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Cleaning an AR-15


Bullett Sass 19707

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Other than cowboy action,  I shoot 2 gun and a bit of 3 gun.   The AR has a 18 in SS medium contour barrel.   I spray solvent down the barrel and chamber and leave it set on one side then the other side.   I then clean from the chamber end with a bronze brush.    I have run maybe 10 or 15 tight patches down the barrel and they all come out with some black on them.   How clean does it need to be?  I use it in matches about two times per month.   Bullett 19707

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With no drill instructor screaming at you I'd be done. More brushwork if you want it to stop. Brush 20 passes, wipe, brush 20 passes, wipe. I use penetrating oil on my brushes.

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5 minutes ago, Michigan Slim said:

With no drill instructor screaming at you I'd be done. More brushwork if you want it to stop. Brush 20 passes, wipe, brush 20 passes, wipe. I use penetrating oil on my brushes.

 

Don't forget the unit armorer. That guy is always a PITA.

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I usually clean till all the black is gone, but I don't clean till all the blue is gone.  The bluish stuff is copper fouling and it's better to leave that in your bore.  Something sounds wrong with your brush or cleaning jag if you can't get the black out. 

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1 hour ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Don't forget the bolt..........

I would not spray anydangthing down the barrel of a gas operated firearm.

OLG

 

Yep...a certain dipstick I know sprayed bore foam down his barrel with a rubber plug stuck in the chamber. What a mess.

 

 

 

I’ll never do that again.

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Bullett,

I would say you’re good to go.

In my love hate relationship with bore snakes I have gone back to using them on hard to clean guns. I will do what you pretty much did but I do one final cleaning with a bore snake after running one more wet patch down the bore. I will run it through a couple of times. Makes the bore nice and shiny.

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11 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Bullett,

I would say you’re good to go.

In my love hate relationship with bore snakes I have gone back to using them on hard to clean guns. I will do what you pretty much did but I do one final cleaning with a bore snake after running one more wet patch down the bore. I will run it through a couple of times. Makes the bore nice and shiny.

Ditto. I have become a bore snake fan.

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1 hour ago, Bullett Sass 19707 said:

Thank You I didn't think of the bore snake.   Why no solvent down the barrel?  Does it cause problems with the gas system?  Bullett 19707

Yeah, it mucks things up. Especially if you fire the gun the hot gas turns the lube to carbon in the gas return tube and could eventually plug it up. The gas block too. Cleaning it is a bear...or you may have to replace it.

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32 minutes ago, JD Lud said:

You may want to use a bore guide with the note snake to protect the throat.  I don’t, but some do.

Never heard this. I don’t see how a bore snake would affect anything adversely. 

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With my 2-gun rifle, I take the bolt out and spray it off with brake cleaner, lube it up generously and put it back in, maybe twice a year.

 

Never cleaned the barrel since I built it about 10 years ago.  has at least 10K rounds through it.  Re-zeroed it January because I put a new red dot on it.  Just under 2 MOA at 200 yards, just like the first time.

 

Like SS I'm in the camp of too much cleaning is more harmful than minimal cleaning.

 

I do wipe most of the dirt and mud off after one of our 2G-ACM matches though.

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I wonder if there has ever been a study done on gun cleaning and what is best?

 

I am moderately meticulous about gun cleaning but not fastidious about it. To some I might be over doing it but to others, like my Chief in the Navy, I might be  “half-a$$ing it”. :D

 

I used to be way over sensitive about cleaning to the point where if I couldn’t allot enough time for gun cleaning after going to the range I would just skip the range trip all together. I am no longer that obsessive about it but it took work...;)

 

I no longer allow OCD to run my life and I have taken numerous meticulous steps to make sure it doesn’t! 

I am kidding...;)

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The only guns I clean right after shooting are my black powder ones (for obvious reasons) or my EDC/HD guns. All my range guns are usually left until they start getting grungy enough inside that they need it. The danger of cleaning too often isn't just a matter of abrading the bore with cleaning brushes too much. Most of the scratches and dings on my guns happened when I was cleaning them and the parts slipped out of my oily hands.

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You guys are forgetting the most overlooked and yet fiendishly important part of the gas system.  You must clean the gas tube.  Special pipe cleaners are made for the gas tube cleaning.  The gas tube cruds up and the carbon reduces the tube clearance allowing less gas to operate the bolt.

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I clean my edc each time I fire it. Everything else usually waits a while. I don’t really clean anything well enough to pass a Drill Sergeant’s inspection.

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2 hours ago, Muleshoe Bill SASS #67022 said:

You guys are forgetting the most overlooked and yet fiendishly important part of the gas system.  You must clean the gas tube.  Special pipe cleaners are made for the gas tube cleaning.  The gas tube cruds up and the carbon reduces the tube clearance allowing less gas to operate the bolt.

 

Spare gas tube roll pins are among the many parts kit essentials for an AR-15. It pays to pull the tube completely out for a really good cleaning every few thousand rounds or so.

.

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7 minutes ago, Trigger Mike said:

Wilson combat says not to clean their 1911 until it starts to jam , but as for an ar15, the bolt inside the bolt carrier gets real grungy.  

:rolleyes: IF Wilson really said that--That's about the stupidest thing I ever heard:excl:.......

In that case-Lets hope that 'jam' doesn't happen when your life is at stake. 

ME-My 'fighting' guns are maintained very well because it might be my family I'm protecting.

OLG

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