Obsessive cleaner or mot so much?

[MPDC]

I can still hear SSGT Barotti screaming "Get that weapon gleaming private or you will be doing the manual of arms with your footlocker!"

So cleaning my AR can get a little obsessive.

How clean is clean enough for you? Zero carbon anywhere or get the big chunks off, run a patch or two through, lube lightly and call it good.

The (non-piston) AR is sometimes described as puking into its own bolt housing and fire control group. Do you make it "gleam" or wipe it off and put it up OR something in between? I know pistols like Glocks and XDs can run a long time dirty but what about the infamous Black Rifles so many of us defiantly keep?