Witnessed an AR-15 A4 shoot totally dry, weird background.

[His lordship.]

Was at the range yesterday, 103 degrees, but under cover.  Noticed the fellow next to me had a stuck cartridge case in the chamber of his Smith and Wesson A4, could not get it out, he summoned the range master to help him, still could not clear it.  I had heard years ago that if you pull on the rear bolt handle backward while bumping the butt of the stock downward on a bench vertically it will clear it, we did that, cleared the chamber.  He was using Wolf steel cased ammo.

Got the gun apart to check for problems, totally bone dry, fairly new rifle.  The owner said he had the local gun shop service it where he bought it, I was shocked that it could be totally bone dry, the range master was wondering how it could leave the factory without lubrication.  So, we are not sure who is at fault, but if it left the gun shop's gunsmith like that, he should be talked to!   

I took the rifle and bolt assembly all the way down, and cleaned and oiled/greased it for the guy, I also had my Smith and Wesson AR-15 M & P at the range.  I keep my A-4 heavily oiled and greased, 100% reliable.  The fellow and his son then fired the rifle, works fine.  It does answer a question of what would happen if you wanted to shoot an M & P bone dry.  The fellow with the dry gun did manage to get it to shoot for awhile before the stuck cartridge case.  I guess the AR-15 can work to some extent without lubrication of any kind!  

[rickyp]

You need to be careful when oiling any firearm, the oil will attract and hold dirt/ burned powder and cause it several issues.

there are a lot of products now on the market that are dry lubebecauseue of this issue. Microlon is one of them, they use a very thin oicatalystst for thlubricatingng agent. the oil wilevaporatete quickly but levat the fire arm well lubed. Eezox is another one. so just because the firearm looked drdoesn'tnt mean it was not lubed.

I think he is having more of an issue with the ammo. if he was shooting for a while with the high heat and the chamber heated up then, if he had a round like wolf chambered and stops for a minute or so, the coating on the ammo heats up and melts a little when it cools even for a minute it will somewhat glue it's self in the chamber

[His lordship.]

RickyP...yes, the possibility of a stuck (glued cartridge case) in the chamber was one of the first things I thought of having had a bad experience myself years ago.  He was using the new Wolf that got away from the old varnish sealant. 

I was shooting the older Wolf back in the late 90's on a hot day with my Savage 110 in .223 and noticed that as I continued to shoot heating up the rifle it got harder and  harder to extract.  Eventually the case glued itself into the chamber, ruined a good cleaning rod hammering the chamber clear.  Was extra careful on rate of fire and heat after that.  I had read of some varmint hunters going after prairie dogs who had their guns jam up too.  They must have been pissed being on a hunting trip out in the middle of nowhere and having their guns seize up.

Wolf went with a different sealant after complaints.

[rickyp]

You still see varnished cases from wolf. I just bought 40 rounds from dicks sporting that had the varnish. They didn't cycle well in my ar15. I was getting short stork with them. I was not happy with wolf and doubt I would buy it again.
for anyone spending lot of money on a hunting trip only to use cheap ammo, they get what they pay for.

[myronman3]

I keep my A-4 heavily oiled and greased, 100% reliable.

i dont know where you got it in your head that an ar should be heavily oiled and greased; but you are not doing that rifle a favor if you are indeed keeping it "heavily oiled and greased".   there is only one spot on my rifle that has any kind of grease, and it isnt a heavy coat.  oil is applied, allowed contact with the metal for a reasonable time, then all metal surfaces are wiped as dry as a rag will get them.    if you insist that your gun be oiled, my advice is you apply it light and sparingly.   like rickyp stated, too much oil isnt good. 

[Maccool]

I have been reading a lot on the ar platform for a gun I'm wanting to build, and came across a post by Pat Rogers http://www.ar15armory.com/forums/Lubrication-Cleaning-by-t19367.html talking about how to lube a ar. Now I am new to the ar style rifles and this is not me saying you should do what he says cause I really don't know to much about it, and I don't know really anything about Pat Rogers except that he runs some kind of ar shooting school. 

[SHOOTALL]

good read. I have several friends who build AR's . All say they run better wet .

[myronman3]

i read the link, and i dont see what he said that is much different from what i said-i dont disagree with him.   
   when i see the word "wet" i think of a rifle that is heavily oiled-which isnt good and cause problems.    i see him use "clean and lightly oiled" often, and that is correct.   i think most people use too much oil to subsititue for cleaning.   you clean that rifle, and lightly oil it in the right places, and you will be in high cotton.   

[SHOOTALL]

Wet is wet and dry is dry. At the range I ten to keep a gun wet maybe more so than hunting because I will clean it at the end of the day. I don't want to get sprayed with every shot either. One thing not mentioned so far is the gun. Some guns fit togather better for what ever reason and require less lube.

[myronman3]

when i  think of wet, i picture a gun dripping with oil.   when i picture dry, i picture an i.g. inspection clean rifle.    clean and lightly oiled (a clean finger brings up a trace of oil) is the way to go.   and lubricant type is important, too.   i prefer oils that are designed to be applyed lightly; fp 100 is a favorite of mine.   i have shot it for years with great results.   

[SHOOTALL]

I don't like a shower of oil when fireing the weapon either. Again different guns may need different amounts of lube and maybe different lubes depending on finish on parts , tolerences , type ammo and temp at time of use. I find synthetic oils resist heat better . Some oils leave a film and work well in cold weather etc.

[Old Syko]

when i  think of wet, i picture a gun dripping with oil.   when i picture dry, i picture an i.g. inspection clean rifle.    clean and lightly oiled (a clean finger brings up a trace of oil) is the way to go.   and lubricant type is important, too.   i prefer oils that are designed to be applyed lightly; fp 100 is a favorite of mine.   i have shot it for years with great results.

This is the correct way to run an AR.  If it will not function for extended periods when cleaned and properly lubed as described above you have mechanical issues that must be addressed or crap ammo that must be replaced.  Adding more lube to overcome a symptom does nothing to fix the real issue and will only cause even more problems.

[jmayton]

I lube mine with sand and mud and sometimes the blood of a pig 

[jasonprox700]

I like to run all of mine nice and wet...in the bcg area that is.  If I plan on shooting quite a few hundred rounds when plinking, I usually squirt a little CLP onto the BCG, cycle it a few times, and go. 

[Bugflipper]

I have been experimenting with a dry lube inside. Been using a silicone spray called heavy duty silicone by CRC on the bcg and the interior of the upper. It's been running flawlessly for me. The only thing I have besides that in them is krytox on the sear/trigger contact.

[SHOOTALL]

Be careful what lube you use as some is made to creep into tight places like primer pockets . Not a good thing. Best to use something that lays on a surface .