First time cleaning the AR-15
News ·Sunday March 29, 2009 @ 21:53 EDT (link)
I finished cleaning my AR-15 for the first time today, using the Rock River Arms manual and these guides (there is also an AR15.com guide, but it's not as good, since it has small black and white diagrams and terse descriptions instead of large photos and detailed instructions).
Since it was the first time, it went somewhat slowly, but it's actually pretty easy: remove the takedown pin (or both), remove the charging handle and bolt carrier, disassemble the bolt carrier (by removing the cotter pin (firing pin retaining pin) and bolt cam pin), clean everything with solvent, clean the chamber with my pistol rod and chamber brush, and clean the bore with my rifle rod, alternating jag with patch and bore brush. I had to cut down my 9mm (2"?) patches so they'd fit. Apparently I cleaned the gas piston rings a bit too vigorously, because when I went shooting with the Microsoft group on the weekend it failed to fire because they had been misaligned; fortunately KA was able to fix it (he took it apart then and there with his knife, unsurprisingly a lot faster and easier than someone doing it for the first time; it was educational).
