I remember friends getting the Generation 1, and never got them to run anywhere near 100%. There's now a Generation 2. Please tell your experience.

Scott

I have a Gen 2 AM15 and it runs ok.

IMHO, the AM15 has all the same issues/weakness as the AM180 of which the feed system is just really not all that reliable.   The sight picture is abysmal as the drum blocks your field of view and the larger capacity drums will even block the sights completely.  There is no semi-auto for any sort of aimed fire.

You can make it better by making sure its clean, the drum has a steel base plate to minimize drum flex, and the winder is properly tensioned so it can feed rounds adequately and not run out of steam prematurely.

That said, I don't shoot mine very much.

Its a pain to swap the fire control components around to the open bolt parts, which means the selector has to come out.   You also have to pull and swap the buffer and spring as well.

With the  AM15 Gen 2 in order to slow down the ROF the Gen 2 has longer rearward bolt travel which means the bolt also gets a pretty good run at the sear/hammer coming back forward before it is caught which has me concerned about egging out the hammer pin hole.

Similar to the AM180 the drums are very slow and a pain to load,  the winders can be temperamental, clearing jams is tricky (and if you forgot to lock the winder really it will dump the whole drums contents before you can blink), they will routinely crush the last round in the drum as there is no positive feed for the last round other than gravity, etc.

Its one of the few M16 accessories I bought where I have some pretty decent buyers remorse.   I mainly keep it around as a healthy reminder as to why I don't want a factory AM180.

My Norrell 10/22 comes to the range with me all the time.  The AM15 collects dust on a shelf.

I had planned to make a drop in open bolt fire control trigger pack that wouldn't require the selector to be changed out and also would protect the RR hammer hole  from getting egged out but never seem to find the time or motivation.   Maybe one day I will revisit that project.

Thank you for taking the time to post. That was very informative. I got a hold of a Generation 1 AM15 and am patiently waiting for Craig to do the modifications and upgrades again. I like that the Generation 2 is less problematic and has a slower ROF. To me the greatest aspect of the upper is ammo capacity. I have several Ceiner kits. Even a 110 round drum goes away very quickly. At 850 RPM and 275 round capacity, that would seem like a lot more trigger time between reloading.

Scott