Show us your guns!

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Nyles

Well, it's important to consider that the AR is about the most user-friendly rifle on the market.

And that's what it comes down to. I'll take AR ergonomics over that of just about any other design in existence (ESPECIALLY that of AKs, even though I'm an AK owner).

Originally Posted by Nyles

Direct gas impingement definately has it's problems, but it also reduces parts and keeps the weight down. I did an exchange with the Brits where I spent two weeks shooting the SA80A2 very extensively - it's a smaller rifle of similar construction (and, in it's A2 form, pretty reliable), but it's also noticeably heavier.

True, but that was a bigger issue back when most of the rifles were made primarily of metal and only the furniture was plastic. Now that a lot of manufacturers are using more polymer in the construction of the receiver, it's probably going to matter less.