A question for AR15 owners.

[Molon Labe]

I bought my wife a Bushmaster M4 A3 over the weekend. It has a 16" barrel. I have some questions about cleaning the bore:

1. I would like to get a one-piece, coated cleaning rod, e.g. Dewey. What size should I get? Dewey offers rods for "17 to 20 caliber" and "22 to 26" caliber. I assume I should get the "22 to 26" caliber, correct? Any reason not to?

2. What length should the cleaning rod be? For the "22 to 26" caliber rods, Dewey offers 12", 17", 24", and 30" lengths.

Thanks

 

[walking arsenal]

Molon

A 24" 22-26 cal rod should do you.

I'm sure you know the rest.

BTW if you want some good AR info pick up Pat Sweeneys book "The AR-15" It's good read for AR owners.

 

[Quintin Likely]

Bought your wife an AR15? Suuuuuuure, right. <nudge, nudge, wink, wink>

Anywho, any rod 30" or shorter will work fine for an AR15, unless you're using a bore guide, then you'll need about a 36" cleaning rod (this is for a 20" barrel though, so it might not matter with yours).

 

[Onmilo]

I also use Deweys because they were the best when I bought them.
The new uncoated carbon fibre rods seem to have a lot of positives going for them too, non-abrasive, won't pick up abrasive particles, light weight, stronger and more flexible than any metal rod, etc. so I would recommend you look into those choices also.

A 24" rod will be sufficient for your wifes new rifle but definately buy a bore guide.
It will keep the rod aligned to the bore while traveling up the receiver, chamber area.
This keeps the rod from flexing as it enters the chamber and this protects the chamber from scratching along with preventing the rod from over flexing and possibly bending.

Another suggestion I would make is to look at the new nylon chamber and bore brushes.
These things clean just as well as bronze, the new wonder chemical bore cleaners will not eat them like bronze brushes so they are more economical.
They will not score the bore or chamber like stainless steel brushes but work just as aggressively. A good choice.

 

[Molon Labe]

Thanks.

Brownells has two bore guides for the AR-15:

812-015-002
100-000-432

Which do you recommend?

 

[Houndawg]

Check out this page and get the 24" rod for the .22. It's made for the M4 length AR15s. If you think it's too short, get the 30" rod. Measure from the back of the upper receiver to the end of the flash hider. If you're going to use a bore guide, figure that some of the bore guide will be sticking out the back end of the upper.

Dewey Service Rifle Cleaning Rods

As for the bore guide, I'd prefer the 1st one.

 

[Onmilo]

Pick the Satern if those are your written in stone choices.
I don't care to mix aluminum and chrome in the same bore.

My personal choice for a bore guide is the Sinclair International all Delrin, less than 20 bucks for an AR15 model.
# RGAR15 $18.50
You can add on a solvent port that pops into the back of the bore guide for 7dollars more.
The drawback is that they add more length and a 24" rod won't be long enough to exit the muzzle with all the goodies plugged into the back of your upper receiver.

http://www.sinclairintl.com