Tolerance vs. Clearance, an essay with pics.

[Vicarious_Lee]

Just ran across this and thought I'd share. I'd also like to hear input from those in the business about this explanation. Here's the writeup:

http://i.imgur.com/rowkK.jpg

I feel like it's a good explanation because I understand exactly what the person is trying to convey, yet the conclusion as it pertains to the somewhat related debate of Accuracy vs. Reliability leaves things more open-ended than before I read it.

What are everyone's thoughts? JamesCannon I'm thinking of you specifically.

[Piggpen75]

Good article!

[MaconCJ7]

So what you're saying is, AK's are more reliable, but less accurate than their AR counterparts?

[Vicarious_Lee]

So what you're saying is, AK's are more reliable, but less accurate than their AR counterparts?

The article clearly explains that this is so because "ARs shit where they eat". Try to keep up.

[MaconCJ7]

All I saw was that AR's put food on the table.

[MacAttack]

The article didn't ell me squat about anything except the general definition of tolerances.

It didn't explain what tolerances need to be tight to improve accuracy and which ones need to be loose to clear dirt and crud. Or why any of that matters to a typical shooter.


I always thought consistent accuracy had more to do with the barrel, chamber, ammo/cartridge, and bolt face lock up then pretty much the whole rest of the rifle.

[MaconCJ7]

Yeah, pretty accurate. So long as the bolt locks into the same place every time, the chamber is reamed properly, head space is set right, free bore is correct, rifling is the right type and twist for the bullet size and weight, the barrel is straight, the list can go on.

And generally speaking, the tolerance for the clearances of all of the above will play with accuracy vs reliability. The paper was a good generalization of it all. But it was more for clarifying that it's not loose tolerances that make an AK reliable, it's loose clearances. The tolerances for the clearances may be wider than you would expect, but it is the loose clearance that does it.

[crypto]

All I saw was that AR's put food on the table.

As long as you dont mind eating poodles.

[MaconCJ7]

Puppy tastes good.

[UndeadInfidel]

Suggesting a new, more appropriate title:

Tolerance vs. Clearance, a pic with essay.

[Vicarious_Lee]

It didn't explain what tolerances need to be tight to improve accuracy and which ones need to be loose to clear dirt and crud. Or why any of that matters to a typical shooter.

Yeah it did. The answer to that question is "On which gun?" As the guy states, every gun is different and every gun reacts differently to those things on all their different parts.

[nimdabew]

I liked the Tl;dr section. Skipped down to there pretty quick.

[crypto]

The article didn't ell me squat about anything except the general definition of tolerances.

It didn't explain what tolerances need to be tight to improve accuracy and which ones need to be loose to clear dirt and crud. Or why any of that matters to a typical shooter.

Clearly you didnt read A SINGLE FUCKING WORD OF IT, because you're still saying 'tolerance' when you mean 'clearance'

[praharin]

The article didn't ell me squat about anything except the general definition of tolerances.

It didn't explain what tolerances need to be tight to improve accuracy and which ones need to be loose to clear dirt and crud. Or why any of that matters to a typical shooter.

Clearly you didnt read A SINGLE FUCKING WORD OF IT, because you're still saying 'tolerance' when you mean 'clearance'

Thank you

[MacAttack]

Out of the whole article in what part did it tell you what you need to do to make an AR as reliable as an Ak?

Or in what part did it tell you how to make an AK as accurate as an AR?


It was a general description of tolerances and clearances using AK's and AR's as examples.

They could have used old harley engines and jap bike engines instead and done the same thing.

[williaty]

Out of the whole article in what part did it tell you what you need to do to make an AR as reliable as an Ak?

Or in what part did it tell you how to make an AK as accurate as an AR?

If you're willing to think for yourself a bit rather than be spoon fed, the article handed you everything you need to know to come up with those on your own.

The AK has wide clearances to accommodate poor (loose) tolerances. Thus the AK works with crap parts and in crap conditions (clearances give environmental crap places to go).

The AR has narrower clearances which demand tighter tolerances. Thus the AR puts all the bits into the same positioning relative to each other on every shot.

[doc66]

You know, there was nothing about the vodka verse bourbon effect in that entire article. Not a damn thing. I don't think that the author knew what he was talking about.

[praharin]

Out of the whole article in what part did it tell you what you need to do to make an AR as reliable as an Ak?

Or in what part did it tell you how to make an AK as accurate as an AR?


It was a general description of tolerances and clearances using AK's and AR's as examples.

They could have used old harley engines and [J]ap[anese] bike engines instead and done the same thing.

The article appears to be targeted at the ignorant masses who say things like "the AK is more reliable because of looser tolerances," when in reality the tolerances are really quite similar (as designed). How would talking about motorcycles ("jap" is considered a derogatory term in some Japanese circles, FTFY) wouldn't have made much sense in that context.

[Vicarious_Lee]

Out of the whole article in what part did it tell you what you need to do to make an AR as reliable as an Ak?

Or in what part did it tell you how to make an AK as accurate as an AR?


It was a general description of tolerances and clearances using AK's and AR's as examples.

They could have used old harley engines and jap bike engines instead and done the same thing.

The article didn't tell me how to properly vent my new windshield washer fluid reservoir in my Subaru, either, because that is also not what the article is about.

[JTNieman]

Nothing wrong in that article. Pretty well puts the info straight.

It's one of things I used to love shitting on people for, when I saw them misuses tolerance/clearance when spewing more meme-shit about their flavor of gun... before I got the 'probation' tag.