Bravo Company Rifles

[jerrymrc]

As a side note I give you Old Dirty. Put in service in 2003 now has over 15000 rounds of various .308 WITHOUT A CLEANING. I was there when the already broken gas piston spring broke again (was already in two pieces) binding up the piston. it was replaced and keeps running today. The rifle has only been stopped 2 times. Once for the above even though it had gone 4000+ rounds with the spring broken in half and once when the brass broke in half and part was left in the chamber. It is a metric Fal. Yes it has been lubed but that is it.

It will be in attendance next may down at the NRA whittington center at Falfest.

The owner is a friend of mine and this all started as a joke way back when it cost $300 to build a FAL and ammo was $129 per K.

[Anton]

...back when it cost $300 to build a FAL and ammo was $129 per K.

[SNAFU]

As a side note I give you Old Dirty. Put in service in 2003 now has over 15000 rounds of various .308 WITHOUT A CLEANING. I was there when the already broken gas piston spring broke again (was already in two pieces) binding up the piston. it was replaced and keeps running today. The rifle has only been stopped 2 times. Once for the above even though it had gone 4000+ rounds with the spring broken in half and once when the brass broke in half and part was left in the chamber. It is a metric Fal. Yes it has been lubed but that is it.

It will be in attendance next may down at the NRA whittington center at Falfest.

The owner is a friend of mine and this all started as a joke way back when it cost $300 to build a FAL and ammo was $129 per K.

Old Dirty,,forgot about that. I followed it closely on FALFiles.
Wish I still had my SAR-48

[KevDen2005]

This thread makes me want another rifle and another lab.

Damn you guys!!!

[2ndChildhood]

OK, I read the article Roger linked to...

One thing caught my attention, the line that said "If your cleaning takes more than 10 or 15 minutes, then you are wasting your time on nonsense."

Well my cleanings always take longer than 15 minutes, somebody please tell me which part I'm doing is nonsense so I can get it done quicker.

Here's what I do;
-Separate the upper and pull out the CH and BCG.
-Run a solvent-wet bore brush through the bore and set it aside.
-Take apart the BCG.
-Clean the extractor with solvent, bronze brush and plastic scraper.
-Clean the bolt with same, plus pipe cleaner for the central hole and run the ejector pin up and down a dozen times while it's soaked in solvent.
-Scrape off the carbon buildup from the tail of the bolt, then brush it.
-Clean the firing pin with solvent, and bronze brush.
-Wipe down the cam pin, ejector pin and cotter pin.
-Clean the bolt carrier with brush, solvent, plastic scraper.
-Pipe cleaner, bore brush and solvent down the snorkel.
-Scrape out the carbon buildup from inside the carrier with an old screwdriver I rounded off on the grinder, then solvent and patch the inside.
-spray the trigger group with clp and poke around with patches.
-Use a chamber brush, solvent, patches and plastic pick on the chamber/lug area.
-clean out the inside of the upper with clp & patches.
-run the bore brush down the bore with solvent 6 times or so.
-Run a few patches through the bore alternate dry and solvent.

-Typically, the patches keep coming out dirty so I end up repeating the last 2 steps a bunch of times.
-put everything together and lube with clp as I go.

Thanks! -2c

[Birddog1911]

What he was alluding to was the way the military teaches it's people to clean a rifle until you can handle it with white gloves. Cleaning the bore too often with a standard cleaning rod will actually damage the barrel. From reading your methods, I personally think you're punching the bore too much. What sort of cleaning rod do you use? You have to be careful of the crown and the muzzle; that'll kill your accuracy.

[Hoser]

We are supposed to clean these things?

I guess I should start doing that.

[Roger]

More here.

http://www.defensereview.com/the-big...m4-unreliable/

[mikedubs]

Jerry, that FAL is just disgusting! Makes me want to pull the trigger on one! Too bad you can't find .223 for 129 per 1K, much less .308

What he was alluding to was the way the military teaches it's people to clean a rifle until you can handle it with white gloves.

^^^^THIS
I remember during boot how we would get smoked if our heavily used, 15-year old A2's would have a slight smudge...the armorers were none too happy. Thankfully I've learned since then that a clean oiled weapon is great, but every gun will have some carbon somewhere unless you completely strip it down each time you shoot. Don't kill yourself with cleaning!

[Birddog1911]

I couldn't believe my luck in Boot Camp. We're standing in line to receive our rifles for the first time. I'm watching a platoon in front of us getting beat up A2s. We get up there, and I'll be damned if they didn't open a brand new crate from Colt to start issuing ours! I qualified on a brand new M16A2! Oohh, it was pretty!