AR Sponsor
Posted: 10/29/2008 5:00:13 PM EDT
| if things ever did "go bad" how often would you guys clean your AR(how many rounds fired)? |
|
Good question!
I'm a clean freak about my firearms. I take about 3 hours to clean a hand gun and 4-6 hours to clean a rifle(semi-auto not bolt or lever action). My guns are 100% spotless. In a SHTF situation that kind of clean is not realistic. It is hard enough cleaning in a nice controlled environment. In the field it is much harder to clean a gun and keep it clean so what would you guys consider clean in a SHTF situation? |
|
Quoted:
if SHTF happened I would clean/lube daily (if possible) regardless of round count. This. I've got a little kit put together with the following: Bottle of Slip 2000 a few rags boresnake GI rod (only in case something gets stuck in the bore) Just the things I need |
|
Quoted:
SHTF? No one can truly answer that. The possibilities and scenarios are endless.
Just have yourself a good field kit put together, with a good supply of materials.
Yeah, but things really get compliacated if you have to use your bayonet in hand-to-hand combat with Zombies. Zombie blood, not to mention zombie snot, will gunk up your rifle but good. I'd bet even QUIB doesn't have zombie-goo remover in his field kit––if SHTF he's locked up and out of luck. |
|
keep it lubed and running,
if you get a 15 min break : crack it and wipe it down relube 30 min break : wipe down + run a couple swabs through the bore 60 min break : all the above + remove the bolt from the bolt carrier and wipe/lube couple hour break: Clean it all, top off on ammo eat and sleep refill water, top off on ammo, eat, clean weapon systems, sleep, in that approximate order  .
|
|
I would wipe it down inside and out daily, even with no rounds fired.
If it was used.... I would clean it as soon as the situation would allow it to be done safely. For an "on-the-go" cleaning kit I have.... A piece of weed-wacker string, with one end cut at a sharp angle, and the other end burned a little so it "bubbles out" and creates a sort of jag. (This is the cleaning rod) A few pieces of small cloth for bore cleaning/oiling. A piece of large cloth for action cleaning. A piece of medium cloth for action oiling. A small spray can of CLP. One piece of an old brass screw-together cleaning rod, just encase I ever stick a case, not for cleaning use. A cartridge, one that is all buggered up for use as a tool. |
|
Quoted:
Just like in combat....every chance I got. if you have a "team" or a partner, one cleans, the other stays on watch...keep a squirt bottle of CLP handy...Midway and Brownells sell empty plastic bottles with fine tapered squirt tops...I keep several of these handy and refilled from the industrial sized CLP bottles...Some guys use Mobil 1 too...with fine results...depends on the environment a bit...temp, any sand  dirt?
Are you using Wolf? is so, you will be cleaning more...etc... |
|
Quoted:
Been on a Bulgarian AK74 for about 2 years have not cleaned it yet about 10,000 rounds (non-corrosive, tho) waiting for a failure.
Quoted:
AK's are operator-proof Never underestimate the idiocy/stupidity of 'operators'. AKs quit working like everything else made by men. That said, if I was relying on a rifle for my life, it would get cleaned at least daily or after firing. BSW |
|
Quoted:
Good question! I'm a clean freak about my firearms. I take about 3 hours to clean a hand gun and 4-6 hours to clean a rifle(semi-auto not bolt or lever action). My guns are 100% spotless. In a SHTF situation that kind of clean is not realistic. It is hard enough cleaning in a nice controlled environment. In the field it is much harder to clean a gun and keep it clean so what would you guys consider clean in a SHTF situation? Wipe down the bolt/carrier, clean the barrel extention, relube. A detail cleaning would be better, but if time is short, that should get the job done. |
|
Quoted:
Lube,lube,lube........I agree with that 100%,but wouldn't you run out fairly quick?How much lube could one possibly carry? Well, you would run out of ammo before you ran out of the lube to keep the rifle working to fire the ammo. But you can use field expedient lubes, motor oil, used motor oil if you have to, probably almost any type of oil would would somewhat. |
|
Quoted:
Lube,lube,lube........I agree with that 100%,but wouldn't you run out fairly quick?How much lube could one possibly carry? I just go w/ a little compressed CLP can. It isn't that big or heavy. I can use one of those cans for a good while, even without trying to ration it. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Been on a Bulgarian AK74 for about 2 years have not cleaned it yet about 10,000 rounds (non-corrosive, tho) waiting for a failure.
Quoted:
AK's are operator-proof Never underestimate the idiocy/stupidity of 'operators'. AKs quit working like everything else made by men. That said, if I was relying on a rifle for my life, it would get cleaned at least daily or after firing. BSW And I know people that have put that many rounds through ARs in less than half the time with now cleaning. So what's your point? I've seen M4s put down around 5000 rounds with just dumping oil onto the bolt over a weekend, but no cleaning until the end of drill. Again, what's your point? I've had a Romanian (ok, a POS WASR 10) that wouldn't feed worth a damn. So, apparently it's not totally foolproof, though it could have been a bad magwell widening from Century. I've had an M16A2 so gunked up with mud that it was gritty when I chambered a round, but hundreds of rounds later it still fired just fine. Everything fails, everyone gets lucky sometimes. ARs aren't failure prone, nor are AKs the penultimate weapon. |
|
Unicorn. Interesting comment. I have a Noveske. My first AR, recently purchased. A million years ago I did a year in the RVN. The M16 was still working out it's issues and I wasn't overly impressed. I was in the Mekong, but not infantry so I had more choices and selected a variety of different weapons over the year, none of them the M16. Years later I finally decided to try the AR. I wrestled with the new piston type but the dinosaurs won out and I figured I'd try my luck with the mil spc.
I like the rifle very much, although it's quite new. Still I really enjoy hearing from guys like you that have tremendous confidence in it's reasonable reliability. I have to say, with all the weapons I carried, including the 1911 .45, I never pushed my luck and mistreated a one. After the military, I carried a firearm for many years, hell decades, in my citizen career, and again always took care to keep the weapons clean and serviced. I know the guys who are in heavy contact don't have a lot of choices for maintenance and for avoiding some nasty stuff. Even I could get real low into mud as needed. Still, I wonder when I hear guys talking about putting their weapons through dirt and crud. So, if one ends up giving the AR a dirt bath, even unintentionally, what if anything might be a good quick drill to give yourself the best chance to get it to work short of a good cleaning? Thanks for any info, and especially thanks for your broad perspective on a fine weapons system. |
AR Sponsor