ar15 cleaning essentials

[Soybomb]

Hey guys, I'm getting closer to finishing up my ar15 and I think I'm going to be making a brownells order soon. Give me a little idea about what I should consider for cleaning the bore of this. I gave up with trying to use brushes and rods with my .22 pistol a long time ago and am just using a boresnake, but I'd consider trying again for the rifle.

Bore guides, coated rods, special jags or patches...tell me what you think works best.

 

[Gary G23]

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=22573

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/st...=1264&title=AR-15+UPPER+RECEIVER+CLEANING+KIT

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/productdetail.aspx?p=18227

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/productdetail.aspx?p=1851&s=

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/st...x?p=22914&title=AR-10/AR-15+CHAMBER+SWAB+KITS

 

[ChairborneRanger]

I personally like the Dewey nylon coated rods for cleaning my AR's. You'll also need an AR chamber cleaning brush. That, plus Shooter's Choice and a liberal internal wash-down with Carb Cleaner---then a little CLP to recoat and lube the internals.

 

[Zippy06]

Look up "cleaning" on here or Thefiringline.
Some guy. Had some pictures. Nice groups.
5K rounds no cleaning.
Something, about seasoning, the barrel.
I noticed, the same thing, last summer. Trying to find the most accurate load for my AR. I was shooting about 100 a week.
I would just clean the chamber. CLP.

 

[bluedsteel]

Ditto on the Dewey cleaning rod. This rod has actually made cleaning the bore enjoyable. I hated screwing those miserable aluminum rods together, and half the time I would end up with an Outers section stuck between a Hoppe's section, or some other brand. And then the sections would unscrew as I swabbed out the barrel.

The long one-piece Dewey rods are a bit more difficult to transport to the range, but I found it fits pretty well in a makeshift cardboard tube.

I liberally GREASE my Colt AR with Shooter's Choice gun grease, or I use lithium grease. RIG gun grease works well too. I find grease works better for me than oils in the AR...these rifles are more like machines than guns, if you ask me. Very effective machines.

bluedsteel

 

[gezzer]

I like one piece Stainless Steel rods with a guide. They will not get impregnated with fine grits like the coated rods will.

 

[Glockfan.45]

I spray solvent into the bore, let soak, spray a little more, run a wooden dowel rod with a patch on the end, run clean patches through it till they stop turning black. I use a copper brush on the bore every 500 rounds or so.

Q-tips are a must for the bolt/carrier/chamber, and I apply a light coating of CLP to everything that moves. If that sounds harsh you should hear how I clean an AK, or SKS .

 

[bogie]

Make sure you have a bore guide. The Sinclair "hold the damn thing open" dealie is also pretty cool.

 

[Zippy06]

I got caught up in this, yesterday.
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=243173&highlight=cleaning
And I think my AR is similar. If I cleaned it real good. It took a few rounds to settle down. Now I know why.
Bought a G17, last year. Ran 1500 rounds through it, before the 2nd cleaning.
Only cleaned it, because of scratches on the brass.