Your AR is a machine. Machines need oil, and a wet gun is a happy gun. We use Lucas oils. After much testing and evaluation, we found Lucas oils stay wet especially in the searing hot temperatures of the AR-15 — temperatures that can get up to 1,200 degrees! If you use good oil that doesn’t burn and turn into carbon, you’ll ultimately have less cleaning to do later. After a bunch of wipe downs and oil changes, we do a thorough cleaning.
Steps to Proper AR-15 Cleaning
- First, separate the upper and lower receivers and remove the charging handle and bolt carrier group.
- Brush the barrel’s bore and let it soak in a good copper solvent like Sweets 762. It takes about 10 minutes to work, so it can soak while you clean the rest of the gun.
- Disassemble the bolt carrier group and clean each part. Most can be wiped down, but a pick helps get the carbon out from the bolt face and under the extractor.
- Clean the tail of the bolt as best you can with a designated scraper tool or copper brush.
- Clean the carrier bore with a designated scraper tool. Real Avid makes the Carbon Boss, a perfect tool for cleaning all parts of the bolt carrier group.
- With the bolt carrier group parts cleaned, oil them liberally and reassemble. Do not oil the firing pin. Just wipe it off and reassemble it all.
- Wipe the lower receiver out with brushes, rags and swabs. No solvents or oils go in there.
- Once the lower and bolt carrier group are done, brush and patch the bore until you’re satisfied that it’s not filthy. The Real Avid Bore Boss is a great tool for this. Patches with a penetrating oil like Gibbs help to deactivate the Sweets copper solvent.
- With the bore cleaned, use a Swab-its chamber swab to mop up the mess from the bore cleaning. Wipe out the upper with rags and clean off the charging handle.
- Before reassembly, put some lube on the worn spots of the charging handle.
This article was originally published in the winter/spring 2018 issue of “Personal Defense World.” To order a copy and subscribe, visit outdoorgroupstore.com.
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