Archive for the 'AR-15s' Category

Following up his first video, Tim Harmsen adds to the round count on his BCM rifle.  He explains what he does and doesn’t intend with this test.

Through Edmond Haifer Park.  Just a few of comments.  First, to the cop.  Stop pointing that rifle at people.  It’s stupid.

Second, do … not … ever … touch another man’s gun in a circumstance like this.  Ever.  It’s stupid.  A negligent discharge can occur, someone could get hurt, the weapon might have been modified and you wouldn’t know it, a round might be chambered and it might not be, you don’t know the configuration or status of that weapon, and so on.  Do not ever touch another man’s weapon.

Third, get educated.  Too many cops were looking on the idiot boxes (phones) to figure out if a barrel less than 16″ with a pistol brace is an SBR or a pistol.  Really.  Seek some education, read a little bit.

Prior: Oklahoma AR Pistol Walk

I understand what Tim is doing here.  While this isn’t the typical use of Go / No-Go gauges I’ve seen, he’s trying to get a hot rifle and use the No-Go gauge to see if the expansion of the chamber from heat is enough to give too much tolerance for proper head space.

Here are two other videos I have watched before on head space check with gauges.

Ammoland:

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) proudly introduces three rifles chambered in Winchester’s all-new .350 Legend cartridge: two Ruger American Ranch rifles and one AR-556 MPR. These new rifles give hunters and shooters a variety of options to use this exciting new cartridge in both traditional bolt-action and modern sporting rifle configurations.

[ … ]

The AR-556 MPR has proven to be an excellent hunting platform, and the .350 Legend chambering expands that role. The nitrided 16.38” barrel is capped with a ½”-28 radial port muzzle brake. The rifle’s appeal is enhanced by the combination of a Ruger® Elite 452® AR-Trigger, Magpul® furniture and a 15” free-float handguard. Magpul M-LOK® accessory attachment slots make the addition of a sling or bipod easy. With less recoil, and weighing almost a pound less than its .450 Bushmaster counterpart, the MPR chambered in .350 Legend is a fantastic hunting option.

From the Ruger website:

There are also two ranch rifles.

Lower receiver is fitted with Magpul® MOE® grip and MOE SL® collapsible buttstock on a Mil-Spec buffer tube.

• Handguard is free-floated for accuracy and the slim, 15″ length provides enhanced ergonomics.
• Bolt is mil-spec 9310 and is machined and shot peened for strength and durability.
• The Ruger® Elite 452® AR-Trigger is a two-stage trigger that offers a smooth, crisp, 4.5 pound trigger pull. It features a full-strength hammer spring for consistent primer ignition and a lightweight hammer that enables a faster lock time for improved accuracy.
• Magpul® M-LOK® accessory attachment slots along the 3:00, 6:00 and 9:00 positions with additional slots on the angled faces near the muzzle.
• Ruger® muzzle brake is a radial port design that significantly reduces felt recoil and muzzle movement. The threaded barrel allows for standard muzzle accessories to be installed.
• Cold hammer-forged 4140 chrome-moly steel barrel with ultra-precise rifling provides exceptional accuracy, longevity and easy cleaning. Optimized feed ramp provides improved reliability, and the matte black nitrided finish provides corrosion resistance.
• Made from aerospace-grade 7075-T6 aluminum forging, the flat top upper receiver includes a forward assist, dust cover and brass deflector, and is Type III hard coat anodized for maximum durability.
• Bolt carrier and gas key have chrome-plated inside diameters to provide exceptional resistance to hot gases. The gas key is staked so that it will not loosen after extensive firing.
• Pistol-length gas system provides smoother operation and reduces felt recoil.
• Also includes: one magazine.

I was a bit surprised to see the pistol-length gas system, but I guess they’ve found that it contributes to the most reliable feed.  I’ll also comment that the price-point is right ($1099 MSRP).

Now.  I’d like to see a little better ammunition availability.

Shooting Illustrated:

Modern Sporting Rifles also have the largest volume of light components suitable for retrofitting existing guns. Most makers of steel barrels and AR bolt carriers offer lightweight options alongside their regular products. Skeletonized, extruded-aluminum or carbon-fiber freefloat fore-ends further drop weight at the front of the rifle, while trimmed-down polymer furniture shaves weight at the tail. DS Arms, V-Seven, 2A Armament and Brownells offer lightweight aluminum and titanium small parts that replace original AR steel. Small pins, grip screws and even muzzle devices can be had in materials that shave a tangible amount of weight after a full retrofit. A small number of titanium parts and accessories specifically designed for SCAR, M1A and FAL rifles are also available in the aftermarket.

While the author didn’t go to the trouble to give you links to actual parts rather than the company URL, I’ve tried to do better.  Here they are: 2A-Arms, VSeven, Brownells, and Daniel Defense.  Those links will get you to rails/handguards, or thereabouts.  Of course, those aren’t the only lightweight AR parts being manufactured.

I’m sure there are many others.  I welcome reader feedback in the comments.  I’m actually interested in strong, lightweight AR-15 rails and lightweight AR-10 rails (longer, about 17″).

I confess I had never thought of something like that.  Tim Harmsen of The Military Arms Channel answers the question, as well as one more.

Like me, Tim is a champion and fan of the AR-15 design.  He begins an interesting test with a BCM rifle.

He shot 1000 rounds in 35 minutes.  We’ll see how far this goes before it gives up as he tracks this over time without cleaning or maintenance.

The guys at Wanat claimed that their Colts gave up after shooting 800 rounds in 30 minutes.  My bet is that they were firing in 3-round bursts.  Although I still can’t see how they managed to put more rounds downrange than Tim.

When Tim posted this a few minutes ago, I heard that Bob Scales puked in his cream of wheat.  His contract with H&K stipulates that no one can perform any more run-to-failure tests proving that no one really needs a piston system.

“Rifle is fine.”

Via BRVTVS, this is an interesting video.

I have to say that I do have one problem with it.  Mr. Johann Boden speaks as if the only important factor in the high velocity from rifle ammunition (and here he’s speaking of the 5.56mm AR, which is an important distinction in the conversation) is the hydrostatic shock from velocities greater than 2200 FPS.

That simply isn’t so.  We’ve learned over the years that the tendency to tumble and yaw (even in flight, but especially in tissue) and break apart into multiple pieces is one of the defining characteristics of the lethality of the ammunition, in no small part yielding its massive success on the battlefield.

As we’ve discussed before, see Small Caliber Lethality: 5.56 Performance in Close Quarters Battle.

Glomming off of Wirecutter’s hard work (WiscoDave sent this our way), here is a very good video of 300 BO Q&A by someone who sounds like an experienced practitioner.  I don’t shoot 300 BO, but if I wanted to start, I’d begin with his video.

The National Interest:

The U.S. Army’s standard infantry weapon repeatedly overheated and jammed during a bloody 2008 battle in Afghanistan. The Washington Times reported last week on the reported failure of the M-4 carbine during the fierce firefight in Wanat, during which the Taliban nearly overran an Army outpost.

A direct descendant of the Vietnam War-era M-16, the more compact M-4 is the Army’s standard-issue weapon. The ground combat branch has half a million of the semi-automatic weapons in service and has signed contracts for 120,000 more.

The Army and manufacturers are improving the M-4 to reflect battlefield lessons, but it’s unclear whether these upgrades will prevent another near-catastrophe like occurred at Wanat.

In the early morning hours of July 13, 2008, a Taliban force of between 100 and 200 fighters attacked an American Forward Operating Base guarded by 48 soldiers of 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company—part of 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment.

The paratroopers had just arrived in the area five days prior. The Taliban had been watching—and attacked before the platoon could finish setting up its defenses, which typically include walls, razor wire and machine guns.

Firing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, the Taliban swarmed the American position. The U.S. soldiers called in Apache attack helicopters, 155-militmeter howitzers and even a B-1 heavy bomber to pound the attackers.

The Americans held their ground. But nine soldiers died and 27 suffered wounds. Around 50 Taliban died and evidence suggests 40 were wounded.

In stand-up fights like Wanat, whichever side is able to generate fire superiority—in other words, throw out more lead—has the advantage. This is particularly important for the defenders, as sheer firepower can slow the attackers’ advance until help arrives.

The paratroopers had brought to the outpost two heavy machine guns, two automatic grenade launchers and an anti-tank missile. These were supposed to be the linchpins of Wanat’s defenses, but accurate Taliban fire disabled most of these heavier weapons early in the battle.

Fire superiority fell to the M-4s. In the Army’s report on Wanat, one soldier described alternating between three M-4s, using each until it jammed.

“My weapon was overheating,” another soldier said. “I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about half an hour or so into the fight.” In other words, the soldier fired approximately 360 rounds in 30 minutes. That’s 14 rounds a minute—one every four seconds.

This one was originally published by War is Boring.  In my experience The National Interest produces click bait and nothing more.  Most of their articles are un-serious.  When they publish someone else in entirety it’s usually better, but in this case I cannot believe they are publishing this claptrap this late in the game.  There are so many errors in this commentary it’s hard to believe they went ahead with it.

To begin with, the Taliban force was near Battalion size, not 100 to 200 fighters.  They fielded nearly 600 fighters.  The Taliban weren’t just watching them as they set up the COP, they knew a full one year in advance what was going to happen and where it was going to be based on the felt-need of the Army to get “permission” from tribal elders.  Contrast this with the USMC in the Helmand Province where they would go in and set up a COP overnight with no permission from anyone.

This wasn’t a “stand-up” fight.  No one was standing (at least, not U.S. forces unless behind barriers).  The majority of the heavy losses were suffered at Observation Post Topside, which was poorly positioned and improperly manned.  The US force size was too small.  It was in a valley.  They had no CAS, the ring-knockers from Joyce let them down while they sipped coffee or played video games.

Blaming it on the M-4 is the stupidest thing they could have done, and articles written that way are looking to place blame somewhere other than squarely on the shoulders of flag and staff officers.  Finally, how many videos of run-to-failure full automatic fire with AR-15s do we have to show you to convince you that no one needs a piston AR, and that the direct impingement Eugene Stoner design does just fine.  How can we post videos of ARs shooting full auto for 800 rounds before the barrel melts without a single FFT / FTE before they stop blaming the rifle and start blaming upper command for the failure at Wanat?

By the way, I’m still proud to have three URLs associated with the Army report on Wanat.  PDF warning.  Page 255.

Prior: Battle of Wanat (category)