Originally Posted by
cale
I like to lick it clean. Honestly, if there's one subject that everyone can be correct about, it is cleaning your chain.
Back in basic training, we used to take the M-16s into the shower with us at the end of the day. It got rid of the dust and grit, but you still had to use bore cleaner on the insides. Then you oiled it. We didn't own the rifles, and we weren't depending on them to be in perfect working order. Just clean, so you could turn them in.
There were parts that you couldn't disassemble. I doubt that they were completely dry when stored, kind of like the pins and rollers in a chain that's been "de-greased" with a water-soluble cleaner.