Results 31 to 45 of 110
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16 October 2014, 05:57 #31
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16 October 2014, 07:34 #32
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16 October 2014, 09:22 #33
I'll weigh in on this for you.
First the basics. The AR 15/ M16 is a very simple design. For the commercial AR basic civilian rifle there are less than around 100 parts and most of them are in the lower receiver.
Here's a direct link to an exploded AR15 diagram. http://gunpartsplus.com/ar-15-diagram/
Now, how does it work? Well, that's pretty simple. First, think of a traditional bolt action, magazine fed rifle. You pull the bolt back, a spring pushes up a cartridge, you close the bolt and fire the rifle. The action of opening the bolt cocks the hammer of the rifle. Lever action, tube fed rifles do the same thing. The tube is the magazine.
The AR uses that very same feeding mechanism. The bolt is pulled back by a handle called the charging handle. When you pull the bolt back, it comes back against the buffer and buffer spring that are in a tube in the stock. That spring pushes the bolt forward and feeds the cartridge that came up from the magazine (pushed up by the spring in the magazine) into the chamber of the barrel. Pulling the bolt back also cocks the hammer in the lower receiver. The safety is simply a small lever that when rotated to safe blocks the hammer from falling. Just like in most any other rifle.
So, if you're with me so far, here's how the semi automatic function works. If you look at the exploded diagram, you'll see a tube along the top of the barrel. There is a small hole on the top of the barrel. The front sight of the original AR15/M16 has a hole that mates to the hole at the top of the barrel and is a block of metal with a hole for that tube along the top of the barrel. There is a 90 degree mating for the hole for the tube and the hole that mates to the hole at the top of the barrel. That tube mates to a small tube on the top of the bolt at the other end of it. When the rifle is fired, expanding gasses from the firing of the cartridge go up the hole at the top of the barrel, into the tube and back to the bolt forcing the bolt backwards. Some of the gasses from firing the cartridge are now doing what was the manual job of pulling the bolt back to load a cartridge. The small spring loaded clamp that clips onto the cartridge on the bolt pulls the empty casing out, releases as the bolt comes back spitting the empty cartridge our the ejection port, the bolt keeps going back from the pressure of the gasses against the buffer and spring in the stock and as it passes back past the magazine, a new cartridge comes up pushed by the spring in the magazine. The spring in the stock pushes the bolt forwards again and the new cartridge is pushed into the chamber and the rifle is ready to fire again because as the bolt came backwards the hammer was cocked again.
That's it in a nutshell.
So, the semi auto function is very simple and easy to understand. For military weapons with 3 round burst and fully automatic functions the differences are with the trigger assembly. The 3 round burst mode uses a cam that rotates and automatically allows the hammer to fall for 3 positions with one full rotation of the cam. After the 3rd time the hammer falls it requires the trigger to be pulled again for the rotation to start again.
The best way to understand how the rifle works and see how the parts all go together is really to build one. Install the lower parts kit and you'll understand what the small springs and detents are used for as well as the pins. Watch some of the youtube videos on how to put it together. It's so easy that really a 10 or 12 year old can do it. If you have more questions, feel free to ask them. There really is no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to someone asking 'how to do' something providing that they are asking the question honestly.Freedom is NEVER Free. We have to work to protect it and even be willing to die to protect it.
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16 October 2014, 19:16 #34
Especially because you don't want to end up messing up the assembly process and causing your rifle not to work, or in worser cases - damage the rifle or even injure yourself (ie: improper headspacing). If I understand this correctly, basically this means that the distance from the chamber to the bolt face is out of the acceptable range -(for example) which means that if the bolt is not fully locked in place, it can cause an out of battery discharge. What this means is that the bolt can prematurely unlock due to the extremely high chamber pressure - and essentially give you a bad day.
... not to divert the thread too much, but how does the 3 round burst work? I've still been trying to figure it out. I know how FA/RDIAS works - just not the mechanism for burst.
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7 November 2014, 10:21 #35
Thanks for that link WHSmith
Considering what Thompson said... For a novice such as myself, is it easy to screw something up in the lower assembly and unknowingly put myself in a position for a bad day? I'm a very mechanically detail oriented person because of my job, and I love just knowing the mechanics of anything. But we all can make mistakes.
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7 November 2014, 16:46 #36
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9 November 2014, 19:48 #37
Thanks, never hurts to have help! With the holidays coming, my gun spending on this subject is taking a hit. But I've read, and read. I think I have followed up on every link/product/company/retailer mentioned in this thread (some multiple times) and created quite a list of bookmarks. Good thing research is free... Cruising around this forum and learning is a pretty fun time!
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14 November 2014, 09:06 #38
Well I think I'm going with UWone77's advice that was agreed upon by many, and makes sense. The local co-op runs 0% 12 month financing through the end of the year. I was in there yesterday pistol shopping, and noticed they had a lot of AR's for $600-$800, I think I will head back up there when I get time and check them out and take advantage of the offer and get my foot in the door with the AR platform. I didn't pay much attention the the brands they had, since I was on a mission yesterday. Are there any brands out there I should avoid or be leery of?
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14 November 2014, 09:31 #39
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14 November 2014, 09:34 #40
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17 November 2014, 08:59 #41Contributing Member
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17 November 2014, 09:07 #42
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30 November 2014, 09:26 #43
Where can I find a good LPK with an ambi safety?
Still haven't had a chance to go look at the off the shelf guns I was talking about. Pretty much been working and sleeping for theist two weeks.
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30 November 2014, 09:35 #44
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30 November 2014, 09:40 #45
I'm not sure if the company sells their safeties with a LPK, but if you're willing to fork over some dough for a nice ambi safety - check out Battle Arms Development.