Adverse effects of cleaning too much????

L

Larz

New member
I clean my pistols every time I shoot them. I enjoy it almost as much as shooting them. It makes me uncofortable cleaning my 22 call pistols thought because the cleaning rod has very little clearance inside the barrell. Is it possible to screw up my rifling from cleaning my pistols too much. My biggest fear is that the cleaning rod rubs on the sides of the bore and may screw up my "perfect" rifling. Also is it bad to use the brush attatchment every time I clean the gun. Will it screw up the rifling in any way. Please make me feel more comfortable cleaning my guns, Larz
 
Yes, you can damage the crown with a steel cleaning rod, and the crown is more important than the rifling to accuracy. Try a plastic rod and you should be ok.
 
I use only Q-tips on my .22s. Try them they work great. Don't use any attachment on the end of your cleaning rod.
Use the small, thin cleaning patches until you get the resistance you want with your cleaning regimen.

Ass BB said the crown is critical.

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"Keep shootin till they quit floppin"
The Wife 2/2000
 
Less time for shooting?

Actually, if your gun performs well don't mess with it.

Cleaning is required when performance, whether accuracy or operation, suffers. All other cleaning is superfluous.

Carry guns should be clean, and operated in that fashion.

(if you really LIKE cleaning guns suggest a GP100 in stainless; hard to mess up)

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"All my ammo is factory ammo"
 
By the way I am using aluminum cleaning rods. Are you guys sugesting not using cleaning tips at all? Or at very least not using cleaning tips as often?
 
The gun cleaning kits I use have aluminum rods and plastic screw in tips. I can't imagine either of these doing any damage if used in anything like a reasonable manner. I also clean my "pieces" after every hole punching. Although, I allow a few sessions before I clean the long pieces. As an aside, cleaning 9 shot 22's is a pain in the tush. 22 are SOooooo dirty!
 
Larz - the real harm from cleaning a firearm improperly comes from muzzle damage and bore abrasion. You can avoid both by using a bore guide that prevents the rod from touching the crown, and by using either a plastic coated rod or stainless steel. Aluminum rods are known to attract grit which can abrade other surfaces. In all cases, make it a habit to wipe the surface of the rod a few times during the cleaning process to remove the grit.

Noban
 
What are people's thoughts on the "bore snake" type cleaners. They look like a pretty good alternative, but they do have a section with a brass (bronze?) brush embedded in the cloth. I try not to use a brush if I can help it on my .22's.
 
I use bore snakes in all of my pistols from .22's to .44's. They are fast, simple and effective. The bronze in the snake is not very large. I mean that there aren't a lot of bristles like for a rod end attachment. Two or three runs with the snake and its clean. I just use a lightly oiled patch down the barrel and its done.
Jeepster
 
My reading says that the steel rods are the good ones. The aluminum supposedly oxidizes. I know Aluminum Oxide is "Alox" a commercial abrasive.

I still have the bamboo one my father made in the 1930's. But I usually use an aluminum one anyhow and just don't rub the muzzle.
 
I use bamboo BBQ skewers to push patches through whenever possible to avoid metal to metal contact. Brushing, of course, is a different matter.

Ledbetter
 
I have the "bore snakes" too (when I bought them, they were called "The World's Fastest Bore Cleaner") and use them mainly for rimfire weapons.

The manufacturer claims that one pass is all that is needed. Also, if you pass the "snake" through more than once, wouldn't grit and dirt from the first pass embed back into the bore during the subsequent passes?

I have been curiously about this for a while.

Skorzeny



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For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. Sun Tzu
 
If its a .22 auto, or any kind of auto, run the rod through the chamber not through the muzzle. That will prevent damaging the crown, which you need to worry about a little more than the rifling. Any dents or nicks in the crown will completely destroy accuracy.
 
My wife gave me a very fine cleaning kit with brass cleaning rods and plastic tips. It is a Hoppes. The brass will be marred from the rifling, not the reverse.
 
I have heard that brass or copper brushes are not hard on the gun like steel. Is this true?
 
While we're talking about cleaning I'd like to throw in a suggestion. If any of you guys haven't tried MPro-7 gun cleaning products you are missing out on having a truly clean pistol. I am a cleaning fanatic when it comes to my handguns and I thought they were clean. I was wrong.

I ordered the smallest size available in their gun cleaner and their bore gel to give it a try after it was highly recommended by another TFL member. What got my attention was their claim of an odorless cleaner that worked. To prove that their cleaner removes carbon better than any other product, they invite you to clean as much as you want with your old cleaner, then use MPro-7 and see what comes out on the patch.

The first pistol I tried it on was my Glock G31C. I had cleaned it very thoroughly before putting it in the safe. To my surprise, the first scrubbing with MPro-7 brought out a black patch. It actually took 8 scrubbings with the MPro-7 to get out all the carbon deposits that remained in my G31C after getting white patches using solvents.

Needless to say, I am pulling all my pistols out one by one and recleaning them with MPro-7. So far, the only pistol that didn't send the first patch out black was one that I had used JB Bore Paste on before storing it. It appears that JB works just as well for removing carbon, but it is abrasive so I don't like using it every time I shoot. The MPro is not abrasive and is a pleasure to use indoors compared to my other cleaning solvents.

I HIGHLY recommend trying MPro-7 gun cleaner and/or bore gel. They really do work and they seem to be much less hazardous to our health, as long as you don't ingest it! :D It smells sort of like a mild solution of soap and water but it works like liquid lightning!

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The Glock freak formerly known as Chris...
 
I use Dewey coated rods along with their brass jags and patch loops for cleaning. No problems at all. I try to avoid using brushes if at all possible. If I have to remove copper deposits I use a plastic brush and not bronze. I don't use stainless steel brushes and if you keep your guns clean you shouldn't really need them at all. The exception of course would be an abused firearm that never saw cleaning at all.

As for bore snakes (Worlds Fastest Gun Cleaner), no way. You are just going to embed filth in the rope and reapply it to the bore regardless of how much you clean it afterward.

I have considered buying one of the Otis flexible rod kits for my revolvers, though. Much better solution than those Boresnake things.
 
My local FFL will do an electrolysis system on a handgun for $8. It involves no scrubbing, but with two solutions and an electrical system, all of the lead and copper is pulled out. Haven't done it to any of mine yet. For $8 I can get another box of ammo to make them dirtier. One of these days I will.
 
I will say this, if you have a Ruger SS P series, you can't keep enough oil on that slide while it is in the safe.

I had a P90 that had this funky minute, dark red rust on it. I was constantly taking a bore brush to it in order to buff it out. The new P 97 I have has not done this so far the first thing I did to it when I took it home was let the outer surface of the slide virtually soak in CLP for two hours.

Investment castings are nothing to worry about in the strength department----------they are used to make golf clubs and jet engine impellers. If the finishing process is not up to par rust may ensue according to the Metallurgist that is in our ranks.

If you have a blued gun be careful about leaving it in a holster for long periods of time with an excessive amount of lubricant on it. Also, avoid using neat's foot to break in a leather holster. The neat's foot will make the leather eventually to supple and it will attack the finish of a Blued or matte gun. I know, I ruined the slide on a Sig P220 with it.

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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."
 
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