New to the platform and have a stupid new rifle question.. was breaking it down and it looked dirty this was t after I shot it. This was me just practicing taking it apart, etc. I used balistal and CLP for the cleaning after the range.

Am I putting to much oil on it?
Could it just be grease?
Do they like to run wet or dry?

Any insight would be great, thanks guys.

I don't begin to get an AR15 as clean as some of my handguns/bolt action rifles.


They run dirtier to start with.  The way they are made it's hard to get something into all the cracks/crevices to wipe crud out.  Even a .223 bolt action seems to take more patches to get the barrel clean vs. a .30 bolt action.  I was always amazed at how long it took to get my M700 VS .223 clean after 5 or 6 rounds (groundhog hunt/day) vs. cleaning the M1917 or 03A4 after a couple boxes of ammo was fired through either one of those.

I oil.  I over oil?  If that's possible.  Oil runs out the sides while it's in the case between cleaning/lubing and the next range session.  I don't mind getting oil on me.  I don't live in a dry dusty area where oil might "grab" the dust from the environment and soil the gun further.

Never used grease.

I clean after every range session.  I know if I go back and run solvent/brush/patches through a barrel a few days after cleaning/lubing it'll show more dark areas on the patch.  Fact of life for me.  I like to clean/lube/inspect after a range trip but the rifles won't be spotless when I'm done cleaning/lubing, but they'll be ready for the next use.

I run a solvent wet patch through the barrel and set the upper down while I strip/clean the bolt/bolt carrier and clean the lower.  Then I got back and clean the upper/barrel (brushing, more solvent, more patches).  Lube stuff up and put it all back together.

Every so often (4 or 5 ranges trips??) I'll grab a can of carb or brake cleaner and spray out the upper, the locking lug area of the barrel and the lower.  I hold the upper/lower in a way that keeps the spray off the plastic when possible.  Then I let it dry (dries quick) I use some type of spray oil/lube to get a rust preventive coating back in the cracks/crevices till the oil I put on for lube get the time to work it's way into all those areas.

Good luck with your rifle.

I wipe my upper down with clp and clean my bcg the same way. Then I cherrybalmz the crap out of the bcg/upper per the instructions on the website.

https://www.cherrybalmz.com/post/how-to-lube-an-ar-for-maximum-reliability

Occasionally I’ll clean and lube my buffer spring/tube (per sprinco instructions) as well as clean out my lower/clean up my trigger and regrease the contact points (per the larue instructions)

For my barrel, I typically just douse a boresnake with clp and drag it through the barrel 2-3 times.

Welcome to AR15 ownership. Its a rifle that shits dirty gas all over itself.

I used to be in the AK camp for this very reason, then came back to my senses (but never changed my profile photo).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMuWlomfnf4

ARs run dirty due to the operating system. They don't care one bit so long as they're well-lubricated. They do *not* like to be run dry and it's almost impossible to over-lubricate them.

If unsuppressed and run wet, a quality AR can run thousands of rounds between a full field strip and cleaning. I tend to best on my rifles pretty hard and don't consider cleaning them before they get to at least 1k rounds and usually twice that. 100% suppressed, so a lot dirtier.

It's almost physically impossible to remove all of the carbon from the pores of the steel. Yes, pores. Steel is not completely solid and it will hold carbon.
When you apply CLP (and most oils, but most notable with CLP since it's also a cleaner) that carbon will be dissolved and mix with the lube.
That's the reason that the Army has stated for years to stop with the white glove crap.

Unless the bore is filled with oil it's kind of impossible to over oil an AR. If you used something that's like 90 weight, or a grease and fill the bolt and bolt carrier so the firing pin is slowed then I guess you could call that over lubed too. But you can use a can of spray oil and just hose it down and it's going to be fine.

Yes, you can get the rifle white glove cleaned. In the old days of boot camp, they would take your rifle and inspect it with a white glove. I think they stopped this mid 2000s timeframe.

You generally clean it across 3 days and you can get it pretty clean. However, what a lot of folks found out is to use barrack showers grade hot water. Not the kind you find in a typical house, but the kind that you can use as instant hot coffee type water. So you brought the rifle with you to the showers and next day it's magically the cleanest rifle in the group. Some people try to do it with CLP and end up with completely white rifles down to the bare aluminium.

Some of the old timers might still do it today. I heard of people putting glocks in dishwashers. Some people might think it'll cause rust but so long as you're using hot water and you give it a good shake, it should evaporate quickly.

Yes my friend, it’s still done. The shower was my best friend for this.

On a separate occasion years later my commander caught me red handed rinsing off my M16s PLASTIC handguards in a sink and he seriously said “that will cause it to rust”...

I have the M4 CAT tool that I used every 500 rounds or so. When I got my first AR I was taking it apart and cleaning it after each range trip. Now I simply pull a few solvent soak swabs though my AR and few dry swabs in and put it back in my safe. I do keep a small bottle of EWL 2000 in my range bag so I put a few small squirts on the bolt and then pull the charging handle back a few times.  I don't over do the lube but if any excess it will burn off.

Yup! 1986, laundry room, we would use the big gear washing basins and that scalding water and soap, followed by 90% alcohol rinse. Guns were so hot from the water, they would dry quickly. Then the senior drill had a bent finish nail that he would run into the gas key-instant fail, was just a mind fuck game.

After we got back from my 1st field problem I walked into the shower with my M-16, everyone said I was going to get an art-15.  After I got it & myself relatively clean, I went up to my room, hosed it down good with WD-40 then started cleaning it like normal.  The armorer accepted it on the 1st try.  After that lots of guys started going to the showers with their M-16's.