So I was sitting there scraping the carbon off my bolt, kind of getting frustrated because I couldn’t get all of it off when my dad walked by and said “Dude, what are you doing?” I said “Scraping carbon off my bolt.” He said “Try this.” He reached under the sink and tossed me a Scotch Brite pad made by 3M.
I rubbed the bolt with it and before I knew it had no carbon whatsoever on it. It didn’t scratch the metal at all. I was impressed.
I thought it was nifty so I thought I would share my experience.
i use a Scotch Brite pad for many things concerning gun cleaning, but cleaning carbon off the bolt is not one of them, i am of the school that the carbon build up is self regulating and does not need to be completely removed, i believe it is a personal thing, some do, some do not.
It is most definitely a personal thing. I sleep better knowing everything is clean. My dad has always harped on me about taking pride in things that I own. He didn’t have much growing up resulting in all of his things being in immaculate condition. He says take care of your things and they will take care of you. So, I do.
Generally if you lube the bolt properly before shooting and then soak it overnight in CLP, Weaponshield or M-Pro7 most of that carbon will come off. On occasion I also use a bronze brush in conjunction with the above.
Personally I think the carbon build up should be cleaned. Just a personal thought but it concerns me that by not doing so I may get false readings when doing a firing pin protrusion check. Not to mention that I hate dirty weapons.
Thanks for the tip. I was cleaning one of my rifles last week and felt the same way. I am still planning on picking-up the CAT Bolt cleaning tool, but I will give the pads a try.
Ive been meaning to ask about this formula… If one or the other is unavailabke, what do you suggest substituting it with?
ATF for CLP?
Regular paint thinner perhaps?
My original formula was a mixture of Odorless Mineral Spirits and Hoppes #9. I then switched to CLP because of the lubrication properties. I’ve never tried anything else as a substitute for CLP.
We used to use those green “scratchy pads” in the Army many moons ago. I wonder if they’re still used?
Someone said there is one level LESS abrasive than the green? That might be the ticket as I recall all of our boat tails being “in the white” while in the Army.
I have a green pad now that I use only on my hard chromed bolt. My other bolt is NP3 finished and you have to exercise caution with what you use to get carbon off of it as the NP3 WILL scrape off.
I’m getting an Anvil Arms BCG and plan on having it done by Fail Zero with their Nickel-Boron coating. Pricey, yes. However, NONE of my BCG’s are plain old parkerized—they all have some sort of finish on them. (hey, it’s my money :D)
CLP plus a plastic brush and a few pipe cleaners, and some Q tips will clean any bolt out there after a range session, you just have to know how to do it and have the patience to scrub.
Carbon shouldn’t be allowed to build up on a bolt, it should be squeaky clean every time you finish maintaining it. Every ounce that can possibly be removed when cleaning should be removed. It is the difference between a firearm that will function at it’s peak during hard use and one that will fail repeatedly once warmed up and fouled.
The 3M pads can help sometimes, but you want to use the ones advertised as non-scratching, if your carrier still has any coating left on it. They won’t get into the real problem areas on the BCG, so I don’t see a real reason to bother with them. You can buy the non-scratch ones at any supermarket, if you are intent on using them. The ones I wash my dishes with are blue, and would be a better choice than the green ones. Those green buggers scratch the heck out of everything I try to wash with them.
The fact of the matter is you can’t have the rifle too clean, only too dirty. Any carbon at all is too dirty on a firearm this finicky. The cleaner it is, the better it runs. I maintain my firearms once a week as necessary, and I’ve got more than a few. It doesn’t take any real time out of my life. Instead of vegging out on the couch watching TV, I break out a firearm and maintain it while watching TV. Then I veg out.
The “Carbon is self-limiting, it doesn’t hurt anything” crowd are just convincing themselves that their slipshod maintenance procedures are really okay. They’re not. That is why I will NOT buy a used AR from anyone; too many out there who don’t give a shit.
This is the first argument that I’ve heard that makes sense to me in regards to scrubbing carbon build-up off of the tail of the bolt. If I was about to perform this check, I would scrub the carbon off. If I was doing a deep cleaning of the rifle, I would do it as well. I do this maybe twice a year with my AR’s.
For those of you stating that carbon on the bolt is some type of major issue - has this ever caused a malfunction in your AR? Can you explain why someone like Ken Elmore (who has forgotten more about maintaining AR’s than most people actually know) states in his AR-15 armorer class that carbon on the bolt is not a big deal?
Has anyone ever had a gun stop running simply because it was too dirty? Or was it because it was not properly lubricated?
For the record, I don’t advocate dirty guns - but I also don’t advocate detail stripping and deep cleaning your AR-15 after every range trip.
Have you ever had an AR malfunction due to carbon buildup on the bolt tail?
The fact of the matter is you can’t have the rifle too clean, only too dirty. Any carbon at all is too dirty on a firearm this finicky.
Most of the folks with decades of experience and who have seen millions of rounds go downrange through the platform would disagree. There is pretty wide agreement at this point that these guns will run even when very dirty as long as they are well lubed.
I didn’t say it won’t function. In an extreme case, probably would affect function though. My point is that carbon left on something WILL cause pitting beneath it over time.
I know a guy who was discussing this very subject; he had initially bought into the “Don’t worry about the carbon” line of thinking. When he finally did get around to cleaning it off his bolt tail was pitted all to hell. He was an instant convert to scraping/cleaning it off after each shooting session.
Since all my weapons are bought on my dime I try to keep them as clean as possible. Will a little pitting on the bolt tail from lackadaisical cleaning affect function? Probably not, but ANY form of corrosion on my (not exactly cheap) guns is unsat.
My dad has always harped on me about taking pride in things that I own. He didn’t have much growing up resulting in all of his things being in immaculate condition. He says take care of your things and they will take care of you. So, I do.