Disassembly of the AR-15 for Cleaning

To disassemble the rifle, first remove the magazine and make sure the rifle is unloaded.  Then make sure again that it is unloaded!

With the bolt carrier all the way forward in the receiver, push the takedown pin from the left side as far as it will go so that the upper receiver will pivot away from the lower receiver.  The pin is retained in the receiver so do not attempt to push it all the way out.  Pushing the pivot pin from the left as far as it will go will separate the upper receiver from the lower receiver.  This pin is also captive in the receiver and should not come all the way out. 

To remove the bolt carrier from the receiver, pull the charging handle back about half way and then remove the carrier.  Pull the charging handle just short of all the way back until it falls down and then slide it to the rear and out.

To remove the bolt from the bolt carrier, push the firing pin retaining pin out of the carrier.  This pin should only be cleaned, being careful not to bend it.  While this pin looks like a hardware store Cotter pin, it is made of hardened steel and should only be replaced with a pin made for an AR-15.  The tension of the legs in the bolt carrier hole is important to keeping the pin in place.  A loose pin could cause a malfunction of the rifle and damage to the receiver.

With the firing pin retaining pin out, the bolt in the locked position in the bolt carrier and the bolt lugs pointed up, the firing pin should drop out of the carrier.  If it doesn’t drop out, you may have to shake the carrier a time or two.

With the firing pin out, rotate the cam pin approximately ¼ of a turn and pull it out of the bolt and bolt carrier.  Once the cam pin is removed, the bolt will come out of the bolt carrier. 

The extractor is removed from the bolt by pushing out the extractor pin.  Leave the spring assembly and the spring insert in place on the extractor.  Normally the ejector plunger does not need to be removed, but if necessary it can be by pushing out its retaining pin.  Since it is under spring tension, be careful to capture the ejector as the pin is pushed out.

Finally, to remove the buffer and buffer spring, push the buffer in slightly and push down on the buffer retaining pin.  Release the buffer and then remove it and the buffer spring from the tube.