Cleaning handgun barrels

S

Sid

New member
When I clean a pistol barrel I usually wrap it in a piece of leather before clamping it in the vice. My gunsmith uses a thick piece of lead for the same purpose. I would like to know what other guys do and what they use to protect the finish. TIA
 
I usually hold it in my hand when I'm cleaning it. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

Are you cleaning concrete out of it?;) Why do you need it in a vice?
 
Mostly I just hold it in my hand. The rare times I've felt the need for a vice (say when using a Lewis lead remover) I have a thick patch of leather that I use to pad a vice that also has nylon jaws.
 
I have two pieces of oak that I bored a hole in, then split it, that fits across my vise jaws. The thick leather also works well.
 
It all depends on what Im cleaning:

If its a revolver: I attach the cleaning brush to the cleaning rod. I put the end of the cleaning rod in a variable speed drill, and while holding the revolver in my left hand, I squeeze the trigger of the drill with my right. I move the gun back and forth at variable speeds (I spend a little more time on the forcing cone area). With hoppes #9, I have a squeeky clean barrel in about 15 seconds.

Auto: I remove the barrel from the gun, and basically do the same process as I do for a revolver. I havent seen any better way to clean the barrel.

-George
 
I prefer to hold the barrel in my hand for all cleaning. If the rod is not running smooth or something else is going on, I want to be able to feel it. I think putting the barrel in a vice would rob one of all the feel of what is going on.

I have never even considered it before reading this thread and even if I had a vice set up, still would not do it. Just my opinion....
 
Using a bore brush in a drill is not a good way to get your barrel clean. It is a fairly good way to screw up the rifling though. A spinning brush can not get into the corners of the lands/grooves, and it puts unnecessary wear on the high spots.
Use a brush pushed in and out of the barrel, allowing the brush to follow the twist of the rifling.
 
What Bill said
Though I do use the "spinning brush" technique on my revolver cylinders every now and then but there's no rifling to wear out there.
 
Well then, thanks for the advice. I never looked at it that way. After using the drill, it always looks clean, but I do see your point about the rifling.

Just curious, if the copper on the brush is softer than the material of the barrel, how can is screw up the rifling??

-George
 
+1 on the hand-held....

the few time I have felt the need to clamp a firearm in a vise (usually just to tap/remove a rear sight), I simply wrapped it in either leather or a heavy towel.

J
 
@ l98ster - Ill admit I thought about your process for a sec to speed a clean time. But was concerned about wear also. I would doubt that you have done to much wear at this point. Depending on times used. My thought is it would be a gradual thing. If anything, maybe just smoothing the edges of the rifling making it a bit less effective. I hope anyway. As far as the brush wearing on the barrel, remember, flowing water carved the Grand Canyon in rock. Rock is certainly harder than water. I still wonder about the revolver cylinders. But I still worry. I don't have that much clean time. Besides, its much more intimate doing it by hand!;)
 
A vice? I guess I can see the merits of using a vice, but me, I'm lazy, I just hold the thing in one hand, or lay it on my table, and clean it with the other hand. That method just seems easier to me.
 
I hold the pistol or barrel in my hand. Even when trying to remove stubborn lead, I've never felt the need for a vice.

If I did have to... I would probably go for rubber/leather/wood for padding.
 
My Glocks and HKs come clean with one or two passes of the bore snake; revolvers require a little more effort, but not in a vise........
 
I'm not clamping any barrels in a vice ...:eek:

I clean all my barrels in my hands / using good brushes ....( I don't clamp things into a drill motor either ...) ....my word guys ! Cleaning is part of the shooting hobby / and pleasure of owning some fine weapons....(and done often and well )...
 
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