AR-15 – How to Clean & Lube Your AR-15

Do they make "Fail Zero" type firing pins and bolts? This is where I'm getting carbon. The other parts of my BCG are getting carbon.

…of course, if you've been doing realistic training, (crawling through ice cold mud or hot sand), you may have dirt, mud or sand (as opposed to carbon) in some pretty unusual places. 😉 Folks who have a standard AR-15 front sight often carry a nail to aid in manipulating it. If you get the right nail, you can also use it to pull the firing pin retaining pin. One of the best uses of a tactical flashlight is peeking into the crevices while cleaning your rifle. Especially since we usually ended up cleaning in the dark in the Army. We liked to keep a dental tool to gently remove accreted and hardened carbon. Keyword is GENTLY since a dental tool is something that you can scratch the crap out of your rifle. Just pretend that you really are cleaning someone's teeth. They make good plastic tools for this these days that won't scratch and are lighter to carry. For a soldier, anything lighter that does the same job, is better. Full disclosure: My military experiences were Cold War era, i.e. early 1990s. I noticed that the OP did not clean the receiver locking lugs and I've noticed that I don't seem to need to do that either with my own AR but in the military, firing full auto with military ammo, this would be a necessity. You would find hard carbon accretion in there and this would be one of the best uses of your dental style cleaning tool and flashlight. I use q-tips and pipe cleaners which I don't see here. I don't think it's terribly important to do though, if you aren't going to be inspected by the CO tomorrow. 😉 I'll usually run a pipe cleaner through the bolt and the gas tube receiver at the top of the BCG. A Q-tip with some solvent on it can be very informative about where the carbon is for places you can't stick your finger into.

Is it safe to use a wire brush to brush the grime off?

Great Video

Great video man. Thank you

Thanks!

What trigger is that…?

Sir,love the channel. Was looking at a AR10. Can you recommend a great bang for your buck? Thank you kindly!

Ballistol also produces a great ceramic grease specifically made for weapons. I use it on my M1 Garand and on my AR.

Coupon code doesn’t work but grate video. Love your brake downs and videos on builds

Nice Video Sir!

Absolute great video new to the world of AR and this video is everything I need to clean my AR effectively thank you. I also just bought a Match MKA 1919 if you have time could you make one about it as well thanks again.

Thank you very much for this video. First time cleaning my AR and you made it a breeze.

Videos awesome thank you! At 10:30 you put the retainer pin in so easily. Mine takes me ages to push in. Never lines up correctly and I have to sit there wiggling it. Is there something wrong with my pin? Any advice anyone?

Great video and useful for me as a beginner, I did all did but I got a question about the extractor: how to know for sure that it’s put together right and will gun mail function if you do? Thanks

How do you make ar15

Thanks for the video. First time AR purchaser and your two videos have made me far more confident in maintaining and understanding what to expect.

ty watching you made it easy!

What size is the bore snake. .22?

im an ak guy because of this…but when i owned an ar i soaked everything in kerosene….got carbon off and is excellent cleanser….much better than the high end bullshit….3 buks a gallon…been using it over 35 years….use it for glocks,and all guns…

Why do you have to have the bolt extractor pushed out when assembling the carrier & charging handle into the upper ?

Great video 👍🏼

My Pin in my bolt carrier is twisted. When I try to put it back in place it does not make it through the next hole. the ends of the pin are twisted past each other so I have to push them together with a screw driver from the bottom of the bolt carrier as I push the pin in. It's very difficult and takes about 20 minutes or more to get the pin back in so i'm very reluctant to clean the bolt group.

Automotive brake cleaner works GREAT, at 1/3 the cost of "official" gun cleaners.

Well done 😀👍

thanks for the lesson i am a viete vet the ar was just coming in at the time i was injured and dischared

Thanks for the great informational video. I'm not a new gun owner by any means, but am new to the AR-15. If I ever have any questions- I now know where to look. Thanks again.

Nice !!

Copper/brass brush ok to use on chrome lined barrel?

What kind of trigger is that?

When he was pulling that charging handle sounded like rubbing sand paper on metal. But if that's a clean rifle to him cool but I would have at least wiped the inside of the upper out
..but for any newer people I have a nickel boron bcg also so much easier to clean

You’ve earned a subscriber. Thank you for the excellent content.

Comment on idea to improve the videos. I know those mats are very popular, BUT trying to see small mostly black parts against a black weapon over the "busy" background of the mat takes away from the clarity of your otherwise excellent videos.

What…like they don't have a million of these techniques on YouTube???

Love your videos it helps a lot!! Thanks