Shooting Your AR-15 Dirty

[Scorpio64 5,153]

OOPS! How did that rifle get in the mud?

 

What is your real life experience with shooting dirty AR's?  I'd like to hear some stories about just how tolerant your AR platform rifle is to crud.  While the AR may not be as tolerant to dirt and grime as that other rifle, it is not nearly as bad as some may have us believe.  What did it take to grind your AR to a halt and what did it take to get it pumping lead again?

[Vlad G 345]

Cold. The cold has been the only thing that has stopped my gun from running when dirty. The oils gets sluggish, everything gums up.  I'm talking a rifle not cleaned in over 1000rd and single digit temperatures.

[Spike 7.62 0]

For 13 months in the desert I thoroughly cleaned my M4 maybe 5 times. It was important to put a patch through the bore to punch out any barrel obstruction. More than once my muzzle went deep into thick, sticky mud which completely clogged it up. Otherwise I would keep the exterior clean enough to not be yelled at but I hardly ever bothered with the inside.

 

Magazines are different, those I would clean often or crud and tiny pebbles would get in through the square hole at the bottom and harden.

[MidwestPX 172]

My 14.5 and 16" unsuppressed guns will run 500+ with a good lubrication prior to the first round. By contrast, my suppressed 10.5 and 12.5" guns will only make it a few hundred without being re-lubed. All of these guns use phosphated BCGs, no fancy coatings/platings.

 

My 18" SPR has a NIB BCG in it and I will say that it will run longer between lubrication intervals. I also have a couple nitrided BCGs in guns that also run longer between lubrication than their phosphated counterparts. NIB is a plating while nitriding is a surface treatment (case hardening). I suppose an argument can be made that NIB or nitrided BCGs are more reliable than phosphated ones due to being able to go longer before requiring lubrication. However, I wouldn't let that be justification for throwing out a proper PM regimen that included lubrication.

 

In any case, a squirt of lube plus working the action several times gets the guns running again.

[GRIZ 3,369]

I've had M16s dragged through the mud that worked fine as long as the dust cover was closed, there was a magazine in it, and a muzzle cap on. My experience in the desert mirrors Spike 7.62s. Crap getting in magazines was more of an issue in any environment. The Army used to issue a plastic bag to put your magazines in to keep them clean. It might slow your reload a bit (to tear off the plastic bag) but it worked. Crud in the magazine will stop any weapon and IIRC was an issue with M9s for a while.

 

I've gone 1000+ rounds in a day starting with a clean and properly lubed M4. I stopped the gun didnt. Most of those rounds were full automatic so the gun had gotten pretty hot.

 

I'm talking service grade rifles that were well broken in. I imagine a SPR with tighter tolerances will choke up sooner.

[High Exposure 5,664]

In my experience, an AR will run reliably dirty and wet, but not clean and dry. Proper/sufficient lubrication is key to keeping your carbine running well - Caveat Emptor: this is true for guns that are built to, or exceed, the TDP. A gun that won't run reliably in and of itself won't run regardless of how clean or lubed it is.

 

I shoot ARs a lot. I rarely clean my personal ARs past a quick wipe down for inspection purposes and lube - duty guns are cleaned every 1000 rounds.

 

Here is a well documented case of an AR performing with little to no maintenance:

 

http://www.slip2000.com/blog/s-w-a-t-magazine-filthy-14/

 

Note: current (as of Feb 2014) round count is ~44k rounds

[Displaced Texan 11,738]

They'll run nicely when dirty as long as they're wet (like a good woman should...lol), but dry and dirty, not so much.

 

Pat Rogers and 'Filthy 14' says it all.

[checko 180]

Was talking to Pat today about Filthy. Its at 43k+ as HE says and is running like a top. Actually wanted to use it but ran my own instead. He doesn't clean any of his guns and 2 of them got approx. 1k rounds through them this weekend with just lube. Apply liberally and you should be gtg all else being equal.

[Boejoula 0]

How wet are we talking? And with what lube? I have been using frog lube and is have to say, not sure how I feel. I have no problem but I usually wipe them down and apply lube after I shoot. By the next time I look at them they are dry.

[High Exposure 5,664]

You want a good layer on all the moving parts - especially anything that's shiny.

 

It shouldn't be dripping, but almost.

 

Lubing after cleaning and before storage is appropriate and smart. But, if you can, you also want to add a few drops before shooting. If it is a long day with a lot of rounds, a few drops during a break won't hurt either.

 

You want a lube that will last while the rifle sits. I like the Slip products (they are products used in the "Filthy 14" link above), especially the EWL.

[silverado427 10,715]

Has anyone tried fire clean, I really like it .

[mipafox 438]

They don't need cleaning (unlike AKs, SCARs, etc.) They need lube.

 

I usually shoot about 500 to 1000 rounds per range trip but it's spread 20:40:40 over three uppers. When I get home I put oil in the oil holes on the BCG and pour a little in the ejection port without removing the dirty nasty icky BCG. I drop the bolt and it sprays me with ick.

 

Before every range trip I pull the BCG and look it it, look at the lower parts, look at the chamber. If I see goop I swab it out with a Q-tip and then oil everything. 2 minutes.

 

My uppers see solvent less than once per year. and I don't use CLP (yuck), just oil.

 

All of my bolt tails have a big Fing lump of coal on the back of them. Get my Drill Sergent here to see this. It gets to a certain size and stops growing. It's like an educational crystal grow kit for adults that cling to their guns and Bibles. It's a good thing.

 

Ratta-tat-tat-tat Boom!

[NYMetsFan86 9]

I also generally do a wipe down after use. I usually clean the barrel after approx. 1000 rounds. I have been using mobil 1 synthetic 5w30 for about a year and it is an awesome inexpensive lube that has worked great so far.

[Scorpio64 5,153]

Some good info here on maintenance and product.  I'd like to hear some more stories about running to failure.

[High Exposure 5,664]

I can't tell you more because I haven't run a gun to failure. There have been many times when I have shot many rounds in a short period of time, in a gun that hadn't been cleaned or wiped down, with no issues because it was a quality gun and I kept it wet.

 

I had to swap out an action spring once, midway through a high round count training class. The gun kept running but ejection was weak and inconsistent. New spring installed and all was right with the world. This was a PM fail on my part, and although the gun was very dirty it had no impact on the issue at hand.

[Vlad G 345]

I have run my AR to failure a couple of times. Note this is in competitive circles. 

 

These are the failures I can remember, not all of them from the cleaning cause. 

 

1) Multiple jams with crappy ammo. I've had a couple of rounds of factory ammo that on further examination lacked a flash hole. Primer fired and pushed itself out of the case half way creating jams that required mortaring.  I've also had some of my reloads create jams because I was rushing and I rolled a bit of the case mouth. If I had checked my ammo, it would have happened. Again, these were cause for mortaring.  I'm not blaming these on the gun, these were pure ammo problems. 

 

2) REALLY dirty gun with minimum lubrication resulting in failure to return to battery in very cold weather. What would have been perfectly fine in summer failed in single digit temps as the oil was no longer keeping the crud moist and soft. Forward assist came in handy that day.

 

3) I broke a bolt in half at around 12-15k rounds. The bolt cracked at the pin hole area (the thinnest part). Nothing really surprising, they don't last for ever

 

4) New NiBo covered bolt is slightly pickier then old phosphate bolt. At about 1000rd without cleaning it wasn't returning into battery reliably when there was a mag full of ammo pressing against it. Once examined carefully it wasn't spinning freely enough in the carrier. Carrier was really dirty inside, cleaning the carrier more often then 1000rd is probably a good idea, but I'm back past that number now and the issue has not returned. At the same time I replaced the recoil spring which was probably getting close to the 20000rd count which may have had something to do with this issue as well. 

 

(2) and (4) are maintenance related. (3) is just a normal wear issue, and (1) is crappy ammo. 

[Alex V 99]

Ran my PredatAR almost to the point of failure in a class with a lot of grounded shooting in the dirt.  Lots of dust and sand being kicked up, shooting with ejection port inches off of the ground.  On a magazine change, it would not move the round all the way forward and lock into battery as it did when it was cleaner.  Put two drops of Slip200 EWL on the BCG and it went right back to normal.  I was shooting Wolf the whole time as well.

 

I like shooting my guns, I am not a fan of cleaning them at all.  I clean them when I absolutely have to.  I have friends who clean more than shoot, I enjoy laughing at them.