Cleaning Lower on AR-15

[stchman]

Hello all.

I recently purchased a Ruger AR 556 and took it out shooting. I ran ~150 rounds through the rifle which consisted of Wolf and Brown Bear. I wanted to see if the rifle could reliably run cheap dirty steel case ammo(both polymer and lacquer coated).

The rifle shot all the ammo reliably with no hiccups.

I took the rifle home and cleaned it, I did notice however that the lower was still spotless except the front of the hammer. All I did was simply wipe the lower off and re-lube a few points. The upper was pretty dirty so it got all the attention.

I guess my question is, is this normal for DI AR-15 rifles?

Thanks.

 

[FL-NC]

I periodically blow out any debris with compressed air, and STEEL parts on the outside of the lower (like the various controls) get a drop of oil.

 

[General Geoff]

Yeah it's not unusual for the lower to stay pretty clean. The hammer is the only part that really extends up to where the powder residue goes.

 

[MistWolf]

Put enough rounds through your AR without cleaning and the lower will get plenty dirty. You can spray it out with non-chlorinated brake cleaner, every now and then.

If you pull the fire control group out, clean it and apply a bit of grease to the sear surfaces, it'll help smooth out the trigger pull.

 

[sarduy]

Yeah, the lower doesn’t get near as dirty as the upper does.

 

[Elkins45]

My gun with the 223 upper than only fires jacketed bullets stays clean for hundreds of rounds, The one with the 300 blackout upper that shoots lubricated cast bullets looks like the inside of a chain saw muffler after one magazine.

 

[Lo-Profile]

Your supposed to clean AR's ???

I clean mine after every thousand rounds or so. Or twice a year, whichever comes first. I do keep it lubricated as needed.
Once a year for the ones I don't shoot.

 

[shoobe01]

Yeah, don't over clean generally. Even the barrel, BCG. Don't clean the gas tube at all.

But lowers are gonna stay pretty clean.

When time to clean, do grab your lower and pop out the buffer, spring. Clean those, run a big brush down the receiver extension. Don't forget to oil that bit as well when you do your oiling. More important to oil than clean by far.

 

[DustyGmt]

I basically just do what you did, even after 5x-10x the amount of ammunition you fired, typically a lil wipe down with a rag and re-lubing a few spots will keep it happy and you shouldn't run into any problems, even with dirty ammo. I never really run my lower spotless or do any serious cleaning besides getting any significant build up of gunk out with some acetone or Breakfree and a q-tip and a rag. I like to use a light grease on my trigger and springs, it will look nasty and a lil black and gummy but I don't think it's anything to worry about, in fact I've been told that it can help smooth your trigger out a lil bit.

Some guys like to run their gear spotless and clean after every outing, I can respect that, but I also think k it's totally unnecessary and possibly even detrimental in the long run if you're obsessively cleaning your gun. More important than a spotless AR is a well lubricated AR.

 

[herrwalther]

Not much cleaning to be done in the lower. Toothbrush to get out dirt or debris from the magwell if you do a lot of prone shooting. Rags to clean up the trigger group. Not really a place that needs excessive oil or solvent. Use Qtips sparingly in the lower as you can easily get some cotton to come off in a tight space (like against the receiver wall) and have to get it out. I wipe down the buffer and spring with an oiled rag.

 

[dekibg]

Don’t forget buffer tube after every range visit !!!!
JK…

 

[Demi-human]

My Valkyrie:
“Clean it? Whatever for?How could my darling possibly be soiled? Her Starline cases are soot-less, she shaves no brass, the piston is polite enough to exhaust forward. Why would I remove the expensive trigger grease, or needlessly wear the titanium pins?”

My suppressed 22LR:
“Well, she’s a hoser.
Hose her down with soap and water, brush it.
Hose her down with cheap break cle-, I mean, expensive gun cleaner.
Hose her down with compressed air, keep mouth closed.
Hose her down with a spray lubricant.

Ditto to the upper.

Then insert magazine, hose down target with lead.”


Getting them dirty is the fun part!

 

[halfmoonclip]

When I was a younger man, with better hearing, I recall really lubing the buffer tube in my M16dashnothing in basic. It made a really interesting 'sproing' next to the ear.
The current M16A1 replica (all NOS Colt except the NoDak lower) makes no such noise...or I just can't hear it.
Moon