Do you wipe down your AR-15 every time you pick it up?

[marathonrunner]

Your's seemed to be more than normal from my anecdotal experience.

I bought a 6940 upper last summer and it had no scratches and no stains in the barrel/receiver area.

I did use my own stripped lower and lower parts, so only one half of the gun was made/sold by Colt.

If I paid $2,400 for a rifle, I wouldn't be happy if it was as scratched and stained as your's was. Your's does appear to have been out of the norm and a bit excessive from the way you describe it and the pictures of the stain you posted IMHO.

ETA: The stain has me a bit mystified as to why so many solvents you tried did not remove it. I admit I would not have been happy with that.

RDak glad my concerns are validated as I been giving Colt an earful about them. Truth be told the dings are so small, it would take careful inspection to find them but still it should not be there. The stains I am pretty convinced is rust and not a stain. It is the area that is between the lugs and chamber. BTW the pics I posted is not my gun. It is from another forum and a 6920. I just used that as an example

[kdave21]

In my years in the military, and my times around guns, I have never once seen an AR with a rusted receiver. Never. (And believe it or not, sometimes those guns in the military were not treated with kid gloves.) When was the last time you saw a rusty or pitted AR? Do a google search for "rusty ar-15" and you dont get much back. I have read several of your posts about the 6940, and in my opinion you are underestimating their resistance to wear from normal use. Oil it properly and dont fret too much about it.

[oberon]

yes but i just bought mine for a collectable. The 6940 will be discontinued

Yup. I reckon if I wanted a soon to be unobtainable rifle in unfired condition, I would have to take a lot more care with the managemant of the appearance. And if I bought it with that intention, I surely would expect a clean, unblemished specimen.
Of, course, I ain't so lucky, and all mine are shooters. Even the real nice ones. The nice ones do get extra care & handling, though. The already beat-up ones get adequate maintenance, but not so much intensity with appearance.
I can say that any of mine will not get any more beat-up or worse general condition as long as I have 'em in my possession.
And that also is the real trick, too, isn't it?

[marathonrunner]

In my years in the military, and my times around guns, I have never once seen an AR with a rusted receiver. Never. (And believe it or not, sometimes those guns in the military were not treated with kid gloves.) When was the last time you saw a rusty or pitted AR? Do a google search for "rusty ar-15" and you dont get much back. I have read several of your posts about the 6940, and in my opinion you are underestimating their resistance to wear from normal use. Oil it properly and dont fret too much about it.

Kdave, I did see AR's with rust on the safety lever, the cage flash supressor of the barrel, and believe the magazine release. But true no rust on receiver. About fretting if they were not going to ban these and I only paid 1,100 i wouldn't care but the fact I paid 2400 it is hard not to fuss

[marathonrunner]

Your's seemed to be more than normal from my anecdotal experience.

I bought a 6940 upper last summer and it had no scratches and no stains in the barrel/receiver area.

I did use my own stripped lower and lower parts, so only one half of the gun was made/sold by Colt.

If I paid $2,400 for a rifle, I wouldn't be happy if it was as scratched and stained as your's was. Your's does appear to have been out of the norm and a bit excessive from the way you describe it and the pictures of the stain you posted IMHO.

ETA: The stain has me a bit mystified as to why so many solvents you tried did not remove it. I admit I would not have been happy with that.

The stain was rust I am almost sure. THe only thing that worked after trying metal brush, hoppes 9, was allowing it to soak in vinegar. the first gun took 20 minutes to lift the rust up and it cleaned up well. The second gun would not clean up at all. Only after giving it a break and allowing overight to soak did it finally lift all reddish color. The metal under it did not pit but it was bright shiny while the unaffected area looked like stainless dull steel

[elliotf]

OK Elliot, let me ask you this. I just paid $2400+ tax for my 6940. Had I paid $1,100 dollars if there were some minor assembly dings and scratches, would you fuss over them? I could care less but being I paid 2400 dollars, my tolerance for dings has become practically zero, meaning I was getting on Colt USA to replace the upper completely. Since I don't ever plan on shooting it, it is all the more reason I have become intolerable to any scratches or dings

You are right, mine cost me nothing. Yes, I can see why you are fussing over it. But, they are fun to shoot. :-)
Congrats on the new 6940.

[marathonrunner]

You are right, mine cost me nothing. Yes, I can see why you are fussing over it. But, they are fun to shoot. :-)
Congrats on the new 6940.

I think what I Just got to do is get a hammer and put a ding on one, then I will be able to carry on...lol...but I guess you wear dings as a badge of honor

[marathonrunner]

Yup. I reckon if I wanted a soon to be unobtainable rifle in unfired condition, I would have to take a lot more care with the managemant of the appearance. And if I bought it with that intention, I surely would expect a clean, unblemished specimen.
Of, course, I ain't so lucky, and all mine are shooters. Even the real nice ones. The nice ones do get extra care & handling, though. The already beat-up ones get adequate maintenance, but not so much intensity with appearance.
I can say that any of mine will not get any more beat-up or worse general condition as long as I have 'em in my possession.
And that also is the real trick, too, isn't it?

Oberon, excellent point and definitely makes me feel I am not alone. I just hate the way my gun dealer lied and told me Colt raised their prices to retail level which I later found to be untrue.

[what would you say]

I was in Special Boat Unit 20 reserve unit in Little Creek, VA in the early '90's. That was my first familiarity with how the military .. at least USN special warfare cleaned and lubricated AR style rifles. take 'em apart. hot water dunking. compressed air to blow off all the water. spray down and wipe down with Break Free. Not saying it was right or wrong.. I didn't know what was the right way or care at the time, but we did allot of rifles and that's the way those were done.

[tallestsniper]

I dont just wipe it down, I whisper "My Precioussss" in errie voice.