AR15: Mud Test

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Recommends donw · 2020-09 · on “The Last Gunsmiths of the Khyber Pass”

Both "Forgotten Weapons" and "In Range" are fantastic. Forgotten Weapons introduced me to a lot of firearms history of which I was totally unaware. Things like the Liberator[1] and 2-Bore rifles[2], although with the latter, I'm going to assume that you're hunting smaller naval vessels and/or low-rise buildings. Or you're looking for the fastest possible way to bruise the hell out of your shoulder, and want to set fire to a small pile of money at the same time. In-Range -- which features both Ian from Forgotten Weapons, along with his co-host Karl -- does a lot of other interesting stuff. Tons of different shooting competitions, plus some informative Mythbusters-style segments. My two favori

Cites int_19h · 2019-03 · on “M-16: A Bureaucratic Horror Story (1981)”

AK had its own issues, especially with accurate full auto fire. Adoption of M16, on the other hand, was partially backed by Project SALVO concept of accurate burst being much deadlier than a single heavier round. Originally it was supposed to be about flechettes, but they couldn't make that work. On the other hand, AR-10 was already there with a design that made recoil mitigation a priority - straight stock in line with bore, lighter reciprocating parts, and recoil impulse directed along the bore axis with no lateral component like you get from a piston. So scaling it down to a smaller round made sense. And the design is not inherently less reliable - depending on the conditions, it can actu

Cites int_19h · 2021-03 · on “Before you buy a Soviet Camera”

M4 and M249 don't really have anything in common, and the latter is a Belgian (FN) design. On the other hand, RPK is really the same gun as AK in essence, just beefed up. But even when comparing M4/M16 vs AK, it depends. The Stoner design is more sensitive to dirt, but it's also much better at keeping it out: [LINK] [this video] (Not coincidentally, the AK slit for the charging handle that opens up whenever the gun is off safe is not-so-affectionately referred to as "slit for dirt" in Russian Army speak.)

Cites qball · 2022-08 · on “The AK-47”

>You have to remember to close it after firing You actually don't ( [this video] ). The trick is that the bolt carrier itself seals the action so mud doesn't get into it; most other modern rifles eschew the dust cover entirely and just rely on this. It seems to work pretty well since they keep doing it.

Cites int_19h · 2022-10 · on “Why did the F-14 Tomcat retire decades before its peers? (2021)”

What's "fetish" about the M16 series? It merely makes different compromises than AK. And some of them ended up working better long-term - e.g. the split receiver makes optics easier to mount, and the gas system and the charging handle placement make the receiver much better sealed against dirt and such. The difference in ruggedness and reliability between the two is also very overstated - much of it dates back to the original introduction of M16, and the various associated early problems (none of which were due to the design as such). But today? Watch: [LINK] [this video]

Cites rgoulter · 2023-04 · on “”

> Compare that to an ultra precise AR-15, if you get a little dirt in it, it begins to malfunction. That 'ultra-precise machining' does have some advantages, though: InRangeTV simulated whether a weapon will still work if it gets covered in mud. Originally they tried doing this buy having a guy crawl around in the mud; later, they realised they could just drop mud on the weapon. AKM [LINK] AR-15 ("This AR15 mud test was performed right after last week's AK47 test: the same exact mud, the same wheelbarrow, at the same location, a mere 10 minutes later.") [this video] Incidentally, InRangeTV's videos have been used in both Russian & Ukranian propaganda [LINK]

Cites int_19h · 2024-12 · on “More than 140 Kenya Facebook moderators sue after diagnoses of PTSD”

It should be noted that the purported advantages of AK action over its competitors in this regard are rather drastically overstated in popular culture. E.g. take a look at these two vids showing how AK vs AR-15 handle lots of mud: [LINK] [this video] As far as cleaning, AK, like many guns of that era, carries its own cleaning & maintenance toolkit inside the gun. Although it is a bit unusual in that regard in that this kit is, in fact, sufficient to remove any part of the gun that is not permanently attached. Which is to say, AK can be serviced in the field, without an armory, to a greater extent than most other options. But the main reason why it's so popular isn't so much because of any of that