Originally Posted by
jmart
This does point out a reality of the weapon system -- it's hard to get a weapon to run reliably with a single buffer/spring combo and cover everything from NATO-spec to Tula.
My advice would be to divide the ammo spectrum in half, and commit to running either the higher end stuff (and paying the price) or running the lower end stuff and buffer it and spring it accordingly. Or just resign yourself to swapping out buffers and springs depending upon what ammo you're running that day. [ETA] In reality, the problemmatic ammo can probably be segregated to the lower 25% and your stock setup is probably already suited to run the upper 75% of the spectrum. You probably don't have to divide the ammo population in half, more like 75/25.]
And if you commit to running steel casd ammo, by all means keep your chamber clean. Chamber brush, solvent, then dry patch. Even if your a "just lube it and don't bother cleaning" kind of guy, you need to pay attention to this area. Don't let it get carboned up. Brass cased ammo is a bit cleaner in this regard.