Wow I'm surprised that several are considered lower mid tier yet preformed well.So here is the “list” !
This a sample of 5 classes about 80 students. I have excluded user induced malfunctions.
Wilson - 0
SIG - 0
SA- 0
Ruger - 0
LaRue - 0
Bushmaster - 0
DPMS - 0
Colt - 0
FN - 0
Windham - 0
HK - 0
LWRC - 0
BCM - 0
PSA - 4 broken firing pin, bad extractor spring , failure to extract , multiple stove pipes
Anderson - 3 pattern like a shotgun like 12 MOA x 2 , bad trigger spring
S&W - 1 weapon was dirty but should have worked IMO
DD - 1 broken trigger spring it was a LEO duty weapon
Frankengun - 10 too many to list
Other
Bren - 0
Beretta - 0
All AK,s - 0
Wow I'm surprised that several are considered lower mid tier yet preformed well.
Ruger
Springfield
Bushmaster
Dpms
Colt depending on which rifle you buy.
Should. a DD and S&W went down 4 PSA.To be fair, anything should run for 500 rounds. That's a pretty low round count.
The home builds are not surprising because that is what I have read that the big national trainers have observed. They said if they have a rifle go down it is invariably a home build. I am a little surprised that PSA is that bad. Anderson doesn't surprise me. I got one of their lowers where the grip screw wasn't threaded deep enough, so I have always had a bad impression of them.
My Thing 2 did MC jungle warfare training in Okinawa a few years back. In a 24 period he shot during a live fire about 2400 hundred rounds out of his FN M4, he said when it started slowing down pops, I hosed the bolt down through the eject port and like Dave Chappelle says.To be fair, anything should run for 500 rounds. That's a pretty low round count.
Does @SmileDocHill still have the giant barrel one? Like an 18” or 20”?Carbine 2 is in the books !
Round count about 350
S&W - 0
DD warrior poet - 0
PSA - 0
Anderson - 0
Franken gun - 1 failures to extract that’s one out of five present
I used my SIG MCX to demo - 0
@nad63 used his home build to demo - 0
@SmileDocHill used whatever he has - 0
I still have it but it has been relegated as my prairie dog gun. I was shooting a poverty pony with a broken leg. (Anderson blemish lower, self built upper)Does @SmileDocHill still have the giant barrel one? Like an 18” or 20”?
I think it's like everything else. People buy based on name brand. Whether it be for reliability or part of the "Joneses". That's the great thing about having options and choices. I am not a metallurgist but I make sure the barrel is at least made known metals and i don't trust the thin barrel type that I believe would run hotter than a heavy barrel. One thing I am picky about is the bolt. I've seen so many lousy made shot-peened bolts of all prices! I make sure I get a bolt that looks aligned and tight. As for the wedge, I almost bought some but decided not to. If the rifle you built or purchased is incredibly loose and makes a lot of noise, either you built it with bad parts or it was built badly by the company. The wedge might fix it but fortunately, I haven't needed one.After watching Garand Thumb's video on the PSA $300 upper the only "serious" con I can really see is the barrel gets shot out pretty quick. Now, I'm not saying there are other nitpicks, but if one is trying to upgrade something like this over time..
PSA AR-15 Rifle Kit
What would you do to make it more bulletproof? I mean, I'm not talking about something to traverse the wasteland with during the end times. More along the lines of a 'decent' rifle that won't let you down if you do your part to keep it there.
If so many uppers & lowers are all made from the same materials and mil-spec why does it matter what the roll mark says? I'm not against high end brands, just generally curious as I'm finally getting around to building one from a lower I bought years ago and never used. Initially I'd rather allocate more towards ammo and some rifle classwork.
Also, are these a waste?
Leapers UTG Accurizing Wedge AR-15