I have a dilemma I'm hoping you can help with.  While GD would put more eyes on the topic, I feel I'm likely to get some better insight here and more assfoolery there.  Not that I'm opposed to assfoolery on a general level, I would like some serious thought here.

I live in NY, so I'm limited in how my rifles can be configured as we still have an AWB.  I have a few preban ARs, two preban AKs, a Sig 556, an MSAR E4 and an XCR.

I'm not really enamored with the Sig's ergos

The AKs are reliable as all hell, but not really accurate and they look like AKs (bad guys) and ARs look like good guy weapons.  I always laughed at that before, but there is something to be said for that after 9 years in Iraq and Afghanistan and exposure to 24 news feeds with an anti message that always seems to claim a shooter has an AK.

The ARs are reliable, but I have experienced a couple catastrophic failures over the year that rendered the weapon unusable.  Namely blown primers that lodged between the BCG and upper receiver and bound the rifle up to the point that the stock had to be removed along with the buffer tube to work the BCG and free the lodged primer.  This happened twice to me and once to a friend, three different rifles and with factory ammo (no reloads) Federal and Winchester.  If that happened in the field, BAD news...  The AR does have the advantage of a 1/7 twist (I see myself more likely to shoot heavier than 62 grain ammo than under 55 grain ammo).  As it is a pre-ban in NYS I can have my Magpul M93 stock and FH.  The AR also gives the option to easily switch uppers to say my 6.8 SPC upper.  Definite advantages here, but those catastrophic failures weigh heavily on me.  As for the type of AR since that might weigh on people's suggestions, it is a 16 inch Colt 6920 upper with a cut A2 carry handle sight with a pre-ban Olympic Arms lion crest lower that has worked flawlessly with every AR upper I have tried.

The XCR is a NY compliant model with a Yankee Hills brake, 14.5 inch barrel (made legal with the brake), fixed tubular stock and the old style gas system.  It has a 1/9 twist barrel (so far all of my 5.56 shooting has been 55 and 62 grain and the XCR is accurate with both).  The XCR has pretty much no recoil, fastest follow-up shots ever.  The accuracy is on par with an AK and I've NEVER been able to make it choke on any ammo.  The operating system is in my opinion more robust and the one complaint I've heard is people don't like the bolts and such that hold it together, but after several thousand rounds mine are still tight.  Spare parts would definitely be hard to come by in an emergency, although I could and should lay spares in.  I definitely prefer the controls on the XCR with the non-reciprocating side charging handle on the left of the receiver and the bolt release on the trigger guard.

Thoughts?  Are my fears about the AR overblown?  Was it just a sluke the primers blowing multiple times and jamming different rifles?

When my girlfriend gets drunk she skeers me too... usually in a VERY good way...

Skeered isn't always bad

AR has more spare parts available...  I'd get an AK or AR & stick with it...  Buy a few extra parts and be done.

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Definite selling point for the AR... but again, those catastrophic failures weigh heavily on me.  I can get an AK, FAL, Sig, XCR open much easier if something jams up bad due to the ARs buffer tube and the chance the BCG can lock partially back and bind everything up.  This is the ONE thing that really worries me about the AR system.

I've blown primers in other rifles, no other rifle has ever bound up to the point that I needed to use specialized tools to remove the stock and work at freeing up the BCG.  I'm not sure you could even replicate that type of problem in an XCR.  And yes I do have more rounds through the AR rifles than the XCR, but I haven't had a single malfunction of any variety in the XCR.  Not a stovepipe a misfeed a case that failed to extract.  Nothing.  The AR has had a variety of failures, but the only ones really being catastrophic were the blown primers.

I love both rifles and each have their pluses and minuses, just trying to figure objectively which is the better choice.  Subjectively I prefer the XCR, but not sure it is the best choice.

Federal and Winchester factory... and while yes the blown primer is an ammo issue, the fact that a blown primer can jam a BCG part way back into the buffer tube and bind up the gun IS a rifle issue.

While my rifle may have an Olympic lower, it has a factory 6920 upper that was a take-off from a current production rifle.

No, you can't.  The BCG travels back and forth in the upper receiver, if it jams up with the rear of the BCG past the buttstock extension on the lower receiver you will be bound up tight and popping the pins will not separate the upper and lower.  You need to remove the stock and either force the BCG forward or pull it back through the extension.

It's funny you should mention that!  

At the tac-carbine course I did in june my AK jammed about 6 times!  FTE's & doublefeeds.

Had to stick with my AR15 for the day, but it had a broken 4-pos CAR stock!  I had to duct tape the stock to keep using it.

Day-2 I took AK #2 and it ran like a Track-star from a rapist!  AK's & AR's both can have good days & bad.

While not as accurate & distance as the AR, my AK still got a few decent hits at 400 yards!  I'd definitely consider the AK as a 300 or less rifle for most practical purposes.

If I had to stick with ONE rifle for ALL distances & purposes, and I was NOT allowed spare parts––-it's definitely the FAL for semi-auto, or go with a good Savage/Remmy/Tikka 308 bolt gun.

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I had thought headspacing, but I figured it would happen more frequently.  Even three instances is RARE, but the fact it happened on different rifles gives me pause as well.  One a factory RRA (buddy's rifle) a factory Bushy (one of mine) and my Colt 6920 factory upper/pre-ban Oly lower.

I appreciate that, but my concerns are my concerns... no matter where they rank on your list of relevancy.  I'm surprised you have never heard of this issue as I have seen it mentioned several times on this website, not like it is an every day failure, but it is not unique to me.

As for a high round count firefight, I pray I never get into a single round fire fight.  God forbid the very worst case scenario transpires, I want to have full confidence in my rifle... or as close as possible, and honestly I don't have full confidence in any rifle. I am however relieved to hear that few others have had an issue with the primer locking up the weapon.  I'll pray it was a fluke and I have my failures behind me.

I honestly don't notice a huge difference in weight in my XCR over an AR15 with a rail... to be fair you need are comparing a rifle with a monolithic rail to a rifle with plastic handguards.  I also have the light barrel variant of the XCR.  Agreed, parts availability is my biggest concern with the XCR.  That can not be dismissed easily.

Actually that was one of the things I did to no avail... might not have done it hard enough.  With an M4 stock I was afraid of breaking it.  With an A2 stock I would have been less concerned.