There are a lot of environmental conditions that can stop guns from functioning including bolt actions. Accuracy International's primary market is military and police sniper rifles. We do a lot of testing. Testing costs a small fortune and if the primary market doesn't require ultimate reliability, then testing for harsh conditions doesn't get done. MOST firearms are NOT tested for harsh environments. The test reports for the latest AI rifle exceeds 100 pages.
Does it need to work when muddy? Did you know there is a MIL STD mud recipe? Yes. The rifle is completely submerged.
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Ready to shoot.
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Do you expect it to be hot? Again, there is a MIL STD test specification.
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Will you encounter freezing rain?
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What if it's really cold?
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Do you expect it to be dusty? That's a pretty dusty rifle. There is a MIL STD recipe for dust. Who knew?
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Marine environment and salty conditions? Maybe for four sold days without interruption?
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Do you expect the rails and sling points to stay put? Lots of shots fired with various rails to test for movement.
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A simple but effective test for sling and sling attachment loading.
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Maybe you need to bail out of a plane at high altitude and you need your rifle to operate on the desert floor a few minutes later? Could happen.
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Do you absolutely need to understand the recoil impulse of the rifle system with and without a suppressor and guessing is unacceptable?
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There is also a "Water Spray Test" defined by TOP 3-2-045. The test requirement suggests a rainfall rate of 3.9 +/- 0.4 in/hr during testing. The rifle featured in the above images was tested for three 40-round cycles (120 rounds total) in a real world 3.5 in/hr downpour. No malfunctions occurred.
The environmental tests are only one area of overall testing. There are tests for sound levels, durability in several different areas of the system, accuracy, POI shift. Drop tests from numerous angles onto a thick steel plate. Rough handling and vibration tests, caliber change tests, bore obstruction tests, case seperation tests, etc., etc. The budget for such testing is enough to launch a small company. This is why so few firearms are tested to these levels.
-Scott
