I love AR torture tests, and this is a good one. Garand Thumb does a mud test for a number of battle rifles, including AKs.
And the win goes to M4 Block 2.
So readers can supply more details, but the Block 2 design comes from SOPMOD / SOCOM history and is usually considered to include at least the 14.5″ barrel (in the civilian world this would mean that the flash hider is pinned and welded), quad rail the length of the barrel (making it a bit heavier on the front end, but also more durable), and an upgraded trigger.
Maybe a firearms builder can weigh in with more distinctions of the Block 2. Daniel Defense makes these rifles, and they’re good. The Block 2 design was popular several years ago (and still is today), while today’s designs are sporting extremely light hand guards with locations for MLok or Keymod attachments on the forend.
So with the current designs, you’re to some extent sacrificing durability for weight.
There are also some interesting remarks in the comment section. For instance:
We use a modified version of the FNC here in Sweden. During an Arctic exercise above the polar circle we had issues with the rifle freezing up and the way to fix it was to keep the rifle at the same temperature at all times. We put the rifles towards the fabric of our tents in order for them not to get warm, start to “sweat” and then cause a malfunction. We also kept the rifles completely free of any kind of lubrication. We use CLP here and it doesn’t like temperatures below freezing. Before an offensive we would “warm fire” our weapons in order to make sure they we working before the assault. This was done during temperatures raging from -11C to -33C.
This is an interesting and informative video, but I’m not so sure about some of his points. For example, he seems to be coming from the notion that all combat is ambush style in the jungles of Vietnam and that the only solution for that is fully automatic fire.
In Afghanistan, the Marines were most successful when they carried fewer magazines, conserved ammunition, made well placed shots on target, and did so using superior marksmanship skills compared to the enemy fighters. I’ve documented cases where a mere handful of magazines sufficed for a day and a half or more of combat in Marine engagements.
Logistics is not endless, and the ability of the foot soldier to carry weight on his back is not endless.
Brownells has done something really good. They’ve put together a comprehensive series on building an AR-15.
The full series is here, and I see that it includes a list of tools necessary for completion of the work (although I don’t know why it’s well into the series before you find this).
3 years, 7 months ago
