Just got my 1st AR

[SDPlinker]

Thank you all for the responses. I knew when I bought an AR it would mean a little more maintenance because of more moving parts. I'm looking forward to running and getting to know this machine.

Jason

It really is not, 10 minutes not including a little soak time for the barrel.

 

[AllenRay]

Barrel break in is the boogie man barrel manufactures came up with or maybe it came from gun magazine writers either way I'm inclined to think it's a fairytale. I like a light machine oil such as Zoom Spout and I run a wet BCG.

Like this but I use 5w-30 full synthetic from a visene bottle, sloppy wet. Also in full agreement about barrel break in. .02

 

[AllenRay]

Oh...and congrats.

 

[DDWing]

Thank you all for the responses. I knew when I bought an AR it would mean a little more maintenance because of more moving parts. I'm looking forward to running and getting to know this machine.

Jason

If you aren't already familiar with the process, may I suggest watching a couple of you tube videos on the disassembly and cleaning of the bolt carrier group, as this is one of the main parts to clean and service in an AR.

 

[mooredj]

ARs like to run wet but keep up with the maintenance. Better wet than dry and have malfunctions. Mag dumps are hard on a barrel and really hard on a new barrel. The long range shooter I work with never cleans his barrel unless it starts throwing flyers. Interesting I know but he was a former PRs shooter and now shoots a .338NM out to a mile consistently. He also gets a lot of rounds down a barrel in a year so keep that in mind. I like to clean my barrels at least once a year when I put them away in storage. I like to lap my new barrels with JB paste. Makes them easier to clean and speeds up the break-in process. And I like to run a Kroil patch down my barrels when I store them. Then another Kroil patch when I pull them out of storage and a couple clean patches behind it and I am good to go.

 

[Greyfox]

I have found that a 10-20 round break-in was quite sufficient with my AR's. I have always used BreakFree CLP for all cleaning and lubrication with excellent results.

 

[mooredj]

I have found that a 10-20 round break-in was quite sufficient with my AR's. I have always used BreakFree CLP for all cleaning and lubrication with excellent results.

2x on the CLP

 

[Kansaswoodguy]

I agree on the not cleaning the barrels waste of most peoples time. I very rarely clean mine, better to leave them fouled unless you see a dive in accuracy. I go hundreds if not thousands of rounds between cleanings for the barrel. BCG's do get a lot of buildup and benefit from more frequent cleaning IDK maybe every 500 rounds is plenty.

 

[Bear62041]

As the title says, I just got my first AR 15. It's a Ruger 5.56 MPR. I have questions about barrel break in and lubrication. I have been shooting bolt action rifles forever. I know that when you get a new rifle, you should break the barrel in with the shoot one and clean for about 5 rounds and increase the shot count until about 60 rounds down the barrel. Do I do same for an AR?

Second question. What do you use for lubing the bolt carrier? Spray it down with something like Rem Oil and wipe it down?

Thank you
Jason

Jason, I've built 2 AR-15's in 350 Legend and 5.56 using a Bear Creek upper for each. I also used the Bear Creek suggestion for break in. According to them you shoot 1 round, clean the bore (I just use a bore snake one pass each time) and do this for 5 sets. Then go to 3 rounds and clean the bore for 10 sets, then 5 rounds and clean the bore after the 5 rounds, until you have about 50-60 rounds thru the gun. I don't know if break in is required or not, but I do know that at 100 yards I can put either AR into 1" all day long using a tripod. My buddy also built one side-by-side with me in 5.56 using the same components and he's the "spray and pray" type, didn't do any break-in (we went to the range together to shoot them in) and his won't even come close to mine in accuracy at 100 yards. He's sorry he didn't break his in. Others may feel different about break in but after my 2 experiences I am a believer. I just bought a Ruger in 350 and a Tikka T3x in 270 and when the weather warms they're going to be broken in the same way. I have shot for many years (I'm 80 now and still shooting) and my guns are all in fine shape. As for the bolt/carrier lube, I just use any good light weight gun oil I have on hand. At the end of the day I just pull a bore snake thru it about 1-2 time and run a light oiled patch thru the bore. "Occassionally" I'll clean the BCG and interior of the receiver. Enjoy your AR and lets see some targets !!

 

[xsn10s]

Many people don't believe in breaking in barrels. I do break in barrels and I think your AR doesn't have a chrome lined barrel so I'd break it in. I don't use copper cleaning solvents as I read they can react with aluminum. I used to use Miltec on my AR but I think the formula has changed. Any good gun oil should work. I don't clean mine very much. Since yours is gas piston I think I'd pay attention to that and follow the owner's manual on cleaning. Plus it looks like you live in the Midwest so I'd keep it well lubed.

 

[Pointman]

From an old Nam vet, the chamber area and the interior of the bolt carrier are my main areas of attention. The original M-16's had serious issues that required a chrome chamber due to the ambient weather issues in Nam. It was the only weapon that the training DI's were forbidden to "white glove" inspect. I still concentrate my attention on that area as well as the use of long pipe cleaners for the gas tube. Nothing worse than a weapons cycle failure in combat.

 

[Old Rooster]

Someone on this forum told me about HBN and WS2.HBN is easier to work with as WS2 is the slickest substance there is.
Using a small bottle (I used a pill bottle) put a teaspoon of HBN or WS2 and pour rubbing alcohol and put the lid on and shake it until fully mixed and use a cotton swab to apply it to the parts you want to protect like slide rails,carrier, bolt firing pin recess.Apply and shake the bottle often to keep it mixed.Apply to M4 feed ramps too.I even put some on my trigger that I hand honed to get rid of scratchy creep.
Mine don't miss a beat

 

[budlight]

Your Ruger has some good points. Like the rifle length gas system. don't quote me on the exact pressures, but let's say for example the carbine short tube experiences 30,000 psi. Mid length 20,000 psi and rifle is down to 12,500 psi. So you can use lighter buffer springs and weights to cycle correctly.

I have an AR 20 inch stainless match forged everything, squirrel gun that has in excess of 15,000 rounds through it. The only thing that I have replaced are the piston rings and bolt cam pins. I use a clear/amber Mil spec grease internally on the BCG and 3-IN-ONE-3-oz-Multi-Purpose-Oil-Long-Lasting-Lubricant everywhere else.

Before you fire the rifle take the piston out and thickly coat the bolt assembly, rings, and firing pin. The bolt cam pins really take a beating and need that grease cushion. I wore so many out in my different AR's that even the super stainless hardened that I found the roller bolt cam pins to be super durable. I have both of these roller designs.

The reason for coating the whole ring area of the bolt assembly is that they get hard carboned up on gas guns. When its really greased up with products like Grizzly Grease it makes cleaning in a solvent tank so much easier. Oh if you are a reloader CFE 223 AR Comp Power Pro 2000 MR Leverrevolution Ramshot big game are much cleaner burning. Stay away from h335

I built all my AR's and early on used the best nickel boron BCG's. Over time nickel boron discolors and I went to the best Chrome BCG's. Because I could buy the finest parts and barrels. My competition .223's are dime sized groups at 200 yards using max of 75 and down to 62 grain match bullets. Oh and I did convert a few of my best rifles to piston vs gas tube. Just a world of difference on cleaning and functionality. Just part of the learning curve.



The new Ruger AR-556® Multi-Purpose Rifle ("MPR").
This custom-built modern sporting rifle features an 18" nitrided alloy barrel with rifle-length gas system,

 

[Danehunter]

One comforting thing about RUGER rifle barrels is that they are all cold hammer forged which leaves a smoother barrel and also gives longer wear due to the extra hammer forging which better aligns molecules in the barrel.