Thread: How good is the ar 15?

I got my first ar 15. It is a used S&W M&P 15. A couple of weeks went by before I had the time to try it out. It seems to have a broken fireing pin. No marks on the primers at all. As my SHTF gun this makes me doubt the durability of the gun. Are these type of break downs common to the ar? If so I may need to go with a Mini 14. I've owened two of the Rugers and never had a problem. I wanted more accuracy than the Rugers but can not accept break downs in what may be a life or death situation. I'm want to stick with the 223 as I have about 800 rounds and one Mini in the gun safe now.

AR15 good.

Sweet! Troll style AR vs. Mini thread.







( have you done a function check of the rifle, or even tried field stripping it yet? )

Originally Posted by biker bo

I got my first ar 15. It is a used S&W M&P 15. A couple of weeks went by before I had the time to try it out. It seems to have a broken fireing pin. No marks on the primers at all. As my SHTF gun this makes me doubt the durability of the gun. .

Checkit out. If ya buy a used weapon the chances of it not working depending on the condition are increased drasticly. Where did you buy it from? a Dealer or a private sale? Either way the seller has some explaining to do if they assured you it was in working condition. Another thing is did you disassemble and inspect and clean the weapon prior to attempting to fire it? ITs always important to check all the parts and recievers for cracks dirt anything they may cuase it to fail or malfunction. Failing to do this can be deadly! If you did disassemble it, did you check to see if there was a firing pin in the bolt? Itsa common practice for some shooters to remove these to make the weapon safer.

Hope this helps some.

Good luck!

Reco

oh PS AR15 is one the best black guns around. Ive owned several.

After owning an AR15 and a Mini 14 I would go with the AR every time. I had an after market stock on my mini 14 and some hi cap mags that for whatever reason would jam all the time. I lost a lot of money on it selling but was happy I did.
However, I've had two ARs one being a S&W M&P15 and I loved it, probably only shot about 1000 rounds through it and never had one problem. I had to sell it because of money problems and I felt like I sold my kidney. I bought another one from a friend a superior arms, and I haven't shot it that much, but even an off brand I've never had an issue.

If the person who had it before you took poor care of it and shot it a lot then the firing pin will break. It's always a good idea to get some extras with an AR, springs, firing pins, etc. But I wouldn't chose any other SHTF gun.

A lot of people don't think about taking the firing pin out and cleaning it.

I hope this helps.

It's a mechanical device, so parts will break. Good news is that if you buy quality components they will last a long time (25,000 plus rounds). The mini will wear out as well, just faster.
Another thing to like about the AR platform is the ability to service the entire rifle yourself.
I have built and entire upper at the range on a bench in the firing line in about 45 min.
Try doing that with another platform.

I have a bushmaster ar-15 a-1 commando .that i purchased new in 1990. I have put over 2,000 rounds thru it, with never any issues at all.
I have also owned a ruger mini -14 in 1989 which was also purchased new.. which i sold after owning it for about 2 weeks due to its innaccuracy and feeding problems.

The AR-15 is like anything else built of metal moving parts.

It is as good as the quality of parts.

Since you bought it used, you can't really know what parts the previous owner bought, or what kind of treatment they gave it.

I'd say get it repaired, and make sure to use quality parts going forward.

There are also parts that do commonly wear out over time. Go to sites specific to the platform and find out these parts, and buy spares to have on hand.

Personally, since mine is a SHTF gun as well, I keep some spare parts right on the gun.

I have a Magpul grip with a spare bolt and firing pin core like in the pic.



I haven't had any issues with mine at all, but it is comforting to know the parts are there should I need them.

>mfw this thread


bikerbo, I think ya just earned yourself a place in this thread: http://www.northwestfirearms.com/for...tml#post313137

Thanks for all the help. I will replace the firing pin and keep spare parts on hand. The AK guys bring up how fragile the AR's are so I was concerned that this might be a very real problem. I have plans to sell my Mini and pick up two more AR's as there are six in my family.

Glad I could provide some humor for you Spengo

Biker bo, the beauty of the AR is that they are very easy to work on and there are hundreds of options available to push your happy button. I suggest you buy a "Field Kit" which includes a new firing pin, springs, pins, etc, fix her up and enjoy. Gary

Originally Posted by biker bo

Glad I could provide some humor for you Spengo

Haha, ok. +respect to see you are a good sport about it.

Funny how alot of people talk about the inaccuracy of the Mini-14. I have had one for about 10 years now and put a few thousand rounds through it. I have found it very reliable and accurate. The AR platform is also a great platform. I have been in the military for 17 years and have a great amount of experience with it. I have been an armorer and instructor. I have seen very few issues with the AR-15/M4/M16...JMHO

Originally Posted by sandman1212

Funny how alot of people talk about the inaccuracy of the Mini-14. I have had one for about 10 years now and put a few thousand rounds through it. I have found it very reliable and accurate. The AR platform is also a great platform. I have been in the military for 17 years and have a great amount of experience with it. I have been an armorer and instructor. I have seen very few issues with the AR-15/M4/M16...JMHO

Old minis had a lot of QC issues iirc. The poor accuracy reputation probably comes from the stringing you get really quickly when the barrel heats up. Supposedly new ones are better than they used to be. I don't own any minis and I haven't shot them very much so this is all just "stuff I heard from guys on the internet" though.

I had a 200th year Mini that might as well have been a musket regarding accuracy (well, maybe that's an exaggeration), but it worked with every load I could shoot in it. Kept chuggin' right along with stuff that created the ugliest of stoppages in a H&K 93.

Originally Posted by biker bo

Glad I could provide some humor for you Spengo

Massive respect to you, biker bo. Some people (though, um, nobody here on the NWFA forum, o' course ) wouldn't have responded like you did

And Spengo, why did you get that candid pic of me?? I asked you to photoshop out my nostril hairs, dang it!

Why isn't this thread in either section of 'rifle discussion' or 'general firearms discussion'?

You get more input from various members who do not frequent the 'preparedness' section.

SF-

Originally Posted by Silver Fox

Why isn't this thread in either section of 'rifle discussion' or 'general firearms discussion'?

You get more input from various members who do not frequent the 'preparedness' section.

SF-

I posted on this site because of my concern about the durability of the AR platform in a survival SHTF situation. I feel the answers I get here would have this in mind. After all the great advice I'm sure I will stay with the ARs. I'm 53 and have owned many firearms over the years, most for hunting and target shooting. Thank you all for your help.