buying an AR, what's important?

Recently had the opportunity to fondle my buddies AR with MOE-grip and handguard and I really liked it.

As soon as possible I'll switch the original for something from Magpul.

In the meantime I also had the chance to shoot my new toy. Can't really speak for the accuracy because all the 100m and 300m-outdoor ranges are closed till spring, but it sure was ergonomic enough to handle, change mags, and so on.

Unfortunately, it didn't pass the drop test. It was a simple test the SIG 550 had to pass during the trials without damage: a drop from 1,5m on a concrete ground on a loaded mag (no round chambered).

I only dropped the AR from about 1,2m. The result was that the first rd didn't chamber, had to slap the mag, then it worked. Mag lips were dented, which caused about 2-3 FTF on about 30 rds.

Stuff like this is the reason why I gladly fork out 3k for a Swiss Arms rifle: it works for soldiers.
 
RPinVan said:
:rey2
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I can hardly wait until the Liberals are in power again and we are no longer able to buy firearms from any company that advertises them as weapons...Primary Weapons Systems (PWS), etc.

Pathetic. Can't believe most of you guys buy into the legal-mumbo-jumbo Canadian Liberal definition of a weapon. Pure idiocy.

As to the OP looking forward to pics of your new WEAPON.
 
Kampfhamster said:
Thinking about options already, but for now I'll leave it as it is.

One thing I already dislike is the weird pistol grip, that's one thing that has to go soon. Probably something from Magpul will take its place.

Not interested in a rail-handguard, too expensive anyway.
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I have the Magpul MOE on mine and the MIAD on the AR10 rifles. They are decent. LMT comes with Ergo which I actually like as well, although some don't.

Try the drop test with a Pmag rather than the metal one. That would be more consistent with the Sig as well ;)

In North America we are taught not to drop our rifles!! :p I didn't think French military doctrine extended to the Swiss!!! :p
 
Well, once in a while a rifle gets a rough handling. And a hard hit on the mag is not that uncommon.

Drop test with the Pmags is due as soon as the package arrives.

And no, the swiss didn't adopt the french doctrine, but we like reliable, robust hardware ;)
 
Just a short update:

have put about 400 rounds through it so far.

Tested a few different magazines (20 rd US GI, PMag, GMag)

Today I broke the trigger while doing a drop test. Time to bring it to the gunsmith.
 
@Claven: to find out what it can take. I've also done this with my AK's and the Swiss rifles. So far the AR's the only one to fail, which didn't come as a surprise.
 
Gut auswahl von gewehr, Kampfhamster! I own a SDI XR subcarbine, 33cm molybdenum vanadium barrel, milspec receiver and components. Awesome 5.56mm carbine.

I happen to like the standard A2 pistol grip... got broken in with the C7 when it comes to ARs so strangely enough I find it comforting.

Edit: Can't see why you had to do the drop test. ARs are a more professional firearm, intended to be used by well trained shooters. The AK is nearly indestructible, thus why it's more commonly issued to children (M16s and variants are more common than most people would think but logistically unsound for peasant/draftee armies in 3rd-world countries). They drop it and can just pick it up and keep firing.
 
I've seen people repeatedly slam their C7 butt stock to #### it...no failures. What kind of drop test you doing?
 
Very nice.

But here a few words from one of the guys who puts the prototypes through it's paces at Swissarms:

"Nice sensational clip, unfortunately it's quite meaningless.

First of all: never drop a weapon by hand on soft ground. Any airsoft-gun passes this test.
Concrete is better. Let it drop on all 6 sides from a height of 1,5m, without any parts like optic, foreward grip or the like.

Because of the way the AR-magazines are constructed this test will already break the magazines. The newer plastic magazines will pass, though.

Next comes the dirt test: this is always nice in a video, because it looks real tough. In reality it's hardly a problem for any kind of semi-auto weapon.
When they get wet beforehand they'll look like hell on the outside, but are nice and clean on the inside.

A more realistic test is thin mud with sand. Makes every system stop (not from me: even an AK47)

Same thing with the pond: that's great, it became wet, so what?
To really test it the system has to be completly flodded, taken out of the water and fired within 2 seconds (over the beach test), and even this test is for most semiautos no problem at all. Loading and firing under water must be possible, including being able to score useable hits on 100m afterwards.

Shooting on a distance of 50 feet, well, so what?

The test with explosives is just silly.

The drop from the chopper is cool, too, but absolutely meaningless.

After all, the entertainment value is nice, otherwise completly useless.

A better way of testing is this video from Croatia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfarELLpa70
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I'm a little surprised that the trigger broke doing a drop test on concrete. Maybe a bad trigger. It's not exactly a fragile part. Frankly, the differences between the M16 and AK47 triggers and hammers aren't exactly huge.
 
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