Most likely to break parts on an AR?

Flashpoint

Flashpoint

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So if I sign up for a 1000+ round course with a less than top tier AR what spare parts should I have with me? A complete BCG is a no brainer, but what else?

Yes I know another rifle is the best spare part, but I'm truly interested in the order of parts breakdown in an AR with heavy use.
 
Spring/detent kit and maybe a spare bolt release lever. The majority of your wear parts are going to be resolved by swapping BCG's - firing pin, extractor, gas rings, bolt body near cam pin. Maybe gas tube and gas tube pins in case one were to walk out or break, but that's a very low probability unless you have a gas block with integrated front sight that gets smacked pretty hard.
 
I’d take an oops kit with springs and pins. Gas rings. Spare optic battery, front sight pin adjustment tool
 
It's a 1000 round course.

I can tell you this... more than likely you will not have a problem if it was not the cheaper of the cheap builds.....

But what you going to do?
Be that guy that breaks out another gun or stand there and yell Bang Bang Bang when all the other guys are shooting......
 
My ARs are cheap builds. A couple have several thousand rounds each. I've broken a bolt. I change springs sometimes. If I was paying for a class I'd clean the gun, check for loose or cracked stuff, change the buffer spring if I hadn't in a while, and if over 5k drop in a new bolt. Having more than one AR I'd pick a spare to ride along, cause why not?
 
spare BCG and optic battery (if applicable)…and then just bring another complete lower
 
I vote for spare rifle here.
I had a rifle fall apart on me during a class. The first attempt at a "fix" was quick, but incomplete, and it got me through a few more drills. the second time it failed I had to weigh the option of standing off in the back trying to repair my rifle and missing the drills i had already paid to learn, or just pitch rifle #1 in a mud puddle because i was mad at it and keep shooting with rifle #2. Did i even have the right parts in my kit? how much would I have to take apart to get it diagnosed right and fixed? stomping on it the first time didn't do the job of a bench vise well enough, would it work better if i stomped harder? yes, the instructor laughed at me treating a fully equipped suppressed sbr build like dirt. I was like "it's a gun that doesn't work. its barely worth dirt right now".

2 is 1.

I hadn't staked my castle nut. dropping the rifle to the sling enough times worked the tube loose and it stopped cycling right. i stomped on it and used a wrench to tighten, but didnt' stake it right then. the second time it loosened up, the retaining pin and spring worked into the trigger/hammer. when I opened it up, the buffer shot out, and my retaining pin/spring became part of the landscape. In theory i might have been able to run it longer if i stuffed the buffer/spring back in and carefully closed the upper... but i had rifle 2 ready to go.
 
I guess I'd throw a bcg in the case. But a good cleaning and inspection before would be my main priority.

90%+ failures I have seen have been bolt lug or gas key shearing. Mostly in overgassed carbines.
 
Like others have said a spare BCG should be about it, but don’t take a brand new rifle to a training course . If you have shot this rifle a good bit, are familiar with it , clean and lube and that should be it

If an AR can’t make it through a thousand round course without failing the only thing you need is a trashcan
 
Maybe it goes without saying, but I’d pull and clean the current bcg, install a new one, fire a few hundred rounds, clean and go to the course. Having an untested spare is probably fine, but how dumb would you look if it’s not.
 
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