Have any one of you used or have the Bushmaster Carbon Scraper? After trying to clean the bolt carrier out yesterday I am thinking about getting one.

I used an old chamber brush with patches to loosen the carbon up. But what a job that was.

just a side note here, while we're talking about it.. the Firing Pin is NOT a bolt cleaning tool.

I use an 5.56mm stripper clip as a bolt recess tool. Works great & free.

Use the gi field expedient carbon scraper.

Take a wire coat hanger, clip an 8 or 9 inch piece from the straight part.  

Flatten one end by putting on cement, and hitting with hammer.  Voila, a carbon scraper deluxe.  

Trust me on this one, it works.

TXLEWIS

According to Armalite, carbon is self limiting in the bolt carrier recesses.  I have never scraped carbon from back there, with no problems. my $.02

I just like to keep my weapons clean. Old habits are hard to break. I have the "trick" scraper and the small "field " scraper in my butt stock cleaning kits. Got them all from Bushmaster over the years. All work great but are too expensive. Don't know if you can damage the inside of the bolt carrier using other tools . That's why I use them. I'd never use a screwdriver to scrape out a cylinder on an engine ,why use one on your carrier as the bolt has "rings" just like a piston.

Well maybe Armalite has no problem, but the Bushmaster one I have is loaded. I thought I use to clean pretty good. Then I looked in and took an extra long toothpick, A chunk game off...The tip of the iceberg.

I will try the Coat hanger trick.

edpmedic - It's not that the Armalites don't get dirty, but your BM does.

It's that the carbon at the bottom of the carrier doesn't matter - you don't have to clean it at all.  It's self limiting.

I used to work for HOURS getting ALL of that carbon out.  My cousin, former USMC infantry showed me how they cleaned it out - with a piece of cleaning rod and a patch pushing down hard and going in a circular motion.  Of course there is only patch at the bottom of the rod section for about two seconds as the rod eats through the patch quickly.  I thought "oh no - this is like a cylinder bore on a car and should be treated gently".  I figured out that the very back where the scraping is done, and the very front where the other contact point of the cleaning rod is will never be touched by the gas rings, so I didn't worry too much about it.

Then over a year ago, I read the Armalite article.

I have MULTIPLE CASES (at least two cases per rifle) through my guns now since I've stopped cleaning the back of the bolt carrier's bolt cylinder.  No ill effects.

As for being anal about cleaning - you'll find nobody who cleans and oils there firearms more thoroughly than me.  BUT I don't clean the back of the bolt carrier - it's a waste of time.

This is EXACTLY why you should just buy an AK and forget all that hours of detailed maintenance that's required to keep and AR going!  Great gun design that blows hot gas and carbon directly into it's own guts  

Seriously, I use the coat hanger scraper, same as I made in Basic, and I bend it at the end so I have more control of it.  I also flatten the other end as well because I like to beat on things with a hammer.  It works about the best, but just don't try to go scraping on the inside walls of the carrier.  You don't need to ruin the chrome lining.

Ross

Quoted: This is EXACTLY why you should just buy an AK and forget all that hours of detailed maintenance that's required to keep and AR going!

Yes, but you DON'T NEED to clean the carbon from an AR-15 either.

I spend 15 minutes max cleaning my AR's, and I run cases & cases of ammo through them without a hiccup.

If you like scraping carbon, knock yourself out.  I sold my scraper after learning about the myth.  Let me ask you this - why contribute to the myth that AR's take a lot of time & TLC to keep them running?  They don't.

Quoted: Use the gi field expedient carbon scraper. Take a wire coat hanger, clip an 8 or 9 inch piece from the straight part.   Flatten one end by putting on cement, and hitting with hammer.  Voila, a carbon scraper deluxe.   Trust me on this one, it works. TXLEWIS

Bend the top end 90 degrees, then a small section 90 again. Twist the hell out of it!

OK so the carbon is self limiting and I agree that I keep all my guns clean. Carbon will cause pitting, it will break off in microscopic particles and get into the rings, lands and chamber. Over time it will eat your gun up. Then again that is over time.
You spend $$$$$ on a rifle my theory is to keep it in the best shape I can. Even if I owned an AK I would clean it after a day of shooting. The funny thing is after cleaning it out that Radway that wasn't working in my 20" started to work.

Be sure to make that a BRASS wire coathanger...sometimes a large aluminum paper clip will also work.

What you want is the Mark Brown carbon scraper that Brownell's offers.  I've used this in my armory and on my personal AR's.  The only thing to remember is to only turn it clockwise, otherwise you'll screw up the cutters.  Hence, I never let the grunts get their hands on it.

Hence, I never let the grunts get their hands on it.

LOL

LOL