6 Oct 20 Issues with serious rifles: At a recent DTI Urban Rifle course in TX, a student’s suppressor-equipped M4 started having trigger problems. The trigger would occasionally stick to the rear and refuse to reset. Nothing seemed amiss when we initially examined the trigger sump. However, in bright sunlight we could see “gunk” on the trigger and trigger pin. So, we sprayed it out thoroughly with high-pressure Gun Scrubber and then re-lubed it. An amazing amount of dislodged carbon, oil, and dirt came streaming out, none of which was visible when we first looked! No blown primers this time, but that is another dangerous phenomenon we also need to carefully look for. I’m sure blowback from the suppressor largely contributed to the fouling we discovered. After cleaning, the problem went away! This an annoying aspect of running suppressors on autoloading rifles. Gunk accumulates rapidly and is often not obvious, as we noted! Modern military rifles are amazingly tolerant of chronic neglect and lack of maintenance, but there is a limit! When your rifle is exposed to continuous, heavy use, regular maintenance and inspection, as well as periodic professional attention, becomes critical, assuming you want your rifle to run on-demand when your life depends on it, which it well may- sooner rather than later! Our mainstream media’s hysterical demonization of both public and private gun owners will assuredly accelerate dramatically in coming months, before and after the election. In Democrat-controlled areas, only leftist agendas matter: That is: The simultaneous seizure and expansion of their power and the elimination of our individual rights, mostly our right to defend ourselves. In these areas, for all practical purposes there are no laws, no protection, and only violent criminals have rights. That’s the way Democrat politicians like it! For the rest of us beleaguered, tax-paying non-criminals, unilaterally keeping ourselves alive and healthy is now “Rule Number One” Your weapons need to run! “Here lies Bob Who died due to a rusty rod!” Epitaph on a conspicuous “gravestone” in a mock cemetery that was created by Rex Applegate at the entrance to his WWII-era training camp, as a way of emphasizing important life-preserving habits to his young charges, who were on their way to dangerous places! /John