AR & Rust?

[Jailkeeper]

Quick question... Since my AR is mostly aluminum & plastic (as far as I can tell), where should I pay special attention to when cleaning the beast?

It's probably been posted here in the past, and I did try searching but alas I did not find anything.

Thanks in advance!

[BerksCountyDave]

It's a good idea to wipe down all of the aluminum with a silicon cloth or light oil to prevent corrosion.

[RoyJackson]

The aluminum on my AR-15 is anodized, so as long as that is intact, corrosion shouldn't be a problem.
The barrel is steel, as are most of the internal components, so a wipe down or spray with oil is advisable.
It would be easier just to do the whole rifle though, just to ensure nothing is missed.

BTW, like Dave, I use a silicon cloth on all metallic surfaces of all my firearms. That removes fingerprints and protects. Some peoples' fingerprints contain acids which can be quite corrosive on steels.

[Frenchy]

The aluminum on my AR-15 is anodized, so as long as that is intact, corrosion shouldn't be a problem.
The barrel is steel, as are most of the internal components, so a wipe down or spray with oil is advisable.
It would be easier just to do the whole rifle though, just to ensure nothing is missed.

Anodizing is controlled corrosion, Aluminum being the medium it is, any bullets that cause sulfur and or sodium/calcium need to be throughly cleaned after. Soapy water is the best for removing calcium, vinigar works well also.

[RoyJackson]

Anodizing is controlled corrosion, Aluminum being the medium it is, any bullets that cause sulfur and or sodium/calcium need to be throughly cleaned after. Soapy water is the best for removing calcium, vinigar works well also.

From Wilkepidia:
Anodizing, or anodising, is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than bare metal

Here's the whole article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodization

[Lycanthrope]

I wipe the whole outside down with oil. The parkerizing soaks it up well.

On the inside, keep your chamber clean (an AR15 chamber brush is really nice) and keep the fouling off the bolt......(take it out of the carrier).

That's about it.

Lycanrustnotthrope

[Legion_Prime]

From Wilkepidia:
Anodizing, or anodising, is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. Anodizing increases corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and provides better adhesion for paint primers and glues than bare metal

Here's the whole article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodization

That natural oxide layer is the controlled corrosion Frenchy was talking about.