If you want to hang with the big boys,

you need to understand the basics

completely, receive good initial train-
ing and follow that up with constant
edutainment training. Have proper
cleaning protocol and use sufficient
lubrication. Follow that up with peri-
odic maintenance and replacement
of wear items. Anything else is just
wasting time—and perhaps lives.

KEEP YoUR CARBINE

RUNNING
I grew up at a time when most
every male had seen some
proportions at Parris Island. The brand-
new M14s were scrupulously scrubbed
§ BY PATRICK A. ROGERS
my squad straight into the shower. We
scrubbed the mud off our rifles, 782 Gear
on that three-day schedule, a remnant and bodies. We brought the rifles into
military service, and I was treated of the use of corrosive primers during the squad bay and briefly cleaned and
to numerous tales of life in the World War II. No one had bothered to lubed them on the deck while using the
service of this country in combat tell the Marine Corps that that was then, miniscule cleaning gear that we were is-
and this was now, so three consecutive sued or purchased. We squared our gear
and in peacetime.
days it was. Interspersed with the clean- away and grabbed a few hours sleep be-

T
hat exposure, and a strong desire to ing lectures were equally ardent lectures fore heading off to learn something new
get out of the city and actually do about why we shouldn’t believe all of about killing other humans.
something that mattered, led me to the gun magazines and newspaper arti- What a great life!
enlist in the Marine Corps shortly after cles bemoaning the adoption of the M14 I was initially terrified that we weren’t
my 17th birthday. and how this monstrosity would lead to spending enough time cleaning those
While I had fired rifles and pistols be- the demise of the Western World. old M1s, but they continued to work as
fore, my education was informal and gen- Surprisingly, when we got to the long as they were properly lubed and
erally limited to what my Dad and oth- Infantry Training Regiment (ITR) at moderately cleaned. Then I began wor-
ers remembered, as well as the articles in Camp Geiger, we were issued M1 Rifles, rying that the M14s might be more frag-
the various gun-related magazines of the and all of the T/E equipment was what ile if they required such constant atten-
time. Cleaning was something that took we would now consider old school— tion as taught at MCRD. How could that
on an almost formal overtone and was M1918A2s, M1919A4s, etc. The train- be? After all, they were similar in many
continued for three consecutive days. ing schedule was all field oriented and respects, so why did one require much
This paled in comparison to what I was we shot what was considered a lot (by more cleaning than the other?
taught in the Marine Corps Recruiting 1963 standards). On several occasions af- The short answer is that they don’t
Depot (MCRD), where cleaning was in ter returning late from the cold and wet require a different cleaning regimen be-
fact a religion, and reached Jesuitical North Carolina training sites, I marched cause they are different rifles—it is just

70 S.W.A.T. DECEMBER 2006 www.swatmag.com

Drop of lube properly applied
will get—and keep—the gun
running. Here one drop has
been applied to one of two
gas-vent holes, next a second
will be applied. This M4 was
subjected to very harsh firing
schedule in the desert, with
winds gusting over 50 mph.
It never malfunctioned. Start
off with a quality weapon,
properly maintain it, keep it
reasonably clean and lubri-
cated, use good magazines
and ammunition and you
won’t have problems.

DIsPELLING LUBRICATIoN AND CLEANING MYTHs

that cleaning has to be looked at from stocks, match sights and big bullets. It “Remember Jessica Lynch” has become
several widely divergent points of view. was billed as needing minimal cleaning, a cry of the unknowing, and while the
The first and most obvious is that, which turned into self-cleaning, which subject makes for great points for their
if there is sufficient time available for turned into no cleaning as some rifles side, it is flawed.
cleaning, that time will be used for clean- were issued “in country” without clean- Reports concerning this incident state
ing, meaningless or not. Second is that, ing equipment. Several issues combined that there were weapons malfunctions to
under exigent circumstances, a quick to make a tolerance stack, and malfunc- be sure. However, a sergeant in that con-
cleaning, paying particular attention to tioning rifles were the result. voy stated that the weapons were cleaned
salient points, may be all that is neces- Probably as the result of these issues daily and were clean when they left that
sary to keep the weapon running. in the late 1960s, a myth of grand pro- morning. The M16A2 wielded very ef-
A military issue is that in many units portions has swelled up concerning the ficiently by a soldier who killed six of
the armorers—and sometimes even an care and cleaning of the AR platform. the enemy with it did malfunction—be-
officer—will conduct what amounts to This myth specifies that the AR must be cause of a faulty magazine and a broken
a “white glove” inspection, wherein the kept spotlessly clean, and that it takes an extractor. This is a service-life issue with
troops will be kept “busy” by perform- hour (if not more) of steady cleaning for the rifle, not a design flaw. While leader-
ing useless, and sometimes harmful, the rifle to be once more useful. Indeed, ship and depot level maintenance might
“cleaning” in order to satisfy the whims because this rifle allegedly dirties where have prevented something like this, the
of despots and buffoons. Removing it feeds, it must be cleaned regularly and proper steps were not taken at a level
protective lubrication or scraping away with great care if you are to use it. Also, above the soldier in the field. An M249
finish does nothing to improve service- a few meager grains of sand will cause it also failed, but that may have been due
ability—it only destroys the guns and to stop running. to lack of training with the weapon. And
angers the troops. The highlight for many errornet pun- what of the celebrated centerpiece of
When the M16 first came upon the dits comes when they rally around a this fight? She may have been knocked
scene (shortly after the M14), it was a female soldier whose convoy was am- unconscious when her vehicle crashed
shock to those who believed in wooden bushed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. at the beginning of the action—but this

www.swatmag.com S.W.A.T. DECEMBER 2006 71

KEEP YOUR CARBINE RUNNING

Wear on body
of bolt and
bolt cam pin.
Wear area on bottom of bolt carrier Wear on top of hammer where bolt
needs lubrication. carrier makes contact.

Viewed through ejection port, wear With less than 1,000 rounds fired,
can be seen on inside of receiver. carrier key on this bolt is starting to
Don’t forget to lube this critical area. show wear. If it shines, it needs lu-
brication.

is casually brushed aside in the bubble the tube with a wet patch. Leave the it with a fresh brush and patch. Spin that
gum (gun) forums. The serviceability of chemicals to do their work and get to the and then dry the chamber out. Clean out
her weapon is therefore moot. bolt/bolt carrier assemblies. the locking lugs with cotton swabs.
Here’s a news flash: Sand in the cham- Spray the bolt with either Slip 725 or Spray some Slip 725 into the upper
ber will stop most guns—M16s, AK-47s, Evinrude Johnson Engine Tuner and let receiver and the charging handle. Your
M24s, M1s, M9s and so forth. It is not it sit. toothbrush and cotton swabs work well
unique to the AR platform. Clean the bolt carrier assembly by here.
Cleaning is a hot-button topic, and a removing carbon from the bolt cam pin Take a few dry patches and clean the
great many (especially AR detractors) slot, inside of the bolt carrier (yeah, that barrel. Note that I don’t normally use a
really believe that the AR has to be kept chrome-lined thing where the bolt goes bore brush, and allow the cleaning fluid
meticulously clean to function. While in) and the bottom of the bolt carrier it- to take care of the bore.
having a clean gun is never bad, neither self. You can use a wet pipe cleaner to Before the rockets start flying, let
do you have to put up with the white clean the inside of the bolt carrier key, me state that I used to shoot Service
glove nonsense. but I rarely do. Do not put anything in- Rifle, and am a High Master and a
My cleaning regimen may be different side of the gas tube—it is unnecessary, Distinguished Rifleman. I rarely used a
from conventional protocol, but it works and you will only stick debris in there brush on my M14NM or match AR-15s.
and has stood the test of time. I normally that can do no good. If I felt that the bore was heavily fouled,
spend no more than ten minutes doing a Use your toothbrush and a rag to clean I ran several wet patches through it, and
field cleaning, and oftentimes less than the bolt, specifically the bolt lugs. Do not if I absolutely felt the need for a brush, it
that. If it takes you an hour, you are wast- concern yourself with the carbon build was nylon, not copper. Never ever use a
ing time on something or you are doing up on the bolt’s tail. No matter how you stainless steel brush in your barrel.
something wrong. clean it, it will just reappear the next time Understand that this is for a carbine,
This is the cleaning protocol that I use. you shoot it. I had an armorer once tell which by virtue of its definition is a
This isn’t “the” way, but rather “a” way. me that the carbon promoted corrosion. short-barreled rifle. The 5.56x45mm ser-
I don’t pretend to know everything, and That may well be if the gun is never shot, vice rounds and M4 carbines are certain-
I wind up learning something new al- but I have yet to see a working bolt cor- ly capable of hitting out past 500 meters,
most every day. Not using what is listed rode away. but it shines in fights that take place un-
below won’t necessarily get you killed, Attach the chamber brush to your der 200 meters. Bothering with inconse-
make you unattractive to a potential cleaning rod and scrub out the cham- quential increments may not be useful
mate nor make you unpopular at the lo- ber. I generally use a worn brush, wrap under these circumstances. However, if
cal gin mill. a wet patch around it and insert it in the you have an SPR type, by all means give
I’ll field strip the carbine and punch chamber. Spin it a few times and replace the care to that barrel that it deserves, but

72 S.W.A.T. DECEMBER 2006 www.swatmag.com

 KEEP YOUR CARBINE RUNNING
SWAT:
that care may be wasted on a 10.5-inch to
SIZE:14.5-inch
1 col. x10” (2.25” x 10”)
carbine.
Before reassembling, check your bolt
rings for serviceability. Insert the bolt
COLOR:
into 4 theCOLOR
bolt carrier, and turn it upside
down (preferably over something soft).
ISSUE: DECEMBER
If the bolt falls out on its own, you need
to change the gas rings. If not, you are
good to go.
IN HAND: NOVEMBER
Don’t get locked into the nonsense
of misaligning the gas rings. The Colt
TOPIC: SHOTFORCE
Armorer instructors state emphatically
that the gun will run with only one good
COST:ring,
$528 and I have done exactly that. We
have been teaching that misaligning the
gas rings is a waste of time for about ten
Emailed
yearsto:or so. I have seen nothing that leads
bobcole@centurytel.net
me to believe differently.
Time: 5:15
One ofp.m. ESTprominent
the very Sept. 29,AR2006
myths is
that the gun runs better dry. It is a myth.
The AR series runs significantly better
wet than dry, but there are those who ap-
proach this with such great trepidation
that they steadfastly refuse to use only
a tiny bit of lube on their carbines, caus-
ing them to cease functioning after a very
short while.
Hundreds of e-net posts speak of using
little lube on the carbines, believing that
too much lube is the cause of all prob-
lems. A friend, a retired Marine MSgt
and a prolific Class 3 collector, looks at
lube like it was two-day old cat urine,
and is absolutely phobic about putting
anything more than a drop or two on any
gun.
Our experience is that, after poor
magazines and operator-induced mal-
functions, dry guns are a major cause of
stoppages. We see this in every class we
have ever attended or taught, and we are
satisfied that our observations regarding
lubrication are correct.
Consider that your carbine is a ma-
chine, and like an internal combustion
engine, it requires lubrication to make it
function. There are certain wear points in
the gun that need attention, and failure
to do so can cause a stoppage. A good
rule of thumb is to look for shiny marks,
which indicate metal-to-metal contact. If
it shines, get it wet.
Remove the bolt from the bolt carrier.
Turn the bolt carrier over and observe
the shiny area on the bottom. This is a
wear point. The slot that the bolt cam pin
rides in is another wear point, as is the

www.swatmag.com S.W.A.T. DECEMBER 2006 73

KEEP CARBINE RUNNING

chromed hole in the bolt carrier that the

bolt rides in. The entire bolt carrier can
use a coat of lube, but pay particular at-
tention to those areas. The military also
states that a drop down the bolt carrier
gas key is required.
The bolt itself requires a coating of oil,
paying particular attention to the bolt
Two lubricants sug-
rings and the lugs. Those bolt rings func-
gested, based on field
tion just like the piston rings in your car
use, are Slip 2000 and
engine. How long do you think your ride
MD Labs XF7. Choosing
would last without lube?
a quality carbine to start
A properly cleaned and lubed carbine
with doesn’t hurt either.
should go a minimum of 500 rounds to
1000 rounds without any cleaning at all.
However, using a suppressor will cut formal tests. While the exact results have chores. Slip 2000 is aqueous based, elimi-
that number down drastically, as will been lost to the ages, some salient points nating a lot of the contamination issues
firing multiple rapid-fire strings or fir- remain embedded in my brain-housing seen with petroleum products, and their
ing with the selector switch on “Group group. products flat work. I have found Slip
Therapy.” A totally dry gun will run approxi- 2000 to be excellent and the owner, Greg
I advise shooters that during the chow mately 100-200 rounds before seeing Connor, is a great American.
break they should place a few drops of problems. If I need grease, it will be TW25B
oil into those two gas ports on the right A clean, properly lubed gun in good (known in the Marine Corps, where it is
side of the bolt carrier. The lube will get condition should go from 500 minimum used on the up-gunned weapons stations
into the gas rings located handily nearby to 1,000 maximum. on AAVs as “elephant sperm”). Mad Dog
and keep your gun running smoothly. More lube is not necessarily bad. I sub- Lab’s XF7 is something else worth look-
Finally, a few drops of oil into the un- merged bolt and bolt carrier assembly ing carefully at, and it appears to work
derside of the charging handle are not a into a bucket of oil, shook it off and placed well.
bad thing. it into the carbine. It ran like a clock, If you prefer to use eye of newt and
The AR system runs much better wet though I only had enough time to fire toe of frog—have at it. My name isn’t at-
than dry, and we see that during every off four mags worth of M855 through it. tached to any of it, and if you found the
class. I have used every type of lube imagin- absolute key to the cleaning universe, go
Understand that it is not the amount able, going from WD-40 (especially good for it.
of lube used, but also the placement of when you have a dirty gun), to 3 in 1 oil, My experience over the years as a
the lube. At one class, a very experi- suntan lotion, butter and even Vagisil— Marine and a cop and working with sis-
enced shooter was having functioning don’t laugh, it works. ter services, foreign governments, police
problems. He pulled back on the charg- I may not want to use any of them for departments and civilians from all walks
ing handle to show me that the bolt was the long haul, but for a quick fix, it beats of life leads me to some inescapable con-
wet, but when he released the charging having a non-functioning gun. clusions.
handle, I could see that the area on the The type of lube you use is something First is that firearms are machines,
bolt carrier adjacent to the gas holes was else that is full of mythology and sprin- and unless you keep them in the safe,
dry. I placed two drops of Slip 2000 into kled with fact. While the military uses heavily lubed, they will exhibit wear.
those holes and the gun ran fine. CLP, a book several years ago cautioned Shocking but true, nothing lasts forever,
The moral of this story is not just to put against using it for cleaning as it ”pro- and the harder you shoot it, the shorter
lube on, but put it on in the right places. motes carbon.” Why it only promotes its lifespan. Proper maintenance and
Keep in mind that when at class and carbon for cleaning and not lubricating cleaning will extend their useful life,
shooting 400-1000 rounds per day, the is a mystery to me, but I don’t use CLP but they are going to give up the ghost
bolt will get blown dry. Adding oil dur- for anything anymore. one day.
ing break time will keep the gun running Commercial choices abound, from Just like you will.
and keep you learning new skill sets in- mystical concoctions of “Sergeant Second is the fact that all guns are no
stead of becoming frustrated with a con- Major’s brew” to a host of “this is the more equal than all people are. The mal-
stantly malfunctioning gun. best stuff ever made and we’ll sue any- functions that I see at military classes are
In the 1990s I worked for a govern- one who says different” crap. the result of worn-out guns and bad mag-
ment agency that had a large budget. We I prefer to stay away from most pe- azines. In the open enrollment classes, the
had a fair number of guns and a lot of troleum-based products, and use Slip malfunctions I see are poor quality con-
ammunition, so on the down days I had 2000 for lube and that same company’s trol on the aftermarket guns, bolt carrier
the opportunity to play and run some in- 725 Cleaner and Degreaser for the other gas keys not staked/staked with a limp

74 S.W.A.T. DECEMBER 2006 www.swatmag.com

 KEEP YOUR CARBINE RUNNING

wrist, bad magazines and improper lube.

I try not to be shocked and amazed at
the poor quality guns being turned out
by many, but then the homemade guns—
the so-called “FrankenGuns” built with
gun show parts and little knowledge—
lead me to believe that in the gun world,
P.T. Barnum would be a master.
That isn’t to say that all of the compa-
nies aren’t capable of turning out good
(even great) guns, and often they do.
But as a good friend often states, “Even
a broken clock is right twice a day.” I’m
not impressed with the bleats of, “Well,
I’ve had this gun for ten years and it has
never ‘jammed’ once.” Of course not.
Malfunctions only occur when you fire
them. I have seen enough of most types
to make me realize that the only ARs in
my company’s armory are those that
meet a standard.
Any gun is a machine, and once in
your paws it must be properly main-
tained. That does not mean incessantly

swatmag.com
cleaned with obsessive fervor, but rather
taking care of those particular areas that
affect functioning. Keep a gun book and
annotate it with a round count so that
you can figure out when certain parts
(extractor springs, gas rings, bolts and
barrels) need replacing. Replace these TACTICAL SHOTGUN ACCESSORIES
parts before they replace you.
Keep it lubed to reduce friction, and FOR THE PROFESSIONAL
understand that the more you use it, the
more parts need to be replaced. Accept OPERATOR
that as a fact of life and drive on. §
AR STOCK ADAPTERS AND SYSTEMS
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www.swatmag.com S.W.A.T. DECEMBER 2006 75