02-05-2012, 05:14 AM
Colt has the benefit of years of initial research from Armalite, as well as years of R&D and experience from military contracts since the early 1960's. The bugs were really worked out before 1960, since the Model 601 was made from 1959-1963, and was known for reliability. The guns have always been reliable, as long as plenty of lubrication is used.
Company after company in the civilian sector have had to re-learn lesson after lesson about what makes the AR reliable, without any help from Colt, and lots of kinks along the way. Correct alloys, heat treatment, technical data packages, assembly procedures, carrier weights, fasteners, spring material and specs, etc. are not just used because they are cool. When you start tweaking with all these aspects of the gun, things stop working, especially when someone makes a "better" or "improved" component.
Company after company in the civilian sector have had to re-learn lesson after lesson about what makes the AR reliable, without any help from Colt, and lots of kinks along the way. Correct alloys, heat treatment, technical data packages, assembly procedures, carrier weights, fasteners, spring material and specs, etc. are not just used because they are cool. When you start tweaking with all these aspects of the gun, things stop working, especially when someone makes a "better" or "improved" component.