Allow me to paint in broad strokes. There is the preparedness culture, the gun culture and the training culture. These groups often experience some overlap. You have Preppers who are into guns, but this is usually secondary to them engaging in general preparedness. You often see these folks stock pile lots of ammo and guns (usually budget builds) and can barely use them. These folks are not usually part of the training culture, but exceptions certainly exist.
The gun culture is what I’d say includes everyone from the Fudd on YouTube down to guys who even go to the range frequently. But they rarely have a training plan. They don’t really attend classes aside from maybe a state sanctioned CCW course. They tend to have a bad case of the Dunning Krugers. These are the retreat snipers. The guys who like to go out on the weekend and shoot tin cans and maybe blow up something with Tannerite.
The training culture stands apart. They may also overlap into the preparedness culture, but these people actually train. They attend classes, they have practice regimes, they dry fire relentlessly. You’ll often see instead of having 13 AR15’s that cost 300$ each, and only 1 will work on a given day, they have one or two good ones set up exactly how experience shows them is best that have thousands and thousands of rounds through them and they run.
Why is that the Prepper and gun culture factions of all of this tend to steer toward shoddy equipment or gear? You see it all the time, Prepper types show up at the range with a hodgepodge of stuff bolted onto their rifle and pouches zip tied to various vests and belts and they wonder why they cant perform a sub 3 second carbine reload or can’t get the rifle on target without choking themselves out with their 3 point sling. The Prepper side of this, broadly speaking would rather buy 15 surplus Alice set ups than buy 1 good modern set up that actually works efficiently. Because, they only think, 2 is 1, 1 is none, etc.
I’ve been seriously training, for at least the past 4-5 years and casually for the last 10. I’ve seen the spectrum. Guys who make good money show up at the range or at a class with 2 brand new rifles for themselves and their wife. Both rifles go down before the end of the first day. Optics are so cheap and shoddy they cannot obtain a zero, let alone hold one. Lens fogged up internally. Sights falling off guns. Stuck casings from junk out of spec barrels and guns that wont cycle because they were put together wrong. Receivers blown up from shooting reloads that saved you 4 cents per round. Serpa holsters that become locked in place. Zero’s shift from heat and jarring of riding in a case in a car trunk.
I ask, WHY?
Why are folks so focused on relying on junk, when much better equipment or gear is available readily? For some it is a true financial issue. If they do not buy the PSA gun, they’ll never afford an FN, DD, BCM, Colt or other reputable brand. I get it. But if people make a financial argument, I better not see Netflix, frozen pizza, car loans, restaurant receipts, beer, Blue Apron meal programs, satellite TV or new clothes with holes already torn in them.
For most it is a choice to choose junk. Hey, freedom means the freedom to make bad choices. I support peoples rights to choose. But please do not try to fool everyone on a YouTube gun review that your 350$ AR15 is the same quality as a 1500$ Daniel Defense rifle because you shot 300 rounds out of it on a warm sunny day. That Mosin “Sniper Rifle” does not perform the same as a Accuracy International AX rifle.
Gear reviews are often conducted where some light range play with a certain piece of equipment is done and then it is bandied about as the greatest piece of kit. Claims of duty grade toughness and reliability come out of testing that no where is sufficient enough to remotely make the claim. A Vortex Strike Eagle is not even in the same ballpark as a Schmidt and Bender 1-8x, so why even try to make it seem like it is? What is the ‘proper’ round count to test something and under what conditions? I don’t have any answer to that objectively, but you can be sure testing something for a round count that equals 1-2 practice sessions is hardly sufficient to call something ‘duty grade.’
Sometimes they’ll even meet a low round count critique of the review with disdain and say things such as “I don’t waste ammo.” Or they’ll shrug off hard use or mild impact testing because ‘riflemen don’t drop their rifles!” Are scope companies that test waterproofness of their optics being ridiculous for dunking them in deep pressurized water to do so? I know, I know, “I don’t go trolling with my scope 100 ft down at the lake, so….” Blah Blah Blah.
Often making objective claims about a certain piece of kit is taken as a personal insult. People are married to their choices and any thing that is pointed out that could be a downside is taken as an contest of honor. Divorce yourself from preconceived bias.
It always baffles me that you never seen high level shooters, competition guys, or ‘operational dudes’ running some of the budget stuff that people claim is duty grade. Are the guys at Northern Red running Anderson rifles? Does Max Michel Jr have a Hi Point as his EDC? Do you see a lot of 200-300$ type optics used by elite, grand master type, high level 3 gun shooters? Think you’d be competitive with that Tasco Walmart special at the regional PRS match?
Some folks spend lots of time trying to hone the art of self defense only to lose their edge with shoddy equipment and gear choices. Does it always take the best, nope. But quality gear removes the gears performance factor from the equation. I’d suggest reexamining what the contextual use of said gear is supposed to be and study hard before making broad claims. What is your life worth?
BACK of BEYOND 
Because the FN made Chrome Lined CHF barrel (Marked FN) on a Premium PSA upper is so much different than the EXACT SAME BARREL that BCM and NOVESKE BUYS FROM FN…….Notice I didn’t say, “crappy PSA PTAC” barrel……Because a BCM bolt is worth 3X what a Toolcraft bolt- US MIL Contractor and OEM supplier for many AR makers, costs….Battlefield Las Vegas experience says otherwise for many of these items.
Ask John Mosby what he thinks of Burris MTAC scopes. Or better yet, ask any one of his many students, self included, who have seen him throw his rifle equipped with one 30′ down range and retrieve it without loss of zero, repeatedly…….
For the people who actually know things, there are equipment bargains to be had. Generally better gear IS better, but there is a happy medium as well and you don’t have to mortgage your home to have a very reliable and effective weapons system-especially when you back it up with regular practice AND training.
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Will:
Good to hear from you. I don’t know where we disagree, even though I sense a touch of hostility in your post.
Per Mosby’s tossing of his rifle, some (not me by the way) consider those acts to be theater and detrimental, as was touched on in the article. I will point out though, last I heard, the rifle toss was done a time to many and either the rifle or the optic was damaged in the process one time. We can stipulate this until there is confirmation on that.
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No hostility intended! Sorry if it came across that way! What I really think is that people need to take training AND to educate themselves on what they are buying. There are a lot of relative bargains out there if you know and understand how the things are made, by who they are really made, what makes a good “widget” etc….
I’m not one of those guys who is going to claim his “budget gun” is “as good as” a much more expensive rifle….What I will say is that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a rifle that will reliably do what you need it to do. Rather than spend the money for example for a really expensive rifle like a Larue or a Noveske etc….I have taken several factory AR15 armorers classes- they are pretty cheap for the most part if you can find one local- $250-$400…. The money spent there allows me to build very good rifles with good components for very little money.
Yes, at the insistence of HH6, John no longer does his “rifle toss”. He did ding the scope pretty good and it became very hard to work the magnification change mechanism- but the scope still worked fine. One thing I do know, if he sent it back to Burris- they would replace it. I had one of their scopes that got burned up in a fire at our hunting camp when a shed went up and I sent the charred remains to them and they replaced it! Hard to argue with that kind of support THOUGH in fairness, it’s not much help when you NEED a widget and yours doesn’t work- in the field etc….
Keep up the good work, enjoy the reads!
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Will,
Mosby’s comments via facebook:
” Solid article, through and through. Since I was specifically brought up in the comments, I will add a comment myself, here….
1) Yes, tossing my rifle was “theatrics.” That is because theatrics are intended to get people’s attention, to make a point. It doesn’t change the fact that the point of the exhibition was valid. I’ve seen guns take a LOT of abuse in training and in combat. In 2002, I watched a certain soldier, who will remain unnamed (his initials are JM 🙂 ) drop his M4 75 feet down a mountain in Afghanistan.
Shit happens. The Burris MTAC in question did–finally, after about 200 repetitions of that exhibition–“break.” By break, I mean, it became difficult (not impossible) to adjust the magnification ring. The rifle/scope retained zero, and in act, is still on one of my demo guns, just to make that point that the scope is quality, despite the price.
2) I am, like many readers, a working class guy. I have a growing family, and make a middle-class income. Our money is generally spoken for, so I have to be conscientious about spending. Sure, I would LOVE a S&B optic on all–or any–of my rifles, but that is just not realistically feasible, for a dude who doesn’t make a living in the industry. I looked around for what I could afford from a company with a decent rep, and then I took a chance on it, to see how it would hold up. So far, other than that massive center dot, I have zero complaints.
That is decidedly NOT the same thing as saying “Oh, put a Tasco on there. It’ll be okay.”
Like the author, I’ve seen a lot of Shit gear come through classes. Hell, I’ve loaned out my own gear and rifles to students, and I’ve even given students my own gear, to replace a piece of equipment that was Shit.
3) Software IS more important than hardware, but Ive yet to see anybody trying to run the latest Linux O on a 1984 Tandy computer either.
4) Even when you are poor or broke, you still get what you pay for. I would rather see a dude show up at my carbine course with a slug-loaded 870 that they paid $200 for, or their grandpa’s .30-30 than a POS, budget AR with the cheapest red dot they could find at Wal-Mart. At least the first two guns will run reliably.
Quantity does have a quality all its own, as the man said (and yes, I know who said it), but that only applies on massive scales. At our level, in our context, quality beats quantity every time, hands down.”
Further:
” The fixation on his comments about PSA suggests that maybe some people missed the point that, you can run whatever the fuck you want to run, gearwise. But, you,need to define, at least for yourself, what the standards are, and then ensure that the equipment in question actually meets those standards.
“Well, MY PSA has never hiccuppped!” doesn’t mean shit, unless you out it in context. Have you run it in a real-world context? Or, have you got 50 rounds through it, 10 rounds at a time, off the bench, on a clean, dry range?
“This CavArms tourniquet works just fine!” Well, okay. Exactly how did you test that? Have you applied it, one handed, in the dark, while you were soaked to the bone in sweat and mud?
“My $100 red dot optic works just fine.” Sure, because you’re not actually doing shit with it. Tell,me how well it works, after six days in the field, in non-stop rain, with nothing but a GoreTex jacket for shelter, and you’ve been low crawling and doing buddy team bounds for 12 hours a day for the duration.
That’s the difference. Sure, I have an MTAC on most of my rifles, and it is a mid-range quality optic at best, but…and, we’re talking big, fat, JLo type BUTt here….I’ve actually tested it in a field environment. I KNOW what it will handle.
I KNOW an S&B will handle that too, because it is actually being used, in the field, by units that have difficult, hard-on-equipmemt missions.
THAT was the message I got from the original article. Don’t tell me your gear is good, unless you are willing to tell me how you have determined that.”
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Absolutely on target. The other end of the spectrum is to go to some place like SurvivalBlog.com and have them recommend a $14,000 ON SALE night vision monocular to you, or a $4oo.oo wheat grinder. This week I did see a really cool short bladed knife by CRKT for only $30 or$40, I forget which, which is a step in the right direction. In the past, I have chastised them severely about the high priced stuff, and maybe they’re seeing things in a different light. Their new editor in chief has expounded on the virtues of buying quality over quantity. A good point, just like you made. My other point is if you buy expensive, and it fails in combat, (and I know and have seen what combat operations do to ALL equipment), you just have expensive junk now. Better buy good quality, train with it, temper and test it very hard, and go to the Ball with something you have lots of confidence it. All of my bullet launchers are good quality, and they don’t even get considered for the gun safe if they haven’t had the hell shot out of them, abused, and spare parts made available at hand. Excellent article you have there, hope a lot of the faithful take it to heart and to hand.
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THANK YOU! This is so spot on! I love the guys that claim they are buying discount rifles to “equip people after the SHTF” when they themselves are running the $499 Walmart special! Maybe its because the photo of their safe looks cooler with 10 AR’s in there than 2 really well build ones complete with sling, good quality optic, and great trigger that cost more than the other 10 combined. You are also right about people making budget gear out to be reliable when it just isn’t. I don’t think most are liars I just think they have never actually run ANYTHING hard. I have been to enough classes now that I have seen almost everything happen that they don’t believe can happen. Glock factory plastic sights WILL FLY OFF (nothing wrong with Glocks just spend $100 to get reliable metal sights installed), non-staked castle nut AR’s WILL HAVE their stocks twist loose and at the worst time, every 1911 with less than $3,000 in it (and many with that much or more) will fail or fail much more often than modern striker fired pistols. These are facts those that train and train when it is 6 degrees outside and see cheap ammo not fire because the primers fail in the cold know really happen. The other people that are doomed to fail are the ones that do spend the money, they have an $8,000+ precision rifle but have spent no time shooting it or receiving proper instruction so they are no more accurate than they would be with a stock Remington 700.
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There’s a lot to be said for quality gear, no doubt.
Wish I could have gone top shelf…but we do what we
can in order to stretch the buck…with-in reason, of course.
When building my AR, I did the homework in order to
know what the best features, and parts to put in it, that
was in my price range. Still, the final amount incurred,
just on the rifle, came in under 800.00. Had I of gone top
shelf, I’d still be saving up for it. So I decided to have
something to shoot, rather than wishing I did.
(Screaming obscenities and trowing rocks isn’t my
idea of taking out the enemies of our Republic.)
My build went as follows:
Double star HB flat top upper w/ fixed front sight
SAA lower
DPMS internals
Magpul furniture
PSA buffer assembly
magpul alum. flip up rear sight
Primary Arms 5x prism scope w/ acss reticle (300.00)
(Purchasing items on sale makes a huge difference as I
was able to do with most of these items mentioned. The
magpul furniture at one time “was” their top line product.
When theycame out with their newer line, it all went on sale
to make room for the new stuff. If one watches magpul’s site
you’ll get great prices on the old product. Their sale prices were
less than half price. One must move fast when this occurs
for the colors you want might not be there. Case in point,
my fore grip is OD where the rest of the furniture is black.
I don’t mind though, as it breaks up the rifles appearance well.)
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About time someone pointed out the obvious, good kit, is just that!. I own 10 very high end m4s, use to shoot the shit out of em. At 61, boys I’m just physically slowing down, lower bodies almost bionic, got 8 10.000 sniper guns with “the shit “optics. Don’t even know how many cans I have for these fine weapons. Shelves full of ammo and the ability to reload it all 8/10 times.
I’ve got a world class long range at the ranch, 30 ar500 targets out to 1600y right now. Down hill up hill thru multiple canyons. 5k altitude, yet the air often measures out at 9/10 thousand feet. This is the stuff that make good shooters world class shooters
And I don’t, use any of it. Just not training much anymore. which is a shame.
Great article
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Dirk,
Invite me out for a visit.
Good to hear from you.
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When I got my first AR-15 a few years ago, I really knew very little about them and was confused by the dozens of different brand names. I wanted to be reasonably sure I was getting a quality one, so I went with a Colt AR15A4 because one of the few things I did know about the AR is that for a long time Colt was the “brand name” AR. I don’t regret that choice, even though I spent a few hundred more for it.
After I became more familiar with the rifle I wanted to put one together myself. I got a lower receiver and parts kit from Spikes Tactical, and for the upper I wanted one of the FN hammer forged barrels that everyone was praising. In my case I got one as part of a barreled upper from Palmetto State Armory. Is there really anything subpar about the PSA stuff that uses the FN barrel?
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Owen:
Off the cuff I’d venture to say if you have a good barrel and good BCG, it will run, all other things equal.
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I believe the issue revolves around what you plan to do with what you have when you need it. For a geezer like me, the immediate is a Mossberg Shockwave within arm’s reach, along with a S&W Model 64 stoked with some very effective +P ammo. If I am fortunate to have enough advanced warning, then two reliable, zeroed, 20+ year-old Bushhamsters will exit the gun safe, one for me and one for a very committed and very angry stepdaughter. Or, I may just employ my very effective DCM Garand.
The first rule of ANY gunfight is: HAVE A GUN. The second rule is know how to use what you have. I spent many years poking my nose into very bad SoCal locations as a sheriff’s detective and district attorney investigator. Initially, I carried a S&W model 13, 3″ bbl and a Beretta .25 as back-up. Then, I transitioned to a Glock 19 with a S&W model 37 for back-up. But, I practiced often and, firstest with the mostest, I relied on my principal weapon: the one between my ears. Keep training, keep prepping, keep thinking. Bleib ubrig.
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Thanks for the thoughful post.
As someone who has bought a bunch of PSA (Palmetto State Armory) lowers (along with paying my FFL his transfer fee each time) plus an equal number of uppers (plus gun cases and magazines and ammo) in the last two years , your comments hit me like a slap in the face / punch to the gut.
Well, I guess it sometimes takes a slap or punch to learn that maybe your traditional martila arts skills aren’t quite enough to prepare you for a real fight…
In my defense I will say that if you check out the main page at http://palmettostatearmory.com/ they do make it easy to go overboard with “just one more lower/upper”…
I should also mention I own several Taurus and other similar price/quality handguns (each one bought at the time because a Sig Sauer costs too much but total costs I could have bought one or two Sigs)… I’ll bet I’m not the only one out there that has done something like that with personal self defense handguns either…
Looking in retrospect a lot of the purchases seem to be made as “comfort purchases”. Don’t like who looks to be getting elected? Buy a gun. Don’t like the proposed gun laws? Buy a gun. Don’t like the anti-gun stuff being pushed by the media? Piss off a liberal and buy a gun…
Everyone (including myself) makes fun of the crazy cat lady but all she is doing is surrounding herself with things that make her feel comfortable and happy. Like buying a new toy or firearm does for some of us. I think it’s human nature to want to make a nest and surround yourself with things you love and cherish and that give you comfort.
Also there is the thought that if hard times come all those friends and family who can’t have / don’t want anything like a “modern sporting rifle” in the house will suddenly see the wisdom in having one and you can come to the rescure and “arm thy neighbor”.
Except when taking the very few who do show an interest to the range and you watch them trying to use the peep hole – front post sights properly (or even shooting with a scope trying to hit a 9″ picnic plate at 100yds), plus the learned dexterity in trying to put in the already loaded magazine, slap it to seat it properly, pull back the charging handle to chamber the first round, move the safety selector to the fire position… Nevermind re-loading: finding the magazine release button, changing the magizine (pointy ends of bullets facing forward), finding the bolt release and pressing it / hitting it / finally slapping it to get the bolt to slam closed and then ready to fire again for another 10/20/30 rounds… And I begin to realize that waiting until the zombie apocalypse to do this is going to be way too late…
Now comes the hard part to get rid of what doesn’t really fit the real-life situation, even if it makes one comfortable, and make do with less of what really works well…
Thanks a lot… 🙂
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I’d rather see someone wear out the barrel on a budget rifle learning then move up to something decent. One thing you have to keep in mind is there’s a LOT of folks out there living hand to mouth. And if it comes down to budget AR or a freaking Hi-Point carbine then by all means buy that budget AR. I have a guy that I run drills with regularly that picks up cans and scrap metal on the weekends he’s not training to buy his ammo for training. He runs an Anderson/PSA homebuild topped with an EoTech 512 and it runs flawlessly. Why? because he did his homework and learned how to choose parts and build things right. He’s saving up for a SCAR, and when he gets there the skills he built on his budget rifle will serve him well in the transition. In the meantime he has something, and that something is better than a freaking Hi-Point carbine. And remember: just because it says Colt on it doesn’t make it a good rifle, I had a new LE6920 that came through a class that was a total hunk of crap when it came to feeding good ammo from good mags that worked fine in other rifles, including lower end stuff like Rugers, S&Ws, and even some home builds.
Likewise I don’t put a lot of faith in “gun reviewers”, especially those that are supplied with guns to review. Why? because if they give something a crappy review they won’t get anything else from that manufacturer. Same thing with gun magazines. Example: how many glowing reviews have we seen on Taurus semi pistols over the years? And yet here we are, and they are still a POS company that makes POS products. The amateur youtuber that runs his brand “whatever” pistol through six mags back to back with no problems? I value demonstrations like that more than any semi-professional review.
If we want to play gun snob then everyone should be running Scar 17s.
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Lizard: There are times for Snap-On, no doubt and a time for Harbor Freight ‘Pittsburg’. My tastes are along the Bonney lineup, but I’ll not if take good tools in the tractor toolbox out into the field, only to accidentally cover up a wrench in a furrow.
Same for weapons, a revolver guy by nature and w/no physical evidence left…..I’ve had ALL major revolver brands go out of time eventually. It’s more disappointing/aggravating when it’s a more expensive flavor and I’d be damned if it is going away for repairs with a FFL tag. That said, Taurus are the go to tool for beat arounds and they last WAY long enough to do the job, and are accurate to boot.
YMMV as well as the snob opinions, by many. Traction here tells all……
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Blacl Rain Ordinance with flutted barrel topped with an ACOG is what I run
With lots of training of course !
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don’t take this wrong. a few things thou.
i get what your saying on shoot your stuff, but don’t just get the repeated cheap AR. because, it may not run.
malfunctions come down to a few things. poorly assembled, gas blocks not tight or poorly alighned.[main culprit] . then the buffer tubes, not screwed all the way in to the detent. then you have mis assembled bolts. ar10 extractor style, mde smaller for the 556. thos may or may not work.
after that accuracy loss, is from too slow of twist rate. 1:9 is to slow. you have at best a 200 yard shooter. go with a 8 or7.
after that we see slight to pure neglect. i’ve seen midwest industries not run, after 2 bouts at 3gun competions. i’ve racked the bolt a few times and you could feel it was dry. i brushed out the lugs and lubed it super heavy, till it feels good. now if it still fails to cycle. we look at the buffer tube, being dry or dirty. lube it up and go.
most of the time, these little shooters just need to be shot. you may have brass over bolt jams, every other round. you may have to mortar it to clear it. but soon , it will run like a top.
then we have just pure negligence. those guys run only bore snakes, instead of rods and chamber brushes. those rifles are dry and dirty. $1000 builds running shitty pmags plastic pop ups. where they get marred or have a constant glare, making them almost unusable.
my good build , i’m up to 550. good iron sights.running great hit’s out to 300. so far no more jams, runs like a top, but i do clean and oil it.. i am getting another build started on a anderson lower, but will be on a chrome lined barrel and chamber, with a medium gas tube. to take out some of the poppy. to extend the range. should be in the 8-900range.
but the cheap builds, need to be made to arm the reluctant partisans.
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Reblogged this on The zombie apocalypse survival homestead.
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I’m ‘guilty’ of running a dreaded Anderson lower on my midi carbine. Total build was about $600ish before I ‘splurged’ on an RA-140 trigger. Aside from swapping out the buffer early on I’ve never had an issue. Upwards of 6k rounds thru it. ‘Cheap’? No.. Inexpensive, dependable, utilitarian, yes .
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This is an old debate that covers more than just firearms. “Cheap” versus “budget” versus “expensive” versus “high-end”, what ever moniker that you want to throw around. Its a worthy discussion and many spot on points are made in the original post as well as the responses.
I would count myself in among the training faction although I dont train as much as I should. I have seen all manner of kit come through classes. Very expensive weapons and one dude that showed up with a wooden stock animal gun that had a scope that refused to hold zero.
One word that is often missing from these discussions is “quality”. Quality gear is far more important than the price of the gear. That extends far outside of firearms. I have cooked on shit quality aluminum mess kits out in the bush and threw them away when I got home.
There is a principle that goes “Buy once, cry once” and its a fairly good one to follow but price does not always equal quality. Its far better to trust items that have proven their worth in true field use. The only way to gain that knowledge is to actually get out in the field and use it. That’s the rub. Many “preppers” live by the principle that they can purchase their way to security. They think in terms of having multiples and so they look to maximize their purchasing power and buy three or four. They think that is sufficient and all that is needed. Many “gun guys” just want to have the look and feel of actual gear and so they settle for cheap Chinese knock offs and those work great for training and range visits. They WILL fail under actual use. They will fail in training too but that’s just an inconvenience. Which brings us to the crux of the whole matter.
USE your shit!
Its all fine and good for your optic to have a 100% warranty…except when you are living in a ditch and the OPFOR is hunting you its not all that easy to send it in for replacement.
I want an Optic that does not fail. If it does fail I want back ups that I know will work. I know that all of it works because I have ran it for 4 or 5 thousand rounds in all manner of environments and humped it around in the woods and it holds zero. I want all my gear that I am trusting my life with to be that way. Some of that gear may have cost me very little and I still know it works because I have tested it. Quality, it will serve you well.
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Gren:
Bro, you are going to have to stop making sense.
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I have found that 5 unreliable cars do not equal 1 good one. Guns are an analogous situation. By learning all you can before making a purchase you can make the most efficient use of your hard earned $. I would love to have a $3k AR-15 that shoots 1/2 moa, but something less that works is better than not buying anything until I can afford the $3k.
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I’ve got the pda mid lengthy gun … was all I could afford at the time . It’s been ran very hard trained with it taught with it .. started having trouble hitting the steel at a hundred with it ..short story castle nut came loose just glad it didn’t blow up in my face . So now I’ve got to start over on another gun ,at least there’s some good parts in this one I can use such as the lantac bolt and burris mtac on top of it
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Meant p s a dang autospell correction
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Also don’t think those 5000 rounds you’ve put through your gun are enough it took me about 10000,maybe 120000 rounds to find out the hard way
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i had a young man needing some help , sighting in a rifle. it was far from a budget gun. he would be firing and all of a sudden. it would fail to strip a round out of the mag. then it would work fine for a while. then it would happen again.. then it would work fine.
i narrowed down the FTF to the buffer tube. the castle nut wasn’t torqued down. the buffer tube was sloping and slowing down the bolt, so it wasn’t fully cycling. the buffer tube was engaging the buffer detent. but could of used 1 more rotation. then needing torqued properly. [possibly staking or blue lock tight, your choice]
after this i found a article on why 308 ar’s go down. this is a commmon issue.
hope this helps out.
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