Storing Dirty AR

I shot about 140 rounds this weekend, something came up i had to immediatly tend too, i pulled out the BCG and drenched it with CLP, thats it. I wont be able to tend to it until friday, big deal or not?

No big deal, unless you shot corrosive ammo.

...i was shooting tula is that bad for this sisuation? They say its not corrosive but i dont know if thats valid

Relax you're rifle will be fine.

Devil,

Not a problem. Just clean it when you have time.

Even if you don't touch it for a few months, it's going to be just fine.

All my guns are dirty

Your ok if its a week or two, Tula isn't as bad as others.

This. I didn't clean mine the entire 3gun season last year.

I fired my AR and stored it in AZ after CA had a couple ban changes. I asked my brother to just punch the bore and keep it in his safe. This is exactly what you should be worried about, he failed to run a couple patches through it. Many months later, maybe almost a year, the copper fouling turned green (verdigris). It was so bad that a bore rod with a patch would not fit in the bore. I expect that firing a round would have made a blowout, or at least bulged the barrel.

Kroil, CLP, brake cleaner, etc, would not touch this stuff. I priced a new barrel and then put a liberal supply of Liquid Wrench in the bore and bagged the barrel for a couple days. I was able to force a worn bore brush through it, and eventually a decent brush through it, resulting in a pile of crap coming out of my barrel. The chrome lined Armalite barrel continues to live today, and is just as accurate as the day it was born.

From this, I would say that you should at least insure the bore is cleaned if you are gonna do some long term storage, say 6 months or longer. I always try to punch the bore, as a bare minimum, before throwing a dirty gun in the safe.


eta: This was PMC ammo, circa late 80s, early 90s.

Mine generally gets a re-lube then stuck back in the gun cabinet till I go shooting again. It's lucky to get cleaned every 1000 rounds or so. Runs just fine.

Most of mine are stored dirty. The pistols I clean every time, but the AR's just get put back dirty.

Why? I shoot around 180rds per outing 3-4 outings before cleaning my AR, no issues. Most folks overclean their guns.

I used to be more "conscientious" about cleaning my ARs. I shoot Silver Bear all the time and frankly, if ammo is really non-corrosive like SB is, my cleaning is mostly wipe the BCG, oil generously, and put it in the safe. I am in Colorado where rust is not common because it's not damp. Corrosive ammo is a whole 'nother story, but little new factory ammo is corrosive. If I am not going to use a gun for many months, I put a patch or two down the barrel (chrome lined), lube BCG, and call it good.

Why? Because proper maintenance is important. Dirt debris and carbon can and will cause stoppages over time.

If your 140 rounds were fired in a sandy mountain valley deep in the heart of Afghanistan, I'd say you'd best clean it before you go back out on patrol. At least lube the bolt carrier group with CLP and get it good and wet.

But, since you are shooting in a clean environment and the only "dirty" thing about your rifle is the powder fouling then I say not to worry. You can fire quadruple the ammo that you've fired through it before you really need to worry about the fouling getting *that* bad.

If it makes you feel better, jsut put a few drops of CLP in there and go shoot some more.

Copyright © 1996 - 2013 :: AR15.Com LLC :: All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.