Can you use soap and water to clean your guns?

I don't remember the man or the show's name, but in the early days of shooting related TV shows, there was a guy who routinely cleaned a new rifle barrel with detergent and boiling water. He wanted to get out any preservative shipping oil or residual cutting oil or button lube before shooting.
 
Hot, sopay water is a field expedient way to get rid of black powder and corrosive primer residue when normal solvents aren't available.

Hot, soapy bath and then a good drying, and then a regular cleaning and oiling.
 
If you shoot a muzzleloader or other black power arm, you are probably already using soapy water. (Dawn)
 
Be careful with really hot water, as flash rusting can occur. I always use a dash of Ballistol in water I clean guns with, and forget the detergent!
 
The best of intentions.

This could be a problem though.

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Aarond

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In '57, Sgt. Cuevas said the best way to clean the M1 was with soap and water, so one time I took it into the shower with me. I Don't remember if it came clean but it was a bear drying off all those small parts. Only did it once.
 
For your .30 caliber M1 you need to look at various versions of FM 23-5.

I have an original from July 20, 1940 with Changes 1 & 2 November 15, 1941 and January 30, 1942.

During that time the manual went from using water to clean and sperm oil to lube to "cleaner, rifle bore" with water being used when the cleaner was not available.

Here is a 1965 edition in PDF. Look at Chapter 5, page 21.

https://archive.org/stream/Fm23-5#page/n19/mode/2up

They use (CR) with notes on use of water and using (PL special) for lube.

All very interesting reading!
 
While attending the Infantry Officer's Basic Course in 1992, we had a hose connected to a hot water source that we used for initial cleaning of M16A2 uppers and lowers. The water was so hot you could barely stand coming in contact with it, and it got the metal so hot you could barely touch it afterwards, but it tended to evaporate quickly!

Seems we never did this when the Platoon Trainer was around, so it was like sneaking off and doing something the "short cut" way, but I'm sure the cadre all knew we were doing it. and of course, we finished the cleaning and lubricating in the proper way. the hot water just got the big stuff off quickly.
 
I found manuals from the War Department in1932 for the Enfield rifle and from the Department of Army in 1965 for the M1 (Garand). The manual for the Enfield does not list soap and water. Below is a snippet of page 9 of that manual. I've also attached a portion of page 21 of the 1961 M1 manual allowing hot soapy water or boiling water but only when bore cleaner is not available.

I thought it was interesting that the War Dept. did not approve of soap and water in 1932 but the Army did in 1965.
 

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