I have finally cleaned and restored while upgrading some parts on all of my ARs. I gave
ALL previous comments serious thought. Acetone baths while probably very effective would be a bit pricy. I ended up fully disassembling all my ARs, scrubbing each part with a toothbrush using some odorless mineral spirits I happened to have on hand. I reassembled my ARs, hosed them down with CLP and blasting them off using an air compressor.
I have a MEGA monolithic MA10 with a Noveske stainless barrel which I had absolutely NO intentions of removing the barrel from the upper. I ended up blasting it thoroughly using a cheapo
Harbor Freight engine cleaning gun with Dawn dish soap & hot water. I then blasted it thoroughly with Brakleen, hosed it with CLP and blew it off very well with an air compressor. That was my my main concern. This house smoke is a serious bitch to clean off and you wouldn't know unless you've tried it before. It doesn't just rinse off with soap & water or even dissolve with Brakleen. That soot needs blasted off with some serious agitation.
Most all my other guns have been FULLY disassembled and I dropped off the rusty parts to be Cerakoted at my nearest applicator. Haven't got those parts back yet, but I expect them to be done very soon. Got lots of before/after pics to come in the near future.
I sorta ghetto restored my Harris bipods by hosing them down with toilet bowl cleaner and scrubbing the rust off using a toothbrush. I reassembled them, hung them and sprayed them with black Krylon satin spray paint. They look excellent, but afterward I realized that they will now be susceptible to solvents & such :( Maybe one day I will strip them and redo them with something much more durable & chem resistant.