The Brilliant Design of the AR-15

I worked with a car mechanic turned computer operator* (back when that was a job) who told me once that there were about a dozen ways to put Chevy small block V8 together.  Some worked better than others but they still worked.  Jaguar engines were another matter; there was one way to do it.  Other ways do not work.

I just cleaned my Eagle Arms EA-15 (now rebranded as Armalite) for the first time in perhaps 20 years.  No, I did not fire it that whole time either.  While reassembling the bolt, I remembered what a beautiful design this is.  You have to remember the sequence for pulling the cotter pin to release the firing pin so you can rotate the extractor assembly to release the cam bolt, but if you remember that much, it is hard to screw up reassembling everything.

*This guy was the second most colorful person with whom I have ever worked.  As I post memoirs here I will recount some of the stories that made him so interesting in a charmingly dishonest way.  I am sure he is dead by now unless he came up with some amazing whopper that caused both St. Peter and Satan to refuse him admittance.