Reciever Life

I have yet to see one wear (mil or civilian models) out from other than operator error (Acuwedges, pounding pins,breaking tabs off when mounting the trigger guard etc)
 
Strangeday said:
Does anyone have accurate info on the life of an AR type receiver..

80,000 + ?
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Tenessee Air National Guard has AR's in their armory (still being used and rotated through on regular maintenance) which have documented over 100,000 rounds. They've had barrels changed and various other parts serviced or replaced, but the lower receivers are still original. Some of these date back to the 70's.

During one of my AR Armorer courses a few years ago (taught by Greg Lee who continues to work in the armory on a "reserve" basis) I had an opportunity to work with some of these high round count guns and was amazed at the condition they were in, considering what they'd been through over the years. A testiment to proper maintenance routines.

I've also seen guns that have had the "crap" kicked out of them and are pretty much "used up" after 5 or 6 years of very rough handling and very poor maintenance routines. The lowers are so "loose" and worn that they need to be replaced (pins are worn and now oversize), fit is terrible and reliability is starting to suffer dramatically. Round counts on some of those wouldn't even be 40,000 rounds in my estimation.

Mark
 
I have had exactly one lower receiver fail here on the range. It was a Colt lower on a 9mm gun. The hammer reset was pretty hard as the bolt was not ramped. This caused the pins to peen the receiver holes out of shape. The gun went through three uppers and likely 200,000 rds.
 
James Yeager wrote a couple weeks ago that his rentals have easily seen 80,000+ and hasn't had to do SFA to them, thus far. I think they were bushy, and Cavs if memory serves
 
furet said:
What does the accuwedge do to cause lower breakages??
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Like the other poster said, it puts pressure on the rear take down pin, eventually causing thge hole to oblong. Add to that the use of what ever is handy to pound that pin out and you get increased wear. Acuwedges are about the biggest scam out there when it comes to AR stuff, okay not as bad as the whole UTG line but damn close to it.
 
greentips said:
Well, if you insist on using one, cut it down so the upper lug just rests on it without force.
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That's exactly what I did, cus the original size basically required a vise to get the lower and upper to mate. I trimmed it just so it makes the upper/lower snug, but I don't think it makes a difference to accuracy or function. I have it so it's there.
 
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