I am having the Devil of a time keeping the outward appearance of my Bushmaster to my liking. The matte finish is difficult to keep in a uniform manner. It seems to dry at different rates in regard to the oil giving it a mottles appearance. In addition to that, despite my best efforts at wiping it clean there is a constant seepage of oil out of all openings (trigger, safety, mag release, etc.) I see the pictures you guys post of your rifles and they have a clean, sleek appearance.

On my other rifles I like to keep a thin, almost imperceptible film of oil on them. I'm still learning on this thing.

Alan

I don't sweat the lube seepage. It just goes with the territory.

I use grease, cuts down on seepage.

mottle and seepage don't open the groups up any.....

Remember its a combat rifle to start with, not a show piece.

I know thats not what you wanted to hear though.

And FWIW I don't oil the outside of the recievers and never have.

Pictures hide a lot. All my AR's leak like an AMF Harley Davidson.

Terry

Ain't Gun Slick great?

I have no clue, I use TW-25b.

Have you tried BreakFree and minimum oil, whn I assembly my AR's after a good cleaning. I hand rub all the internal parts with minimal oil and all exterior parts with BreakFree and then wipe the exterior dry with a towel. It will protect it and give it a even dark look, instead of a patchy wet/dry look like some other oils will do. I live in a very dry area and try to keep my oil to a minimum. If not dust adheres to everything. I only get seepage when I starting running them, then it doesn't matter anyway. I'm religious with my cleaning.

All mine leak, also. No biggie...

Religious with cleaning with an AR is just to make you feel better... keep it lubed and you can clean it about ever 500 rounds or so and life will be just fine and worry free. Just sayin.

I have a piston setup and GunSlick is fantastic on it and all my auto handguns. I used it first on a 25 y/o "calico" 1911 my Da and I built in the early '80's. All parts were out of Shotgun News and ran well untill a couple of years ago. Replacement link and barrel and the timing was GTG!As for the GunSlick in an AR, my SR-556/6.8 eats it up. So far no FTF's, feed issues or cycling issues. A light coat of GunSlick on all contact surfaces and she runs, and runs. On match ammo it's -MOA out to 200 yrds. After that start checking tables etc... For most else, hand loads included, should be no problem. Gunslick is one product I will always endorse.

Go to Walmart and look in the shaving section and find yourself a shaving brush. That is bar none the best CLP applicator ever. You control how light or heavy your application is by how many drops you apply to the brush.

Should have bought a R-15 that's been dipped.

Annodized metal is hard to keep the same universal sheen on.

Mine all leak, but I shoot them wet. We may call them "modern sporting rifles", but they will never have the same appearance as blued steel and AAA Claro walnut, so why worry about it?

Part of the reason for my concern is dirt. Right now in South Texas we have lots of loose, dry dirt with no place to go except into the actions of our firearms. The more dirt that collects on the outside means it's going inside too. The mottled appearance, to me, indicates uneven oil coating, but as has been pointed out, oiling the outside of the AR action does nothing from a protection or preservation standpoint.

After just one afternoon of riding on the truck seat (even with the windows up and the AC on most of the time) it was getting pretty dirty. The damn dirt gets everywhere not just in the action but up under the fore end and in the sliding butt stock, ...... It does the same thing on a "regular" rifle but is easier to wipe off.

I gotta figure something out because it's going to take a lot of cleaning time to keep it in a presentable condition (working order). Or, I can just not worry about it. I've got a little Springfield 511 that I keep in the truck too. I don't take as good care of it as I should. It cost me about $150. The Bushmaster cost a bit more than that so I feel a bit more obligated to diligence in cleaning it.

I may have to adapt some kind of scabbard to use when I'm out and about. The AR really doesn't lend itself to scabbard use either but ....... Thanks for the replies. It's great to be able to call on a bunch of experience in a short amount of time.

Alan

I hear ya on dust.... I got my 50 bmg covered with dust one time in South Tx... from then on, and we do a bunch of hunting if we can find places for shooting hogs... I go no where without some protection on the gun in dusty... and I'm not just talkiing AR.....

A buddy carries his AR in an upright holder on the mule, and drops a long pillow case over it.... works pretty good.

I've never had any issues with dust. I keep mine in the rack on the 4 wheeler and just brush it off after I'm through. The outside I keep dry, the inside is wet, keep the dust cover closed and rock on.

It's gonna get dirty but it won't hurt it.

Just sayin, let me know how those 300, 400 and 600 yard groups look after not cleaning it for 500 rounds.. Just sayin.

Just perfectly fine FYI>... Was still shooting perfect scores the last string at 600 at Camp Perry at the National Matches as a High Master Service Rifle competitor...........
Ya might learn something from that too....

One of my High Master buddies cleaned only his BCG for a complete season. As did another High Master, by the name of Derrick Martin of Accuracy Speaks, USAR for many years and for those in the AR field, a very familiar name in building top notch ARs for many years....

Not into the high master thing but to each their own. My idea of precision shooting and yours are a world apart. Now how large is the 10 ring at 600 yards???? all those posts and still rambling.

My AR15s shoot 5 shots into 3 inches or less at 600. I accept no less accuracy. I"ve had a few that shot closer to 1.5 inches and one that shot less than that.

More than sufficient.

I don't think you'd want to stand in front of an uncleaned AR at any distance mostly... at least 1000 yards or less...

And to answer the question...10 ring is 12 inches. X is 6 inches.

Yeah, and that's the Helen Keller targets. The F-class centers are a quarter the area and I don't think I have cleaned the bore of match AR15 since 2009.

Hell no wonder you don't win anything.... grins.... smack sure is full of smack...

My seldom-cleaned AR was good enough to take me to High Master in F-class Mid-Range but that's meaningless to Smack. He is probably just repeating what he has heard at the LGS or read on the Internet.

Laughing, you clowns sure have it figured out. In your own little heads. You don't need me to feed this thread. You're to busy slapping each on the ass. Comical but amusing.


"My seldom-cleaned AR was good enough to take me to High Master in F-class Mid-Range but that's meaningless to Smack."

Truth be told, it is meaningless to SMACK .. WTF?????????

Goes to show how much shooting you do. Brilliant reply!

I clean my AR ever 500 rounds, I haven't cleaned mine since 09 Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrr!! Drip, drool....... I'm a grand meister Something but I haven't clean my AR since 09! FRIKN IN STICHES!!!!!!!



Im throwing out all my AR bore guides tomorrow, you guys are geniuses with this "No clean thing". Let me know where you guys shoot, that way if I ever come around, I'll be sure to throw on a clown suit so as to fit in.

TC1, that is a great cartoon.

Landon, just curious why you're getting so spun up over this?

cause evidently he doesn't know any better.

All of mine leak, that's how I remember that they have been cleaned

SMACK, let me see if I can explain a few things to you. I will keep the concepts simple and type really slowly, so you should be able to follow.

Concept #1: I have several rifles, including several ARs and several match files.

Concept #2: I do not shoot in matches every week, I shoot in matches twice a month, sometimes a little more if there is a state competition or something, sometimes less when circumstances conspire to prevent me from going to a match.

Concept #3: I do not shoot my match rifles outside of competitions; I baby the barrels and with the high price of premium match bullets, I don�t squander them at the local range. I run two F-class match rifles currently; my match AR-15 and my bolt .308. Each rifle has a premium hand-lapped barrel that is very smooth and does not accumulate copper. I monitor throat erosion and so I know EXACTLY how many rounds have gone through each barrel. I know EXACTLY when they were fired and what scores I got. I also know EXACTLY at what point each rifle barrel was cleaned.

Concept #4: I shoot the monthly 1000 yard competition but not with my AR since I got the .308 match rifle. The other monthly competition is either a 300 or a 600 yard match. I use my 308 for the 600 yard matches and more recently I have been using my NM AR for the 300 as I am getting back into sling shooting. (Yes Jeff, I have been shooting my NM AR, but my eyesight is pretty poor (age) so I am struggling with aperture sights.)

Concept #5: I clean around every 500 rounds, which is approximately every 7 matches or so. If I have an important match coming up, I try to make sure the cleaning is done at least one match prior; two is better.

Concept #6: I clean and grease the bolt carrier group for my ARs religiously after each match with my FTR AR or outing with my non-FTR AR rifles. I also clean the chambers and the upper receiver. I have all the specialized tools that allow me to do a thorough job, but I do not, repeat, I do not mess with the bore. This has spilled over to the bolt rifles also. I clean the bolts and grease them with specialized bolt grease.

Additional thoughts, free of charge:
I never, ever clean the bore of my rimfires; the actions and the exterior are spotless. I only clean the bores of my other firearms if I find accuracy flagging or if they have been exposed to the elements, such as a hunting rifle and rain.

It is my opinion that more bores have been ruined by improper cleaning than shooting. Bores are for bullets; when I do clean, it�s with one-piece coated rods in bore guides pushing nylon brushes and soft patches one way only. I remove the rod attachment before I pull the rod back.

My secret is Krylon.

BLA, BLA....... BLA.. I was out on the range yesterday, shooting one of my AR's at 600 yards. Clean bore to start with, took five for it to settle down/foul. Shot really well(As it usually does) until my 6th 10 shot group, which notably started to open up. My seventh 10 shot group was almost half MOA larger than the previous. I know for a fact that for razor edge accuracy for my barrel 60 rounds is about the limit. Maybe I should shoot 500 or so more rounds through it and it will tighten up and drop right back in. Oh wait, I don't have a bore guide anymore! $h!t and I haven't read up on the latest cleaning techniques, so as to not properly clean my barrel and damage it. Ouuuuch! My side hurts I'm laughing so hard.

I can explain it to you, You have a lousy barrel.

Yep, plus 1000. POS barrel.

Any barrel that has 60 rounds and opens up a full half moa is a POS... Mine, good barrels mind you not POS, will shoot under half moa and I'll fire at least 66 rounds or more and THEN lay down and shoot a 22 shot string with irons that most all of the rounds are inside MOA and on call, and most are within 2-3 inches of the shot call, with a sling...no rest...

Sounds like you need to get a barrel and learn a few things in real life.

of course a hacker like you could never stand up to a real match so I could see how you could be laughing at all this.

I'd suggest you drop 24 hourcampfire off your list to visit, its evident you need to spend more time cleaning your barrel.

Amen.

My custom 308 was holding 2/3 MOA at 900 after a 275 rounds over 2 days. Cleaned at the end of day 2.

BMT

Though I can't restrain myself... DFTFT applies here.

We all have moments of weakness... I was wondering what you and Denys had been drinking last night or if you were just tired and had let your guard down.

Ed

You're killing. And now, you owe me a new flat panel and keyboard. The diet Coke shot out of my nose when I read your response and it hurt.

Denys

You can use it and maintain it OR you can keep it pretty.