Has anyone ever gone through an ar lower?

[alexisjohnson]

Hey guys,

I was just curious if any of the high mileage ar guys have ever gone through an ar lower through sheer usage? I know this is highly subjective but is there a point where the lowers will fail and what is the usual failure point? Or will they last so long that its basically irrelevant?

Thanks!

[Spaceghost]

Guys that own class 3 lowers use kns pins because of "egg shaping" on the trigger pin holes. Never seen it myself personally.

[Lead Waster]

Guys that own class 3 lowers use kns pins because of "egg shaping" on the trigger pin holes. Never seen it myself personally.

I was thinking that same thing. It's the pin holes that will wear our first but there is a solution as Spaceghost pointed out. Otherwise it's not a highly stressed part.

[kcheung2]

Someone will come along with the links to Battlefield LV's experiences. But in short, in the many rounds of full auto fire, everything else will fail before the lower.

[FMJBT]

There are still M16 lowers in service that saw use in Vietnam. Keep in mind the treatment that military rifles typically see vs civilian rifles. They're like the rental cars of the firearms world, beaten and abused with a short life expectancy. Despite that, quite a few of them remain in service after 45+ years of use.

[Stanze]

It's always good to have spare lowers in case they are worn, broken, lost or stolen, etc.

They tend to turn into complete rifles eventually. Not a bad thing.

[Lead Waster]

If you think about it, the lower itself has no friction wear points except the pin holes and the parts where the safety lever rubs on and the bolt release pin hole lugs.
The upper has all the wear and tear of the bolt carrier.

[ChuckDizzle]

There are still M16 lowers in service that saw use in Vietnam. Keep in mind the treatment that military rifles typically see vs civilian rifles. They're like the rental cars of the firearms world, beaten and abused with a short life expectancy. Despite that, quite a few of them remain in service after 45+ years of use.

This right here.

Thanks to the forum they were able to date my M1A2 lower in basic to a retrofitted A1 from no later than 1971. I went through basic in 2001. So 30 years of incredibly hard use, we're talking bayonet courses and grass drills, FTX, you name it those rifles took a beating.

[smle-man]

My son's CAARNG battalion had M16A1.5s (A2 upper on A1 lower), this was post 2003 - before they went to M4s. The 1.5s are probably still going strong as military assistance to the Iraqi or Lebanese army at this point.