Here's something I posted over on M4carbine.net and I thought it might be of interest to some of the members here.

I've been shooting my SR556C rather regularly in the year or so I've owned it and just reached the 5,000 round mark.  Most of this has been on semi- but I have fired several hundred rounds of this on a select fire lower.  In all this time, the gun has been accurate and reliable with the only exceptions being some failures to extract with some Silver Bear and WOLF steel cased ammo.  I do note that the gun runs properly with Hornady steel cased ammo and WOLF 75gr ammo but doesn't seem to like the lighter WOLF or Silver Bear stuff.  The gun runs fine on setting #2 with brass cased ammo.  

The gun has been used in a couple of carbine classes and has also been used to shoot jackrabbits and for general plinking and range practice.  While I do see some internal wear, I note nothing alarming or unusual and I've not had any broken parts, etc.  Some speculated that the Ruger piston was of improper design and would break bolts in the few thousand rounds but mine seems to be going strong.  

Next report at 10,000!

The carbine in its current form:


Carbon fouling under the gas block.  This is a hard spot to get to for cleaning but I believe Ruger's decision to vent under the gas block is a good one.  This keeps the hot gasses away from hands, slings, flashlights, etc.


No carrier tilt:


Some slight wear on the face of the buffer:


An overall shot of the bolt carrier assembly and BCM charging handle:


Bolt carrier and bolt:




A view of the upper:


Some wear from cam pin drag.  The POF roller cam pin has been in the gun pretty much since it was new:


Barrel extension:


Gas piston, regulator and spring.  My usual regimen for cleaning is to soak these parts in Bore Tech C4 and wipe with a rag.



Inside bottom edge of upper:

Great post.

How often did you clean it?

Next 5,000rds try not cleaning it

Did you compare accuracy from new to now?

I have always tried to keep the bolt and carrier cleaned and lubed.  Sometimes this involved disassembly and cleaning.  Other times it involved nothing more than running a chamber brush in and out a couple times and re-lubing the carrier's bearing surfaces.  I think the longest I've gone with the piston itself is about 1,200 rounds without maintenance.

Sort of.  The gun still seems to shoot good quality match-type ammo as well as it ever did.  The limiting factor for pinpoint accuracy is the optic.  I like the Leupold for "quick and dirty" but the reticle's center dot is a little too big for precision accuracy.

Leupold's supposed to be releasing a version of the CQ/T with their CMR2 reticle.

Really? I've been waiting for something other than the Circle Dot for Six/Seven years.



 

iirc, the new reticle option will be available in June. I don't know if this will be a standard offering or a custom shop product.

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I own a standard SR556 and have been pleased with it also.  Does your Gun have the old or new bolt carrier design?

Good thread for those of us who have one of these guns.
I just installed the POF roller cam pin this week on what is also a basicly new gun.  (I shot about 60 rounds with the original cam pin when I first got the gun and noticed some receiver wear.)  After installing the POF roler cam pin I noticed no further wear to the uipper reciever in the short outing at the range yesterday.  I am concidering adding a very small dab of graphite lube to the roller cam pin bearing so it spins more freely.  (It does not appere to be a roller bearing so I woud think this might help.)  Anyone tried this?
I'm not a fan of wilf or siver bear so I've been using PPU brass in mine.  No problems so far.

Either way it is good info. Thanks.



Sorry for the slight thread hijack.



I'm going to have to talk to our local Ruger sales rep and see if the 'E' handguard is available.



 

So what's Ruger's secrete to preventing carrier tilt and wear to the upper? I don't see any sign of carrier tilt. My standard AR's show more wear then yours gun shows.
Great post.

I've been pretty impressed with Ruger's offerings lately. I started a love hate relationship with Ruger when I was issued a lead spitting Security Six as a rookie police officer. Their 1911 looks nice, the 556 and Scout Rifle look like some nice long guns too. Your review is doing nothing but pushing me that much further to get a 556!

The carrier in this gun is the style with the radiused tail.  I'm fairly certain that's why we're seeing no rub marks in the buffer tube.

Come on! Buy one! You know you want to!


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Melvin - thank you for the great posts!

Henry - Melvin is right,  a  SR556 is a great rifle!   Get one!  

I just joined the forum after purchasing an SR-556 regular rifle.  It is my first AR and I'm really enjoying it.  Ruger has a fantastic product.

Based on what I have been reading on this and other forums wear in the buffer tube varies from gun to gun for some reason.  With 240+ rounds through my gun, I have a little wear on the bottom of the buffer tube and a very minor wear on the bottom of the rear of the upper where the rear of the BCG rides.  I noticed about the same wear in the same spot on your gun.  I have been shooting XM193 LC, which is pretty warm, initially with the gas valve set on 2 but I changed to 1 after I noticed the wear on the buffer tube.  After the change, the wear stabilized and has not increased.  Interesting!  The gun has run perfectly except when I used a brass catcher on the local indoor range and the brass bounced back into the open receiver while the bolt was stripping the next round.  The problem vanished when I removed the catcher.

Welcome to the club.  Post some pictures of your rifle when you get a chance.

Welcome! And pics are a must!

I recently picked up a SR15E3 and got a chance to shoot it.  I am only able to compare it to my Ruger at the moment for I no longer have any other ARs.  But the Ruger has been a delight!  It chews thru a much larger variety of ammo then the KAC.   Recoil and muzzle climb on the knight is better as is the trigger but the SR15 will short stroke on PMC.  It is that picky...Ruger...eats damn near anything!!  It is a solid under-rated piston in my opinion.  Average street price is 1450 for the C variant.  Considering what you get Troy rail, Troy sigths, 3 pmags, hogue etc...this is a very good ready to shoot package.  I only wish ruger would have done one with a break like a BC or PWS in addition to the A2.  It is nose heavy but overall this is a very good and extremely reliable AR.    I had issues with my XCR as well as worried about the longevity of the company so that is when I dumped the XCR and got the ruger.  The ergos arent as good but I actually prefer the AR for I am most familiar to it.   I admit I got a little down on the SR-556C because of the fixed rails and some minor issues that got resolved immediately...I no longer take this rifle for granted.  My biggest like is the BCG.  The one piece design is very smart...but I like the SIg BCG a little better.  It is a combo of LWRC and Ruger.  So it should really be tilt free!  So many knock the pistons...After having both at one time or another I do find myself be happy with both but the clean up is easier.  I am picky so I spend a lot more time cleaning so it is spotless the ruger takes very little.  The piston does get really dirty and is difficult to clean but the soaking idea is a great one...thanks melvin!

Melvin, you and your Ruger threads are going to seperate me from my money.

Good.  They are solid guns for the money.

The Ruger is really gaining my respect

Some SR556C vidoes just for fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjrG2MzPHdw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlX_abY3J4Y

How is your bolt so clean?  Did you just clean it?





Mine was having some light primer strikes (wouldn't fire) this week but I haven't cleaned it in long awhile and the firing pin seemed to have trouble moving forwards.  I also had 1 stovepipe!




ETA:  My last shooting session was the first time I have had issues in about 2700 rounds.  




 

I usually remove the extractor and clean the firing pin tunnel with a pipe cleaner or a blast of cleaner/degreaser like Gun Scrubber every time I clean the gun.