AR Cleaning Tools

.40 cal brush for the chamber
bore snake
q-tips
pipe cleaner
a rag
hoppes 9
Slip 2000 EWL

Good to go
 
I am a fairly conscientious gun cleaner, but when it comes to ARs I went to a practical, "do what has to be done to keep it running" approach. Otherwise I would be spending 45 minutes cleaning every other day. I used to use the sectional GI rod and Ed's Red to do a minimalist bore cleaning and re-oil. I now use one of these for that job and find it more than sufficient: Redi-Mag.com - Boonie Packer Products

ARs like to run wet so I make sure there is plenty of lube on the bolt carrier and locking lugs. The rifles maintain reliability and accuracy all summer long and I'm quite comfortable with that.

I did order one of the Avid tools as it seems handy at about half the price of the competition. Like Jeff Cooper, I now find cleaning guns about as appealing as slopping the hogs--a necessary chore but not one to drag out.
 
ChattanoogaPhil said:
Yeah, the CATM4 or equivalent turns a hassle and into a few second job. A few twists and wipe down... done.
Click to expand...

For the heck of it I just picked up one of the Otis brand tools, the only place it picked up any extra carbon was inside the bolt carrier.

But I guess next time I do an initial cleaning it will help go a little faster.
 
Bore snake & Hoppes #9 for the barrel.
Chamber brush and Hoppes #9 for the chamber
Gun scrub spray for the trigger and lower moving parts
Cat 4 tool, pacthes, Hoppes #9 & pipe cleaners for the bolt
Pipe cleaners for any other tiny areas
Mobil 1 lube

This has worked for me for years and over many different rifles.
 
hdrolling said:
For the heck of it I just picked up one of the Otis brand tools, the only place it picked up any extra carbon was inside the bolt carrier.

But I guess next time I do an initial cleaning it will help go a little faster.
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on cleaning frequency and expectations.

Tools like the CATM4 and Otis BONE are designed to scrape off heavy carbon, but it's not a white glove tool.

Say for example I run 500-700rds though my AR after two or three or more shooting sessions. I'll use the CATM4 to scrape the heavy buildup off the bolt and then wipe down. Cleaning is done at that point as far as I'm concerned. To go beyond that would require solvents, brush and elbow grease. I'm not interested in that nor do these rifles require it for reliable operation. But say a guy typically shoots 50rds or so and then quickly runs home to clean his rifle like new. A tool like the CATM4 isn't going to be of much use because there won't be much buildup and he'll still be using solvents and brushes to get things sparkly clean.
 
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hdrolling said:
For the heck of it I just picked up one of the Otis brand tools, the only place it picked up any extra carbon was inside the bolt carrier.

But I guess next time I do an initial cleaning it will help go a little faster.
Click to expand...

HD, I bet you can't remember how many times you had to make a soldier drop and push up the ground for a dirty part on their weapon. :D
 
I am going to give my personal opinion here, scrapers are NOT useful and NOT needed and all they do is cause premature wear. Just wipe it down after shooting it. Use soft cloth and q tips to clean. Pipe cleaners in the gas tubes. The AR bolt does NOT need to be scraped of carbon deposits. You can damage the ground surface inside the carrier causing premature wear and failure.

Soak it, brush it with a sot bristle cleaning or tooth brush, q tip it, wipe it down and move on

I saved this a long while ago in a maintenance doc I give to new 3 gunners and new people who take the local carbine classes we do. This was posted a long time ago and I cut and pasted it for people:

Ignoring Carbon Build-up - per Armalite There are frequent posts asking about cleaning carbon from the AR. We've decided to post our answer as a separate topic for your reading amusement: Hold off on removing the carbon. Leave it. Now that we've got your attention, we'll explain. Deep inside the AR-10 or AR-15/M-16 bolt carrier is a groove at the end of the chromed cylinder that the gas rings slide in. That groove is GRIND RELIEF. It's a production artifact. It prevents a ledge from being left where the grinding for that cylinder ends. Carbon can build up in the groove and the rear surface of the carrier. It is harmless. The high pressure/temperature operating gas keeps it from building up too much. About the time it gets too bulky, it gets blown out. Don't confuse instincts for cleanliness that you learned in the military with common sense. It's easy for an inspector to know when there isn't a speck of dirt. It's harder to know what's important. Any scraper that'll get to it can damage the ground surface inside the carrier. Bad deal. Clean out what you can with patches or Q-tips, but white-glove cleaning damages more guns than all the shooting we do.
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Do what you want but the scraper is unnecessary and can and will cause premature wear. If you don't like what I posted above, you don't have to argue with me. This is my advice. Take it or don't. I feel it is good advice. I won't argue it. I just wanted to educate people. I shoot a minimum of 5K a year through my AR's and I have gone through my share of BCG and Barrels in the past 10-15 years I have been active in the carbine sports
 
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Disabled1 said:
HD, I bet you can't remember how many times you had to make a soldier drop and push up the ground for a dirty part on their weapon. :D
Click to expand...

Pretty much the first 10 to bring me there weapons too early would always have carbon somewhere.

After watching them sweat the rest of the platoon figured out that they needed to keep cleaning for another hour no matter how clean there rifle was.

And if it was so clean that I couldn't find anything, there were always extra weapons from guys on appt or pass that needed their weapons cleaned for the company armsroom inspection.
 
hdrolling wrote:
The military ruined me, I know I over clean my rifles but I know I won't have a malfunction from carbon build up either.
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Old habits die hard, I know.

But, when I bought S&W M&P-15s for my sons, I decided to start them out by following the owner's manual. And so far there have been no problems.
 
The new out of the box M-16 I used for Nam was silver when I turned it in to come home. Wore almost all the color off with a shaving brush and LSA and wipe with a rag I carried in a radio battery bag to keep it dry. Might have over cleaned it but it burned a bunch of ammo and NEVER malfunctioned once but we only had 20 round mags. Lived with that baby in my hands or close by and just about freaked when they made us turn them in and I had to spend a night in temporary barracks at the airbase waiting for a ride home
 
HD, there was a squad in my platoon that tried to pull a quick one on the DI. One of the soldiers in that squad passed inspection. So, the others decided they were going to use his lower for inspection. The DI just let each one hang themselves until all had been inspected. He then had that squad carry LITTLE JAKE around the barracks, switching shoulders on his command. I think they made it around the barracks 1-1/2 times.
BTW, LITTLE JAKE was the 3/4 length of a telephone pole (about 14' long). BIG JAKE was about 21' long.
HOOAH!
 
I suppose if you used a bolt scraper quite vigorously, you could eventually do some damage. If it is used with a few mild twists on a regular basis, just enough to remove a slight carbon buildup, I doubt you'll damage anything. Just some practical thoughts; not worth arguing the point.

Perhaps the steel in a carbon scraper is softer than the (hardened?) steel in the bolt. Anyone know for sure?
 
I agree mostly with eb07. A CAT4 can be useful, if you have shot a bunch of dirty ammo like Winchester White Box. I don't care if you use natural or synthetic oils, though I personally don't use CLPs. Things that try to do two things at once, usually do neither well. I don't use automotive products, either. Lastly, I do not advise pipe cleaners down the gas tubes. You don't need to clean the gas tube, you will end up clogging the port.
 
Otis B.O.N.E tool or CAT 4- for the bolt and carrier
Dewey chamber rod and related brushes
Patches, or paper towel if you prefer
Boresnake.

These should get it done for you. Of course there are as many ways to clean an AR as there are AR owners as I'm sure you know.

I also own a small ultrasonic cleaner that I use for the BCG and smaller part from my other guns. It's not necessary though.
 
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