Real world reliability of the AR-556?

[Mobuck]

And then there's results like this: Grand daughter picked out a new upper to mate with her 2022 Christmas lower. Giving no thought to performance and 100% on looks and light weight, she chose an upper with a 'pencil profile' barrel and mil-spec handguard I'd picked up on a CDNN sale of Bushmaster leftover parts. In a test firing last week, the first shots resulted in slight short stroking. It ejected but didn't travel far enough to lock back correctly on the empty mag. A bit of chasing the hits and by the fifth shot, the optic was aligned and the bolt was cycling fully-feeding from the mag and locking open on an empty mag.
As I said earlier, a mix & match combination of parts resulted in proper function within a few rounds. Even better, the final 3 shots cut a cloverleaf @ 50 yards. This doesn't happen every time but often enough to make things interesting.

 

[GasGuzzler]

An Egyptian ak ( or whatever ) just doesn't appeal to me....

I would Much rather have a USA made AR platform for 1/2 the price that'll outshoot any ak all day long....

My Rock River 223 Wylde and 308.... outshoot my M1a right out of the box.... and there ain't no way ANY AK on the planet outshoots an M1a

Sure. And a good AK is more reliable and can still shoot well. Margins are slim and I have more ARs for the obvious reason. But the comment was made about accuracy and reliability lacking yet the example was a crappy US version of the AK.

 

[Hankus]

I've owned several of the Century AK's SKS's etc..... and they were just ok..... they cycled well but just weren't that accurate....

Plus all that cheap imported ammo is pretty much gone ..... ( I think most has been banned )

Now I see AR's flooding the shelves of local gun stores .... at least they are fairly accurate rifles and very customizable....

There's the issue. Centurys are made in the USA and generally thought of as bad copies of Eurasian rifles. If you would have invested in a Yugo, Chinese, Egyptian, or Russian AK ... it would have likely surprised you.

I have a Century C308, built by them from demilled Spanish CETMEs, which was a close cousin to the HK G3. I have thousands of rounds through it with zero issues. It cost me a whopping $699 back in ~2015. It is a great example of a heavy caliber battle rifle.

 

[1av8r-SW]

I've been shooting my AR556 off and on since 2016. More often over the past year or so. I can't give a good estimate on ammo fired. It's too much trouble to keep track. Sorry, no combat experience with this one. I do my best to avoid extended fire-fights. I'm getting too old for that. Not a lot of rain and mud. Just range shooting for accuracy out to 200 yards for the most part. It's not a tack driver, but I can put most everything inside the 9-ring at 200 shooting from prone. I swapped out the trigger with a Timney when I first got it. I also bought a spare parts kit, but have yet to open it. It's been a pretty boring rifle and will probably be retired to the bedside at some point or gifted to my son-in-law.

 

[Mobuck]

^^Yeah, it's tough to get into a 'fire fight' with a coyote. On the other hand, having 3 come into your calling set up can become frenzied.

 

[GasGuzzler]

I have a Century C308, built by them from demilled Spanish CETMEs, which was a close cousin to the HK G3. I have thousands of rounds through it with zero issues. It cost me a whopping $699 back in ~2015. It is a great example of a heavy caliber battle rifle.

A C308 is not an AK...which is what the discussion was about. I too have something that was imported by Century and it's fine. The rifles built by Century from scratch are the problem children and should not be compared to a good AK.

 

[Hankus]

A C308 is not an AK...which is what the discussion was about. I too have something that was imported by Century and it's fine. The rifles built by Century from scratch are the problem children and should not be compared to a good AK.

Actually, wasn't the OP asking about the AR-556? Regardless, my post was pointing more towards the variable quality of Century's offerings. I told my then-local dealer to watch for the transfer and he warned me about their quality. After it came in I took him to the range with me for some tests. He liked it so much he ordered one for himself. Also, a correction; I paid $599 for it.

 

[Actnbill]

I have a Century C308, built by them from demilled Spanish CETMEs, which was a close cousin to the HK G3. I have thousands of rounds through it with zero issues. It cost me a whopping $699 back in ~2015. It is a great example of a heavy caliber battle rifle.

I had one of those Century Cetme 308's.....It was really nice for what it was.... It shot a lot better than any AK I ever saw...and I loved that it was in 308 and not 762x39.....The only thing I didn't like is that it had the 'scalloped chamber' that left lines down the sides of the spent casing....not good for us reloaders.....other than that I'd take a Cetme or g3 over an AK any day.....

 

[dove290119]

So the USMC uses Colt M4's why? I know I here all the time about thousands of dead Marines from failed rifles.

 

[kmoore]

Rifles: Every rifle is the sum of its parts. The AR-15/ M16 and other names used since its 1st use have changed most if not all parts to make them a better gun. So, damn many changes it will take a short book to list them. Besides the rifle the ammo, bullets, powder, primers and magazines have undergone changes. Cleaning agents and maintenance also has undergone changes. Comparing the 1st M16s or even AR-15s to the newest is not fair, there not the same gun.
Like comparing a 1964 F350 4x4 to a 2023 F350. They both share the same name but are night and day from each other. It's called progress and the AR style, weapon, gun, rifle, carbine has progressed far beyond what it once was. I say mostly for a better firearm.
What's the real world reliability of the Ruger AR 556? As asked in post #1. I don't know.

 

[s4s4u]

I don't have a Ruger, but I have about a dozen AR's in various chamberings and they all run 100%. All were assembled by me. It is a simple platform and I have all the confidence in the world, in it.

 

[instructor]

As stated above I have not had any problems with AR's I have built over the past 30+ years or so and find them to be quite accurate as a rule so to speak. Most recent upper I put together was with a Douglas 18" 7 twist barrel, same as the military uses for their SPR MK 12 MOD 0 rifle and it does indeed shoot half minute of angle groups of 5 rounds at whatever distance I select, from 100 to 300 yards. Simply put, I don't have any issues with he AR 15 rifles.