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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Shooting until it breaks (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/16/2011 9:39:06 PM EDT
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I've had my ar for a little over 3 months now, and have decided I'm tired of cleaning it and I'm planning to find out when it actually needs it. I have just cleaned it and will be shooting soon. I've always been the guy who will clean his guns after every trip to range and have never changed from this routine.
The gun http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2122/5728828091_8b1b46b6a2_b.jpg Bushmaster ar 15 1:9 twist barrel, yhm quad rail, bcm branded troy buis, magpul grip, vertical grip, stock and an aimpoint comp ml3. She will usually shoot 1.5- 2 moa over 30 rounds using irons. I've never tried four or five shot groups. I've shot about 2k rounds through it and has only had one issue which was traced back to a bad steel shell casing. I have shot everything from tul ammo to hornady out of this rifle and have enjoyed every round through her. Ammo I will be using bvac reloads. 55grain psp to be exact. Cleaned and lubed with M-pro 7 cleaner, oiled with royal purple gun oil and tetra gun grease. Just for fun http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2657/5729377644_0830c58c85_b.jpg |
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I rigorously clean my "self defense/3-gun/plinking" AR. Mostly because I have time on my hands and like it well lubed. I typically run a bore snake through the barrel a bit and then recoat the bolt group/insides with CLP. I have had zero malfunctions caused by the rifle. I've had 1 caused by shitty reloads and 1 caused by a crap magazine.
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This is a good article and I have found this to be true in my experience. As long as your weapon is of good quality and you have a strong extractor (spring / insert / doughnut) and recoil spring you should be able to get 2400-2600 rounds before the action starts to drag from fouling. Once that happens, re-lube it and you will be back up and running. I favor SLIP2000 EWL lubricant because it seems to last longer than most and doesn’t gum up, but any good gun oil will do. http://www.defensereview.com/the-big-m4-myth-fouling-caused-by-the-direct-impingement-gas-system-makes-the-m4-unreliable/ |
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I was brain washed by the U.S. Army years ago so my weapons are always clean after they have been fired. It would drive me nuts knowing any of my AR's were dirty inside my gun safe.  Me too, I at least wipe down the BCG and run a patch down the tube. I never understood the run it till it stops mentality. You don't drive your automobile with out checking/changing oil until the engine seizes do you? |
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Aimpoint issue aside... Why are you using Tetra Grease on an AR? Grease has not place with that weapon system.... 
A little grease on the trigger sear surfaces isn't a bad idea actually... Having said that, I use Slip 2000 on all the operating system parts. |
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I was brain washed by the U.S. Army years ago so my weapons are always clean after they have been fired. It would drive me nuts knowing any of my AR's were dirty inside my gun safe. Me too, I at least wipe down the BCG and run a patch down the tube. I never understood the run it till it stops mentality. You don't drive your automobile with out checking/changing oil until the engine seizes do you? Might be just curiostity. I don;t clean my rifles every time... waste of time IMO. I do a cursory cleaning every 500 rounds (boresnake, wipre down BCG/bolt), and a detailed cleaning/inspection every 2000 rounds (Otis down the tube, check all parts, clean receivers, clean pistons on the piston guns). I never sweat scraping all the carbon off. Waste of time IMO. Seems like a good schedule for me. |
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Bruce Willis approves.
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Am I going crazy or is that m68 on backwards. Sure looks backwards to me. http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/6565/tearsofthesuneo4.jpg Now that is funny...I don't care who you are. 
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You don't drive your automobile with out checking/changing oil until the engine seizes do you? We live in the country that copied reality TV, so don't discount that as an option for some folks.
One of the Car Talk guys decided to stop changing the oil in one of his older cars. Now he just changes the oil filter and adds oil as needed. Car still runs AFAIK. With only 2 rifles and 2 handguns to clean, I'm going to keep cleaning them after shooting. |
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You don't drive your automobile with out checking/changing oil until the engine seizes do you? We live in the country that copied reality TV, so don't discount that as an option for some folks.
One of the Car Talk guys decided to stop changing the oil in one of his older cars. Now he just changes the oil filter and adds oil as needed. Car still runs AFAIK. With only 2 rifles and 2 handguns to clean, I'm going to keep cleaning them after shooting. I would have to question the auto and oil industry recommendation of changing oil every 3,000 miles or 3 months. |
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Am I going crazy or is that m68 on backwards. YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!!! It is. I was wondering if anyone was going to notice. it's ok to say you screwed up. don't act like you did it on purpose to see if we were going to catch it though.  O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol My reasoning behind doing this is really just to see how many rounds I can put through the gun before accuracy drops off or a ftf/ fte etc etc occurs. Not everyone agrees with my reasoning behind this and that's fine with me. I'm sure if I was ever going to rely on this gun to save my life I would not be doing this test. |
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Am I going crazy or is that m68 on backwards. YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!!! It is. I was wondering if anyone was going to notice. it's ok to say you screwed up. don't act like you did it on purpose to see if we were going to catch it though. O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol My reasoning behind doing this is really just to see how many rounds I can put through the gun before accuracy drops off or a ftf/ fte etc etc occurs. Not everyone agrees with my reasoning behind this and that's fine with me. I'm sure if I was ever going to rely on this gun to save my life I would not be doing this test. hey it's your rifle...i'm like you and typically clean my guns after every outing, but the AR doesn't get cleaned that much. i usually just lube the bcg before heading to the range, other than that it stays dirty. zero problems thus far. |
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O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol I am very very confused. I cleaned my ar and put the aimpoint on backwards (on accident) I didn't notice it was on backwards until I posted the picture. I then changed the direction the aimpoint was facing before I put it in the safe. :) |
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Am I going crazy or is that m68 on backwards. YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!!! It is. I was wondering if anyone was going to notice. it's ok to say you screwed up. don't act like you did it on purpose to see if we were going to catch it though. O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol My reasoning behind doing this is really just to see how many rounds I can put through the gun before accuracy drops off or a ftf/ fte etc etc occurs. Not everyone agrees with my reasoning behind this and that's fine with me. I'm sure if I was ever going to rely on this gun to save my life I would not be doing this test. hey it's your rifle...i'm like you and typically clean my guns after every outing, but the AR doesn't get cleaned that much. i usually just lube the bcg before heading to the range, other than that it stays dirty. zero problems thus far. Good to hear. I'm sure once I get 1000 or so rounds through it being dirty will drive me insane and I will be forced to clean it. However if no failures occur I will definitely have some added confidence in my rifle, which is more or less the intent. |
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Am I going crazy or is that m68 on backwards. YOU ARE NOT CRAZY!!! It is. I was wondering if anyone was going to notice. it's ok to say you screwed up. don't act like you did it on purpose to see if we were going to catch it though. O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol My reasoning behind doing this is really just to see how many rounds I can put through the gun before accuracy drops off or a ftf/ fte etc etc occurs. Not everyone agrees with my reasoning behind this and that's fine with me. I'm sure if I was ever going to rely on this gun to save my life I would not be doing this test. hey it's your rifle...i'm like you and typically clean my guns after every outing, but the AR doesn't get cleaned that much. i usually just lube the bcg before heading to the range, other than that it stays dirty. zero problems thus far. Good to hear. I'm sure once I get 1000 or so rounds through it being dirty will drive me insane and I will be forced to clean it. However if no failures occur I will definitely have some added confidence in my rifle, which is more or less the intent. you should make that mark easy. |
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O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol I am very very confused. I cleaned my ar and put the aimpoint on backwards (on accident) I didn't notice it was on backwards until I posted the picture. I then changed the direction the aimpoint was facing before I put it in the safe. :) Take the AR out of the safe with the Aimpoint facing the right way. Put it back on the stove. Re take pics. Host said pics. Edit OP with new pics of the Aimpoint facing downrange. Clean the gun or not, it looks retarded in the pics. And usually we get a new "I'm never going to clean my gun again" thread every season. So your spring I guess. I've yet to see a gun come back broken after an OP like this or even dirty. Most guys don't shoot enough to break something by not cleaning their weapon. Three month old AR, backwards Aimpoint, low post count, and the "I'm not cleaning it any more thread" ...... 
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O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol I am very very confused. I cleaned my ar and put the aimpoint on backwards (on accident) I didn't notice it was on backwards until I posted the picture. I then changed the direction the aimpoint was facing before I put it in the safe. :) How do you "accidentally" put an aimpoint on backwards??
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O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol I am very very confused. I cleaned my ar and put the aimpoint on backwards (on accident) I didn't notice it was on backwards until I posted the picture. I then changed the direction the aimpoint was facing before I put it in the safe. :) Take the AR out of the safe with the Aimpoint facing the right way. Put it back on the stove. Re take pics. Host said pics. Edit OP with new pics of the Aimpoint facing downrange. Clean the gun or not, it looks retarded in the pics. And usually we get a new "I'm never going to clean my gun again" thread every season. So your spring I guess. I've yet to see a gun come back broken after an OP like this or even dirty. Most guys don't shoot enough to break something by not cleaning their weapon. Three month old AR, backwards Aimpoint, low post count, and the "I'm not cleaning it any more thread" ...... Hey, thanks for the advice... I'll be sure to take that to heart. 
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O it was definitely on accident, I just didn't notice it until I posted the picture. lol I am very very confused. I cleaned my ar and put the aimpoint on backwards (on accident) I didn't notice it was on backwards until I posted the picture. I then changed the direction the aimpoint was facing before I put it in the safe. :) How do you "accidentally" put an aimpoint on backwards?? Easy, not paying attention. If I looked through the sight it would have been easily noticed. |
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All the guys using the car analogies are semi correct. However, the flip side is that you won't change the oil and do a radiator flush every time you drive to the store and back. The same applies for cleaning and lubing your firearm. The key here is common sense. I usually only clean my rifles twice a year outside of what gets wiped down/lubed when I'm replacing parts during scheduled maintenance. So basically every 5k rounds or so or just before a class I clean and inspect them. That said I do have a dedicated home defense rifle that hardly gets shot so it's usually pretty clean.
Another thing to consider when field stripping your rifle, cleaning, lubing and then reassembling is that there is a chance you may not assemble it correctly. Thus your rifle may or may not function properly. It has happened before and I know I have done similar with with things other than firearms. Food for thought. |
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All the guys using the car analogies are semi correct. However, the flip side is that you won't change the oil and do a radiator flush every time you drive to the store and back. The same applies for cleaning and lubing your firearm. The key here is common sense. I usually only clean my rifles twice a year outside of what gets wiped down/lubed when I'm replacing parts during scheduled maintenance. So basically every 5k rounds or so or just before a class I clean and inspect them. That said I do have a dedicated home defense rifle that hardly gets shot so it's usually pretty clean. Another thing to consider when field stripping your rifle, cleaning, lubing and then reassembling is that there is a chance you may not assemble it correctly. Thus your rifle may or may not function properly. It has happened before and I know I have done similar with with things other than firearms. Food for thought. I like your analogy much better and the fact that you spoke without attempting to belittle me. Thank you for being constructive and not a pia. |
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All the guys using the car analogies are semi correct. However, the flip side is that you won't change the oil and do a radiator flush every time you drive to the store and back. The same applies for cleaning and lubing your firearm. The key here is common sense. I usually only clean my rifles twice a year outside of what gets wiped down/lubed when I'm replacing parts during scheduled maintenance. So basically every 5k rounds or so or just before a class I clean and inspect them. That said I do have a dedicated home defense rifle that hardly gets shot so it's usually pretty clean. Another thing to consider when field stripping your rifle, cleaning, lubing and then reassembling is that there is a chance you may not assemble it correctly. Thus your rifle may or may not function properly. It has happened before and I know I have done similar with with things other than firearms. Food for thought. I like your analogy much better and the fact that you spoke without attempting to belittle me. Thank you for being constructive and not a pia. No problemo. Just sharing my limited knowledge and experience. FYI, I use to clean my guns after every time I shot them too. It got old real quick and I found it wasn't necessary. Wiping it down every 1k or so isn't a bad idea. One of the things about not cleaning is that it will get dirty enough that everytime you pick it up you and your clothes get dirty too. I have ruined some good shirts.
Just keep on shooting, reading, take a class or two and continue "learning the sword". oh and don't put you aimpont on backwards..... see what I mean about not putting things back right after cleaning.
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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Shooting until it breaks (Page 1 of 2)
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