Hello everyone,
I finally got my in AR to the range..  Only 50 rounds due to the ammo shortage.  Twas still a great day and got to zero in the iron sights.

Can anyone advise a good cleaner and lube?  For a newbie?  I plan on going at least twice a month depending on when I can get ammo but want to keep her in tip top shape.

Thanks in advance,
Anthony

CLP

And follow this video:

Hoppes #9 or clp.

Thanks guys!!

KG1 Carbon Remover to clean the barrel and bolt carrier group.

Don't worry about the copper in barrel; some actually needs to be there. The brushing while getting rid of carbon will be enough. The worst carbon build up takes place immediately in front of the brass mouth. A thick carbon ring will build up over time and cause problems of not taken care of, and is much more difficult to remove at that point. That said, if I shoot 50 rounds through a clean gun, I'll leave it be unless other factors are involved such as rain, mud, very dusty and dirty conditions, exposure to salt water, etc.

I'm using a light whatever oil as I oil often, but the Marines performed a field study across several units operating in different conditions. Mobil 1 10-40 motor oil came out on top over everything they tested.

Whatever oil you use, keep the bolt carrier group well oiled.



Stay away from grease.

Slip2000

Slip 2K & Ballistol are the ones I'm using mainly now.


OP for the most part you don't need to go crazy every time you shoot.  Shoot some bore cleaner down the barrel or run a patch soaked with it, then a bore snake.  If you don't have a bore snake (get one) then a brush followed by a dry patch is all you need to do for the barrel.  Then disassemble the BCG & drop it in some Slip 2K carbon killer.   Then when you're done put some of the lube on it when you reassemble & install it.  Then just clean other areas as the need arises, like if it gets wet, muddy or you notice some other gunk or debris.

There's really no wrong choice, and some do work better than others.  If you're upstate (I mean way upstate, like Rochester.  I'm not talking about North of 96th street), then look into cold weather lubrication processes.  Your local gun shop should have good knowledge.

I disagree with getting a boresnake. All it's doing is picking up garbage and re-running it through the barrel.

Get a good one piece coated cleaning rod, and use patches and bronze brushes.

No need to clean after 50 rounds. Maybe 500. Definitely 5000.

Thank you I'm ordering now.  When you say a good one piece coated cleaning rod.  Would that be something like this Hoppe's Elite One Piece Carbon Fiber Cleaning Rod (.270 Caliber Rifles & Up), 36" -
$37 or is something like this acceptable Hoppe's Bench Rest Stainless Steel 1-Piece Universal Rifle/Shotgun Cleaning Rod (All Calibers and Gauges) -$9

Is the carbon fiber necessary?

And for everyone it looks like CLP is both a cleaner and a lube.  Since I've only put 50 rounds through it.  Would I just rub some where I should and not clean everything or get a cleaner and a lube?  Im sure I have some Mobile 1030 around here.

Coated metal can be good, but the type of coating matters. I've been using an aluminum coated rod that is pretty good, but it still has problems. The aluminum can bend and kink (mine hasn't yet as I've been very careful) and if so will never be straight again (as with any metal rod). The coating scrapes off. The use of a bore guide would help. Some coatings don't like some cleaning solvents.

Stay away from 3 piece rods unless you absolutely need a compact rod for the range.

My next rod will be the Hoppes Elite carbon fiber.

Compare prices and reviews at Brownells, Sinclair, and Midway. Everyone has different budgets, and different levels of OCD, so go with what will satisfy you.

Dewey

The Tekton isn't too bad either, though it's very handle heavy.
Everytime I go to rest it in the slots on my gun vise/tray thing, it wants to fall out.
Dewey's just weren't in stock at the time.
I have a short Dewey for handguns and one for chamber brushes, love 'em.

Personally I think a bore guide is more important than the material used on the rod. Here's something people are going to hate.... I use a bore guide WITH a three piece USGI aluminum cleaning rod. I've yet damaged a crown or hurt a bore and I have a bore camera to confirm it all. I've been cleaning this way for maybe the past 5 years and it has been the best cleaning method I done to date. What I do is soak the barrel in Wipe Out bore cleaner, let it soak for maybe 4 hours. Come in push some dry patches, then I use a bronze brush, dab it in some Iosso, and scrub back and forth a few times. I then push a couple of dry patched through, then I take the bore guide out, and follow the directions in the video I posted above. It is important that in absent of a bore guide, you PULL the rod out and do NOT PUSH the rod as the rod will bend and no doubt rub against the bore.

In my opinion, you should not get a rod if you do not plan to pull the rod out of the barrel like in the video. Instead I would recommend a cable system like Otis where you can pull the bronze brush and patches out from the barrel. Using a rod can be dangerous only because it can bend unless you use a bore guide to keep it all centered and pressure evenly as you push into the bore. There are two negatives I can think of with cables: you do not get as good of a clean as you would but that depends on the chemical used more so than the method. The other negative is you run the risk of getting a patch stuck in the barrel or being unable to remove obstructions in the bore. I did once get a patch stuck with my Otis cable way back about 10 years ago. I learned with the otis patches, you have to get it perfectly in a cone shape and in the patch holder just far enough so it won't slip off. It is not fun to get a stuck patch out of the bore.

With a bore guide, you do not have to worry about the rod bending unless you're playing it like a violin.

Get quality tools and clean it when its new, then after the first range trip.  After that every 500-1,000 maybe.....or not.

You'll find everyone has their own methods, and that they are the correct ones, as everyone else is doing it all wrong.

For me:

Chemicals - Foaming bore cleaner, Hops #9 for the bore, Gun Scrubber to get all the crud out of the lower and such, SLIP cleaner, Rem oil to lube the same hard to reach areas, SLIP 2000 as my oil for moving parts.

Tools - $100 Hornaday 2 liter ultrasonic cleaner. toothbrush to scrub, toothbrush to apply oil, one piece carbon fiber rod, all bronze brush, all bronze patch slot jag, chamber brush, cleaning patches, bore snake, Arvid AR 15 bolt cleaning tool, q-tips.  

Take apart, apply foaming bore cleaner, let sit for 15 minutes.  Scrub lower with SLIP cleaner, then spray with Gun Scrubber and let dry.  Then spray down till everything is wet with Rem Oil.  Same for bolt carrier and spring.  Reassembly and put to side.

Scrub bolt carrier and associated parts with SLIP cleaner.  Then use Arivd bolt cleaning tool to scrape off carbon on parts, and especially in the hard to reach area when the bolt goes in the carrier.  Take the extractor out (use the firing pin to drift out the pin) and scrub around there too. Scrub the charging handle, which gets really dirty on the inside slot.  I then pitch all the parts into my ultrasonic cleaner to really clean all the parts.

By now, it's been at least 15 minutes, so put a patch on the slot jag and clean out the foaming cleaner.  Then Hops #9 on a brush, and brush 10 times or so.  Let sit 10-15 minutes, then run patches till they are decently clean. Then put the chamber brush and scrub the chamber, to clean the area where the bolt lugs go in and cam over.  Repeat brush / patching, till it's clean.  Then a blast of Gun Scrubber down the bore, and into the gas port, letting the solvent drain out.  

Then I spray Rem oil down the barrel and run a bore snake as a final cleaning.  Then a patch with SLIP 2000 to lube and protect the barrel.

So people insist you have to clean chamber to muzzle, others say that plus only pushing the brush and patch into the bore and never back - never have heard a good reason besides the idea that you're going to get the bore filthy again - it's not like that's the last patch I'm going to use.  Or that pulling the brush back is going to damage the bore.  Personally, with a bronze brush and a carbon rod, I don't see how you can damage hard steel.  It's like saying don't rub your fingernails on steel - you'll damage the steel!  Hardly.

Scrub the inside of the upper as well - it gets filthy with carbon.  Then q-tip it clean.  Same for the flash hider, all the slots get dirty as well.

By now the ultrasonic cleaner is done, take the parts out, let drip dry (the heat from the cleaner will make them dry pretty quickly).  SLIP 2000 on all the parts, and on the charging handle.  Oil up with Rem Oil or other spray oil the inside of the upper, and re-assemble.  Then use the oil toothbrush to coat the outsides of the rifle.  Use Rem oil to get to the barrel that's in the handguard area.

Total time - about 2 hours.  Do you need to do all that?  Probably not.  You can probably take the bolt carrier out, wipe it with a cloth, bore snake down the barrel, spray oil on it all, and keep on going.  But I baby my gear till I need to use it hard.  Then hope it remembers all the good care I gave it.

I disagree.  I always tear down and clean my new ARs after the first few mags.  Good time to inspect and look for strange wear paying close attention to the BCG and bolt itself to check for damage to lugs, gas rings, etc.  If everything is all good, then go back to your normal 1000 round oil change intervals.

I just wipe off the carbon and oil from the bolt and upper with a shop towel. Then I spray some CLP on a boresnake and pull it through the barrel twice.

Drop some oil on the bearing surface of the BCG and reassemble.

Been keeping a lot of ARs running this way for many years. Don't make it harder than it needs to be.

This is how I maintain every gun I own. Simple.

Even after all these years, I still use my BF CLP/Mineral Spirits mixture for cleaning.

Disassemble the bolt and carrier, drop it in the solvent mixture. Let it set while I tend to the rest of the weapon.

It softens up the carbon, washes away firing residue, and makes for quick 'n easy clean-up of the bolt and carrier. I've always been one for using chemical action, verse mechanical action, when it comes to cleaning. Let the chemicals and solvents do the brunt of the work!

I used Weapon Shield for many years before moving to Mobil 1 full synthetic 5w30 off the recommendation of some here and that has worked great.

I just want to add one small thing that newbies sometimes  get confused on:
You occasionally see rods or tip accessories (especially chamber brushes) marked ‘M16’ or ‘AR-15’.  Before you think they are the same, There CAN be a difference as there are two thread pitch standards.  Military standard is 8-36 while most commercial products use 8-32.

Assuming you have a 5.56/.223 rifle that .270 caliber rod won't fit.  Need a .22 rod.

Get yourself a 6-pack of some decent beer, I'm trying SweetWater brewery Hazy IPA right now, and go to Youtube and watch a bunch of AR15 cleaning videos.  Then develop your own system based on the parts that seemed to make sense to you.

Nowdays I don't stress over it too much.  I use a spray cleaner, an Otis cleaning kit, and the blue shop towels you can get on a roll at any auto parts store.  I wipe what I can get to, paying the most attention to the bolt carrier group and chamber.  Get a good quality chamber brush and change them out frequently.

I rarely clean barrels anymore but bore snake them when I'm done shooting to get rid of any 'chunks' but the barrels don't use any copper remover at all.  I would worry more about keeping the bolt carrier lubed than about cleaning personally.  if you absolutely have to clean the barrel the foaming bore cleaners are super handy and all you need is a supply of patches to clean out the crud.

First post nailed it.  Welcome to the club!

I was just using CLP and a stainless steel segmented cleaning rod for my barrel. I bought a relatively inexpensive cleaning kit and AR15 boar brush. I also bought a pipe cleaners used for the cleaning out the gas key. I went to the local drug store for pipe cleaners. I just followed the instructions in my AR15 manual and there are good information on the lube points for a AR15. For coast savings when my cotton swabs were gone I bought 12 gauge shotgun swaps and use scissors to cut them into smaller pieces for cleaning my AR. I did run my BCG somewhat wet and I fired 120 rounds for my first session with my AR.

Years later I did buy a an Otis cleaning kit and keep in my range bag and use that now for cleaning my AR now. I still have my stainless steel segmented cleaning kit and it actually brakes down and has a soft case that it would fit is full sized rifled buttstock.

THIS.   Nailed it. All you need to do.  I use a coated rod . I use Breakfree CLP in the squeeze bottles.  I have a gallon jug of Breakfree to top them off. There is Army/Marine inspection clean. Then there’s what you should do to make life easier and your rifle will be just as reliable as the extra squeaky clean white glove inspection clean. White gloving it can make you not going to the range as much. Honestly clean it as it makes you happy and satisfied.  But AS556 suggestion is all you need to do. These rifles will run thousands of rounds simply by lubing them. Congratulations and welcome to the AR club. WarDawg

Ballistol for CLP and SuperLube for grease.

Soak it all with CLP…brush it all with a plastic AP brush…wipe dry…lube.


Chamber brush for chamber…bore snake…dry.

Get simple green pro HD at home depot and then get a pump sprayer after you dilute it and spray rifle let it sit a bit then scrub it with tooth brush hose down with water leave in sun to dry or us air compressor. Lube as needed and be done period.

It's been said, but not enough. Get a bore guide if you go with a cleaning rod. I have an Otis kit, and it probably works OK. But I find it harder to hold the gun still, than when pushing a rod through. Plus, I can't always tell if I'm keeping the cable off the barrel crown. And you have to do a fiddly patch folding thing to pull a patch through. I have a Dewey coated rod that I bought in the 1980s. They are well made. Think I got an AR-15 bore guide from Sinclair's, also in the '80s.

Show me a dirty gun and I’ll show you a gun that works

I don’t clean my guns often, I think dicking around with cleaning rods and solvents and shit too much is generally bad for a long life