The fetishism about the "dirty" operation of the DI Stoner design is overblown by a lot. Much of that fetish comes from the historical problems of much older platforms in the US military (1800s), when shooting black powder and other factors contributing to a much different need for cleanliness. That ingrained history also contributes to the socialization of recruits as part of training to become part of the military. That serves its own purpose, but is not a technically valid basis for the cleaning fetish.

However, Pat Rogers, with both military (retired CW2 USMCR) and LE (retired Sgt., NYPD) and a lot of instructor time (he saw who knows how many rounds go downrange from ARs as an instructor, probably well over a million), was critical of the fetish and regularly demonstrated that if that kept wet, a quality AR would work for many thousands of rounds without problems. I don't know how many rounds "Filthy 14" alone had without cleaning, but it was over 40K. I took about 10 different class with Pat, and I saw his teaching about the reality on the range. Quality ARs, using good ammo and magazines and generously lubed simply did not malfunction.

If you have to clean it, it is maybe a 5-8 minutes process. Run a couple of wet patches down the barrel, follow with a dry one; take another couple wet patches and wipe off the BCG and related areas, lube it up, and drive on. It took me a bit longer because I was inefficient.

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NHI, 10-8.