After how man rounds should you clean your AR 15 and 22 Long Rifle

Ethan Verity said:

My reason is because I don't want to put away a dirty gun. I don't want gunshot residue smears in my gun safe, in my holster, on my pants or pocket if it's a carry gun. GSR contains heavy metal salts from the primers, so it's actually pretty toxic crud. I prefer to clean it off my gun before it goes back into storage, or service. Start fresh each time.

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Umm, this is "Rifle Country" sub category and OP specified "AR/22 Long Rifle", not carry pistol.

And perhaps OP could clarify but I took the OP as cleaning for function and not appearance or dirtying up the gun safe.
My replies pertained to function before failure and accuracy related to cleaning.

Now, if you want "clean appearance", you can certainly clean however frequent to maintain the appearance.

LiveLife said:

Umm, this is "Rifle Country" sub category and OP specified "AR/22 Long Rifle", not carry pistol.

And perhaps OP could clarify but I took the OP as cleaning for function and not appearance or dirtying up the gun safe.

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My replies pertained to function before failure and accuracy related to cleaning.

Now, if you want "clean appearance", you can certainly clean however frequent to maintain the appearance.

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It’s part and parcel for me. A clean gun looks good, makes me feel good, it shoots when I need it so I don’t have to wonder if it’ll crap out on me, I can identify issues that any need replacing before they fail… and I was taught that way by a man who kept his hard-use ranch tools and equipment in great shape for decades. I thank him for that, as my stuff, even my every day duty-carry stuff, looks great, runs perfectly and lasts, too.

YMMV, and what you do with your guns is none of my business…and is fine with me.

Stay safe.

sarduy said:

After each range session

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If you are diligent, model gun owner

sarduy said:

or when it start failing.

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if you're like me...



back when I was doing multigun a lot more often and I didn't know what I didn't know about maintaining my AR (the chamber where the bolt locks is important!) I went some 5-6k rounds before the sands of souther Utah started giving me trouble.

These days I clean them on rainy days or when listening to audio book. There isn't a hard/fast rule for when I clean them.

that being said, firearms designated for defense purposes are kept clean.

Rossi 22 semiauto; I don’t recall ever cleaning it. Bolt 22; when the bolt won’t open/close.
AR’s and other guns; whenever I have time and inclination
Semiauto handgun; after a few hundred rounds
Black powder; after every session

lysanderxiii said:

Why do people need need validation to be lazy? If you are too lazy to give stuff a good wipe down and re-lube, just admit it to yourself, put you stuff away dirty, and be happy. but don't go around looking for validation that this is the best way to care for stuff.

Also, how are you going to inspect for broken or worn parts if you never clean stuff?

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Characterizing it as "lazy" implies that it's necessary. It ain't.