My AR And Why I Might Sell It

[7998]

So I have a M&P-15 flat top with flip up iron sights. I'm a AK guy but I bought it because I liked the accuracy, The way it is so modular, The lack of recoil. But I still can't get my head around 5.56x45 and the gas system.

I want to go .30 cal and my two favorite platforms are my AK's and my Garand but I want the accuracy of the Garand so I'm thinking M1A. But then I thought maybe an upper and I can still have all the other benefits of the AR platform.

So have any of you guys changed uppers to 308 or another .30, if so how does it transform the platform, what are your impressions?
Also have any of you went M1A or have both, What are your thoughts?

[dkf]

You are not going to just change the upper on an AR-15 lower to shoot .308. You need to go to the AR10 for that.

To put an upper on your current AR15 lower you are looking at the following cartridges. .300 blackout, 7.62x39, 6.5Grendel, 6.8 SPC, .458socom, .50 beowulf, .450 bushmaster, .30 rem AR and several other less common wildcats.

The least hassle of a conversion with no specific bolts (uses .223/5.56 bolts) and magazines would be the .300 blackout. Downside to it is ammo is not as cheap, not as available and there are not as many different loads available compared to the .223/5.56. The .300 black brass can be made out of .223/5.56 brass. The .300 blk ballistics are similar to the 7.62x39.

I don't really know what puzzles you about the DI gas system or the .223/5.56 round. The gas system can't really get any more simple and the round is just like any other.

[ungawa]

So I have a M&P-15 flat top with flip up iron sights. I'm a AK guy but I bought it because I liked the accuracy, The way it is so modular, The lack of recoil. But I still can't get my head around 5.56x45 and the gas system.

It's pretty simple. The gas system is part of the reason for the low recoil. As for the 5.56, try this.

Take some plain ol' 5.56 M193 FMJ ball ammo. Shoot it at a pig carcass roughly the size of a human torso. It will blast the living shit out of it.

Take some 7.62x51 (military .308) and do the same. It will make a tiny hole.

Take some 7.62x39 Russian ammo and do the same. It will make a tiny hole.

Take some 5.45x39 Russian ammo and do the same. The stuff that is "awesome" and does the "tumbleynos." It will make a tiny hole.

Does that make 5.56 better than those other calibers? No. It means that with basic, cheap FMJ practice ammo that goes fast as balls it will kill better than those other calibers when they are using military ammo as well under 200 yards.

[7998]

Nothing puzzles me about the gas system but it does effect the reliability.
And I've read more stuff about the 5.56 than I care to admit to. But if I had to stop a Buck or a car full of meth heads I want 7.62 in either x39, x51, x63.
If I want to put 10 quick rounds on a pie dish at 200 yds I like the AR.

[dkf]

Might as well just sell the AR. The issue is in your head not the gun/round itself.

[ungawa]

Nothing puzzles me about the gas system but it does effect the reliability.

I've fired about 40 thousand rounds through M16s and Colt AR-15s. I had one malfunction, in the military, due to obviously bent feed lips on a magazine (a Vietnam leftover).

No AK will ever match that reliability.

Now, under extremely adverse conditions, with wornout guns and mags, and no lube and sand everywhere in the guns, my understanding is the AK will do better than the AR. I've never seen it, but I don't doubt it.

[unclejumbo]

I'm going to offer a little anecdotal whatever that surprised me. I have steel hangers and ground targets. I also have a lot of different guns. I have shot my steel with every handgun I have, it leaves scuff marks and nothing more. I have also shot the same steel with rifles. The M2 30.06 rounds out of my Garand also leave a scuff that disappears with paint as do the 7.62x39 out of my AKs. I figured the diminutive 5.56 NATO with its light bullet would do the same. I was disappointed in the results, steel targets aren't cheap. I unloaded a mag on a target and left divots all over it. I thought I screwed up and shot it with steel penetrator ammo. The magnet didn't stick when I checked it once I got back inside.

I tried different brands, including hollow point TAP ammo. It all took divots out my steel. The one target I was shooting I got at an auction so I didn't know what type of steel it was made of. I decided to shoot my TacStrike steel target which is AR450 steel. Pock marked to hell as well.

Then I decided to read up and found out the 5.56 is known to do this due to its velocity. Obviously, a .22 caliber bullet that passes through a body is going to leave a smaller hole and likely do less damage than a .30 caliber. Now, dumping that energy in the body, I'll take the higher velocity over the larger bullet.

[animalmother85]

If you're that worried about it, buy a pws mk1mod1 series upper.

[arjohnson]

Might as well just sell the AR. The issue is in your head not the gun/round itself.

Bingo. I have owned and shot AR's since the early 80's and I can honestly say I've only had a few issues with reliability and they were mag related from what I remember, and most of the AR's were Colts. Now I've owned a couple POS AR's way back, I can remember an Olympic and some other one I had, they were garbage and gave me fits, sold them off and stuck with Colts.

[Splittiebus66]

Have you had personal issues with AR reliability?