Cleaning

R

Russell92

New member
I clean all my guns after every time i shoot them. i'm just worried that i'm not doing it right! i have read some things in other posts that make it sound like what i do is wrong.

well could everyone please tell me what is the proper way to clean a pistol?

please be as specific as possible. i would like to know every little step you take. what kinds of cleaners and lubrications you use.

for example i read in another post that it's bad to clean the bore from the muzzle end. is this true? with some guns like revolvers you have to. should i do it from the breech end on every gun that i can?

also please tell me some things that i shouldn't do so i can know not to do them. thanks in advance for any responses.
 
Russell92,
The reason its better to clean from the breech end is to avoid damaging the muzzle crown and to keep solvents and oils from leaking into the action and trigger assembly.
 
Russell92, there is no "correct" way to clean a pistol. Everyone has their own idiosyncrasies and methods for cleaning. Here is what I do.

1. Make sure the gun is unloaded. Make sure the gun is unloaded.

2. I start with the barrel and ALWAYS clean from the breach end to avoid damage to the crown of the barrel.

A. Spray Simple Green down the bore and swab with a patch soaked in Simple Green. Follow with a bronze brush soaked in simple green, followed by another Simple Green wet patch then a dry patch. This does wonders on the powder/carbon fouling but nothing for copper/lead fouling.

B. Spray Birchwood Casey Bore Scrubber down the bore and put the barrel aside. I then clean the slide and frame, which I will address later.

C. After the slide and frame have been cleaned, I go back to the barrel. Run a patch wet with the Birchwood down the bore followed by a bronze brush wet with Birchwood down the bore. Wet patch, dry patch. That should take care of the copper/lead fouling.

D. I then spray Gunstripper (which I use to clean the slide/frame downt the bore. Brush, wet patch, dry patch.

E. I then put Birchwood Sheath down the bore to eliminate any moisture and as a final cleaning of the bore. Bronze brush, wet patch, dry patch.

F. Lastly, I wet a patch with a DRY moly lube and run it down the bore several times. You will be amazed at how easy following clean ups will be regarding any copper/lead fouling. The dri moly coats the bore so that the fouling can't stick to it.


3. Clean the slide with Gunstripper. I spray it in the rails and clean it with a Q-tip and then dry it with a cloth wrapped over the small end of a gun cleaning brush. Clean the inside of the slide with Gunstripper and Q-tips. Use a bronze brush on the breach face and then slightly dampen the cloth with the gunstripper to wipe off the breac face. I say slightly because you don't want any of the gunk going into the firing pin channel.

4. Clean the frame with Gunstripper, Q-tips and the rag gun brush thing. Cleaning is done.


For lube, I use a good gun grease (Tetra at the moment) for the slide/frame rails and hammer-slide interface. I use Militec-1 oil for the oil points which include the entire outer part of the barrel (keep the oil away from the feedramp), the interior of the slide where it rubs against the top of the chamber during firing, the interior of the muzzle opening of the slide, the slide stop where it is inserted into the frame, the holes in the frame where the slide stop is inserted and that is it.

Put it back together, hand cycle the slide several times and then wipe all the exterior surfaces with a cloth dampended with Birchwood Sheath.

I am sure there are things I missed/left-out, but I am sure others will fill-in the blanks. Good luck.

Frank


[This message has been edited by faiello5 (edited April 23, 2000).]
 
is WD-40 any good to use to clean guns? right now i just use it and hoppe's #9. the hoppe's is a solvent so does that mean i shouldn't get it on any part of the gun but the barrel? is it bad if i get it on the frame and slide?

also should i try to not spray anything near the firing pin channel? is it bad if any liquid get in there at all?
 
As far as solvents are concerned, I have recently switched to Butch's Bore Shine. Excellent cleaning solvent for cleaning pistols and rifles. It's the best solvent I have used to date for removing copper fouling. Great stuff!

I use Simple Green and an old tooth brush on everything but the barrel. The barrel gets Butch's. Also, Butch's gun oil is the best oil I have used. Really slicks up my Glocks and SIGs.

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R6...aka...Chris
 
I would not use WD-40 on my firearms, it will screw up primers if it comes in contact with the ammo and will gum up if allowed to sit for a length of time.

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"
 
Briefly:

BARREL BORE:
-wet patch with shooters choice. Push through bore from breech end if possible using spear tip jag. Patch goes through only once in one direction. Pour cleaner from squeeze bottle onto patch, do NOT dip patch into bottle.
-Repeat with 2nd wet patch
-Bronze brush completely in and out about 10 times. (once is one complete in/out cycle)
-Go back to step one. First patch is usually YEEEECHHHHH ugly and black. 2nd wet patch is usually cleaner.

is the bore clean? NO. Now repeat the 10 in/out cycles with the bronze brush. 1st wet patch is still YECHH ugly black dirty.
I expect about 200+ in/out passes with the bronze brush with wet patches every 10 passes before the first patch is a light gray instead of ugly black. At this point I pass dry patches through the bore. If I clean the chamber, using a chamber brush insert brush and TWIST about 20 revolutions. Swab out, dry patch bore and chamber, then one patch damp, not soaking wet with oil. I use break-free though many other oils will work.

Also, I expect a bronze brush to last 1 or 2 cleanings at the most.

I try never to let oil and bore solvent mix as sometimes acidic by-products can form from the mixture.

Rest of firearm: Clean with cotton swabs wet with oil (break-free) and reach in and wipe out the black crud. When another cotton swab wet with oil comes out clean, then the surface is mostly clean. Wipe out excess oil with dry cotton swab.

Edmund
 
Wow, you guys sure use a lot of patches ! The easiest way I have found to get a bore clean is time.

Process for my 1911

1. Run two patches soaked in Hoppes #9 from the breach end about two times.

2. Run a dry patch through.

4. Wet a CLEAN bronze brush with Hoppes #9 and run through the barrel about ten times (both ways).

5. Repeat wet patch dry patch about two more times. When the last dry patch comes out white, this means the carbon/powder fouling is pretty much gone. I run one more patch soaked in Hoppes #9 through the barrel.

6. I put the soaked barrel in a sealed plastic bag and set it aside.

7. Clean the rest of the gun.

FOLLOWING DAY

8. Having allowed the barrel to soak for 24 hours, I run a dry patch through it. The amount of copper I pull out is amazing ! Three or four hours won't cut it, you have to leave it soaking for a day to get maximum results (unless you shot only a few rounds).

9. I repeat the wet/dry process one more time. At this point, the patch is coming out cleaner than it went in
smile.gif
.

10. I wet that last dry patch with BreakFree CLP and run it through the barrel.

11. Reassemble gun

---------------------------------------------

When I am ready to shoot, I run one last patch through the barrel. The BreakFree that has been soaking in the barrel for about a week does two things : It traps all the dust tthat collected in the barrel and makes it eeasier to clean out. It deeply cleans the barrel of whatever copper, lead, whatever I might have missed initially. The end result is a blindingly bright, mirror polished barrel. Good Luck

[This message has been edited by MTAA (edited April 23, 2000).]
 
WOW!!!!!!

you mean some of you seriously push a brush thru your barrels 200 times every time you clean them?!? doesn't that really wear down the riffling in the bore?

and how often do you clean your guns? how many rounds are put thru your guns between each cleaning.

all i do is push a bronze brush soaked with Hoppe's #9 thru the bore about 2 times and then pull a bore snake thru the bore once or twice. when i look into the barrel with a light it is shining bright chrome and there is no dirt in it. i do this after each time i shoot my guns and only about 200 rounds go thru the guns between cleanings.

my beretta 92FS has about 2800 rounds thru it and i did this to it each time i cleaned it. today i took it out and ran a dry patch thru the bore after i read your posts and not much dirt came out at all. ok i'll admit the patch wasn't completely clean but it wasn't covered in dirt. it just had some dirt on the top of it. thats it!!!

isn't my gun clean enough.

and as for the rest of the gun. don't any of you spray the whole gun down with anything and then clean it? or do you just clean some of the dirty parts. is it ok to use a toothbrush to scrub the dirty parts of the gun?
 
Russel, I have found using a toothbrush on my guns an easy and safe way to clean them.

As for your bore being clean, for protection purposes you should be fine. However, just because your barrel looks bright and shiny does not mean it is completely clean. Copper deposits can be difficult to detect and often require heavy soaking and powerful cleaners to fully remove. Lead often sticks to the rifling which can be difficult to detect as well. It sounds like whatever your pulling out is dust that has collected in the barrel, but every once in a while you might want to try a heavier duty approach.

Two hundred times does seem to be overkill. Do you clean the brush before each time you use it ? Squirting it with gun scrubber has helped me a lot.
 
oh i didn't mean to say it was dust. it looks more like its lead or something like that that comes out when i clean it.

i don't really do anything to the brush. before i push it thru the bore i dip it in Hoppe's #9.

MTAA, what do you mean that what i do is fine for protection purposes? i want my guns to stay clean and accurate but i especially want them to stay clean to functino reliably since some of them are used for defense. i won't have any problems will i?

do most of you just brush off the dirty parts of your guns when you clean them and leave the rest of the gun dry? i spray down my whole gun and then have to dry the whole gun. do i need to do this?

what types of cleaning liquids should i use? people say they use simple green and others use Breakfree. whats the differences?

and how many different liquids do i need? i know i need a lubricant (i think militec is pretty good right?), i need a solvent (hoppe's #9), and what else do i need? should i then just use some other type of liquid to clean the rest of the gun? should it be a spray or bottle?
 
Wow. I bought my guns to shoot. If I wanted to clean guns I'd be a pistolsmith and charge folks for it.

"Shoot it 'til it jams, then spray it with Breakfree, and shoot it some more."

I have a Sringfield 1911 in limited trim with 50,000+ rounds through it and it's still going strong. I might field strip it and clean it every 2 or 3 thousand rounds if it looks gooky in there. In the mean time I make sure the chamber's clean and there's been no problems.

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johnnyb
A slow hit beats a fast miss.
 
I take the gun apart,but not a complete disasembly.I put all the parts in a glass baking dish. I pour BRAKE FREE oil all over the parts.I push a bore swab with BREAK FREE oil thru the bore.---Next day, or after a few hours, I run a patch with BREAK FREE bore cleaner thru the bore.I then run a rope type bore cleaner thru the bore a few more times.I then wipe all the parts with a rag and Q TIPS.I put TUFF COAT dry lub on the parts that are to be lubed,and reassemble the gun.I find this to be best for me as I don't like to smell up the kitchen too much.I clean the gun about every 300 to 500 rounds, but I'm sure it doesn't need that much care.I wipe the gun with a TUFF CLOTH after shooting and between cleanings.
 
I knew it. I saw it coming. I haven't monitored TFL for VERY long, but it had to happen:

Someone asked the one question CERTAIN to generate more contradictory statements than "how long can mag springs be left loaded?"

wink.gif


Oh yeah, baby. The big one: how often should you clean your gun, and how should you do it?

And the two sides face off...the gun slobs on the one side and the firearm neat freaks on the other. Who wins? Who knows.
smile.gif


Well, just to keep the argument rolling: I clean my gun every time I shoot it. I follow a very rigorous and detailed cleansing ritual:

First, I sacrifice a cat to Costello, the God of Ballistics...my aim is true.

Then I take the gun apart. Look at it. Marvel at its filthiness. Contemplate how much money I just sent downrange to punch holes in innocent and generally inoffensive objects.

Take the barrel. Soak a brush in whatever bore solvent I have. Run it through from the breach, if I remember that its a no-no to do it from the other end, otherwise I do it the wrong way. Run a wet patch through. Then a few more. Start dry patching. Eye my patch supply warily and balance the cost of patches, the free time I have in the day and the relative amount of grime on the gun, and make a decision on how many more patches to use. Eventually they come out white. I stop about then. Look down the barrel. Clean? Shiney? Little black spots? If the answers are YES, YES, NO, I stop. Any other variation requires further ablutions to the Diety of Gun Cleanliness.

Take slide. Dip patch or small cloth in gun cleaning stuff. Wipe it down, inside and out (try to keep really dirty stuff inside from spreading to relatively undirty areas outside by switching patches/cloths in a common-sense manner). Take a brush. Scrub inside. Wipe a few times with dry patches. Does it look clean? Try a white patch test...if its still white after rubbing, its clean. Use Q-tips on the really small areas if you like, otherwise don't worry about it. They're small areas.

Do roughly the same thing on the frame.

Wipe off the recoil spring. I doubt if it cares, but it might be feeling left out.

Put a small drop of oil on the slide rails. Reassemble. Function test. Everything that is supposed to move should move. Things that should remain firmly in place should be rock solid. Switches switch, the trigger clicks, levers...lever? If so, you're done. If you have a blued gun, follow up with a dry wipe to get off all of your rust-causing skin oils, then a *lightly* oiled rag to coat.

There! I have now made fun of and offended everyone.
smile.gif


And yes, I know. I'm doing it all wrong.
biggrin.gif


Mike

PS I actually am kinda anal about getting them clean, I will admit. I figure, as long as I'm cleaning it, I might as well *CLEAN* it. But then again, when I go to the range, I usually only shoot 1 or 2 guns and I shoot a *LOT* of rounds, so they're dirty. My main aim in cleaning is to get all the black crap off the gun, then make sure all the stuff I used to remove the black crap is gone as well.

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"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein
 
Russell92:

DO NOT USE WD 40!!! IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN PERFUMED KEROSENE. I SELL INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS FOR A LIVING.

Breakfree CLP for the bore when the barrel is moderately fouled. Apply it via a patch liberally and walk away for an hour. Run a dry patch through then a soaked patch until the patch comes out clean. Use a nylon bore brush intermitently to loosen up the gunk. When the patch comes oout clean, you're good to go.

Use Hoppe's #9 when the bore is extremely dirty and allow it to soak in as well. Use a heavy solvent like #9 only when needed.

Finish up with Breakfree LP for final lubrication. Breakfree LP is excellent and will remain on the weapon for extended periods.

Militex is probably the best but Breakfree is everywhere you buy guns or shoot and it is fantastic.

If you are carrying the 92, Beretta Oilio is great since it is very light but provides a high level of protection and lubrication.

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"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."
 
How about those bore snakes? are they any good in stead of using all those patches?

will it do as good a job if i run a wet brush thru the barrel and then use the snake?

also what should i spray the guns with instead of WD-40? shouldn't i spray the whole gun down with something? will breakfree fill this job properly?

and isn't it bad to get lubricant inside the bore? i think i remember reading on the glockmeister page about lubricating that you shouldn't get any lubricant near or in the bore.
 
Russel

A local shotgunner guy told me those bore snakes are really aggressive, so I don't use them.

If you spray your whole gun with Breakfree, a little goes a long way.

When I'm done cleaning the bore, I'll run through Gunslick brand Anhydrous Graghitic lubricant on a dry patch for a bore lube. This is amazing stuff. I shoot only lead bullets, and I've never experienced any leading problem.



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johnnyb
A slow hit beats a fast miss.
 
Russell,

I think maybe you read not to leave any oil/lube in or around the chamber. I always lube the bore very lightly after cleaning but I make sure to remove any traces of oil from the chamber area. Oil in the chamber or magazine area can creep into your ammo and ruin the primer/powder causing a fail to fire. Could this have been what you read?

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R6...aka...Chris
 
1. A brass brush down the bore (from breech if possible)

2. An oily mop in and out once.

3. Wipe feed ramp with oily rag that is black from using for abt 3 yrs.

Put away gun.
 
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