Just the lube. Never tried the paste. The stuff is impressive.
Printable View
I probably clean a little too much myself, but at this time, I have too much going on to shoot regularly and therefore if I don't know when I am going to hit the range again (months?) I want to make sure the rifle is clean while in the safe. If its been a while, I might bring them out a do a quick inspect/clean, but nothing more than 5 mins on them. If I know I am going to hit the range multiple times in a week, I just lube and wait on the cleaning.
I would be focused more on how frequently you're cleaning instead of the methods of how you're going about it. A basic rule of thumb that I go by is about every 1000 rounds or so. Otherwise I would say you are using way too many different types of cleaning agents. I use Mil Comm. Its safe for the environment and does a damn good job. Once I go through the rifle with it, I grease it up with Mil Comm lubricant.
What is the rationale behind not cleaning the gun regularly here?
I understand that the gun does not need it, and will work when dirty and properly lubed.
I just feel that ever since two well known instructors (Pannone & Rogers) did some tests to prove a reliabilty issue with the M4 platform, everybody just flat stopped cleaning their rifles.
I just don't see the logic there. Just because it doesn't need it is not the same as you shouldn't.
This is not meant as a plug for the HK416 or a jab at DI guns. It is my duty weapon, and it is a piston system. It does not get very dirty when shot, even if I shoot A LOT through it. The dirtiest part of the gun is inside the handguard, with the piston a distant second. For what it's worth, I do not run a suppressor.
Still, I am not interested in finding out the tolerance of the system. I am an end user, not a developer. Someone made sure that the gun is reliable as part of the design. It's my job to make sure that my weapon, and the weapons of my soldiers, is functional at all times.
Therefore, I clean my rifle after every range session, even if I am going to the range the next day as well.
I lube all moving parts after cleaning, including the buffer/buffer spring and the piston and op rod assembly. The only places not getting lube is the bolt face, chamber and barrel.
So what if the gun can run 4000 rounds bone dry without cleaning? That means jack shit if it fails to fire round 4001 because of a faulty action or parts breakage that I did not find because I don't clean my rifle. If I am the one that happens to, and I am the one who saw the guy waiting in ambush and couldn't shoot him, and because of my non-chalant attitude towards cleaning got my patrol killed, I would be pretty upset with myself.
This routine does not take long, and for me it is an extra step making sure that the rifle goes bang when I need it to.
And we had a very bad incident in Afghanistan, that was caused by very poor maintenance and not lubing the weapon. These were HK416 rifles. In addition, I've had two Minimi's in my unit when I was in Afghanistan go down during a contact because of poor lubing. And there are some other incidents where weapons have stopped working under shitty conditions; rain, mud, carbon etc.
With these experiences I can find no good reason to not clean, lube and properly maintain any firearm.
Oh, and that blog that was linked to about weapons cleaning, or not cleaning........just plain retarded in my eyes.
If it's a fighting gun, a little overkill won't get you killed - but a lack of maintenance could.
I think the concern is to much cleaning, done improperly can (and will) damage parts way faster then shooting.
As long as the regular maintenance is "regular" and not a soak in acid or the affore mentioned wire wheel treatment there is little danger in damaging the parts.
FWIW, I consider breaking the gun down, hosing in solvent (hoppes usually because I normally use the work kit), wiping everything down and relubing perfectly acceptable cleaning. The barrel gets sprayed down with clp or a hoppes patch and sits for a couple minutes then gets a bore snake. Re-lube and put it back in service. This is after every time I shoot any amount.
I don't consider this over or under cleaning and I feel it gives me ample number of inspections of parts to feel comfortable that the rifle is in good order.
The gun also gets a visual inspection and re-lube at the first of every month, just to make sure I don't miss anything. Especially since we lost the ability to cart it around in the front of the car. Trunks are notoriously hard on equipment.