Cleaning your AR

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10 years 6 months ago #38972 by OleCowboy
Cleaning your AR was created by OleCowboy
I don't see much on this so I will give my thoughts, your give yours:


I clean after exposure to dust or water. But I inspect them after every outing.

Certainly there are 2 schools of thought: Clean as if it were a religion or not so often. I belong to the latter.

Cleaning had its origins in exposed lead in rifled guns. And cleaning that is a all day job.

What has happened over the years is that solvents have advanced and the days of cleaning guns like I did when I went into the Army are long gone. I primary solvent was Elbow Grease and spending 4 hours cleaning a M14 only meant your were fast at it.

But today we have near magic cleaners and are almost spray, wipe, put away. But many of those cleaners come with a heavy price especially on non-SS surfaces. Many douse there gun in solvents, go to lunch and wipe and put away. But some of those solvents will etch the metal especially the proud metal inside a gun bbl. The final result is cleaning often does more damage than just wipe, swab and inspect.

Be cautious, READ the entire label on your products you use to clean with and remember that over cleaning may result in over KILL of your weapon*


* exposed lead shooting is a different animal, you might want to follow rigorous cleaning procedures.
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10 years 6 months ago #38973 by NightForce
Replied by NightForce on topic Cleaning your AR
Hey Cowboy,

This is something near and dear to my heart!

There are solvents available that WILL damage the bore of your firearm is left on too long. Most of these contain Ammonia and it's easy to identify them by how clear your sinuses become after only a few seconds having the container open.

Sweets 7 and I think Butches Bore Shine is the other I have which I consider dangerous if not used properly. Butches Bore Shine come in a glass bottle AND in a plastic sarcophagus, so you know it's strong!

I use several bore cleaners depending on what I shoot and one I sort of mix myself. For initial cleaning I use Shooters Choice bore cleaner that I've mixed 3 parts cleaner to 1 part Kroil penetrating oil. This has served me well through the years and the Kroil improves the capillary action thus a more complete cleaning.

Once the bore is swabbed I run through a couple of patches to absorb and remaining fluid then I use JB Bore Compound and finally, JB Bore Polish to keep the bore bright and smooth...
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10 years 6 months ago #38975 by Siscowet
Replied by Siscowet on topic Cleaning your AR
I "KISS" it. (Keep It Simple Stupid). Hoppes's no 9 patch, followed by a brass bore brush, followed by clean patches, and in non SS or Chrome lined barrels, a very lightly oiled patch through the bore. In those weapons, I run a dry patch through to remove oil before shooting. Exception is my 7.62x39. Soviet and former com bloc ammo is reputed to have trace amounts of mercury fulminate still in primers, so they get the old soap and water treatment like the Garand bores got in WW2. Followed by hoppes and the standard treatment, with a light oil patch to displace any residual moisture.
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10 years 6 months ago #38988 by jtallen83
Replied by jtallen83 on topic Cleaning your AR
I like to keep it simple and seldom. I'll do a quick wipe down with Slip 2000 EWL after a range trip but don't get into the internals but every 3-400 rounds unless my weapon says otherwise, my 938 starts to have failures by 200 rounds. I use a variety of products, mostly new to the market as they are the ones that will send free samples, but the Slip products have become my go to cleaners. For grease I'll use Weapon Shield, TWB, and Milcom products.

I recently received a healthy supply of free "Italian Gun Grease" products, funny thing is the only product for weapons maintenance they didn't have was grease :laugh: they all seem to work fine but they don't smell anything like Italian.
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10 years 6 months ago #39045 by faawrenchbndr
Replied by faawrenchbndr on topic Cleaning your AR
I use a home brew that is very similar to Ed's Red.......sick as snot.
Has Kroil in the mix, so it penetrates and lifts the fouling.

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10 years 6 months ago #39058 by OleCowboy
Replied by OleCowboy on topic Cleaning your AR
I have not seen Kroil in a long time, what kind of store are you guys getting it at?

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10 years 6 months ago #39061 by faawrenchbndr
Replied by faawrenchbndr on topic Cleaning your AR
Aircraft supply store is where I have gotten mine. I believe it is available at Brownells and Midway
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10 years 6 months ago #39062 by Ranchwagon
Replied by Ranchwagon on topic Cleaning your AR
I clean my weapons after every outing, how much depends upon how much I have shot it.

The minimum cleaning is Hoppe's No 9 down the barrel, a brush and clean patches. I follow up with Tetra Lubricant in the bore followed by a clean patch.

I clean the bolt face with Hoppe's and a brush, wipe everything clean and lubricate with Tetra. I take down the bolt on the AR's every hundred rounds or so, clean and scrub with Hoppe's until clean, lube with Tetra and reassemble. If it really dirty I'll start with Tetra Blaster and repeat the previous steps.

Pistols, same procedure, revolvers I use a powder removing cloth on the face of cylinder, and around the barrel throat, then Hoppe's, patch and lube.

Finally, I wipe down the outside with a rust preventative, depending upon the finish.
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10 years 6 months ago #39064 by faawrenchbndr
Replied by faawrenchbndr on topic Cleaning your AR
I quit using Hoppes #9......too easy to damage nickel plated parts.
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