M4 reliability test

[U.S. Patriot]

I wanted to see how many rounds I could put through my M4, without field stripping it and only doing a basic cleaning. Which consisted of swabbing the barrel, spraying the bolt down with gun scrub, and oiling the bolt with some rem-oil. To date I have ran just over 1,200 rounds through my Bushmaster. I started having feeding issues toward the end of my range session. So, it's time to field strip it. I did not put it through any crazy tests, it was strictly shot at the range.

 

[cedartop]

Sounds about right. We have guys that come to class wanting to test this and not touching their gun to see how long it will go. Usually about midway through the second day, they need to give it some attention. You will of course have widely varying responses to this but, IME this is about average. How do you feel about that performance?

 

[thompal]

Sounds about right. We have guys that come to class wanting to test this and not touching their gun to see how long it will go. Usually about midway through the second day, they need to give it some attention. You will of course have widely varying responses to this but, IME this is about average. How do you feel about that performance?

Does there appear to be any correlation of those guns that are run "wet" vs. those that are run "dry?" Or between those who use an "old fashioned" oil vs. those who use one of the newer wonder oils (Break Free, etc)??

 

[U.S. Patriot]

Sounds about right. We have guys that come to class wanting to test this and not touching their gun to see how long it will go. Usually about midway through the second day, they need to give it some attention. You will of course have widely varying responses to this but, IME this is about average. How do you feel about that performance?

Up until yesterday I had ran just over 1,000 rounds through it. Other then some major feed issues with Remingtom ammunition, I have been very pleased with the performance. I have been running it dry except for light oiling of the bolt. I'll post some pics up when I get it striped.

 

[cedartop]

Does there appear to be any correlation of those guns that are run "wet" vs. those that are run "dry?" Or between those who use an "old fashioned" oil vs. those who use one of the newer wonder oils (Break Free, etc)??

From what I have seen, I am definitely in the run'em wet camp. Often that is all the guys have to do to keep going, add some oil. As far as wonder oils, I haven't seen a big difference, for me its mobil 1.

 

[joe138]

I used to be in the clean em everyday after shooting camp. I now only clean them quarterly or so. But I do lube them often. I use just about any oil as long as the bolt carrier group is wet. I have run over 2000 without swabbing a barrel or even a field strip. I just generously put lube on the bolt.
I came to this conclusion after attending Pat Rogers a few years ago. I hate to think of all the time I wasted cleaning the AR system over the years.

 

[MtnBiker6510]

Glad you reported back on this Patriot. Mine is a range/truck gun, but I hate cleaning it after every shooting trip. Maybe I'll try the quarterly approach, that'd be close to 1k rounds in my guesstimate.

 

[gunowner930]

I'm at about 400 rounds through a low end AR now without any cleaning. Unfortunately, I don't think the AR/M16/M4 will ever be able to lose the "unreliable" myths.

 

[phylodog]

I ran my RRA through 3500 rounds without so much as wiping the BCG off. I added lube before each range session but that was it. I finally cleaned it after the 3500 round mark but only because I was beginning to feel guilty.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Used to run multiple carbine classes without cleaning (even with suppressor), just drops of lube (I like SLIP2000) on the holes.

Didn't Pat Rogers put 15,000 rounds through a Bravo AR? Couple of years ago? Was that in SWAT or 10-8 forums?

 

[Cwood]

I went 13k before I even attempted to clean mine. And then it was just a chamber and BCG wipe down so I could see the broke case I had in the chamber lol. Just a gave it a little oil on range trips.

 

[Cwood]

Used to run multiple carbine classes without cleaning (even with suppressor), just drops of lube (I like SLIP2000) on the holes.

Didn't Pat Rogers put 15,000 rounds through a Bravo AR? Couple of years ago? Was that in SWAT or 10-8 forums?

IRC it was 26k rounds

 

[Kirk Freeman]

Thanks, CWood. Maybe the article I read was the tally at 15K?

 

[Sylvain]

I always have been curious about people doing that, not cleaning their gun for a bunch of rounds.Not just with the AR but with any guns, pistols including.
Is there any potential problems that could occur, like rust or things that you would not be able to clean after too many rounds without cleaning the gun?

Let's say you dont clean your gun for a whole year and you put 5000 rounds thru it during that year, I would think you would have rust issue and that it would be quite hard to clean after all that tight right

I clean my guns all the time even if I dont shoot them and if they are clean already, so I wouldnt imagine not cleaning them while shooting them.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

I always have been curious about people doing that, not cleaning their gun for a bunch of rounds.Not just with the AR but with any guns, pistols including.
Is there any potential problems that could occur, like rust or things that you would not be able to clean after too many rounds without cleaning the gun?

Let's say you dont clean your gun for a whole year and you put 5000 rounds thru it during that year, I would think you would have rust issue and that it would be quite hard to clean after all that tight right

I clean my guns all the time even if I dont shoot them and if they are clean already, so I wouldnt imagine not cleaning them while shooting them.

I always clean my guns after a day at the range. However, I was curious about the M4 though. My AK on the other hand, never gets cleaned.

 

[Aaron B.]

http://www.bravocompanymfg.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/filthy14_oct10.pdf

Article on "Filthy 14", good memory cwood. Cleaning occurs when I get around to it, sometimes not for months. Quality tools should work even if they are dirty.

 

[U.S. Patriot]

http://www.bravocompanymfg.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/filthy14_oct10.pdf

Article on "Filthy 14", good memory cwood. Cleaning occurs when I get around to it, sometimes not for months. Quality tools should work even if they are dirty.

That's why my AK is my go to rifle. Nothing against the M4, I love it. However, my AK goes bang every time and has never malfunctioned. No matter how dirty it is. Also, at ranges up to 100 yards, I'm only slightly more accurate with my M4.