How to clean sand out of AR

[drift_g35]

So my buddy didnt believe me that if I covered my AR in sand that it would still fire. $20 later and I was right he was wrong. But now i have a problem. How do I get all this sand out! All the sand is stuck to the oil. I soaked it in the bathtub with some dawn dish soap, completely field stripped. Charging it feel less gritty now but id like to get all the sand out... Suggestions?

[bobbyfairbanks]

Let the AR dry completely. Then use compressed air to blow it all off. To get all of it you may need to degrease first then dry then blow again.

[MarkCO]

Pay him $20 to clean it?

[ChunkyMonkey]

So my buddy didnt believe me that if I covered my AR in sand that it would still fire. $20 later and I was right he was wrong. But now i have a problem. How do I get all this sand out! All the sand is stuck to the oil. I soaked it in the bathtub with some dawn dish soap, completely field stripped. Charging it feel less gritty now but id like to get all the sand out... Suggestions?

degreaser, dry it, then compressed air (canned one works fine), then lube it excessively.

[ruthabagah]

it may sound silly, but to separate oil/grease and sand disassemble your rifle, put the part in the microwave on low for a minute. The resulting vibration will work miracles... oh, and it'll charge your iphone 6 too. [dig]

[Rooskibar03]

May I suggest one of these.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm251/cmuthard03/E22DA0A6-DA6C-40BA-9BB1-9FE8901FDE5E_zpsonw5u36v.jpg (http://s298.photobucket.com/user/cmuthard03/media/E22DA0A6-DA6C-40BA-9BB1-9FE8901FDE5E_zpsonw5u36v.jpg.html)

[rbeau30]

...$20 later and I was right he was wrong...

So, is it really you who won, or did he just pay you 20 bucks to put sand in your tool?

What is your time worth? I bet you spent more than $20 on getting the sand out already.




On a more serious note, do all of you put a lot of oil in your ARs? All I really do is clean with CLP, thin last coat of CLP after surfaces clean and quick wipe dry.

[earplug]

Get naked with your honey and take a long hot shower. Your troubles will go down the drain.

[beast556]

I put my ar in the dishwasher, upper and lower and it came out sparkling clean. The bolt and c handle got blasted with brake cleaner wiped down and re lubed. Good as new.

[james_bond_007]

This reminds me of the old prank where you challenge someone a contest to see who can hit the other guy the softest.
Your have your opponent go first; he barely touches you.
Then you haul off and smack your opponent as hard as you can and say "I lose".

...I have a feeling that if you were in the Army, you may not have made it out of boot camp if you could not clean your weapon.
I think that, no matter what, your DI would have you 'motivated' to figure it out.

[Sarcasm2]

Here's the 'ARMY WAY' to clean an M-16. (Not necessarily the RIGHT, WRONG, or BEST way...just the 'ARMY WAY' ).
http://www.armystudyguide.com/content/SMCT_CTT_Tasks/Skill_Level_1/0713112025-sl1-maintain-a.shtml
or
http://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/survival/US%20Army%20-%20TM%209-1005-249-10%20-%20Operator%27s%20Manual%20for%20M16%20and%20M16A1 .pdf


At the end of the first link is says ...
Evaluation Guidance: Score the soldier GO if all performance measures are passed. Score the soldier NO GO if any performance measure is failed. If the soldier scores NO GO, show him what was done wrong and how to do it correctly.


That is "code" for
The DI shall make you and your platoon's life a living hell, until you are able to clean the rifle properly.


(I hope you know that I am just yanking your chain a bit ...)[Beer]

[wctriumph]

So my buddy didnt believe me that if I covered my AR in sand that it would still fire. $20 later and I was right he was wrong. But now i have a problem. How do I get all this sand out! All the sand is stuck to the oil. I soaked it in the bathtub with some dawn dish soap, completely field stripped. Charging it feel less gritty now but id like to get all the sand out... Suggestions?

Really??

[ROFL1][ROFL3][fail][facepalm]

[mcantar18c]

Never tried with an AR, but I used brake cleaner with great success cleaning shit out of my 240L. Worked really well.

[9mmJ]

I've cleaned tools and AR's in the dishwasher before. Lots of oil after the cleaning.

[james_bond_007]

...don't forget to disassemble and clean the magazine, as well.

[BPTactical]

If my "buddy" challenged me to that I would tell him to fuck himself. He can go buy his own damn AR and find out.
It's one thing to get some sand in it from the range, a class or fighting the Zombie Apocalypse but to purposely put sand in a weapon is daft.

[hurley842002]

If my "buddy" challenged me to that I would tell him to fuck himself. He can go buy his own damn AR and find out.
It's one thing to get some sand in it from the range, a class or fighting the Zombie Apocalypse but to purposely put sand in a weapon is daft.
My thoughts exactly

[cfortune]

Did the microwave thing work?

[sniper7]

Dishwasher

[TheBelly]

Non-chlorinated brake cleaner. All over. Every part EXCEPToptics.

let dry.

compressed air to blow out the rest.

re-lube.

[sniper7]

Did the microwave thing work?

I tired that and it works awesome, sand pops out of all the crevices.

[275RLTW]

Fill with old Barbasol shaving foam, scrub, break it down in the shower to rinse.

[Ah Pook]

If my "buddy" challenged me to that I would tell him to fuck himself. He can go buy his own damn AR and find out.

Duh... [Stick]

Gotta be better ways to make $20.

[ruthabagah]

I tired that and it works awesome, sand pops out of all the crevices.

See guys? it's totally safe! [microwave]

[Holger Danske]

Fill with old Barbasol shaving foam, scrub, break it down in the shower to rinse.
Works good

[Brian]

May I suggest one of these.



You have one? How do you like it? AR-15 uppers are good, but not lowers, right? No Aluminum?

[sniper7]

You have one? How do you like it? AR-15 uppers are good, but not lowers, right? No Aluminum?

What is an areare-15 upper receiver made of?

[Brian]

Sorry, I didn't word that very well, but that was my point. I've heard very mixed reviews on what you can and cannot use in one of these. Hornady clearly advertises it's made for cleaning upper receiver groups and small parts, but then the vast "wisdom" of the internet seems to claim you can't dump your lower in it, or it will dissolve into fairy dust or something. I shoot a lot suppressed, and the idea that I could disassemble the gun and drop it in a tank, dirty mags and all, is really appealing. But not if it's going to somehow mess with the anodizing or something.

Would really like to hear from someone who has dunked their AR a few dozen times.

[cofi]

On a more serious note, do all of you put a lot of oil in your ARs? All I really do is clean with CLP, thin last coat of CLP after surfaces clean and quick wipe dry.

I run my ars wet (Mobil 1)

http://www.slip2000.com/blog/s-w-a-t-magazine-filthy-14/

[Circuits]

The maker of my tank (Sharper Tek) warns that "mirror finishes on aluminum can be dulled" from cleaning in an ultrasonic tank, and recommend use of a "dispersion plate" they sell if you're going to be cleaning mirror-finished aluminum pieces. I don't believe the same applies to the hard-coat anodized surfaces of an AR upper and lower, but who knows?

I use simple green aircraft as my detergent, and haven't noticed any negative effects on the uppers or lowers I've cleaned in my tanks, but I haven't gone through a dozen cycles on any of the parts yet, as I only dunk the rifles if they're extra filthy (usually after MG rentals), otherwise I still just clean by hand. I've also done big batches of magazines in my tanks, using one for a simple green cleaning pass, then a quick dunk in light oil to displace the water and lubricate them before letting them drip drain and air dry.

I have several smaller tanks I use for BCG assemblies and other small parts - but those are steel, anyway. For large enough tanks, handguns can just be dropped in the basket with the slide locked open, or cylinder swung out. Single actions I disassemble and drop the frame and cylinder as two pieces.


Sorry, I didn't word that very well, but that was my point. I've heard very mixed reviews on what you can and cannot use in one of these. Hornady clearly advertises it's made for cleaning upper receiver groups and small parts, but then the vast "wisdom" of the internet seems to claim you can't dump your lower in it, or it will dissolve into fairy dust or something. I shoot a lot suppressed, and the idea that I could disassemble the gun and drop it in a tank, dirty mags and all, is really appealing. But not if it's going to somehow mess with the anodizing or something.

Would really like to hear from someone who has dunked their AR a few dozen times.

[mcantar18c]

What is an areare-15 upper receiver made of?
Evil. They're made of racist evil.

As for lube...
In normal conditions, some light grease (something that won't run) on the contact areas of the BCG, the contact areas of the bolt, and a little itty bitty bit on the buffer and the hammer face.
In dirty environments, spray-on dry lube on everything.
In humid environments, lube with grass as above, then get your hands a little greasy and run your hand over everything steel... better to clean a little grease off your uniform than spend an hour scrubbing rust off your FSP after a week in the field.

[J]

Man, if anyone wants to take this bet with me, I'll gladly pay $20 to watch you sand up your AR, then drink some scotch (maybe share if I'm feeling generous) as I watch you try to get it clean.

Sounds like you got had.

[thvigil11]

I've heard an AR won't fire with Grape Jelly in the action and I've got $20.

[drift_g35]

I think you guys have the wrong picture, I dropped it in sand, with the dust cover closed and kicked some sand on it. I didnt bury it 6 feet of sand of a week. And I had to prove a point that AR's arent pieces of shit and AK run circles around them.

[HoneyBadger]

I think you guys have the wrong picture, I dropped it in sand, with the dust cover closed and kicked some sand on it. I didnt bury it 6 feet of sand of a week. And I had to prove a point that AR's arent pieces of shit and AK run circles around them.
Aren't there about 1,000 youtube videos of this that could have proved your point?

[TFOGGER]

Local Smartass: "I'll bet you $20 that you can't hit yourself in the nuts with a hammer 6 times..."

[Brian]

The maker of my tank (Sharper Tek) warns that "mirror finishes on aluminum can be dulled" from cleaning in an ultrasonic tank, and recommend use of a "dispersion plate" they sell if you're going to be cleaning mirror-finished aluminum pieces. I don't believe the same applies to the hard-coat anodized surfaces of an AR upper and lower, but who knows?

I use simple green aircraft as my detergent, and haven't noticed any negative effects on the uppers or lowers I've cleaned in my tanks, but I haven't gone through a dozen cycles on any of the parts yet, as I only dunk the rifles if they're extra filthy (usually after MG rentals), otherwise I still just clean by hand. I've also done big batches of magazines in my tanks, using one for a simple green cleaning pass, then a quick dunk in light oil to displace the water and lubricate them before letting them drip drain and air dry.

I have several smaller tanks I use for BCG assemblies and other small parts - but those are steel, anyway. For large enough tanks, handguns can just be dropped in the basket with the slide locked open, or cylinder swung out. Single actions I disassemble and drop the frame and cylinder as two pieces.

Thx, this is exactly the feedback I was looking for. Now I just need to go buy a couple bags of sand. LOL.

[buffalobo]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0009RF8O2?pc_redir=1412320016&robot_redir=1

[Rooskibar03]

Yes I own it and it works great. I should note I've only used the Hornady brand cleaner in mine. Others report simple green works great also.

It will fit both of my uppers 14.5" and 16" with no issue. I'm sure a 18" would fit.

You cannot get the entire lower into the tank without removing the grip and stock. With those removed it would fit just find but I simply turn it upside down and suspend the lower with the bands provided.

Ive put both a Noveske and a Spikes in there and not had any issues. I've put almost every gun I own short of AK and shotties since they don't fit.

It seems like it's hard on finishes, especially the Nitron on my Sigs, but after they are done cleaning I rinse with water, blow them dry and then wipe them down with oil and they shine right back up.

For a really dirty gun there is nothing better. For quick cleaning it's overkill. It takes a bit of time to make sure you've got all the water out of the nooks and crannies.







Sorry, I didn't word that very well, but that was my point. I've heard very mixed reviews on what you can and cannot use in one of these. Hornady clearly advertises it's made for cleaning upper receiver groups and small parts, but then the vast "wisdom" of the internet seems to claim you can't dump your lower in it, or it will dissolve into fairy dust or something. I shoot a lot suppressed, and the idea that I could disassemble the gun and drop it in a tank, dirty mags and all, is really appealing. But not if it's going to somehow mess with the anodizing or something.

Would really like to hear from someone who has dunked their AR a few dozen times.

[BPTactical]

The real issue with US cleaners is the ultra high frequency vibrations imparted on your components.
This will cause finely fitted components to "fret" against each other. In extreme cases this can cause undue wear of those nicely fitted and precision honed components. Now add debris such as sand to the equation and you may as well be cleaning with a 220 grit orbital sander.
US cleaners are fine if you remember a couple of things:
1- rinse the majority of crud off first.
2- don't put assembled components in.
3- only clean the components long enough to get them clean, don't just toss things in for an hour.

Want proof? Toss a precision bearing in a US cleaner and let it sit there for an hour or two.

[henpecked]

He needs to sell the gun, I'll give you 20 bucks

[spqrzilla]

I've heard an AR won't fire with Grape Jelly in the action and I've got $20.
If it wasn't that I don't like grape flavor .... you'd be soooo on.

[davsel]

Cover it with peanut butter and let the dog have at it.

[sabot_round]

This should have been posted in the "WTF were they were thinking" thread.[facepalm]

[HoneyBadger]

This should have been posted in the "WTF were they were thinking" thread.[facepalm]
It was. :D

https://www.ar-15.co/threads/69791-THE-quot-WTF-were-they-thinking-quot-thread!?p=1737113&viewfull=1#post1737113

[sabot_round]

It was. :D

Wooops!!! I missed it!!![gohome]

[sabot_round]

It was. :D

https://www.ar-15.co/threads/69791-THE-quot-WTF-were-they-thinking-quot-thread!?p=1737113&viewfull=1#post1737113

It was not noticed, nor commented on though!![fail]