just cleaned my SBR finally...

[corey4]

so i'm 5 hours into a detailed clean on my DDMK18 SBR and i haven't even touched the lower yet lol. it's been shot a lot suppressed and it was very snaky. thank god for sonic cleaners! i was an hour into cleaning the bolt by hand and didn't get anywhere and that's when i decided to get a sonic cleaner. now that i think about it, this is the first time i have ever cleaned it. i probably have a hundred or so unsuppressed and at least 500 suppressed rounds thru it, if not more.

i'm getting ready to reassemble the upper and should i put any kind of grease/antiseize on:
the pin that holds the gas block in place
in between the barrel and upper where the barrel slides in to the upper
in between the gas block and barrel where the gas block slides over the barrel
antiseize on the barrel nut threads

if i put oil there, the oil will just cook off. but on the other hand, it don't plan on shooting this thing for a long time. too much cleaning! lol

this is going to be for long term storage. i have another one NIB DDMK18 SBR that i got 3 years ago that i haven't even sot yet.

i've been considering getting an AR10, but fuck that noise! i shoot suppressed all the time, it's too much to clean. a bolt gun just takes a few minutes.

thanks guys

 

[...]

1) pull it apart
2) hose it down with brake clean
3) scrub with a brush
4) hose it down with brake clean again
5) saturate in oil

done.

if youre spending 5 hrs to clean an AR....that is about 4:30 too long.

 

[corey4]

Detail clean. Like brand new clean. There was baked on carbon everywhere. I even had to scrub off backed on copper that was on the hand guard.

 

[CoyoteKilo]

Nothing wrong with giving it a super detailed clean man, Im the same way with my guns. Cant wait to get a suppressor but not looking forward to the cleaning, what kind of cleaner did you buy?

 

[JW329]

1) pull it apart
2) hose it down with brake clean
3) scrub with a brush
4) hose it down with brake clean again
5) saturate in oil

done.

if youre spending 5 hrs to clean an AR....that is about 4:30 too long.

Normally I'd agree with you if we were talking about standard length non suppressed ar's but my current work horse is an 11.5" 5.56 on a full auto lower running a SF socom mini. The amount of carbon buildup is almost unbelievable! I clean it on a regular basis but still have to put some key parts (brake, bolt, can, ...) in the ultrasonic cleaner every 1-2k rounds.

 

[corey4]

 

[corey4]

pretty fucking bad, eh

 

[corey4]

Nothing wrong with giving it a super detailed clean man, Im the same way with my guns. Cant wait to get a suppressor but not looking forward to the cleaning, what kind of cleaner did you buy?

i'm using weapon shield solvent and bore techs' c4 carbon remover. when i was doing the upper, i was using both on the same area...don't ask me why. when i do the lower today, i'm going to use the weapon shield on one side and the bore tech c4 on the other and see what works best.

also, i just realized i put this thread in the wrong subforum. how do i move threads?

 

[corey4]

 

[corey4]

9 hours lol. im never shooting this thing again!

i even took the time to detail clean the little fucking springs for the take down pins. the only thing that didn't come off for cleaning was the mag release and the forward assist.

as far as the cleaner coyotekilo asked about, i like the bore tech c4 better than the weapon shield. the WS is heavier and more oily. it smeared the carbon more than lifting it away and it does stay in place better. the c4 is more viscus and runs which is probably why it seemed to lift the carbon and move it out of the way. the c4 smells better...well...not as "chemically" as the WS. but i have 2 more bottles of the WS so i'll contiue to use that for the next few years til it's gone. i have been shooting much (pistol or rifle) the last year or so.

i should have taken a picture of the copper build up on the hand guard. there must be a small gap where gas can escape from the can mount. it was impressive.

 

[black5.3]

Man that is pretty dirty. Since you plan on long term storage i guess there is nothing wrong with giving it a cleaning like you did. If you were nust cleaning it to prevent malfunctions/oil then i would have said you did way too much! Lol

my ar’s get cleaned good once a year usually but through out the year i just wile off the excess from the upper components and re oil it. I have found over the years that ar platform rifles can keep running when stupid dirty but the key is keeping them wet in the correct places.

 

[corey4]

Yeah, I haven't shot it in well over a year. I've been dreding doing but this but I'm glad it's done. I hardly ever shoot ARs, it's just really not my thing. I do shoot my mpx in steel challenge and uspsa though, so I guess that kinda counts.

So​​​ to my original question:

should i put any kind of grease/antiseize on:
the pin that holds the gas block in place
in between the barrel and upper where the barrel slides in to the upper
in between the gas block and barrel where the gas block slides over the barrel
antiseize on the barrel nut threads

If any of the above is ideal, it wouldn't be an issue to take it apart real quick.

​​​​​​

 

[Greg Langelius *]

No, no, no, and yes, I use Loctite Anti-Seize Lubricant. No specific reasons except that anti-seize was recommended in the books/videos I followed when I built my Upper, and I am familiar with the brand name.

I'll probably pick up some criticism, and that's fine, but I use Hoppe's Gun Grease to lube the contact areas where the Upper and BCG come into contact; i.e., the shiny places that show wear.

When I'm encountering a lot of baked carbon I simply put the entire BCG (or Garand Bolt, etc...) into a covered container soaking with Odorless Paint Thinner for about a week or so. Anything that won't soften up and wipe away with a shop cloth belongs there, I figure... I detail strip the BCG or Garand bolt for the wipedown.

When I assembled my Lower, I concluded that I was simply never going to take any of that apart except for troubleshooting, if at all. I use Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber liberally on the assembled lower, then give the trigger guts a spritz with Hoppe's Gun Medic (a CLP cleaner) while it's still dripping, so some residual lube remains. Wipe dry with a shop cloth, reassemble.

I'm not looking for squeaky clean perfection, some cleaning is better than none. Perfection goes away with the first round, some gunk is the rifle's natural state.

Done.

Greg

 

[Yondering]

9 hours lol. im never shooting this thing again!

That's where excessive cleaning gets silly, IMO - when it makes you not want to shoot the rifle because you don't want to clean it. Nothing wrong with being OCD about cleaning if you like it, but if it keeps you from using your stuff, it's time to step back and evaluate your cleaning methods and whether it really needs to be cleaned that much.

BTW, soaking the heavy fouling in mineral spirits, kerosene, or WD40 is a lot more effective than brake cleaner; you don't want to strip the oils out of the fouling with brake cleaner, you want excess oil to penetrate into it so it'll loosen and be easier to remove.

My cleaning regimen for AR receivers mostly involves just spraying the upper and lower insides down with WD40, let it soak a few minutes, and blow it all out with compressed air. Oil the moving parts, re-assemble, done.

 

[corey4]

it was sarcasm. i did an OCD almost looks NIB detail clean because i wanted to. if i'm going to clean because i know it's going to be a long time before i plan on shooting it again, im going to CLEAN it.

 

[Draco877]

as a little aside I find liquid wrench does a good job cleaning. just my experience with it as a member of uncle sam's shooting club.

 

[bigjake83]

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/M20RQCb.jpg"}[/IMG2]

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/rVm0RRM.jpg"}[/IMG2]

​​​Dryer then a Nuns Nasty...

 

[oldfatguy]

it was sarcasm. i did an OCD almost looks NIB detail clean because i wanted to. if i'm going to clean because i know it's going to be a long time before i plan on shooting it again, im going to CLEAN it.

Not completely OCD. LOOKS like you missed the inside of the gas tube.

OFG

 

[1slow01z71]

BCG isn't centered in the barrel extension

 

[NighthawkCG]

BCG isn't centered in the barrel extension

Not to derail, but how can you tell? What would that cause and how would you fix?

OP,
Nice job. Heard you had a waiting list for other member's rifles too. Good luck with that venture

 

[1slow01z71]

Not to derail, but how can you tell? What would that cause and how would you fix?

OP,
Nice job. Heard you had a waiting list for other member's rifles too. Good luck with that venture

Look at the wear pattern of the BCG on the barrel extension. It's going into battery slightly to the left. Most likely the face of the upper isn't square or the barrel extension machining is screwed up. I'd lean towards the face not square.

 

[corey4]

Look at the wear pattern of the BCG on the barrel extension. It's going into battery slightly to the left. Most likely the face of the upper isn't square or the barrel extension machining is screwed up. I'd lean towards the face not square.

So how do I fix it?

 

[corey4]

Not completely OCD. LOOKS like you missed the inside of the gas tube.

OFG

I'll let the hot gasses take care of that

 

[Yondering]

So how do I fix it?

You don't, it's fine. He doesn't seem to realize that the contact face of your carrier isn't round on the right side.


Definitely need more oil on that though, judging by the fouling pics. It'll clean up a lot easier, as well as run longer with more oil on it. Keep it a little wet unless you're in a lot of dust, IMO.