You know, I love my Stag but, I can't stand cleaning it.

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flip180

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I just got done cleaning my Stag AR after fireing it for the first time this last week end. It took me longer to clean it than it did to shoot it and, I'd still be doing push ups if my old team leader got a hold of it.

Flip.
 
I look at cleaning as a necessary evil :evil: If I don't clean it after using it, it just won't shoot the same the next time out. I've learned to look at it as a Zen thing :cool:
 
My M1A spoiled me. I just lock the action back, spray it down, wipe it clean and clean the bore. I'm done in twenty minutes. My AR took an hour and fifteen minutes to clean.

Flip.
 
Holy cow. Does it take MOST AR owners an hour to clean 'em?

I won't even tell you how long I spend cleaning my AK, for fear of starting another chapter in the endless debate.
 
Only takes me about 15 minutes to thoroughly clean an AR.

Open up, disassemble. Spray innards down with brake cleaner, hit it with the chamber brush, swab out the goo. Hit the barrel with a brush, follow with a couple patches, bore snake with some CLP, done.

Disassemble bolt, clean all the areas with some solvent, spray clean, lube, reassemble.

Whala. I only clean every 800-1000 rounds, and it always works. I think most people over clean. Not that big of a deal, unless you're in combat.
 
Just ****** it out,(Upper) clean the bore (a pull thru gun snake works fine)..and call it good...the lower doesent need anything, just do the upper...leave the bolt, unless it bugs u, then just ****** it off with gun scrubber and call it good..;)
 
Just curious . .how long did you spend cleaning it? Mine takes me probably 30-35 minutes, but most of that is just "waiting" for the solvent to clean out any copper deposits in the bore before re-oiling it to put away. I'd say it takes me 5 minutes tops to clean the bolt and chamber, maybe 2 minutes on the upper.

I'm just curious where you're spending your time.
 
Maybe I should look into getting one of these guns. I love cleaning and just puttin taking my time and getting all the crap out..


It centers me...
 
You're over-cleaning.

Keep cleaning it like that and you'll wear it out before its time. CLP on patches to wipe out the upper, clean the bolt and carrier well, pull a snake through the bore (I assume chrome lined) and call it good. Put a drop of CLP on the moving parts in the lower every two or three cleanings. Won't pass an inspection, but it will run reliably and not corrode.
 
I look at cleaning as a necessary evil If I don't clean it after using it, it just won't shoot the same the next time out. I've learned to look at it as a Zen thing
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:eek: I love cleaning guns I guess the smell of shooters choice relaxes me...

CLP on patches to wipe out the upper, clean the bolt and carrier well, pull a snake through the bore (I assume chrome lined) and call it good. Put a drop of CLP on the moving parts in the lower every two or three cleanings. Won't pass an inspection, but it will run reliably and not corrode
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+1 on that:D
 
For me one of the reasons I get chrome lined bores is so I don't have to clean as often. Every 500rds has worked fine for me. Also a bore snake will reduce your cleaning time.
 
If it takes you an hour to clean an AR-15, you're overdoing it. Contrary to popular myth, and AR-15 does not need to be spotless to function properly.

One tip I haven't seen mentioned is to run a few patches or a wet bore brush through the barrel while it's still warm, then let it soak on your drive home. This lets the solvent do most of the work for you and saves a lot of elbow grease.

The other thing is to not use only CLP for cleaning. It's a good lubricant and rust preventer but a mediocre cleaner. Good old Hoppe's No.9 will do a much better job of cleaning, with less elbow grease, than CLP will.
 
The other thing is to not use only CLP for cleaning. It's a good lubricant and rust preventer but a mediocre cleaner.
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I remember my NCOs always telling me that CLP continued to break down the carbon even after cleaning. That's why we would end cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. Nothing more depressing at 5 pm on a Friday than seeing that white patch come out with a speck of green. "Get back on it!"
 
Hoppes #9 all the way. When I am done with my guns, I run a bore snake down the pipe. When I get to the house (and make the proper time for cleaning), I do wet patch, bore brush a couple storkes through, wet patch (as many as need) then a dry patch. Then a ligtly oiled patch to finish off for storage.

For Glocks, I bore snake..then clean with the same routine, except I dont usually do the light oil patch at the end of my routine.
 
1911 Guy pretty much describes my routine.

Wipe down the spooge from the bolt/carrier, wipe out the inside of the upper receiver, run a bore snake down the barrel a couple of times, put a a squirt of CLP on the bolt, and smear CLP on the bearing surfaces of the carrier and buffer. Every couple/three thousand rounds or every six months, whichever comes first, I'll use some Butch's on the bore.

Takes me five minutes, tops, and seems to work.
 
WOW!

I went to bed and this thread took off. I was held to extreamly high standards in the Army when it came to weapons maintanence. I feel I have to have Q-tips come out clean before moving on.

Flip.
 
I remember seeing one of those WWII comics that the US Army distributed to soldiers and it read, "Clean, not sterile!" :) I couldn't find it with Google...
 
i can have my service weapon, or personal ar combat ready in 15-20 minutes, if it needed to be but generally with my weapos i get them q-tip clean. including my ar, handguns etc.
 
went to bed and this thread took off. I was held to extreamly high standards in the Army when it came to weapons maintanence. I feel I have to have Q-tips come out clean before moving on.
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i used to be like that.... i advise you to try to gently break that pattern, your enjoyment of your AR will go up and the "service life" of your rifle's barrel will be extended if you do.

remember there are three ways, Right way, wrong way and the Army way!

"the Army way" is to put it bluntly OVER cleaning, and can be detrimental to the life of your barrel. The Army Way of cleaning was decided on b/c "clean it till the patch comes out white" was the only straightforward way to consistently train recruits of varying exposure to firearms, and varying concepts of what "looks clean", and have a concrete standard that all can see and work to acheaive. plus it's a time killer and another item on the list of things to harrass the recruit over and thus continues the "psychological" portion of the training. just like making you fold your socks and underwear in a regulation manner.

Most barrel wear to civilian arms (and a majority in the military too i'd guess) occurs during cleaning, not through actual firing of the weapon. the military knows that they're trading barrel life for a consistent level of weapon maintainence (between an OCD person like me and the guy who sees daylight through the bore and thinks "clean") , but unlike the rest of us they can buy as many new barrels as they need.

as for how long it takes me to clean an AR, and i am a rather detail oriented person, 20-45 minutes average depending on how much shooting i did and how clean burning the powder was. Unless you go through 1K rds or more in a session, as long as you're using quality clean buring ammo, spending over an hour cleaning an AR is wasteful of your time.
 
My match rifle gets about 30-40 minutes, in front of a good TV show.

I lock the rifle onto the cleaning stand, pop the rear pin, tilt the recievers, pop in bore guide (way, way useful tool BTW), run copper solvent down bore. If I'm ambitious, I plug away on the bore for a few patches until they come out ungreen. If lacking will power, I clean bolt while solvent soaks barrel. Patch barrel, swab chamber, wipe gorp off of reciever internals, lube and done.

I break it down more thoroughly every couple of hundred rounds, when I feel an overwhelming need. Otherwise, the above is enough to, and doesn't over-do it so it returns to zero quickly on the next outing.
 
Getting all the functional areas clean should take 10-15 minutes tops. By functional areas, I mean:

1) The chrome lined cavity inside the carrier where the bolt rides (gas blows into this area).
2) Behind the locking lugs in the barrel extension (this area should be free of debris to ensure the locking lugs have proper room to rotate)
3) Chamber/bore (of course)

You can detail-clean the rest of your rifle if you want to. I often do so just because I like cleaning my guns. You won't be adding functional reliability by doing so.
 
the worst memories i have of cleanning weapons is in the army. getting them Army clean while sitting on a cold cement floor for hours in the company ao after we had been in the field for a few weeks that sucks. i am glad that i have a little better st up at home!:)
 
Oh, I know! I remember having to get all of the mission essential gear turned in first such as NODS and the radios. Then the next two to four hours went to weapons maintenance. Buy the time that was done, it was easily 2300 hours and first call the next morning was set back to 0900. Once we turned in our weapons and were released, we would head out to Denny's and chow.

Flip.
 
11B memories

I didn't mind weapons maintenance so much while I was in, probably because we could go to our own bunks and crank up 80's heavy metal while we did it - that and I got to check my squads weapons and gig them on every bit of dirt I could find with dental picks and q-tips! Those were the days.

Hehe
 
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