Recent Army M16/M4 bolt issues

[okie]

I thought barrels lasted a lot longer than that. Or is it because of high rate of fire? I'm still trying to shoot out my barrel, no luck so far, it's around 10k-11k

I assume he meant each. Although barrels can definitely last a lot longer without serious degradation. It's usually the gas ports on the M4s and Mk18s that suffer the fastest damage.

[vicious_cb]

I thought barrels lasted a lot longer than that. Or is it because of high rate of fire? I'm still trying to shoot out my barrel, no luck so far, it's around 10k-11k

They do but high power and match shooters dump barrels at 3k rounds because they want peak accuracy. If a barrel isnt shooting half a minute anymore then it isnt good enough for a match.

[mack7.62]

Also the USAMU is using non chromed match barrels I suspect.

[kirkland]

That makes sense

[lysander]

The USAMU usually changes out M16/M4 bolts on the third barrel change -- somewhere around 9,000 - 12,000 rounds. Impending failure is usually marked by cracked bolt lugs.

Same with hammer springs.

The M4 reliability baseline test shows a similar bolt life with regular line M4 Carbines.

[lysander]

Lets introduce incompressible liquids into the chamber thus increasing pressure then complain about bolts failing. Army logic. f***ing retards.

Actually, if you read the article, it says DON'T put lubrication on the ammunition, that sounds like good logic.

[lysander]

It's not just the Army. There's a cop on arfcom who claims AR carriers shouldn't be lubed, and he will absolutely lose his shit on anyone who tries to point out the errors in his logic.

When has the Army ever stated that the bolt carrier shouldn't be lubricated? The TM states very plainly that the carrier should be lubricated.

Although, I wouldn't recommend the method pictured to reload magazines, over-zealous application of force will deform the magazine lips.

[okie]

When has the Army ever stated that the bolt carrier shouldn't be lubricated? The TM states very plainly that the carrier should be lubricated.

Although, I wouldn't recommend the method pictured to reload magazines, over-zealous application of force will deform the magazine lips.

I'm saying blowhards in positions of authority start these myths and then you get a bunch of idiots out there not lubing their carriers (or lubing their ammo as the case may be).

[turnburglar]

I've always inspected the bolts after every few shooting sessions when cleaning, but haven't really seen any issues to even know what I was looking for. I also didn't know about the way to see hairline cracks quoted below from the article, so may have been missing them all along. Is this widespread knowledge I just missed or a nugget of military SOP?

Will try this before going out again, I've got bolts with 5-20K rounds and not even sure when failure is likely to happen.

When I was in, they taught us BMW-CLS

Broken

Missing

Worn

Cleanliness

Lubrication

Spring tension

If you keep that in mind while going through your BCG, no matter what the round count is; you should end up with a functional rifle.

[ndmiller]

When I was in, they taught us BMW-CLS

Broken

Missing

Worn

Cleanliness

Lubrication

Spring tension

If you keep that in mind while going through your BCG, no matter what the round count is; you should end up with a functional rifle.

Yeah, but I was never in, just a civilian.

Broken (Cracks in bolt seeing with CLP is new to me), Missing, Cleanliness and Lubrication I get. What's the "standard" for Worn and Spring tension?