Ar15 spare parts

[TimH]

What spare parts would you have on hand for an AR15?

 

[ny32182]

I’ve never actually kept any, but if I did… Probably the firing pin retainer pin would be the easiest to lose/most likely to break part in the upper. It might not be a bad idea to have an extra firing pin laying around either. In the lower, some various springs would probably be the best thing to keep on hand.

If you are worried, just buy a “spare parts kitâ€. Should have an assortment of small, non-major parts, including anything you would need.

 

[cordex]

Personally, I keep a firing pin, a bolt and some assorted springs and pins around.
So far, I haven't needed them.

 

[Jon Coppenbarger]

I always carry a couple of firing pins, a couple sets of gas rings and ejectors as these are the things that I might worry about and have had need for in the past. alot of times I also carry a complete bolt and carrier setup to speed up any repairs as it alows me to just change out the whole problem area in a couple of seconds and continue firing and fix any problems later on.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

firing pin, cam pin, bolt, firing pin retaining pin and the spring kit from Bushmaster.

However, I've never needed any of these parts - if you start playing seriously with ARs you'll accumulate parts naturally through swapping various odds and ends to try new stuff.

 

[gun-fucious]

heres my pre Y2k list complete with pre Y2k Prices:

1 Gas Tube - Standard (8448567) $14.00
COMPLETE AR15/M16 PIN / DETENT PACKAGE $6.95 (AR PIN PKG.)
COMPLETE AR15 BOLT ASSEMBLY - $44.95 (8448509)
XM15/AR15/M16 EMERGENCY SURVIVAL KIT...
with A2 Sight Tool - $49.95 ea. (AR EMERG A2)

place the above in a dry safe,
cover with shredded copies of shotgun news
and spray monthly with 2 squirts of CLP

in 6 months you will have 2 AR15s and a stripped lower

 

[JNewell]

The only parts I have personally witnessed break on rifles that weren't basketcases in the first place are:

trigger/hammer pins (sometimes break)

extractors (wiill eventually wear out)

 

[Navy joe]

I have:

A complete bolt
3 firing pins
Several new gas ring sets
Extractor springs
Ejector spring and ejector
Firing pin retainer key.

I need a lower parts kit and ideally a spare complete upper or two to be happy. Based on the most common AR chokes I've seen I have the most important spare part, mags. 45 of them. Had my first AR double feed ever in 10 years, cause was an old 20rd beater range mag that needs the feed lips worked on.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Virtually enough to build a rifle.

OK, should have firing pin & retaining pin. Extractor & extractor spring too. Ejector & ejector spring. Perhaps a sear spring and sear. Gas rings. Complete set of three.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Spare bolts....

I understand you're not supposed to swap out bolts due to headspacing issues.

How do you adjust the headspace on an AR bolt, so that you can have confidence that it's correct?

I didn't see that procedure in any of the manuals....

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I understand you're not supposed to swap out bolts due to headspacing issues.

Assuming you have a properly spec'ed barrel and bolt, you can't change headspace more than a few thousandths of an inch just by swapping bolts. For the most part this isn't a practical concern in a properly maintained weapon though it can happen with out-of-spec or badly worn parts.

Here are some good reference links on headspacing with the AR:

http://ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=118&t=169634
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=3&f=7&t=142139

 

[SteelyDan]

If you're interested, here's a link to some Bushmaster parts kits:

http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/lowers/arpartskit.asp

Shipping was a bit pricy, around $8.00 or so for the complete kit.