Hello,

So I recently purchased the AR-15. I read the manual in detail and it states to clean the rifle before usage. I have never cleaned an AR-15 or oil one.

Watched a few youtube videos and honestly, the process looks intimadting and I don't want damage anything with mistakes.

Is anyone living in Houston Texas willing to meet me somewhere to properly show me how to clean and oil my rifle? I can learn better this way. If so, please private message me. We can meet at American Shooting Centers near Westheimer if you like.

Is there a local training place in Houston who help show people how to clean and oil rifle? Maybe I can take to gunsmith and pay to show me how to do it.

Thanks,

it isn't as bad as you think, but I can understand - I am sure you can find somebody at your range to help you - you shouldn't have to pay somebody. Once you do it a time or two you will have no issues breaking it down - when I was in Marine Corp Reserve at boot camp you had 2 minutes to field strip & reassemble (2.5 minutes if you had to remove hand guards) and it was quite easy to do that in two minutes

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Steve

Thanks SteveFi,

I will take my time and watch a few more youtube videos and just learn what they are doing.

2.5 minutes to reassemble!!

Not comin to Houston soon and my kid is down Pearland way. Sorry bout that.

You honestly cant damage anything unless you beat on it with a hammer. Simple process. Break upper and lower apart, remove BCG with charge handle....thats it. Wipe it, oil it, grease it, and put it back together.

No need to pull the BCG apart. Oil LIBERALLY when you put it back in. AR's like wet.

NOTE: DO NOT PULL THE TRIGGER WITH IT APART!!!!!! The hammer face CAN damage the edge of the lower it will slam into.

Thank you Dad_Roman,

I am watching many youtube videos to learn how to clean and oil.

I think a found a good video to follow
Do you use a wire brush to clean the bolt assembly, carrier and charging handle?

When I disaamble the upper and lower receiver, shouldn't the trigger stay in SAFE position and unable to pull the trigger?

Thanks

^^^No, the trigger will operate unless the selector is on safe.

Read and follow the information given in the owner's manual.

For best results, do not over-lubricate.

It can unless a guy thinks he may want to pull the trigger

(How do I know what you might do....right?)

I exercise my trigger while its apart but I make sure my finger is under the hammer so it can slam onto my finger and not the frame of the gun (but thats just me)

Also...do not take the BCG apart (as in the vid). There is no reason for you to do this right now. Maybe in 1000-2000 rounds or so.

Thanks

What does BCG mean?

The manual said to clean and oil the rifle before use

The manual says "Preservative and oil should be wiped from the bore, chamber and exposed areas using a clean swab or patch before using the firearm"

Where is the bore and where is the chamber and where is exposed areas?

Thanks

On second thought, I believe you should take your AR to a gunsmith and have him show you how to field strip and clean it.

lol, i was just asking to be sure

What is a cleaning jag?

Here are the oil poomts

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

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Improvise, Adapt, Overcome

Agree with Bozz10mm.... Where did you buy the rifle? If from a legit gun store, go back and ask them to show you.

Bore = the inside part of the barrel that the projectile travels down.

Chamber = Where the cartridge enters the barrel and is in place ready to be fired.

BCG = Bolt Carrier Group

I purchased the Hoppe's No. 9 Gun Bore Cleaner.

Can this be used to clean parts in the Bolt Carrier Group or just the bore?

Thanks

Awesome. thank you very much. I will be ordering a MAT soon

Looks like a good cleaning kit here even though I already purchase some things from Academy when I bought the rifle.

Anyone else uses this?

Thank you,

I am slowly learning after watching many videos and googling.

I bought the rifle from Academy.

I guess what is confusing me what needs to be done with a new purchase rifle. The manual just says clean the preservative from the bore, chamber, and exposed areas. But the videos completely take the BCG apart and clean (I guessing because their rifle is dirty, but mine is new)

Dad_Roman, mentioned a good part that I do not need to do excessive cleaning just yet. Just clean the BCG, bore and chamber. Then apply oil and good to go.

Ok, don't bother with asking the folks at Academy... they might know, they might not.

You need to field strip and clean it... same level that you should break it down to after use and before storing (though I don't always do it).

Here's a decent video... a few small differences since it is for the M16A2 rifle, not a carbine. But you should get the idea. Oh, don't do what they do with the pipe cleaners... not necessary.

Don't "wait a 1000 or 2000 rounds" to clean the bolt carrier group.

Disassembly/reassembly of BCG is easy, and you can only put it back together correctly.

Thank you very much.

Are these all the oil points I need to oil?

Do I need to oil the barrel bore and chamber as well?

Thanks

Thanks

Early in the video he states the bore brushes unserviceable and serveable. What does that mean and where can I get it from. I bought a .22 caliber bone brush from academy.

Also, he uses CLP, but I don't have that. I purchase the Hopper oil and bore cleaner. Can I use the bore cleaner on other parts (e.g., BCG, etc)to clean or just the bore only?

He said you need one that is "unserviceable", meaning it has been used to the point that it is no longer useful for cleaning the bore... use a small toothbrush or nylon brush in place of the "unserviceable bore brush"...

On the guide pics, "G" means 'generous, enough that you
can push the oil layer around with your finger tip'.

"L" means 'light, wet with oil but not enough to push around'.

Pass a lightly oiled patch through chamber and bore, but don't leave a heavy coat in there. It's good practice to run a dry patch through the bore right before firing, under "non-exigent" conditions.

Thanks cyphertext,

So I shouldn't use the new bore brush I bought?

Yes, you should, but on the bore only.... if he is using a bore brush on anywhere other than inside the barrel, use a toothbrush or some other small brush.

@goodoboy This video pretty much answers all of your questions. He explains field stripping, chamber and bore cleaning, lube points, and reassembly. I recommend a good CLP (cleaner, lubricant, protectant) like BreakFree. Don't over think it. It is all just a simple process.

How to Field Strip and Clean your AR-15 | Shooting USA - YouTube

@goodoboy This video pretty much answers all of your questions. He explains field stripping, chamber and bore cleaning, lube points, and reassembly. I recommend a good CLP (cleaner, lubricant, protectant) like BreakFree. Don't over think it. It is all just a pretty simple process.

How to Field Strip and Clean your AR-15 | Shooting USA - YouTube

Godo, do you know anyone who's an Army or USMC vet?

Anyone who served in last forty years could sit down with you and show you all this stuff and answer these questions (and more that you'd think of, on the spot) in half an hour--a lot easier than all the posts.

goodoboy, the AR is easy to field strip, clean and lube.

You can use bore cleaner to clean any of the metal surfaces. It shouldn't harm any of the plastic surfaces, but some cleaners will cause discoloration. Don't worry too much if a small amount of cleaner gets on any of the plastic pieces, just wipe it off and press on. You shouldn't need bore cleaner on much of the exterior. Just to clean the bore, the chamber and inside the receivers if you're seeing carbon build up.

Some manufacturers use a light coat of preservative on their firearms before shipping them out. Preservative on the barrels will cause smoking as the barrel heats up. Preservative in the bore and chamber should be removed before firing. It's not likely it will cause enough of a rise in pressure to be dangerous, or cause cases to stick in the chamber, but it's a good practice to remove it first. The most common problems I've seen preservative cause are light hammer strikes and weak trigger returns.

Along with the lube points shown on the chart posted above, place a few drops in the exhaust port on the BCG. It will help to keep carbon build up on the tail of the bolt from hardening and will keep the AR functioning reliably. It's been my experience this is one of the most important places to keep lubed on an AR. It doesn't need much oil.

I know some will recommend using grease on the carrier. Just remember that the AR is designed to use oil. Grease is thicker than oil and can cause drag on the carrier as it reciprocates. While grease and oil both trap dirt and fouling, adding oil to dirty oil will wash out the junk without disassembling the rifle. To clean out the junk collected by grease, the rifle will have to be disassembled to wipe of the dirty grease before clean grease can be applied. The only way to see if this is a problem for you is to try it. I find using just oil on my AR
makes maintenance much easier, especially when shooting with a suppressor

Hello,

I have the rifle disammbely now, is this correct how the extractor should be reinstalled. ?Screenshot by Lightshot and the bolt cam position, perpendicular to the gas key?

THanks

yes - the bolt cam pin shouldn't go in if you have the extractor on the wrong side. you need to have the long edge of the top of the cam pin parallel to the gas key as well then once the cam pin is pushed down you turn the cam pin 90 degrees so you can then insert the firing pin.

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Steve

ok, I am done cleaning and oil the gun for the first time. lol, took about 2 hours. I wrote down some things I need for the next time.

I have some questions to ask regarding the cleaning

1.During the lubing process, I kept asking myself "how much oil is too much". Is this common with you too? What do you use to oil components. I basically used my hand for most of it except the bore and chamber.

2. Should I clean and oil this part as well Screenshot by Lightshot Neither video above showed cleaning and oil this part. I did clean and oil it.

3. I wasn't sure about this part Screenshot by Lightshot, so i just put drops on oil here Screenshot by Lightshot where the red arrows are. Is that about right?

4. Screenshot by Lightshot what is this for? I put oil on it to lube the champer parts.

5. Before running oil down the barrel oil on a patch, I run a patch about 6 times until most black was not on the patch. Screenshot by Lightshot this is the last patch pic before I oiled up a patch and run it down the bore one time and left as is. Should I have continued until the patches are white showing no black?

7. With my hand a Qtip I put oil all over each component of the BGC, including inside the gas key. The video didn't show this. I assumed every moving part needs some oil on it. Was this right.

I think what I learned from this is to just clean and oil everything as best I can and takes me awhile.

Thanks,

By George! I think you've got it.

1. Don't worry so much. Too much oil really won't hurt anything. It will just fly out of the gun when you shoot it.

2. Just wipe it out with a lint free rag or shop towel.

3. Looks right.

4. That's a chamber swab. I've never used one - just a chamber brush.

5. That's good enough. There's no need to fret about a little bit of black on the patch.

6. Oh . . . there is no 6.

7. I never put oil in the gas key. I don't think doing so is a good idea. Oil attracts and bonds with dirt and soot. You don't want that in your gas tube. You might want to run a pipe cleaner in there to get as much as you can out.

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Or something like that . . .

I think TX-Dennis has given you some very good advice.

Remember, this rifle is based on one designed to be carried into combat. It is neither frail nor flimsy. It will function well even under adverse conditions. Do what you described in post #34 as corrected in post #36 and you should have many long years of service from your rifle.

IIRC, the Army -10 said "one drop" in carrier key.

I just used a wet q-tip.

The gas tube sees over 25K psi on every round. It
doesn't need any help staying clear.

Everything you need, for now:

http://pdf.textfiles.com/manuals/MIL...1_may_1990.pdf