what has broke on your AR ?

[luckydawg13]

do you keep spare parts on hand for your AR if so what
i would like to have a small kit on hand just in case i
cant get parts so what do you think
thanks

[stimpylu32]

Not to be a smart a-- , but so far the only thing to be broken on my AR's to this point is my bank account , I've been lucky and have not had any issues with either of mine , one for long range and one for CQB , knock wood it stays that way .
 
stimpy

[luckydawg13]

so far so good with me too just like to plan ahead

[hardertr]

I've been shooting ARs for 20 years (military) and started building my own about 2 years ago.  As far as my own PERSONAL ARs ever "breaking"....hasn't happened yet.


My last couple of years in the Army, I ran quite a few ranges.  We would have anywhere up to 300 M16s pass through with 10s of thousands of rounds fired on a typical range day.  Most of these M16/M4s were several years old and probably had 10,000+ rounds through them on average (just a guess).


99% of the "failures" were related to too much/too little lube or bad magazines.  There was also the occasional weapon that was brought to the range "messed up" because Soldiers failed to put them back together properly after cleaning them.  I don't know WHY, but they always like to use their firing pins as tools to push pivot pins and clean out carrier keys.  It doesn't take much of a bend on a firing pin to cause light strikes on military primers.


As far as parts to keep on hand.  I keep a firing pin, extractor with spring and plunger, and an extra set of springs for the lower.  I haven't needed any of them yet, but that's all I expect I'll ever need.

[luckydawg13]

thanks alot thats a big help to me

[cjclemens]

Nothing has broken on mine yet, even after several thousand rounds and several seasons of coyote hunting abuse.  However, I do keep a kit with assorted springs and pins on hand just in case.

[SHOOTALL]

nothing broke yet .
would get a lower parts kit , a upper parts kit less carrier but would include bolt and delta ring etc. Would include gas tube. Would include iron sights . Maybe it would be good to have 2 fireing pins and second set of o rings.
 
but the best spare set up would be an extra gun 

[Bugflipper]

May want an extractor or two on hand if you shoot steel cased ammo. I haven't had silver bear ammo break any yet. Have heard of folks complaining about steel case being rough on extractors in general though.
 New style magazine followers and springs are good to have on hand. Stripper clips are a bonus as well.

[luckydawg13]

thank you for your help i have a list now

[shvlhead.45]

From my experience in the Army repairing or supervising the repair of the M16 family of rifles/carbines for over 24 years the most common parts to wear out were the bolt rings and extractor spring and buffer.  Most common breakage/damaged items were the selector detent spring and rear take down pin detent spring being bent when reassembled by operators and armorers during reassembly if they weren't lost during disassembly.  Front sights got bent pretty often and gas tubes were bent at times but could usually be straightened.

HARDERTR is right on track with his observations from running ranges, over or under lube....    One thing that I'd recommend if someone is shooting a lot is that at a minimum they have the head space checked annually, we would have to replace about 10% or so of the bolts once the weapons got to be several years old.

r/shvlhead.45

[ironglowjr]

I spent almost 10 years in the Marine Corps as a Gunsmith/Armorer and a few years of that I was stationed at Parris Island Recruit Depot. We had 11,000 M16's and issued and recieved 1,000 a week. The amount of abuse the M16 rifle got in boot camp was unbelievable. These are some parts that I seen break keeping in mind this is a extreme case in a highly stressfull environment...
-Gas rings (Higher round guns), Charging handle latch, bolt lugs breaking off, extractor worn, Front sight posts bent, gas tubes clogged, ejection port cover spring, never hurts to have an extra or pivot pins, or break down pins as well as hammer and trigger pins in case they Fall out (seen it happen when the holes wear or hammer spring breaks not securing them in)...... Hope this helps
ironglowjr
 

[ironglowjr]

I agree with this as well  shvlhead.45....can  you remember where the breakdown pin detent would crack the lower receiver making you have to de mil it..... Great times
 

From my experience in the Army repairing or supervising the repair of the M16 family of rifles/carbines for over 24 years the most common parts to wear out were the bolt rings and extractor spring and buffer.  Most common breakage/damaged items were the selector detent spring and rear take down pin detent spring being bent when reassembled by operators and armorers during reassembly if they weren't lost during disassembly.  Front sights got bent pretty often and gas tubes were bent at times but could usually be straightened.

HARDERTR is right on track with his observations from running ranges, over or under lube....    One thing that I'd recommend if someone is shooting a lot is that at a minimum they have the head space checked annually, we would have to replace about 10% or so of the bolts once the weapons got to be several years old.

r/shvlhead.45

[ratdog]

well i broke the charging handle off. bolt was jammed with primer that blew out had to pry bolt open but wasn't it wasn't damaged had it back working with new handle.

[shvlhead.45]

Ironglowjr,

Don't recall ever having a lower receiver break in the vicinity of the takedown pin.  Seen a couple where we coded the rifle because the takedown pin detent hole was wallered out and wouldn't hold the take down pin in place but those were M16A1s.  Coded out a lot of A1s due to excessive wear in the lower receiver where the pivot pin went thru and the upper receiver was so loose you couldn't zero the rifle.  Spent most of my career supporting mechanized and oh the stuff I've seen and the stories I could tell.  You too, I'm sure.

r/shvlhead.45

[Dee]

19 years as an instructor for police. thousands of rounds fired, and observed fired, and am on my 4th personal ar with several thousand thru it. One failure on officers ar. Bone dry. Little oil, and back up and runnin.

[Reverend Recoil]

Listed below are the spare parts I keep in my shooting stool for service rifle competition.  I shoot three or four matches per month plus practice.  I replace barrels on each of two uppers at the 3000 round count which has been running at every nine months.  The gas tube is replaced with each barrel change.  I have not had to pull any of these parts out during a match but I am not about to travel all the way to Camp Perry without them. I keep an extra gas tube and an assortment of small springs and roll pins at home.  My rifle has been running well with little trouble.   I have been using less oil and more Tippon grease for lubrication.  This rifle is cleaned every 150-200 rounds fired.
 
bolt assembly
firing pin
2 or 3 firing pin retaining pins
bolt cam pin
gas ring set

[patw]

Never broke anything on my AR, but I have lost a few, generally sending something spring loaded flying. Because of that I keep parts kits.

[ironglowjr]

Like I said it is extreme case.... I was at Parris Island where the Marine Recuit training was and this was a common occurance, because they would bang the break down pin every day to break down and clean, and over time the detent would smash enough where it would crack the receiver, you can see the where the break down pin is out inside next to the pin (on the receiver).... but it was common at Marine Boot Camp....
ironglowjr
 

Ironglowjr,

Don't recall ever having a lower receiver break in the vicinity of the takedown pin.  Seen a couple where we coded the rifle because the takedown pin detent hole was wallered out and wouldn't hold the take down pin in place but those were M16A1s.  Coded out a lot of A1s due to excessive wear in the lower receiver where the pivot pin went thru and the upper receiver was so loose you couldn't zero the rifle.  Spent most of my career supporting mechanized and oh the stuff I've seen and the stories I could tell.  You too, I'm sure.

r/shvlhead.45