AR Spare Parts Kits

[einherjarvalk]

This one's more for those of you who have been in the game a little longer, but I'm looking to put together a kit of commonly damaged/worn out parts on ARs.

Is there a recommended list of parts and quantities that one should consider keeping on hand? Off the top of my head, a couple of spare cotter pins, firing pins, and maybe a complete bolt head seem like good investments.

[rob_s]

Full lower parts kit, full BCG. One complete spare extractor set (extractor, spring, insert).

For a long time I tried to keep various small parts as an emergency kit and eventually I realized that the above was the best solution.

If you use a pin or a part from the LPK, order a replacement to keep the kit “full”.

If attending a class, bring a second gun.

[ASH556]

Good post Rob, I agree for the most part.

From my perspective I would add gas rings. That is the part I see fail most often on guns that are actually shot (somewhere in the 3K-5K neighborhood). A set of Colt gas rings from Brownells is cheap insurance and reasonably easy to replace. Same for action springs.

Beyond that, with a quality rifle, nothing else should happen until 10K + when you start looking at bolts and barrels.

Steel cased ammo will accelerate extractor wear too, but I've never been a user.

[einherjarvalk]

Thanks guys, good info. Is there a recommended LPK brand to keep on hand? My instincts tell me CMMG might be a good off-the-shelf option for a no-FCG/no-grip kit since I usually have a mil-spec trigger kicking around somewhere, but if Aero or even PSA works as "just spares," then that might be reasonable in my book too. Geissele offers a similar kit, but they're very expensive for what they are.

Likewise, I noticed AIM has a bolt repair kit that includes a full extractor set, a spare firing pin, and gas rings, but I'm thinking Colt or similar OEM (BCM and SOLGW come to mind) parts are probably better here.

[Mike C]

SharkArms in FL is a great place to look. Last I saw a Colt CH and complete BCG was $125. I believe they also had LPK’s complete but am not 100% on that. No association with them. Brother did just order an 11.5 heavy Colt barrel from them for $250. They were prompt in answering and in shipping from what he said.

[Dan_S]

Steel cased ammo will accelerate extractor wear too, but I've never been a user.


I keep hearing this, but....

It doesn’t match with the field testing I’ve seen.

The steel cases themselves are softer than brass cases. How that could accelerate extractor wear baffles me.

[ASH556]

I keep hearing this, but....

It doesn’t match with the field testing I’ve seen.

The steel cases themselves are softer than brass cases. How that could accelerate extractor wear baffles me.

Maybe so. It could also be the correlation that usually (not always) those who are using cheap steel-cased ammo are also using cheap sub-grade rifles with softer extractors.

[Dan_S]

Maybe so. It could also be the correlation that usually (not always) those who are using cheap steel-cased ammo are also using cheap sub-grade rifles with softer extractors.


That’s actually a good point that I hadn’t considered.

The really weird thing is though, the extractor would just about have to be made of butter to be softer than the steel used in the cases.

I’d hate to see what brass would do to it!

[rob_s]

I have shot thousands of rounds of steel-cased ammo through Colt and other quality ARs. Somewhere once upon a time I wrote a guide on best practices for doing so.

I can't scientifically say that steel cased ammo wears an extractor faster, but the idea that a soft material doesn't wear a harder material is wrong. Even brass-cased ammo wears the extractor so it stands to reason that harder steel-case, even when softer than the extractor itself, could wear the extractor faster than brass.

On-topic, I always liked this kid.
https://www.bravocompanyusa.com/BCM-SOPMOD-Bolt-Upgrade-Rebuild-Kit-p/bcm-sopmod-bolt-kit.htm

[HCM]

I keep hearing this, but....

It doesn’t match with the field testing I’ve seen.

The steel cases themselves are softer than brass cases. How that could accelerate extractor wear baffles me.

Well, there is more friction with steel cases. More friction would make the extractor work harder to pull the case out of the chamber ?

[nalesq]

Extractors are so inexpensive and easily replaced, any accelerated wear issues about them presented by steel case ammo are a mere nothing.


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[rob_s]

Extractors are so inexpensive and easily replaced, any accelerated wear issues about them presented by steel case ammo are a mere nothing.

I generally agree with this.

preventative maintenance was, to me, a key factor in successfully shooting steel-cased ammo.

[Wayne Dobbs]

As for spare parts, Rob_S is correct (as usual).

Best practice is a complete tested and lubed top quality BCG (Colt or BCM) in your kit. That saves lots of time with repairs/replacements/trouble shooting. If you want to go whole hog, keep a complete extractor assembly, a set of gas rings, a cam pin, a firing pin retainer pin and a complete fire control group (hammer, trigger, disconnector and pins).

I'm not a fan of steel cased ammo for heavy use. Besides extractor wear, the Russian stuff will clog a gas tube with fouling in a few thousand rounds. If you shoot a little of it, fine, but don't make it the gun's regular diet.

[ASH556]

Wayne Dobbs

Do you know when Colt stopped stamping their carriers? I recently bought a bunch of Colt spares (2 SOCOM barrels, full BCG, plus rings, springs, gas tubes, buffers, etc), and the BCG I got from G&R had MPC marked bolt, but no mark on the carrier.

Thanks!

[Wayne Dobbs]

They had done some outsourced carriers that were tested to standards but not stamped. The ones they make in house are still stamped with the "C" on the left side forward. The barrels aren't rollmarked with the "C" anymore but instead have the CAGE code rollmarked.

[ASH556]

They had done some outsourced carriers that were tested to standards but not stamped. The ones they make in house are still stamped with the "C" on the left side forward. The barrels aren't rollmarked with the "C" anymore but instead have the CAGE code rollmarked.

Well shit! Thanks for the info. Makes me want to return it though.

[Wayne Dobbs]

It's GTG or they wouldn't be shipping it.