AR: Carbon Induced Stoppage

[smoothy8500]

Once, after a long Highpower match shooting 88 rounds...oh, wait, you meant real shooting? No.

[Jimi Jah]

Closest I got was a AR lubed with Rem Oil, it all dried up in the desert, the bolt was almost bare of lube. I stopped shooting it to avoid wear.

I now use Slip 2000 EWL 30 wt, that stuff stays on all day long. I do like a clean rifle and don't like petrolium.

[elSquid]

Reinforcing the point about ammo selection, carbon fouling was a factor for Brown Bear ammo in this informative test:

http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/

-- Michael

[Calico1404]

Couch, can you provide a rough annual round count and a pic of your Bolt?

Just for S & G's

[Flintlock Tom]

What?!
I've passed up shooting opportunities because I just didn't feel like cleaning my rifles afterward.

Now you tell me...

[CouchOperator]

Couch, can you provide a rough annual round count and a pic of your Bolt?

Just for S & G's

Not home at the moment but ill try to remember when i am.

[bigbearbear]

I don't shoot my AR often enough to have foul up with carbon, and I usually clean it after each range trip, which is more than 1 year ago. I need to shoot it more.

I have seen a couple of ARs failing, they are not mine so I'm not 100% sure if they are properly lubed or not. One was a shooter on a table next to mine, his AR would constantly jam and the brass would be stuck in the chamber. This required the brass to be pounded out with a stick and mallet provided by the helpful RSOs at Los Altos. After he did that a few times and holding up the range, the RSOs provided a cleaning kit for him and he didn't have anymore issues later on.

The other was my colleague, also at Los Altos. I recall he was using ZQI 5.56mm ammo and somehow, a piece of brass or the primer fell out after the round was fired, causing the AR to jam up. He mentioned that he cleaned it and had no more issues later on.

[chuckdc]

What about those stories online of getting stuck brass casings in the chamber? I guess after shooting wolf ammo since wolf fouls the chamber more since it doesn't expand as well as brass?

I have personally had that happen to me, but it was with some old Norinco .223 ammo that I had picked up for a ridiculously low price. This was the old stuff that came in the little yellow boxes. Well, it was NASTY dirty ammo, and the brass was of some formula not usually found anywhere but China. Weird stuff, different color and tarnished really quickly. I could get maybe 100 rounds between cleanings, but once it got dirty, the empties would stick in the chamber enough that the rim would come off under the extractor. At that point, it was time to have a cleaning/range rod handy to punch out the empty and clean the rifle.That ammo would also stick in my Contender, too

That stuff is all gone, and i havent had any problems with any other brand of ammo, with the exception of some PMP S. African ammo which had widely varying powder charges.

[RustyIron]

As a few of you know, i dont clean my AR except for a yearly teardown to check for odd wear or whatnot, and even then i just wipe the bolt down with a paper towel and thats about it.

I clean my guns, wash my car, and mow my lawn. Cleanliness and attention to detail are a direct reflection of the craftsman.

[rero360]

Back a few years ago I posted about an experiment a few of us did on my last deployment. We deep cleaned our rifles and then had one individual put the exact same amount of lube in the same places on each rifle, with each rifle getting a different type of lube, Frog Lube, Slip 2000, FireClean, regular CLP, and maybe one other type, I forget exactly. We then proceeded to shoot them until failure, with no cleaning or additional lube added.

The SLiP 2000 and FireClean lasted 20 something mags, the CLP rifle ate it at around 7 mags, and the Frog Lube rifle had 10 mags through it and the shooter called it a day. The SliP 2000 rifle was getting sluggish and had a blown primer from a MK 262 round after 20 or so mags of M855, switched back to the M855 and it kept going until we stopped for the day. the shooter for the FireClean rifle didn't notice any sluggishness of his rifle.

small sample size.

[Mute]

I've had some ARs go several thousand (+5000 rounds) through them without any cleaning and still run if I keep it lubed. So I'm not in the carbon fouling problems camp.

[paratroop]

Ive had jams after shooting a mess of blanks. But....squirt of clp, no more problems!

I used to detail every gun after shooting them. Now i dont remember the last time i thoroughly cleaned one!

The most noticeable one that has issues first is my ruger 10-22. Gotta keep that sucker clean!

Ive had issues with failures to extract on ars, only after shooting steel cased rounds. Dont buy steel cased 223 anymore!

[alexisjohnson]

I think theoretically its possible but i've never seen it happen. I think the idea is to have a gun clean enough where it doesn't potentially take place.

its the same as changing the oil in an engine. I've seen cars where the oil isn't changed for years....its only topped off when needed. The car will work indefinitely...but...you're not going to get the same life out of the engine. I would assume the same thing goes for guns but they're cheap enough where it practically doesn't really matter.

[Jimi Jah]

All I shoot is steel ammo out of my AR-47, it loves it. Never a stuck case or FTF. Might be because I keep it clean?

There is that BCM rifle that's run like 30,000 rounds without cleaning, they just re-lube with Slip 2000 EWL. How would you like to have to clean that rifle? You might need a chisel to get the carbon off.