I’m rather new to the AUG. Been shooting ARs and such for about thirty years.

Saw some chatter about a few scraping carbon from piston heads. Thought I would share what I’ve learned and ask if others what they use on the polymer parts.

I quit scraping bolt tails and pistons years ago.
Scraping, in my opinion, scratches the part and allows the carbon to get an easier hold on the part.
I have been using Motorcraft carburetor cleaner, the liquid, not the aresol, to remove carbon for quite a while.
A soak in a ziplock bag overnight leaves the part carbon free, even the worst caked on carbon is removed.
A can lasts a year or so, I pour the liquid back in the can, leaving the large bits in the bag.

Carbon cleaner

Aug: pull the barrel and clean it normally.  Gas plug, piston, bolt go in ultrasonic cleaner.  Bolt carrier gets hosed down with electronic contact cleaner.  All parts get a shot of rem oil and reassemble.

An ultrasonic cleaner really is like magic for parts like bolts and pistons.  Doesn’t have to be an expensive one, my large Harbor Freight cleaner was something like $40 after coupon and I have been using it for at least a decade.  It isn’t particularly powerful but if you fill it with hot water and run the parts for half an hour or more they will be clean.  Some people will say it’s ok to use it on aluminum parts for short periods but I won’t.  Only steel parts.

Why put the bolt in an ultrasonic cleaner?  It barely gets dirty at all...

I've used a Crest industrial sized U/S cleaner on AR's for almost a decade and never had an issue with aluminum parts. Now if you have an old AUG receiver that's just painted, I'd probably avoid that. New AUGs are anodized. They don't really get dirty like an AR though.

Mostly just habit as it doesn’t really need it so much.

You have to clean an AUG?

Yes, this is tech, but if I don't have to clean an AR15 for over 16K rounds, an AUG shouldn't need cleaning until a barrel replaccement.  FTR, I don't have that round count on my A3, but I've never cleaned it.

You probably should.

But mine get shot suppressed. So it really, really should probably be cleaned.

I have a 1/2x28 adapter so I can use my cans, but I'm scared.

Do't be scuured. It's fu. A 1/2x28 barrel: https://www.steyr-arms.com/us/augbarrel-1-2x28.html or if you have a AAC/Sico suppressor is probably better: https://www.advanced-armament.com/BLACKOUT-51T-Flash-Hider_p_447.html

A suppressor gas plug is great too: http://www.pjs-steyraug.com/

Personally, I never yank the barrel.  I just pull the take down detent and yank the whole action.  The barrel extension is so easy to reach even with the barrel installed I never see a point in yanking it.

I do used a soft wire toothbrush and bore cleaner to clean the piston and spring.  I use a 50 cal pistol brush to clean the gas tube.  I wipe the bolt down and brush it with an M16 brush.  Oil and re-assembly.  I only strip the bolt down about every 500 rounds or so.

About every 4th or 5th take down I pull the trigger group and spray it and the stock with a dry teflon lube.  I have a GREAT trigger!

btw, a Glock cleaning brush is a perfect fit in the AUG gas chamber. The Glock cleaning rod with a cleaning patch is also a perfect fit. The end of the rod is the exact size to fit the piston hole.  It's almost like it was planned that way since both the AUG and Glock were Austrian issue at the same time

I'll be keeping my eyes open for some Glock stuff!

I pop out the barrel and use a pull thru bore brush. Clean the piston every other range trip with a CLP soaked patch, scrap off excess crud, wipe off the oil, and reinstall. Bolt and carrier get wiped off (very little carbon just brass shavings mostly), re-oiled, and reinstalled.

Its a very clean gun overall though so I bet it would take forever to cause a malfunction with bench shooting if you never cleaned it. I just like cleaning guns almost as much as I like shooting them.

Slightly off topic, but I just got a 20/20 Precision Sear in the mail today and installed it so I plan on hitting the range tomorrow to test it out.

The 20/20 sear is awesome

Agreed.  It would be difficult to have a real complaint about the trigger with the 2020 sear installed.

The Neu trigger enhancement helped a great deal, but the 20/20 sear is much better.

20/20 sear was pretty sweet at the range but I'm having an issue where the trigger doesn't reset far enough for the safety to be able to engage. I can push the trigger forward manually and then engage the safety though. Not a huge deal for a paper puncher but not ideal either.

That’s not normal, there’s a issue there, I’d recheck how it’s installed

Ive taken to just wiping it off with a cloth and wiping the bolt as it sits in the carrier. I then pull and wipe the trigger pack. I then snake the barrel. Seems fine and really impressed me about the design. What a great gun, nothing really gets dirty besides the piston head.

To me, there may be a bit too much free play between the transfer bar and the sear, which can cause the hiderance between the trigger and safety you described.  If this is the case, you can mitigate the issue by adjusting the transfer bar with a metric #3 L-wrench.  The hex bolt appears right above the trigger shoe once the receiver is removed.  Steps:  Leave the hammer pack cocked in the stock with the safety ON.  Once the hex bolt is loosened, you can use a flat head screw driver to push against the two flats on the transfer bar towards the rear, thus closing the distance/free travel between the transfer bar and the sear.  If you set off the hammer while doing this, the bar is going too far... start over.  The bar should be set just before contacting or barely touching the sear.  Don't forget to tighten that bolt back.

Also, do check the sear reset spring of the hammer pack to ensure its function.  One end of the torsion spring should be nested in the v-notch of the hammer catch.

Thank you, I can now activate the safety normally!

Took a bit more force that I would have expected but I did manage to move the transfer bar rearward with a large flat head screwdriver while the safety was engaged. I'm also attaching a pic of my trigger pack just to get verification I didn't goof that up.



Sorry for the off topic post I know this topic is about cleaning AUGs not fixing them.