Longevity of budget vs higher priced AR-15's

[eharri3]

My buddy is range master at a local gun range and we were discussing my budget priced AR. MY AR is a PSA lower & a BCA upper. I was telling him how impressed I was with it's accuracy and reliability. He told me that the range rents AR's that are priced above mine and presumably of better quality, and that they (only) last 12K rounds max. He added that they have rented BCA guns and that they lasted about 10K. We didn't discuss the range's maintenance program but I assume that these guns shoot a lot of rounds between cleaning sessions and being rentals they are probably abused. Those two factors may play a role in the supposedly low round count limit.

Is a max life expectancy of 10-12K (in semi auto fire) considered too low for any decent quality AR? If so, what upgrades would a budget gun require to increase life expectancy?

I would like to hear opinions on this.

PS: Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

What brands does the range rent?

What failure points is he talking about?

What only lasts 12k? Are their guns trash or just needing overhauls at 12k?

What brands do they rent? Colts? DD? Diamondback? S&W? Ruger?

They probably aren't letting renters beat up premium rifles with high qc exotic material high speed components. They may just have decent medium price point brand names that have the same style of barrel and brand of bolt as your bca.

 

[Megawatt maker]

What brands does the range rent?

What failure points is he talking about?

What only lasts 12k? Are their guns trash or just needing overhauls at 12k?

What brands do they rent? Colts? DD? Diamondback? S&W? Ruger?

They probably aren't letting renters beat up premium rifles with high qc exotic material high speed components. They may just have decent medium price point brand names that have the same style of barrel and brand of bolt as your bca.

One of my builds has a JPRifles BCG..made out of some whatever the heck high tech super duper BS alloy of whatever....JP even disclosed the bolt....very expensive part...should be swapped out after 12k rounds...so there's that...

 

[jmorris]

He told me that the range rents AR's that are priced above mine and presumably of better quality, and that they (only) last 12K rounds max. He added that they have rented BCA guns and that they lasted about 10K.

Looking around, $0.50/round seems to be the going rate for cheap 223. That would make your pockets $5000-6000 lighter just in ammunition. If you built a top end AR, would you then feed it the cheapest stuff you can find? If not expect that number to go up dramatically.

I’d probably get one and get to shooting and then you can build another just how you like it. You’ll have your cheap “beater”, you can treat like the tool it is and use and enjoy and your pretty one you can look at and use for whatever tasks you think the extra money is going to improve.

Most of the people I know haven’t even shot a barrel out of an AR and I have yet to come across anyone that has worn out a receiver they want to part with but I have only looked for ones on a form 4, where a 1000 rounds might only last an afternoon…

 

[Show Me]

Yep..what he said!

If you are buying one of the top tier names, you are just paying a little more for a roll stamp. That earns you the right to be a brand snob..nothing more.

I don't care what roll.stamp it is..if it's a mil spec weapon..you are gaining nothing at all going expensive. You are just wasting money.

Even the non Mil.spec..KAC..LMT..in reality, ain't any better either, you just pay a heck of a lot more, for a roll stamp and unique proprietary parts that won't fit any other brand..and most likely won't fit with its own brand much either.

Foolish..all it is.

I don't care what anyone says at this point. I've now read, seen, handled, shot, seen up close and personal field stripped..none out there...NONE..are any better than PSA..

Only brand snobs continue to believe that's not true..mostly because they can't believe they are so foolish to spend so much for very little gain.

Barrels and bolts wear out...no matter who makes them. They are expendable wear items.

Only three things make an AR...barrels, bolts, triggers. All three are ridiculous easy to change. The rest..is just window dressing.

Sorry name snobs...you got suckered (says a Guy who deliberately spend over 3.5k building a snob gun just to see if they are actually better..and they ain't. End of story).

Dear end of story. Pot metal, billet and plastic receivers are to be considered. How long they last is the question nobody ever answers. And all that matters because of the repetitive points your end of story notation points out.

 

[Charlie98]

If you want a really interesting read, Google “high round count AR/M4” and go to the AR15.com thread. It was started in n 2017 by a guy who owns “Battlefield Las Vegas”, a rental only range in Nevada that goes through millions of rounds per year and does theme shoots for groups, where you can rent a package of guns from movies, video games, etc.

I was going to bring that up... you beat me to it. Some years ago, I actually worked my way through that entire thread... I have to admit, I never really thought about gun parts, and AR (or other battle rifles) wearing out parts as a normal course of it's life, and then I started having part failures, including gas rings, sheared bolts, and a bad buffer, etc. Now that I understand that Nothing Lasts Forever, I have my AR kit with me when I go shoot, including a spare BGC. There are so many environmental differences with each and every rifle, it would be hard to predict when something might fail, so luck favors the prepared.

As an aside, my family actually had the opportunity to shoot at Battlefield... so I've 'been there, done that, got the T-shirt.' And, yes, I rented an M16A1, just like I carried in the Army...

 

[bearcreek]

Filthy 14: Bravo Company Carbine Goes 31,165 Rounds - SWAT Survival | Weapons | Tactics

The M16 was first promoted as a gun that needed no maintenance. While that statement proved false, a number of factors, including propellant powder and a lack

www.swatmag.com

Last I read this rifle was over 67,000 rds.

When I'm making decisions about quality and longevity of firearms, I listen to people whose opinion is based on experience using that weapon, a lot.

 

[dranrab]

Dear end of story. Pot metal, billet and plastic receivers are to be considered. How long they last is the question nobody ever answers. And all that matters because of the repetitive points your end of story notation points out.

The question can't be answered without some qualification of what "how long they last" means.

 

[Megawatt maker]

Dear end of story. Pot metal, billet and plastic receivers are to be considered. How long they last is the question nobody ever answers. And all that matters because of the repetitive points your end of story notation points out.

Pot metal, bullet, and plastic lowers are not in the mil.spec, now are they?..

Besides billet..who uses pot metal? And the only plastic lowers I've ever seen were only on 22lr AR clones..and those lowers were not interchangeable with a proper upper..so there's that...

Nothing wrong with Billet..other than..again, that's not mil spec..thus falls into the custom or propitory category

 

[Show Me]

Pot metal, bullet, and plastic lowers are not in the mil.spec, now are they?..

Besides billet..who uses pot metal? And the only plastic lowers I've ever seen were only on 22lr AR clones..and those lowers were not interchangeable with a proper upper..so there's that...

Nothing wrong with Billet..other than..again, that's not mil spec..thus falls into the custom or propitory category

Well I'll admit, if you haven't seen it then it dosent exist. ?!!??

 

[Megawatt maker]

Well I'll admit, if you haven't seen it then it dosent exist. ?!!??

What's your point? Are you trying to prove something? Spit it out man.....

 

[taliv]

Bickering is unbecoming and accomplishes nothing