Advice needed on gun cleaning!

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Pops1085

New member
What do you guys use to wipe down and clean your gun with as far as a cleaning cloth goes? I have the patches that come with just about every budget cleaning kit and I tried picking up some of those Scotts Box-O-Rags which are basically thick soft paper towels, but I seem to get a bit of lint and they absorb too much of the oil it seems like. Besides tearing up shirts and only using them once what would be a good idea to use? Or maybe I should just stick to using tons of those tiny patches? I don't know, I need a little assistance here but am too embarrassed to ask anybody I know :)
 
I use and reuse old torn shirts and rags, as well as the standard patches.
I dont think you need anything special unless you want your gun the glow in the dark.
 
So I guess what I'm asking is do you use the standard patches to oil and clean the gun or should I get something bigger? I thought that they were only for bore cleaning but I kinda thought I'd save some time and use a bore snake.
 
When I'm done doing the cleaning part of cleaning, I'll reassemble the gun and then wipe down all my fingerprints and any solvent using a mildly moistened patch..and if it was too moist with CLP or whatever oil type stuff I used, then I'll take a shirt or shop towel to it so there's no smearable moisture on the slide and frame.

GLocks, 1911s, AKs, ARs, i do the above to them. I don't want shiney guns that show oil on them, but i want the finish to be factory clean looking. Hard to describe. Shop towels are what you want if you don't have old tshirts or sweats cut up into strips for cleaning.
 
Go to Midway or Brownells, they sell cotton patches for cleaning guns from 17 caliber up to the big stuff. Bags of 1000 patches are pretty cheap and you won't tick off your wife by ripping up T-shirts.

And don't use a bore snake with solvent for cleaning a rifle. The solvent will weaken the string and the bore snake will get stuck in the bore.
 
For the outside of my rifles I use the "blue" roll of hand towels you get from autoparts stores or walmart, as far as the bore goes I use Pro-Shot flannel patches, they seem to work nicely.:)
 
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For cleaning I use a soft bristle toothbrush, plain cotton patches and gun scrubber/brake cleaner. For applying oils I just use the plain cotton patches, wiping off the excess oils same thing. Cotton patches seem to do really well at cleaning the whole gun, not just bores. They are relatively cheap, plentiful, and come in various sizes to let you get into different sized nooks and crannies. If you have patches for 9mm sized bores, but need something half that size to clean the rest of the gun you can just cut it, no fuss no muss.

Some of my guns instead of oil on the exterior of the slide I wipe down with a silicone cloth. It leaves the finish darker like it has been wiped down with oil but doesn't have the residue that oil seems to have. Its like a wet matte finish but if you run your finger over it it does not smear. Guess it depends on the finish of your gun and what you prefer.
 
I squirt oil on, and wipe it off with Kleenex, but wiping it off also spreads it around.

For tight spots, I use Q tips, but I hate the fibers it leaves behind for CSI.
 
Paper towels, toothbrushes and cotton swabs for cleaning.

For wipedown, once the gun is clean, you can use a rag that is lightly oil-impregnated. Since the gun is already clean, you can use the rag over and over again. Store it in a zipper-lock freezer bag.
 
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