How often should one clean an ar gun.

I normally used to clean after every time I shot it but I am getting lazy.

I also plan to shoot more often now that I have located 556 ammo for $.30 a round and 7.62 for $.50 a round.

Thanks,

Mike

The guns I keep around for defensive purposes I clean after every time I used them. The stuff I use for practice I been known to shoot them until the stop some times.

Thanks

I plan to clean once every 5-10 uses. A military use gun should be able to shoot a fair bit before cleaning - my wold war 1 and 2 bolts just feel more dependable than ar guns.

Mike

quote:

my wold war 1 and 2 bolts just feel more dependable than ar guns.

Yea but thy don't hold 30 rounds,

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:

quote:

my wold war 1 and 2 bolts just feel more dependable than ar guns.

Yea but thy don't hold 30 rounds,

True but I shoit my ARs with 3 rounds in the mag so I don't shoot to much ammo. Reminds me I need to buy some 5 round mags.

Mike

Good AR's have been known to run for thousands and thousands of rounds with just some extra lube on the BCG every couple of hundred rounds or so, or when the action gets sluggish. You don't even have to field strip for this. Just squirt some oil into the 2 little holes on the carrier and the carrier/upper contact surfaces, and bolt through the open ejection port.


I dont really see the point in cleaning my beater/practice gun or upper. Same for the practice glock.

My nice ones I do wipe off internally and relube after every range trip though.

Down and dirty way to clean is simply spray down with Brake Clean, no high grade wood to worry about nor the actual metal finish. Caution, do not use carburetor cleaner, harsh on the plastic stocks. After doing this lubricate with CLP(cleaner lubricant protectant) or any quality firearm oil. These guns "run wet" far better than dry. Contrary to original military instructions, the AR platforms do need cleaning but to do so is very easy to do. Just a suggestion.

I clean after each outing.

But outings vary. At MG shoots 2k rounds over a two day shoot was about average. If using something like brass cased M193 or M855 there's no need to even relube till we got home. Well, truth is we could go beyond 2k.

A much more rigorous test involved using the dirtiest steel case we have - Wolf black box poly from '04, '05. Figure 500 rounds of that stuff before adding lube. I would say 500 rds of that stuff is about like 3k+ decent brass case, insofar as crud is concerned.

As mentioned a few squirts of CLP or M1syn (better) works fine. We found M1syn (0W-20) almost doubles the shots fired/need to relube interval. We have gone almost 1k with that BB poly.

As to how to clean......have used about every solvent including diesel and gasoline. CLP works as well as anything, though. A scotchbrite pad or worn out shotgun bronze brush helps clean carbon off the bolt tail. Q-tips for lug recesses. I really like the Wipe-Out products for bore - both powder and Cu++ cleaning.

back in Vietnam, we cleaned at least every day, sometimes more often. And, every time a round was fired after the firefight was over.

Of course, here jamming is only an inconvenience. In combat, it's your life at stake...

I clean every time I shoot it. Old habit.

My first AR, a Colt HBAR digested 3,500 rounds without a cleaning or mis-feed. At that point I figured my lazy test was over and was surprised at how clean the rifle actually was. I ran 2,000 rounds of Saudi National Arsenal green tip through it, great ammo BTW. The rest was mostly Winchester .223.
Barrel still gives me slightly under 1.000" groups at 100 yards with hand loads.
Back in the days of $175.00 lots of 1,000rounds!
Accuracy is acceptable, not fantastic but reliability of the Colt product is superb.