TexasCHLforum.com

I don't own an AK, but I own a couple of ARs, and one is a carbine. It's a piece of cake to clean. I probably spend more time on parts like the bolt/carrier assembly than I do on the bore. I disassemble the bolt/carrier and give it a thorough cleaning. Once in a while I'll spray a little degreaser on the trigger/hammer assembly and then lightly relube it. I occasionally remove the buffer and spring and clean it. And I'll usually run a wet patch down the bore 2 or 3 times to remove the loose fouling and then I'll run an oil patch down it; but I don't really get after it and scrub it out, and I pay no attention to copper fouling at all. She's a pretty accurate little carbine as is and I'd like to keep it that way, but it took running a lot of rounds down the barrel to make her accuracy consistent, so I don't try to return the bore to like new condition. I leave the gas tube and block alone - unless they've been removed from the rifle. I don't want to run a pipe cleaner down the gas tube and unintentionally push any dirt down into the gas block thereby stopping up the gas port in the barrel. As long as it's working, I don't touch it.

I use the SLiP2000 line of products.

The thing about this category of weapon system is to remember that they have been designed for serviceability in the field by troops who don't necessarily bring any gunsmithing skills to the table; so there is a "lowest common denominator" factored into their designs. I've heard that the AK's design is simpler to maintain than the AR's but I have no personal experience with that. All I can say is that the AR's maintenance is easy and very straightforward.