Bolt Life?

[ABNAK]

I'm not in disagreement with your SOP, but let's not pretend large commercial manufacturers don't get the lion's share of their money from consumers who don't see it that way. I started out with a S&W M&P15 that I largely shot PMC Bronze through. Eventually put a BRT gas port in and switched to higher quality ammo, then higher quality rifles as I learned a thing or two. Most consumers vote with their dollar, and stay where they voted the first time.

Oh absolutely they cater to the bigger market. It would be akin to pumping 10% ethanol, bottom-of-the-barrel unleaded into your high-performance engine and bitching that it just didn't run as well. No kidding! You read the majority of these "My gun has XXX malfunction" threads and then you discover what they're shooting. Duh!

[okie]

From my understanding they do. Ammo difference civilians use would be the biggest difference for bolt life if using a Colt bcg. I am not sure if rate of fire would matter., Most civilians don't have a fun switch on theirs

How often does the .gov really use their fun switches, though? I've talked to quite a few army guys who said they rarely if ever used them, and on the rare occasion they did it was just for grins whenever they had extra ammo to burn. And I've yet to talk to anyone who used their M4 or M16 in full auto in combat. It was always explained to me that fun switches on M4s were for emergencies only, like during an ambush.

[opngrnd]

How often does the .gov really use their fun switches, though? I've talked to quite a few army guys who said they rarely if ever used them, and on the rare occasion they did it was just for grins whenever they had extra ammo to burn. And I've yet to talk to anyone who used their M4 or M16 in full auto in combat. It was always explained to me that fun switches on M4s were for emergencies only, like during an ambush.

The rank and file units never really do.

[okie]

The rank and file units never really do.

I tend to think it's rare even in special units. I just don't think their firing schedules are that much different than ours.

[WS6]

In danger of sounding arrogant here, BUT.....buy shit guns to shoot your shitty ammo out of. Steel-cased, weak-ass Tula/Wolf/Brown Bear/whatever has never desecrated my AR's. Hell, unless it's the Gold Dot 64gr'ers that I have I don't even shoot .223 fodder. It's all 5.56 NATO pressure stuff. That steel-cased foreign crap is for AK's, not AR's. Don't care if this is a popular opinion or not; why should quality weapon makers cater to the lowest common denominator ammunition? If you're too broke-dick to buy 5.56 stuff buy a crappy AR with a window-sized gas port and have a ball.

Exactly this. Who fires off hate mail/posts about Porsche's GT3 because it requires premium fuel?

5.56 pressure is significantly higher than .223 foreign ammo pressure, which ALSO can have some funky burn/pressure-curves.

It's almost like "Only use ammunition that matches the marking on the barrel" applies...

Further, the 5.56 chamber will slightly lower .223 pressure even FURTHER.

In short...buy quality ammunition to run with your quality ported barrel, and get GT3 performance. Or you can buy a Mustang GT and run 87 octane in it and still have a decent performer. It'll never win LeMans, though.

[WS6]

I'm not in disagreement with your SOP, but let's not pretend large commercial manufacturers don't get the lion's share of their money from consumers who don't see it that way. I started out with a S&W M&P15 that I largely shot PMC Bronze through. Eventually put a BRT gas port in and switched to higher quality ammo, then higher quality rifles as I learned a thing or two. Most consumers vote with their dollar, and stay where they voted the first time.

This is sad, and true, and eliminates many prospective companies from my radar.

[okie]

Exactly this. Who fires off hate mail/posts about Porsche's GT3 because it requires premium fuel?

5.56 pressure is significantly higher than .223 foreign ammo pressure, which ALSO can have some funky burn/pressure-curves.

It's almost like "Only use ammunition that matches the marking on the barrel" applies...

Further, the 5.56 chamber will slightly lower .223 pressure even FURTHER.

In short...buy quality ammunition to run with your quality ported barrel, and get GT3 performance. Or you can buy a Mustang GT and run 87 octane in it and still have a decent performer. It'll never win LeMans, though.

I've never had any problems with steel case ammo. The idea that you need a giant gas port to run it is unfounded, in my opinion. At the most, go down a buffer weight. SBRs are little more ammo specific, but even then I've not had any problems with steel that couldn't be solved by going down a buffer. I've never built anything under 10" but pistol length isn't even really worth talking about, so I don't think that's even relevant.

[1168]

I tend to think it's (auto) rare even in special units.

This is true.

Also, I kinda wish barrel makers would have held their ground with gas ports made for 5.56 and forced the ammo makers to keep up. Our ammo supply would be much more consistent today.

[AndyLate]

I've never had any problems with steel case ammo. The idea that you need a giant gas port to run it is unfounded, in my opinion.

I agree and my BCM 16" midlength has proven to be reliable with all ammunition I have tried, including a box (25 rds?) of Tula, hundreds of rounds of PMC bronze, mild handloads, and a few thousand varied brass-cased .223 and 5.56. The only thing I haven't done is run it filthy or in extreme cold.

It is also soft shooting, even compared to my 16" BRT optimal and 18" rifle gassed guns.

My AR cleaning basically consists of wiping off the old oil\sludge, running a boresnake through the barrel a couple times, and re-lubing.

Andy

[ABNAK]

This is true.

Also, I kinda wish barrel makers would have held their ground with gas ports made for 5.56 and forced the ammo makers to keep up. Our ammo supply would be much more consistent today.

It's not so much that the ammo makers would keep up, 'cause there'll always be .223 manufactured, ranging from quality .223 (like Speer Gold Dots) to crappy, cheap stuff like Tula. I would rather see barrels advertised as .223 or 5.56mm, and ported accordingly. Of course the big names like Colt, BCM, and their ilk would probably opt for the 5.56, while lower-budget places such as PSA, S&W, CMMG, etc. would likely offer .223 ports.

If you have a couple quality AR's and the appropriate 5.56 ammo for them set aside, there is nothing wrong with buying a lower-tier AR and some crap ammo for training purposes. Wouldn't take it to a carbine class or such but for more frequent practice (or just plain plinking fun) you could run the "beater" and some Tula. Quite honestly with the deals PSA has sometimes it's hard to pass up!

If gun makers use the .223 port size as a default you will no doubt see increased parts wear, namely the bolt. Couple that with perhaps a "less than top-notch" bolt to begin with and you'll see failures at a higher rate.

If someone is on a tighter budget than Euro for instance I would tell them to buy the PSA if they want, some cheap ammo to practice with, and some good 5.56 for a "rainy day". I would also recommend buying a quality bolt to keep as a spare (like maybe inside the pistol grip).