just cleaned my new 870P for the first time (got questions)...

C

Chris17404

New member
Hi guys,

I just cleaning my new 870P for the first time (just out of the box). It has the blued finish and Remington says there is NO cosmoline on the gun at all. From what I have read about cosmoline, I definitely do not think my gun has it.

I have a few questions...

1. To clean the barrel, I drenched inside and out with RemOil and let it sit about 30 minutes. Then I used a brass bore brush with cotton patch to clean the bore. The first few times through the bore, the patch was dark brown. Then I went though about 6 or 7 new patches until the patch came out clean. Once I was ready to assemble the gun again, I put a new patch with more RemOil on it through the bore. It came out dark brown again. Why? I used one more clean patch so that I'd leave a thin coat of oil inside the bore. So... why did the patch with RemOil on it coem out brown again if the bore was clean?

2. When re-assembling the gun, I put a few drops of RemOil on the action bars, the ejector spring, and blot assembly. Would you recommend oiling any other parts?

3. When cleaning the trigger assembly, I did exactly what the owner's manual said: sprayed RemOil on it and let it sit for 15 minutes, then spraryed more on to clean it, then shook of the excess oil. This still left quite a bit on there. But I figure this is an important part of keep well oiled. Should I have wiped it down a little more before re-assembly?

4. The last step was wiping down all metal exterior parts with the silicone cloth. When I did this, again, the silicone cloth had brown stuff on it. Does this mean the exterior of the gun was still dirty? Or is this normal?

Thanks!

Chris
 
From the same question on another forum:

You're probably getting "rust" off the new blue job.

Remember. bluing is a controlled form of rust, and when a blue job is still new, it's said to be "green", or not fully cured.
Wipe the finish with an oily cloth, and you'll get brown stains.

Many people who do high-quality refinishing will soak a "green" or newly blued gun in warm oil for a week or so.
Every day, they'll wipe the surface gently with a clean patch soaked in oil, and this removes uncured bluing.
This looks like rusty brown stains on the patch.

After a week of this, the blue job is cured, and has a much higher gloss.

Many of the new Lubes like Rem-Oil and CLP Breakfree are very effective rust fighters, and will lift the brown uncured bluing off the gun.
This is probably what you're seeing.

Even old guns will shed a little rusty stains when the gun is coated with one of these new lubes.

As for the bore, I'm sure Remington does put something inside to prevent rust during shipping.

Probably, the Rem-Oil just didn't remove all of it.

Re-clean the bore with the brush and patches, but this time use a standard bore solvent.
This should remove any remaining preservative.
 
Chris,
RemOil is not a cleaner, it's a lube. Clean the gun (bore & other accessible parts) with a solvent as DFaris says. Running RemOil through the bore will not clean it. You oil the gun parts after you clean them. Drenching the bore with oil & letting it sit for 30 minutes doesn't clean it.
Same with the trigger assembly. You didn't clean it, you just thoroughly oiled it. You can use a spray cleaner to blast out dirt from the inside of the trigger assembly where you can't get at the parts with a patch, but be sure to oil the assembly again after you let the cleaner dry off. Don't leave the trigger assembly soaking wet, it only needs a couple drops of oil here & there on pivot points and surfaces that move against each other. Too much will attract dirt & gum up, and can ooze out & get all over things.
Again, as DFaris says, it's quite normal to get some brown off a brand new gun. That doesn't mean it's rusting away on you.
Sometime in the not too distant future, remove the mag spring & run some solvent on patches through the tube till they come out clean. Then run a couple lightly oiled patches through the tube. My recommendation then would be to run a dry patch through the tube to remove excess oil that can mix with powder residue to gum up & slow the follower down. Others leave the tube slightly oily inside. Clean the follower with solvent, oil it, wipe off excess oil. Wipe the spring itself down with a solvent patch, then an oiled patch, leave it slightly oily to prevent spring rust.
Leave the barrel chamber dry, and the face of the bolt dry. Only a very light film of oil in the bore. Don't shoot it wet.
Go over the exterior parts, too, with solvent, then again with an oil after the solvent dries, then try your silicone cloth. You'll get some brown off various places on it, it's a new gun. Expect that.


DFaris,
Finishing the write-up probably tomorrow. As part of the process I talked to Ken Nickerson, Field Service Support Manager for Remington on the phone for about ten minutes today. No cosmo, the only preservative used is a very light coat of a non-commercial RemOil, most of which is rubbed off the exterior by the end of assembly. Not necessary to clean anything off. Nothing has to be done to the gun to fire it out of the box, although your preference of stripping it down & cleaning it out is not a bad idea, if for no other reason than to check for machining splinters & to add a little lube.
On the parked guns rubbing some oil in to help set the finish & protect against rust is good.
On a side note, I recall an article some time back comparing the rust prevention properties of various oils on bare steel plates in a rack. I believe RemOil was one of the least effective rust preventatives tested. But, if you're happy with it & it works, that's great.
No plans for an oversize safety, one of my few criticisms of the P Max.
Denis
 
Thanks for the good info, guys. Just so I'm clear... are you recommending that I clean the exterior of the gun (metal parts) with bore solvent also? I thought you're only supposed to clean the bore with solvent. I assuemd that could hurt the blued finish.

Chris
 
Remington has made cleaning the trigger assembly confusing by stating in the owner's manual:

"Clean [the trigger assembly] as a unit with RemOil only."

Is Remington's "Brite Bore" cleaner safe to use on the trigger assembly and all other interior and exterior metal parts?
 
Chris,
Is this your first gun?
Not sure why you think gun cleaning solvents would harm a gun. Burned powder residue & other "dirt" will accumulate all over a gun, inside & out, to at least some degree eventually. Use a good cleaning fluid (NOT an oil) to clean your shotgun inside and outside, lube inside as needed, then rub some oil into the exterior finish after the cleaning fluid has been wiped off & dried. Then wipe the oil off. That just means to the point where the outside finish and surfaces are dry enough to not be slippery. You'll still have a bit of an oil residue in the surfaces.
Again, you're making this much harder than it needs to be. Get beyond the manual. The trigger assembly is cleaned "as a unit" because most people should not break it down into separate parts to clean each part. As I said- use a spray cleaner to de-gunk it "as a unit", when it dries oil the pivot points like the hammer & trigger, and other moving parts where they rub, lightly. Don't leave the trigger assembly dripping wet.
You need to understand that there are cleaners, oils, and combination cleaner/lubes. RemOil is not a cleaner, for example, and Hoppe's #9 is not a lube. Products like CLP Break Free combine a cleaner that breaks down powder residue with a lube that stays in & on the gun after you clean with it.
If you clean with a cleaner, it'll usually remove old oil, which leaves metal relatively bare and without rust protection, and then you need to be sure to re-lube the metal surfaces both for rust protection and lubricity on moving parts to allow smooth function & reduce friction wear.
If you just slop oil around continually, it'll move some of the powder residue out on a patch, but not all, and you eventually create a nice sludge.
If you use a combination cleaner/lube, you clean the gun thoroughly inside and outside, and after patches & cloths start coming out clean, you leave a film of the stuff where indicated, and again make sure you've got pivot points treated with an extra drop or two, and possibly a heavier film on the larger moving parts like the bolt (again, keep the bolt face & chamber dry).
Oil and grease can freeze and slow the action down in very cold weather, and can attract fine sand in sandy & windy climates. A dry lube usually works better in such cases, and Hornady's One Shot dry lube & cleaner in a spray can is getting good reviews. Spray it all over, wipe out & off the gunk, spray a bit more in & on key areas, when it dries that's all you need to do.
You're going to have to move beyond just RemOil, that won't keep your shotgun clean.
I don't care what product or products you use, but understand the cleaning process & make your own choices on how you want to go about it. One suggestion I would make is to avoid cleaning compounds with ammonia.
Another thought would be Brownells Rust Preventive liquid for external surfaces if your gun will be stored for long periods of time. It gives the surfaces some additional protection from fingerprints and general handling.
If you want to stay with Remington, their bore cleaner should be perfectly safe on any part of the gun. Bore cleaners can affect wood surfaces if left on them in large enough amounts for long periods of time, but the type of contact involved in routine cleaning won't hurt wood or wood finishes with most commercial gun cleaning fluids.
Some cleaners can affect nickel plating, but your gun isn't plated, so it doesn't apply.
You might want to look up shotgun cleaning products at Brownells, they've got a bundle of bore & chamber brushes, and a couple good cleaners to help remove powder & plastic buildup in the bore. Their Lewis Lead Remover is a great tool to remove hard powder deposits for coarse cleaning, and they've got two or three cleaners for finer bore cleaning, like their Shotgun Wad Solvent & J-B Bore Cleaning paste.
Denis
 
Thanks for the info, Denis. Yes, this is my first gun of any kind. That's why I'm asking so many questions. I appreciate your patience and informative posts.

According to Remington's website, it says RemOil "cleans dirt and grime from exposed metal surfaces, displaces non-visible moisture from metal pores, and protects internal and external metal parts from rust and corrosion." This, coupled with the fact that they say to only use RemOil on the trigger assembly, led me to believe RemOil was good for cleaning also. I guess not. I was just trying to following Remington's recommendations since I'm new to this. Thanks for opening my eyes.

OK, I purchased Remington's "variety pack" of cleaning supplies: Bore Brite, Rem Action Cleaner, and Shotgun Cleaner. I also got Remington's "non-solvent" cleaner just for the heck of it. All of them seem to do the exact same thing. What is the difference, and how should each of them be used? Is there a certain one that I can use to clean ALL metal parts of my gun?

If you could, could you simply list out the places where I should lube my gun with oil after cleaning is finished?

Thanks.
 
Chris,
That would take some time, don't have it right now, but between DFaris & me you should have a fairly comprehensive idea if you take what we've said, break the gun down, look at what moves & where, and figure it out. Generally- light film on all internal metal surfaces (except the mag tube) to guard against rust, drop or two on pivot points, slightly heavier film on the bolt, very slight film in bore (I leave mine dry after an oiled patch is run down a cleaned bore followed by a dry patch, but others like to leave a VERY light coating of oil inside it), wipe the outside down with a slightly oily rag or patch after cleaning, and so on.
The idea is rust prevention in general, and lubricity in particular locations where it's need.
I don't use Remington maintenance products, can't advise specifically on what you bought, just read the instructions, plug them into what I told you earlier about cleaning & lubricating products, and go from there.
The CLP & the One Shot products I mentioned earlier are two that you can use to clean AND lube all metal parts of your shotgun.
Denis
 
Had the same thing on my blue 870 Police. It was salt creep. The cosmo would have been taken off the first time, but the brown residue kept showing up. After a while it's a non-issue, no corrosion, just beautiful blue.
 
what?

Oh my god man, a new shot gun? Run a swab w/solvent thru it to get what ever machine shop debris may be in it, dry it out and start blasting with it. All the cleaning you described isnt nessesary for a new gun.
 
Salt creep is the result of residual bluing salts left on the metal being blued, and it shows up in the form of powdery to crystal-like brownish residue. It happens when the neutralizing process is incomplete, usually due to haste...no prob, just keep cleaning, oiling, and it will soon be a memory. I was so worried about the brown residue on my new Police Magnum, that I gave it a bath in hot soapy water, then flushed it with water displacing oil (horrors, yes it was WD-40) then cleaned with Hoppe's as per usual. Oiled it up, and never a single little pill of salt showing up after that.
 
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