Saturday at the Movies: How To Clean and Maintain an AR-15

July 30, 2022 Saturday at the Movies: How To Clean and Maintain an AR-15
Scottsdale Gun Club offers an AR-15 Cleaning Clinic on August 25, 2022.AR-platform rifles can be maintenance-intensive beasts. They require regular cleaning, maintenance, and lubrication. AR owners can make matters worse by neglecting to clean small parts or using too much oily/greasy grease in the wrong places. An AR15 properly lubricated can fire hundreds of rounds between cleanings. You’ll be able to shoot hundreds of rounds (between cleanings) if you know where and how to apply lubricant. We recommend that you also read the AR-15 Gun Cleaning Clinic article at Brownells. This article explains in detail important procedures which the videos may not cover in a few seconds. These five videos will show you how to properly disassemble and clean AR-15-platform rifles. Cleaning and Maintenance TipsThis is a quick 90-second starter video that may help new AR owners. Ricky Lehnhardt from OTIS Technology demonstrates how to clean and maintain your AR-15. Lehnhardt does an excellent job of identifying the areas that need to be cleaned inside ARs. He works fast in the video. At certain points, you might want to pause or rewind the video. Lehnhardt also uses a cable to pull patches and brushes through the barrel. This is very fast and simple. For AR rifles that are intended for match, we recommend using a cleaning ROD with a fitted bore guide. 2. Jerry Miculek: Take-Down and Complete Cleaning of AR-15 This video is great because Lena’s rifle had been “run hard and packed up dirt” so you can see the carbon and grease buildup. This video, which lasts 35 minutes, is extremely thorough. Jerry is a top-ranked action carbine shooter in the country, so pay attention to his tips on cleaning and lubrication. 3. AR-15 Maintenance: Clean, Lubricate, and Field-strip an AR-15Gunsite Academy Instructor Cory Trapp shows you how to field-strip, clean and lubricate your AR-15 carbine. Trapp provides important technical tips and hints in this 30-minute video. Trapp demonstrates at 11:05 how to determine if your bolt requires new gas rings. This video will show you how to clean your AR and how to function-test it before each session. 4. AR-15 Assembly and Cleaning GuideThis video shows how to remove the bolt carrier from the upper receiver and clean it. You will then be able to see how to use various tools to clean both the bolt carrier and chamber. We recommend that you inspect both the extractor recess (ejector recess) and the bolt carrier. We have found a lot of nasty gunk in ARs that have failed to cycle correctly when we have inspected them. This is a mixture of carbon, greasy oil, and brass particles. 5. Basic AR-15 Quick Field Maintenance – Ryan Muller, a pro shooter, demonstrates how to maintain his AR-15 in a quick and easy manner. This would be to clean and lubricate the reciprocating parts. This includes quick maintenance in the field. You can see the previous videos for a thorough field-stripping and cleaning. Handy Mat for Cleaning AR Rifles The $22.49 Real Avid Smart Mat makes a great choice. This mat comes with printed instructions for removing it and a handy parts tray. The mat can be folded up for easy storage. For easy storage, the mat can be folded up.