Gun Cleaning

[MiddTennTaco]

Okay, so this is officially starting to bother me. Usually I'm extremely religious about cleaning my rifle as soon as possible after I'm done shooting. Here's what bothers me.

Colt AR-15

Cheap PMC .223 ammo (non-corrosive?)

I hadn't shot my AR-15 for a long time and I cleaned it the last time I went shooting. More recently, I went through the gun and damn nearly sterilized the gun and then oiled it perfectly.... You have to understand that I've had this rifle for less than a year and I've gone through more than 2000 rounds NEVER having ANY kind of malfunction. I'm quite proud of my rifle for this fact... or maybe its normal.. who knows? lol

Anyway, two days ago went to the range and shot less than a hundred rounds through the gun just to zero my new Aimpoint.... and..... I HAVEN'T cleaned it yet!!!

I know I'm lazy but you have to understand that my process of cleaning usually takes me about two hours on my AR-15. I just feel its so pointless because I only shot a few rounds compared to how much I usually shoot.

Anyway, I was just wondering what YOUR practices are as far as cleaning and please elaborate, lol:

Do you clean your gun every time you shoot?

Do you clean after so many rounds?

Any bad experiences from leaving a gun dirty? Especially with an AR-15.

Should I stop being a lazy ass and just clean the damn gun? lol

Etc...

At the moment, I feel the best solution is to go blast away another two to three hundred rounds. Then I can happily clean it! lol

[Dolomite_supafly]

I clean my 5.56 AR about once a year regardless of round count. I don't fire a healthy amount of rounds anymore but even when I did I still didn't clean very often. It has never had a single malfunction since new. It eats up every kind of ammo I have tried. I use very little lubrication, a lot less than most other people do. I will grease the FCG and the bolt lugs, that is about it. I also don't believe in squirting oil onto the bolt when shooting either. Quality components is more important to an AR running than a ton of lubrication.

When overseas I would fire thousands of rounds between cleanings and the guns I used never had a malfunction related to being dirty. I will say that the longer you go between cleanings the harder it is to clean them but it never caused me a problem as far as reliability would go. I would inspect and clean my gun when issued and 10 weeks later I would do the same before turning it in. And on average I would shoot 300-500 rounds a week. I might miss a week or two but I fired well into the thousands of rounds during each trip. And over there I used very little lubrication because of the dusty enviroment.

I have also found something interesting. Most US made ammunition seems to leave dry fouling. While most ComBloc ammo I have used seems to leave an oily type of fouling. I think this may help some with the extra, albeit dirty, lubrication in the fouling. Not sure if this is done on purpose but I do believe it helps some with relability.

It has been hashed out several times on here as well as all over the internet. Even DI guns can go thousands upon, thousands of rounds without cleaning. I know I have personally done it and still do don not clean my guns often. Even though it may not be for some it works perfectly fine for me. I also consider my AR's tools that get used and abused.

Several examples of AR's going the distance without cleaning:

A clean wouldn’t hurt | The Firearm Blog

BCM Complete AR15 Upper and Lower Receivers [2010-01-01] - 03DESIGNGROUP

"Filthy #14 is the most used, and has (as 12-24-09) 28905 rounds down range. The barrel is original. It has never had a brush put through it. -At 16,400 rounds bolt lug cracked. Replaced the bolt carrier group

-At approximately 26,000 rounds fired a 5 shot 50m group that went into 0.5". This might not be that tight at 100 meters.

-At 26,450 rds had 3 failures to extract. Replaced BCG and cleaned gun for the first time

We use only SLip2000 EWL for lube and Slip 2000 725 to clean.

**All of the rounds were fired during class (at the rate of approximately 1,250 rounds every 3 days)** I do not recommend allowing the gun to go this long without PM (preventive maintenance). However, we wanted to see how far we could take this particular gun (#14) without being burdened by the myth of meticulous cleaning."

SLiP2000â„¢ - Articles

No need to be so meticulous. Shoot your gun and leave it for another day to clean. As long as there isn't any corrosion, like rust, you should be fine. I tend to clean according to time frames and not round counts.

Dolomite

[TN-popo]

What could you possibly be doing that it takes you 2 hours to clean an AR?

Anyway, my only deviation from what Dolomite said would be about lube.

As one of my Dept's AR Armorers, I can say that the vast majority of AR problems that I see stem from under-lubing.

Now, were I operating in a desert environment, sure, I would go a little lighter.

However, for the average homeowner / cop / whatever, don't be shy about lubing your AR (specifically your bolt / bolt carrier).

Regarding ARs, cleaning is less important than lubrication.

Edited October 23, 2011 by TN-popo

[Sandman]

I clean/lube all my guns when I get home from the range. They are on my reloading/cleaning bench until I do. Guns don't go back in the safe until they are clean.

[Guest bkelm18]

I only make it to the range a few times a year so I clean after every time. I also clean my carry weapon every couple of weeks to get rid of any dirt and lint.

[LngRngShtr]

back when I was competing heavily the cleaning regime was to break it open (remove top end)and clean the rails reassemble lock open and bore mop then wipe down the outsides on the 1911s we called it "functionally clean" since most ranges we shot at were dust laden and re-oil cleaned the barrels maybe once a year. same with my PPC revolver. and we shot literally thousands of rounds..

the Bullseye guns,.. same treatment to my S&W M52-2 and the Medalist .22 got locked open and cleaned breech face,bolt face and crown oil was dripped onto the rails have owned it for 23 years and have brushed the bore 3 times still shoots like a champ.

M-1 Rifle,.. wipe with rag and brush and clean the end of the gas plug, add drop of oil then replug.

Hunting guns, wipe down with silicone cloth after every outing..end of the year soak and clean to get wad fouling out.

if you run non-corrosive ammo the cleaning intervals are way longer..

Case Note : Ruger MKII bought at the beginning of the 1992 Indoor Bullseye winter league we shot 3 times a week 30 rounds a match..the owner cleaned it "vigorously and religiously" after every outing 2 years later he had to buy another pistol because his was a smoothbore he blames the Stainless Steel tornado brush instead of his zealous cleaning habits..

So to answer your poll I clean but not a down to the last nut and bolt all copper and carbon out of the barrel like showroom new cleaning think of it this way you don't tear down your cars engine every weekend or once a month do you ? think of all the other things you own and use that you never clean after each use.. chainsaws,lawnmowers,fishing reels,bicycles..........

John

[Guest pfries]

O.K. I do clean my guns after every trip out, and my SD guns get it about every 2 weeks but the cleanings are quick and light not detailed. About once a year twice on the ones I shoot a lot they get a more detailed cleaning. Even my Safe Queens come out for this and get a run through and coat of lube. The exception to this is when I am teaching maintenance ect. as of late every time the pistols go out they get a full service clean on the way in as I am teaching my middle two kids (10 and 12)to comb through them, inspect, clean, lube.

[tnhawk]

Every thing in my safe gets fired and cleaned several times a year. The ones I use frequently get cleaned at 300 - 600 rounds.

[MiddTennTaco]

Thanks fellas, I think I'm gonna start cleaning after X number of rounds now. (200 rnds)

And after doing some reading based upon what Dolomite said about lubrication I've found I've been putting !WAY! too much lube. I'm gonna try cutting back on that now.

Thank you all for the wealth of information. I was certainly not expecting anyone to provide sources but for future reference I prefer MLA... LOL just kidding!

(TN-popo) I don't know why it takes me that long. I clean it as if my life depends on it. Perhaps I'm a little OCD, lol. It's kind of weird because when I was in the police academy, I was always the first to finish cleaning my gun.

[dats82]

I used to be a cleaning Nazi, but then I reallized it was a waste of time for the guns I own. I have a couple guns that I don't shoot that much, and they will get cleaned and oiled well before being put up. The guns that basically stay out get cleaned about every 6 months or so regardless of rounds.

If I am worried about keeping a rifle accurate, I will clean it more, but they still don't get cleaned everytime I shoot. A deer rifle for instance will be stighted-in, and the bore will not be cleaned until after the season. My .22's, on the other hand, are just plinkers; therefore, they may not get cleaned until they start hanging up or they get rained on or something.

My belief is that most people clean more than is really needed, but if it makes them happy, then rock on.

Edited October 23, 2011 by dats82

[TMF]

The rule I lived by when I was downrange is that if I spent more than 10 minutes cleaning my weapon I was wasting my time. It doesn't matter if there's dust dirt in the little grooves and cracks on the outside. I just run the barrel, clean the chamber, break down the bolt and scrub with toothbrush and oil, spray and wipe the inside of the upper. The only time I spent a while was when the rifle was going back to the states. I treat my home weapons the same. Every so often (year or two) I'll go through and GI all my guns, but this is for anal purposes only. A spotless gun doesn't perform any better than a gun that was given a quick wipe down and relube.

[Caster]

I clean mine after every trip out...unless I don't feel like it (about 25% of the time) and then I don't. I'm not going to go nuts over it, but I do like to keep them clean. A few years ago I parted ways with all but 2 rifle calibers. .223/5,56 & .308 I washed my hands of all corrosive ammo as bad as I hated to. I loved that old stuff and never minded cleaning up after it. BUT, now I ONLY shoot ammo I have loaded myself. It's so clean...I just don't stress about it. If I go out and shoot several hundred through my AR, good bet I'm cleaning it. If I just shoot a magazine or three....nope, not doing it.

My handguns are even more so. I rarely clean them. My cast boolits just don't lead (took a while to get those loads together:)) AND, I am trying to get my XD to jam. I don't want to intentionally sabotage it, but I want to know where she's going to get a hiccup. My XD9 gets sprayed liberally with remoil, wiped off and put away. I'm up in the 3K range so far, I haven't been at this long. The pistol has over 10K through it since I bought it. It refuses to yield. Cast boolits in an auto can get a touch dirty and right now it looks like someone pooped in there, but it's still banging away. That all leads me to believe that cleaning is overrated and there's a big difference in maintenance and anally retentive OCD. I REALLY want to clean it, but I have to remind myself, this is an experiment. Besides, how do we expect to survive the impending hoards of undead if we can't trust our weapons to carry on for long periods???

[DWARREN123]

I need a round tuit. I'll clean them when I get around to it!

[MiddTennTaco]

That all leads me to believe that cleaning is overrated and there's a big difference in maintenance and anally retentive OCD. I REALLY want to clean it, but I have to remind myself, this is an experiment. Besides, how do we expect to survive the impending hoards of undead if we can't trust our weapons to carry on for long periods???

That actually sounds like fun. I think I might try that with my glock or my AR-15 sometime. See how long they fire without any malfunctions and no cleaning. Good experiment!

Do you think it will damage the weapons in any way though???

[Caster]

That actually sounds like fun. I think I might try that with my glock or my AR-15 sometime. See how long they fire without any malfunctions and no cleaning. Good experiment!

Do you think it will damage the weapons in any way though???

No I don't. I keep it well lubricated. I used the term hiccup because that's what I am looking for. Not necessarily a full on failure. I'm looking for anything including inconsistency in where the brass falls. Right now they all land just off to my right rear. I wouldn't dream of doing this without spraying it down with a lubricant periodically.

[R1100R]

I clean mine immediately when shooting surplus ammo. The others about every third trip. I do wipe them down and run a bore snake or mop down the bore and add a drop or two of oil here and there after each use.

[Guest pfries]

I need a round tuit. I'll clean them when I get around to it!

Here you go! Now keep tabs on it they are hard to come by, especially a nice one like this.

[Guest Wildogre]

Depends on what you mean by cleaning. The 10/22 gets a bore snake run through it after each trip to the range as does the SW 422. My 92FS gets a good cleaning after each trip. The 22s are just to hard to take apart after each trip. The 92 is easy so it gets cleaned a bit more.

[Mike.357]

I will venture a guess that more damge is done to guns by being anal about cleaning than by not cleaning.

[Caster]

I will venture a guess that more damge is done to guns by being anal about cleaning than by not cleaning.

I've seen mil surp rifles with egg shaped crowns. NOW, how many passes from a cleaning rod does it take to wear out one side of the barrel. Jeesh.