the black rifle with sprays of CLP

the evil humors will be banished by further application of 55 grain .223.

glad the baby was not thrown out with the bath water!
As far as a semi .308
My Vepr fills that bill
DPMS is going to do a .308 ARoid this year

dZ

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"walk softly and carry a big stick, one that goes bang in .308 is fine"
 
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