Saturday, March 03, 2012

Machine. Gun.

Og takes a look at one of the factors that helps make the AR such an accurate rifle. He says it's the first in a series of posts on how things are made, a topic on which Og is a certified SME. I'm looking forward to it.
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11 comments:

jed said...

This reminds me of the comments at arfcom about swapping out the barrel or bolt, and checking headspace.

And I just thought of a new definition for 'preventive dentistry' -- paying for a crown this AM is preventing me from getting the next parts for my AR build. (Sadly, this is true -- I'm heading out in a about an hour.)

10:09 AM, March 03, 2012
Kristophr said...

Heh.

Looks like your dental pain posts are encouraging people to get theirs over with before it gets to the stupid stage.

12:23 PM, March 03, 2012
Anonymous said...

High praise. Hope it lives up to it, aside from the occasional nyquil induced malaprop

3:48 PM, March 03, 2012
Anonymous said...

And I have no idea why it doesn't recognize me

og

3:49 PM, March 03, 2012
Anonymous said...

Somebody has something GOOD to say about the AR, the Mattel Toy Rifle, the Poodle Shooter, the Rifle That Sh*ts Where It Eats???

/sarc

I wonder if any other service rifle in our history (or anybody else's, for that matter) has inspired such controversy and even outright hatred. I've never understood that. I've fired the AR-15 and the M-16; I find the rifle to be light, pleasantly low recoil, accurate, and more-or-less easy to clean and maintain (depending on the drill sergeant's mood, that is!). Is it the best rifle ever? No. Has it got faults? Yes. Is it a POS? No, not at all.

5:43 PM, March 03, 2012
Ed Foster said...

As a living, I have signed off, in whole or major part, on something like four and a half million M-16/AR15's. I've learned something about the weapons system in 45 years.

Simple fact: in it's present incarnation, it's the most reliable hand held military weapon since the club. I don't even grimace anymore when I say that, so I guess I'm not the same old M-14 Marine I was when I first qualified with serial number TRW 151411 in 1965.

Each military M16/M4 is produced in a batch of 100 units. Two of those units are randomly chosen at assembly and fired 6,000 rounds each. If either weapon has 5 stoppages for any reason, the entire lot of 100 is rejected.

No exceptions, no cheating. Try it and spend five years hard time in Leavenworth.

Anyone who tells you different is a Sea Lawyer spinning you a yarn. In a more personal forum, my language might be a tad more salty.

The Iraqi's are changing over to the M-16, not because they love Americans, but because they have seen people being dropped regularly at three eighths of a mile.

A considerable change from clumsy AK rattlebags soaked in diesel fuel that turn into shit magnets with every breeze.

And please don't tell me AK's are reliable because of the ginormous tolerances. Those tolerances are there so the Kalashnikovs can be made on tired machinery by hopeless drunks.

If you had seen, as I have, SloMo films of the flimsy AK reciever oilcanning in full auto fire, you would understand why the Russians have equipped all their (few) first line troops with the ABAKAN rifle, which essentially duplicates the M-16 in capability.

A buddy of mine, Air Force Reserve Captain Ken Hagenow, teaches the Designated Marksman course at Ft. Benning several times a year. His people fire, at worst, head sized groups all day at 500 meters, and a day with even a single stoppage is rare.

And they're doing it with M-4's.

7:18 PM, March 03, 2012
Anonymous said...

The more I play with the platform the more impressed I am by it's design.

8:51 PM, March 03, 2012
og said...

Dang, had to switch to Firefox to leave a comment, Exploder doesn't show the whole comment form.

The more I play with it and the more I learn about it the more the platform impresses me. Stoner knew a thing or two about manufacturing, the whole deal is designed to be made functional by the lowest common denominator, and yet it has the ability to do amazing things in the hands of a skilled individual.

9:00 PM, March 03, 2012
Anonymous said...

Ed Foster,

Good comment. Thank you.

9:16 PM, March 03, 2012
Ted N said...

Ed Foster; thank you for that, I feel a lot better about the rifle I take with on business trips now.

11:59 PM, March 03, 2012
the pawnbroker said...

og, glad to see you back at this always interesting and informative -if sometimes pointlessly pointed- place.

1:33 PM, March 04, 2012

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