08-25-2019, 02:31 AM
Gusmeister Wrote:In classes and intensive training the guns start to pick themselves out. I have cooked my "training" Glock 17 dozens of time. A few thousand round days and many 500 round days. Many times the slide was hot enough to cook eggs on. But, if you swap the springs out every 5-10,000 rounds with an occasional clean/lube then it keeps running. There are many very good handguns out there but precious few that will take this abuse.
In classes and intensive training the rifles start to pick themselves out. Many of us shoot 1,000 round days and quality AR's put up with it over and over. That is if they are not filthy and well lubed. We typically see fewer problems with good AR's than with AK's. And if an AR goes down it is typically a quick easy fix. So I agree with Montana. Nothing against the other platforms and cartridges (love the Tavor, M14 and 308) but when you mix all the needs in and add a measure of abuse it's mighty hard to replace the AR platform and it's 60 years of refinement.
I keep a bucket of water by me on hot summer days to cool down my STI when practising for an up coming match. I charge my slide with the forward serrations and when it gets too hot to touch, into the bucket it goes. I replace my recoil spring quite often since I run a lighter weight recoil spring. I also replace my magazine springs every 3 years or so. 300-350 round count is common for a practise session. Glocks are great and are my carry choice, but STI is king in my world of competition. Like any machine, maintenance and parts replacement is normal. AR rifles are great rifles, they can be easily built, repaired and modified for many different types of applications. I have to confess, "I do love to shoot my M1A1" and won my first heavy metal match with one. If open sights were the only choice, I would still pick the M1A1 over other 308 rifles.