I have about 1000 rounds thru my Colt 6920.

Is it common to break down the BCG periodically for a thorough cleaning or should I reserve cleaning for only when I start seeing problems?

My rifle's been pretty reliable - I'm inclined to leave well enough alone.

1K rounds w/o taking the BCG apart, I bet its pretty dirty.

Field stripping an AR is pretty easy to do.

I've never taken apart my bcg in 560 or so rounds. It should be OK to leave it be until you see issues.

Do you mean taking every little pin and spring out?

If so I've only done that once with my 20 year old Colt.

I usually just remove the whole BCG, wipe it down with a wet (M-Pro cleaner) rag, then lube it generously before putting it in the safe.

Necessary...meh, I do because I'm bored and like cleaning and taking apart my guns

What do you mean by "break down"?  If you mean push out the cotter pin, drop the firing pin, remove the cam pin, pull the bolt and clean - that is so simple it's part of regular cleaning.  As far as removing extractors and ejectors - I don't think I have ever done that.

Same here, I get the carbon off, clean the bolt and lube though I do have kits to rebuild my ejectors, been debating on that one.

You need to remove your extractor and clean it.  You'll eventually get build up under the extractor and start getting failures to extract.  

To clean the ejector without removing it, squirt a little Kroil or some other fine solvent on the bolt head and the compress the ejector into the bolt and bunch of times.  You'll see some gunk drain out of the drain hole on the bolt.  

Both jobs are pretty simple and easy.

That's like not changing the oil in your car until the motor seizes.  

If you want your rifle to last and to remain reliable you need to do your part and clean the darn thing.I understand those that just want to see how far they can go before they have a failure, but I am the type that do whatever possible to ensure a failure doesn't happen. I suggest a complete field strip and clean after every range trip. But hey it's your rifle.  

NCH

I clean the entire bcg every trip or every other trip to the range.

I'm talking about complete disassembly and a more thorough cleaning of the bolt, carrier, firing pin, etc.

I have never disassembled the bolt - sounds pretty easy.  I'll give it a go.

Thanks

The only thing you need to do to the bolt is to remove the extractor, push down on it and push the pin out and the  simply  extractor lifts off the bolt. This is as far as you need to go for basic cleaning. I hope this clears it up because I wasn't sure what exactly you were referring to.  

NCH

That is the extractor

1000 rds is a range trip.

I only do something like that if im bored as hell.

I was half asleep when I typed this, corrected thanks.  

I drop my disassembled BCG into an ultrasonic cleaner once every other range trip or before a match. 200-300 rnds max. Carbon can really cake on a couple spots and I like to keep things clean. I probably shoot a lot more than most people (15-20# of powder a year)

That said the AR will function fine for thousands of rounds without cleaning. For heavy field use just spray some CLP in the gas ports and it'll keep things running smooth.

I take out the BCG, remove the cotter pin, drop the firing pin, remove the cam pin and bolt and push out the pin holding the extractor in place and clean every piece the best I can. The only sections I can never get completely clean are the bolt tail and the very back of the carrier where the rear of the bolt sits. The fouling in those areas is different than the rest and is like concrete.

I thought the above is just the standard method of cleaning the BCG?

It is - absolutely standard.   I would recommend just follow the military TM as far as cleaning process and interval - although a lot of what it says in the TM as far as pushing steel cleaning rods down the muzzle is - of course - awful.  Another poster above mentioned taking out the extractor occasionally.  I cannot remember what the TM says about that.  It is simple and probably also a good idea occasionally.

sirchas,

Your bolt is the heart of the rifles system. If I were you I'd give it a cleaning after every shooting secession.


Impala

I would clean it.

You don't have to take it apart and clean it until it stops working. Problem is, that could be at the worst time possible. Don't be lazy, you take care of your gun, it takes care of you.

It's so easy to take out, take apart and clean - compared to "damn, I needed it when someone broke into the house and it only fired 2 rounds before something happened and it wouldn't fire anymore."

I don't like cleaning my ARs now that I have the SIG 556R (even shooting that DIRTY Russian cheap metal cased ammo it doesn't get as dirty as my ARs shooting my IMR powdered reloads) and it barely get dirty vs. the DI AR15's.  But I still tear them down and clean them just to be sure if I need it, it'll work just fine.

If this is an enthusiast rifle or safe queen and there is no chance of it being something you might need for protection shoot it until it stops if you want but don't be surprised if the lack of maintenance and cleaning causes parts to prematurely fail.

If this is a rifle you have designated as a personal defense firearm or it may be pressed into service as one it should be cleaned on a regular interval.

I do not clean mine simply because I fired a magazine through it. I am not that anal but when the round count gets above 200  the rifle and BCG are field stripped, cleaned and oiled.

True story...brand new DDM4v1. I'm new to the AR but not shooting. Afraid to take apart the carrier to clean it. Just kept shooting. One day, CLICK! Gun won't fire. Range officer looks over the carrier and bolt. Takes bolt, cleans it. Gun fires again. I clean the carrier and bolt after every range session now. Don't recall how many rounds to failure but it couldn't have been more than a couple thousand.

Yes. It is a fantastic way to get to know your rifle when it has not yet failed.

We've all seen the tests done over the years that set out to prove the reliability of the AR when fired and not routinely cleaned, just lubed. There's no doubting the results, when routine maintenance and cleaning is skipped, the AR can run for thousands of rounds with just an application of fresh lube.

On the range that's fine. But would you trust that rifle with your life on the battle field?

I like to make this comparison-modern aircraft are extremely reliable. But would you feel confident flying into combat, as a passenger of a UH-60 Blackhawk that hadn't seen a proper preflight in 2000 flight hours? Sure, they are reliable machines. But without opening a single cowling to inspect the condition of the aircraft, does it have 100% of your confidence?

Cleaning is part of routine maintenance. Routine maintenance is conducted on equipment where failure means loss of life. Part of routine maintenance is inspection. A proper inspection can not be conducted on a dirty part. I clean my rifle after each range session, because I never know when my life may depend on my rifle. And like anything mechanical, regardless of how reliable it may be, can unexpectedly fail.

AR routine maintenance, cleaning and inspection, like the UH-60 preflight, helps to simply ensure that the known reliability is maintained and help to catch any failures before they happen. Your life may just depend on it.

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I personally break down and PMCS my entire BCG after every range event.

After each range session, I disassemble the BCG and clean it (the bore as well).  Mineral spirits, toothbrush, patches, q-tips, etc.  Generous lube, reassemble, done.  The way I see it, keeping the rifle generally clean will keep it reliable, and it will prolong service life by reducing wear and tear on the system.  When you have metal parts sliding around against each other, they'll simply wear faster when there's carbon and other debris sliding around between the parts, acting like a lapping compound.

Cleaning isn't something that really needs to be a burden.  It doesn't take long to disassemble and clean the BCG, and it doesn't take long to clean the bore.  Other than those two components, there isn't much else to clean on the rifle.  You could probably get away with not cleaning the buffer tube or trigger group for a year, or even more.  I'm sure there are folks who've never cleaned either, and their rifles run just fine.

Keep the essentials clean.  It doesn't have to be "white glove" clean, just clean enough.

I clean my weapons regularly. Usually after I shoot and plan to put up for more than a few days. Still not quite sure how to feel about punching the bore every time I shoot.... The idea of Carbon fouling creating a steady impact point makes sense.... I was taught to scrub the thing like grandmas cookware, but now think of it more like a broken in motor...  I have no lack of confidence in them if they are not cleaned at round 151, but that's the number in my head that I have set where it MUST be done. Like letting your car go an extra 1k miles on an oil change.

Protip: The firing pin fits to perfectly push the extractor pin out of the bolt.

As always, YMMV