AR Sponsor
Posted: 2/18/2015 5:17:05 PM EDT
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I am new to AR's. hell im still getting parts to build my first.
It seems like everything is made to wear out and be replaced though. My Questions is. How long is an AR going to last under normal conditions. Can I expect my grandson to shoot it? great grandson? (or daughter) Compared to Mosins, springfields , garands etc. IT seems unlikely that the CMP will be selling surplus m16/m4's 40, 50, 60 years in the future. My main concern is the steel BCG riding in an aluminum receiver. it seems it would wear out eventually, Secondary concern would be the steel barrel contact with the aluminum receiver and threads. Seems that would corrode and receiver would need replaced. Just a topic for discussion, what do you guys think? |
| A correctly-assembled AR will not experience corrosion between the steel barrel/barrel nut and aluminum receiver. That's what molybdenum grease is for. As far as BCG/receiver wear, again you're supposed to lubricate the gun. Essentially, thought some argue that the AR is DI, it's actually a piston design in two different places. The bolt is a piston (even has piston rings) inside the BCG. Furthermore, the BCG is a piston inside the "cylinder" of the upper receiver/receiver extension. Lubrication on both of these "pistons" is a good thing to keep the rifle running long-term. As far as wear parts, a barrel is good for 12,000-20,000 rounds depending on who makes it, firing schedule, and who you believe. Bolt life is roughly 5,000 rounds. Gas rings roughly 3,000 rounds (again, depending on weapon design, suppressor use, etc). Overall, if you have a rifle that you put, say, 1,200 rounds a year through, you can probably expect it to last 10 years with minor repairs here and there. Most folks don't shoot that much. Some shoot more than that in a month. |
| The AR 15 (much like the M16 and it's variants) was designed that way. Parts will last according to how much you use them; usually by round count. The design was so an individual part (like barrel, receiver, or internal part) could be easily repaired or replaced all together. Any rifle that goes unused will last forever but an unused rifle is a useless rifle. Many AR 15s will last for thousands of rounds without need for repair or part replacement. |
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The Air Force and Navy are still using early 1960's (pre-M16A1) lower receivers. Barrels will need replacement - I've never seen anyone say they had to replace an upper, outside of a catastrophe, albeit there's a tremendous amount of old style upper receivers w/ carrying handles running around. There are a handful of steel uppers and lower receivers running around. You can weld your own steel lower receiver if you like:
http://www.theflatspot.net/ar-15-receiver-flat.html |
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Quoted:
I am new to AR's. hell im still getting parts to build my first. It seems like everything is made to wear out and be replaced though. My Questions is. How long is an AR going to last under normal conditions. Can I expect my grandson to shoot it? great grandson? (or daughter) Compared to Mosins, springfields , garands etc. IT seems unlikely that the CMP will be selling surplus m16/m4's 40, 50, 60 years in the future. My main concern is the steel BCG riding in an aluminum receiver. it seems it would wear out eventually, Secondary concern would be the steel barrel contact with the aluminum receiver and threads. Seems that would corrode and receiver would need replaced. Just a topic for discussion, what do you guys think? AR's will last for a mag or 2. 
Chances are you probably wont ever have to replace anything unless you burn through a metric fuck ton of ammo. At 10-15 thousand rounds all you generally need to replace is barrel, buffer spring, and maybe a new "tune up"kit for your bolt. Barrel steel doesnt make contact with aluminum receiver threads, im not sure why everybody seems to think a barrel screws into the upper, but they're all wrong. A barrel nut screws into the upper receiver threads, which is what holds the barrel to the upper. |
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Quoted:
A correctly-assembled AR will not experience corrosion between the steel barrel/barrel nut and aluminum receiver. That's what molybdenum grease is for. As far as BCG/receiver wear, again you're supposed to lubricate the gun. Essentially, thought some argue that the AR is DI, it's actually a piston design in two different places. The bolt is a piston (even has piston rings) inside the BCG. Furthermore, the BCG is a piston inside the "cylinder" of the upper receiver/receiver extension. Lubrication on both of these "pistons" is a good thing to keep the rifle running long-term. As far as wear parts, a barrel is good for 12,000-20,000 rounds depending on who makes it, firing schedule, and who you believe. Bolt life is roughly 5,000 rounds. Gas rings roughly 3,000 rounds (again, depending on weapon design, suppressor use, etc). Overall, if you have a rifle that you put, say, 1,200 rounds a year through, you can probably expect it to last 10 years with minor repairs here and there. Most folks don't shoot that much. Some shoot more than that in a month. Bolt is only good for 5,000 rounds? Pat Rogers much have super special bolts as he has a ton with over 10,000. I also have personal bolts over 8,000 and still going. |
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There is not much that wears out other than the bolt and barrel. The bolt is good for 5K+ and the barrel for 10K++.
The old Bushmaster had a couple lowers that they used to test fire every upper they ever put out. Those uppers had hundreds of thousands of rounds through them. Nothing broke. One of the guys from ADCO had a 416 stainless barrel that went 15K+ rounds, a lot of it on full-auto, and still had good accuracy. |
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Quoted:
The Air Force and Navy are still using early 1960's (pre-M16A1) lower receivers. Barrels will need replacement - I've never seen anyone say they had to replace an upper, outside of a catastrophe, albeit there's a tremendous amount of old style upper receivers w/ carrying handles running around. There are a handful of steel uppers and lower receivers running around. You can weld your own steel lower receiver if you like: http://www.theflatspot.net/ar-15-receiver-flat.html Here's a welded steel lower if you want to go that way. 
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Here's a welded steel lower if you want to go that way. http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/IMG_7446.JPG Quoted:
Quoted: The Air Force and Navy are still using early 1960's (pre-M16A1) lower receivers. Barrels will need replacement - I've never seen anyone say they had to replace an upper, outside of a catastrophe, albeit there's a tremendous amount of old style upper receivers w/ carrying handles running around. There are a handful of steel uppers and lower receivers running around. You can weld your own steel lower receiver if you like:
http://www.theflatspot.net/ar-15-receiver-flat.html Here's a welded steel lower if you want to go that way. http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/IMG_7446.JPG  You did a really nice job w/ that kit. After my super glue failure I gave it away to a guy w/ a welder.
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Quoted:
I am new to AR's. hell im still getting parts to build my first. It seems like everything is made to wear out and be replaced though. My Questions is. How long is an AR going to last under normal conditions. Can I expect my grandson to shoot it? great grandson? (or daughter) Compared to Mosins, springfields , garands etc. IT seems unlikely that the CMP will be selling surplus m16/m4's 40, 50, 60 years in the future. My main concern is the steel BCG riding in an aluminum receiver. it seems it would wear out eventually, Secondary concern would be the steel barrel contact with the aluminum receiver and threads. Seems that would corrode and receiver would need replaced. Just a topic for discussion, what do you guys think? Metal quality this day in age far exceeds any of that generation. It will outlast you generally speaking. But if you put 10k down the pipe every year you will need spare parts |
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Quoted:
You did a really nice job w/ that kit. After my super glue failure I gave it away to a guy w/ a welder.Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted: The Air Force and Navy are still using early 1960's (pre-M16A1) lower receivers. Barrels will need replacement - I've never seen anyone say they had to replace an upper, outside of a catastrophe, albeit there's a tremendous amount of old style upper receivers w/ carrying handles running around. There are a handful of steel uppers and lower receivers running around. You can weld your own steel lower receiver if you like:
http://www.theflatspot.net/ar-15-receiver-flat.html Here's a welded steel lower if you want to go that way. http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/IMG_7446.JPG You did a really nice job w/ that kit. After my super glue failure I gave it away to a guy w/ a welder.I want a skeletonized steel lower. Considering the shops I have access to, its doable for me to turn that kit into one. Nevah been done with mild steel befoe? |
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