Posted: 6/9/2026 4:36:29 PM EDT
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SLR15 AR15 / M16 / M4 / AR308 Armorer Course When: May 27-28, 2026 Where: Littleton, CO We conducted a 2-day (16-hour) AR15 / M16 / M4 / AR308 Armorer course that was hosted by the Littleton Police Dept. This was our first time teaching an Armorers week of courses here, and we look to more in the future. The training room was set up to allow plenty of table space. There was a large projection system that allowed us to project animations and power point onto. The student base was all Law Enforcement from Colorado and Wyoming. Rifles represented in this course were SLR15, Colt, BCM, Sig Sauer, Noveske, Daniel Defense, Geissele, Rockriver, Bushmaster, Aero Precision, Springfield Armory, and a few custom builds. Day-1 started the day by going through the course manual that all students are given. Students were supplied with their own set of basic tools that are necessary to do 95% of the work on their rifles (short of restocking and rebarreling, of which wrenches and sometimes fixtures are necessary), Slip2000 "EWL" Extreme Weapons Lubricant and #725 Cleaner Degreaser, etc. A short session of nomenclature was covered, at which time covered every feature and exterior piece of the rifle to include all the hidden design features that most people are not aware of, and everyone prepped the rifles for disassembly work. Everyone was taught the procedure series of checks that we recommend. Everyone was taught our recommended way to field strip a rifle, and why we do it this way so as not to cause damage, premature wear or stress on anything. We covered maintenance of where and what to clean, and what needs lubrication to keep it running. We showed why not to use the firing pins as tools. We showed everyone our recommendation of how to remove fouling and why, and everyone got to use our methods. We also showed how to clean suppressors and why. S The entire bolt carrier assembly was covered, to include inspections, maintenance, upgrades, 3 types of gas rings, and differences in finishing and machining. carrier key (gas key) installation and staking, ejector systems, etc. Everyone was introduced to the different types of gas rings. We went through what each types does, and their proper installation order. Bolts were fully gone through, which included extractors, extractor springs/inserts/O-rings. The ejectors were removed, cleaned, and inspected. Note: There we several gas keys in class that were found to have light gas key staking, where the staking wasn't touching the screws. We provided staking tools, and those that needed to fix them first checked for proper torque, then fixed the staking. Note: One of the Officers found that he was missing about 3/4 of his firing pin retaining pin. I am still not sure what was holding the firing pin in the bolt carrier looking at it, but somehow it was. We supplied him with a new one. We got into the lower receiver assemblies, starting with the fire control group (trigger group). We teach this in a building block format, starting with baby steps of getting things out and in, then build into how things work. Everyone learned how to install and remove things so you don't cause damage. We went through detailed inspections of all the sear engagement surfaces, spring types, single stage, and two stage trigger systems. Day-2 started with a review of everything that was covered on day-1, with some greater details and myths covered. We then went back into trigger groups in great details, covering single stage, 2-stage, good and bad triggers, differences and options in spring systems, diagnosing problems when semi-auto turns into burst, and showing the differences in quality of triggers that are on the market. Once done with semi-auto trigger systems, we went into select fire trigger groups covering full-auto and burst trigger groups, to include replacement and diagnosing and repairs when experiencing malfunctions. After trigger systems, we went through the rest of the lower receivers. This class had a mix of collapsible and A1 stocks. We covered the proper mounting & gauging, and proper castle nut staking on the collapsible stocks. Several people found unstaked castle nuts, so this allowed everyone to take advantage of our tools and get things done correctly. Everyone stripped their lower receivers, which allowed a chance for further inspections, and we went through a session on troubleshooting. Once everyone was comfortable with the entire lower receiver assembly, they were put back together, inspected, and made sure everything is in proper working order. We then got into a session on the timing. This is where we cover proper cycling, covering what effects timing, and how & what happens when it is out or proper time, dwell time, suppressor issues, etc, and how to get things into proper timing. This also led us into piston systems. We covered how the piston system works, break down and maintenance of the system (Yes piston systems do get dirty and have to be cleaned and maintained), how to properly adjust for timing changed, and trouble shooting. We also covered dwell time, and how it pertains to cycling issues, and hopefully got the point across of why we do not recommend barrel lengths shorter that 11.5" on unsuppressed rifles. Note: During the timing session, we showed examples of adjustable gas blocks, and we also showed the gas control system from https://www.riflespeed.com/, which we like as it is adjustable with a quick turn by hand to one of the 12 different settings, and is well built for durability. We showed how suppressors are properly mounted and gauged. Several people took advantage of the bore gauges that we make, and checked their alignment on their rifles that had suppressors. The last half of day-2 was spent on the upper receiver assembly. We covered barrel removal, mounting, fixturing, gauging & inspections. We show numerous ways to fixture a barrel into a vise, and our preference as to which fixtures/methods to use when and how. We showed how to mount, then properly torque and gauge the barrel system, which ensures it is in proper working order. Note: There was a Colt M4 that was found to have a castle nut that could be turned by hand. It had been taken out of service for having zeroing issues. Occasionally we find these where nobody used a torque wrench when building the rifle. The barrel was removed, and was found to have been built dry with no molybdendum disulfide paste present. The Officer who brought it, cleaned everything well, put some moly paste on it, remounted it, torqued and indexed it properly. At the end of the day everyone put their rifles back together, everything was inspected and gauged to make sure it was in proper working order. Everyone did chamber inspections, checked & gauged the four gas seals, firing pin protrusion, trigger press, and headspace. Here is a brief overview of a few things that were covered: History of the Weapon Cycles of Function General Disassembly & Assembly Identification of Common Problems and Parts Nomenclature Identification of Group Components Semi, Burst, and Full Auto Parts and Conversions Complete Armoring Disassembly / Assembly Barrel Replacement Cleaning and Maintenance Sight and Distance Considerations Ballistic Issues Barrel: Twist, Length, and Profiles Gas Systems & Piston Systems Parts Interchangeability, including Brands Headspace Firing Pin Protrusion Trigger Systems Chamber Inspection and Issues Troubleshooting, diagnosis & repair Gauging, Inspections, Stress & Interval Issues Accessories and Customizing Tool Options and Selection SOP/MOD Accessories and Additions CY6 Greg Sullivan "Sully" WeaponsArmorer SLR15 Rifles Defensive Edge Training (763) 712-0123 |
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Originally Posted By hardcase: Thanks for your write up, Sully. Very informative. I notice that you mention "Slip2000 "EWL" Extreme Weapons Lubricant and #725 Cleaner Degreaser." Do you like them better than CLP? Thanks. Personally I like the Slip2000 solvents and lubricants better than CLP. There are a lot of choices when it comes to solvents and lubricants, it comes down to personal preference. My perspective is what we issue to our Law Enforcement Officers, and how they use it, and what they use it on. Most of our Law Enforcement Officers today will only clean a gun when we make them, which is usually after a range session of training or qualification. Most Officers only shoot a couple of times a year. The guns and ammunition have to be taken into account on what ammunition is being used, and what guns. In the rifles, handguns and subguns the ammunition being used is smokeless gunpowder. The shotguns will depend upon which ammunition but traditional birdshot, buckshot and slug are also smokeless powder. Many of the munitions that we use in shotguns and 40mm use black powder. Smokeless powder residue will clean out with most solvents, and a lot of those traditional solvents are petroleum based of some sort. The black powder residue cleans out better with a water based solvent. Most of our Law Enforcement don't understand that the different types of burnt gun powder fouling often times need to be cleaned out differently, and when they try and use petroleum based solvents the black powder residue doesn't get cleaned out. So taking that we need a solvent that works well on both types of gun powder residue, the Slip2000 725 Cleaner/Degreaser works very well in this role. Being water based it helps remove the black powder residue quickly, along with traditional smokeless powder fouling as well. Being water based, it won't hurt any optics, to include any battery compartments that have butyl rubber seals, where petroleum has a tendency to dissolve the butyl rubber seals on our battery compartment seals and pressure strips & tail cap buttons. Next consider the red dot type sights that are mounted directly on top of our handgun slides, which have battery compartments with butyl rubber seals, and if Officers get petroleum type solvents and lubricants on these seals it will eat them away over time, and now lube or moisture can get into the battery compartment on the electrical contacts and you now short out and fry a $500 or more red dot optic that is now trash. For when it comes to electronic battery compartment seals the water based solvents are IMHO a wiser choice. Next thing to consider is the shotgun ammunition and 40mm ammunition usually involves a plastic wad of some sort behind the projectile being fired. We also use things like Simunition and UTM's during force on force type training, which will also leave a plastic fouling inside the barrels. Many traditional solvents won't remove the plastic fouling. The Slip2000 Choke Tube Cleaner we find works very well and quick to get out plastic fouling. I prefer to issue our Officers a separate solvent and separate lube, and not a combined one like CLP. To me a good solvent should remove lubrication. If we don't babysit Officers during cleaning and weapons maintenance, we have seen bad things happen. I have personally seen handguns fail to fire. Most times when we see a handgun fail to fire, it is due to people getting lubricants/solvents in the firing channel. Handgun firing pins should be run dry. If our Officers squirt a CLP type solvent/lube into the firing pin channel and don't get it removed, if that firing pin soaked channel has too much lube, it can hinder the firing pin and fail to fire problems happen. So I prefer to issue Officer a solvent by itself for cleaning, and then a separate lube to put lubrication where metal rubs metal to reduce friction, and only on areas where parts may rust. Lubricants need to protect the steel parts from rusting, so it must have rust protection capabilities. The lubricant needs to be able to run in the cold weather, and it helps if it doesn't burn off. Slip2000 Extreme Weapons Lube "EWL" as it is synthetic. I have personally seen it on guns (to include full auto) where the gun is used in multi-day high round count training and not burn off. After shooting thousands of rounds, the gun is dirty as usual, but the fouling is like soot and not hard burnt carbon chunks like a lot of traditional gun lubes. A good oil should break the carbon down and keep it soft to reduce wear. If your lube burns off, then you get hard carbon fouling, which causes erosion. If the lube is breaking down the carbon fouling and keeping it soft like soot, then this reduces wear on parts. We also need lubrication that runs in cold weather, I have personally shot pallets of ammunition in sub zero cold, to include -37F, and the guns ran just fine, which i have personally witnessed many lubricants fail due to being too thick and the guns won't cycle. These are also worth a read: https://slip2000.com/blogs/news/side-by-side-review-of-slip-2000-ewl-and-clp https://slip2000.com/blogs/news/ewl-vs-clp-testing-greg-sullivan-comments https://www.swatmag.com/article/filthy-14-bravo-company-carbine-goes-31165-rounds/ CY6 Greg Sullivan "Sully" WeaponsArmorer SLR15 Rifles Defensive Edge Training (763) 712-0123 |
Pic of the broken firing pin retaining pin CY6 Greg Sullivan "Sully" WeaponsArmorer SLR15 Rifles Defensive Edge Training (763) 712-0123 |