Properly cleaned?...

S

Sheriff Gotcha

New member
Today I got my cleaning patches, Ballistol and nylon cleaning brushes in the mail. So I decided to clean my CZ 85 and Kadet kit for the first time before I took it out to the range on Friday. Even after watching a few videos and reading the manual I still wasn't too sure what I could get the Ballistol on without causing some type of "harm" to the pistol.

Is there any way to know that I cleaned it right without actually firing it?

What should I do if I get to the range and the gun doesn't fire properly?

Would it be reasonable to assume that it is due to poor cleaning and/or lubrication?

Just a few things I was curious about before going to the range on Friday. I did notice after running the slide a few times after reassembling the pistol there were globs of the ballast all left. I suppose I lubed the rails a bit too much, but I wiped the rails off a little bit and it didn't have pools of solution after that.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Ballistol won't hurt anything on a gun... hell, you can almost drink the stuff. :p

Is there any way to know that I cleaned it right without actually firing it?
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Without seeing it, that's a tough question. Does it look as clean as it did when new? Did you disassemble and clean the magazines?... a really dirty magazine is one of the number one causes for function issues.
What should I do if I get to the range and the gun doesn't fire properly?
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Doubtful it has anything to do with the actual cleaning and lubing. The gun is designed to function under pretty filthy conditions... cleaning and lubing does nothing but good things.
Would it be reasonable to assume that it is due to poor cleaning and/or lubrication?
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More likely that you didn't put it back together correctly, and that is actually pretty hard to do with a CZ.

Don't be so paranoid there Gotcha. ;)

Cheers,
C
 
The biggest concern I had when firing my handgun for the first time..was to not load the ammo in backwards. Shooting yourself your first time at the range is n00b.
 
Shooting yourself your first time at the range is n00b.
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Buying this would be... the n00b'iest. ;)

time2.jpg


C
 
I guess I am being slightly paranoid.

I know I was careful to not get the cleaner in the firing pin area, but other than that I wasn't sure if I could get some in the internals of the frame without having to take it apart to fix.

I just don't want it to be my fault that the gun breaks for some reason, so I am slightly paranoid in that sense I suppose. Really I just can't wait to get to the range and put a few hundred rounds downrange.
 
I just don't want it to be my fault that the gun breaks for some reason, so I am slightly paranoid in that sense I suppose.
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Relax. You're doing fine, and you'll have a lot more fun if you unwind a bit. If you stick to field-stripping your CZ to clean, the chances of you re-assembling it incorrectly are pretty slim.

These are metal tools designed to take some abuse by virtue of their purpose, and they are more rugged than some think.
 
I just don't want it to be my fault that the gun breaks for some reason, so I am slightly paranoid in that sense I suppose. Really I just can't wait to get to the range and put a few hundred rounds downrange.
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I clean my CZ 75 P01 like this:
  1. Field Strip
  2. Immerse barrel in hoppes 9 bath
  3. Using a CLP oil, wipe down the slide, using a cotton patches and toothpicks. I am liberal with the CLP, but wipe down fairly dry at the end.
  4. Wipe down the frame with CLP and cotton patches. I do not use much oil here--let the amount of crud you remove guide you an the areas where crud gathers.
  5. I grease the slide groove once I finish the frame. I didn't for the first few thousand rounds, but got into the habit.
  6. I remove the barrel from the bath. Dry it and run a few dry patches down it with a brass rod and jag. Once dry, run a patch with CLP down the barrel, then a dry patch. I clean the ramp and ejection notch with clp and patches, then lightly oil the lug and rest.
  7. Wipe the recoil spring and guide rod down with a light coat of CLP
  8. Reassemble and check function. Done.

If the CZ platform has a problem area, it is that the ejection spring area is easily fouled. About once every 1,000 rounds, I spray the bejebus out of it with gun scrubber. You could also disassemble it to clean out the port, but that involves tapping a pin out and I don't enjoy doing that.

I've been through a few thousand rounds with it, and only had one FTF, which I think was me limp wristing it. CZs are born to run.
 
Creeper covered it all very well, including the paranoia part. ;)

You would be hard pressed to damage your pistols by a normal cleaning of them. It is possible to irreparably damage a barrel with aggressive cleaning, but generally not handgun barrels.
 
Old Army practice: After cleaning, assuming the gun has been field stripped, cleaned, and reassembled, insert the magazine, cock the pistol and "fire" it, the gun should fire. Cock the pistol again, engage the safety and try to fire, it shouldn't click. Disengage the safety and fire, it should "click." Remove the magazine (if the gun has a magazine safety) cock ans try to fire. It should not. After passing this little test, the gun is functional.

Many years ago I devised a test for checking the firing pin. With the gun empty (always check first) cocked and ready to fire, hold the gun muzzle up and place a wooden pencil, that has an eraser on the unsharpened end, eraser down centered on the firing pin. Fire the empty pistol. The pencil should jump upwards some distance. (My Colt New Service propelled the pencil upwards over two feet or so.) If it does not, the firing pin is probably broken and needs replacing.

Bob Wright

Bob Wright
 
Pencil check

Bob Wright's firing pin check works very well. I have used the pencil test many times and take it one step beyond with a decocker equipped pistol. Engage the decocker and the pencil should not budge. If it does then the decocker is faulty and should be repaired.
 
Ha! Pencil users must be considered smarter than us gunnies. Just looked at a No. 2 yellow wooden pencil. No warnings about sharp points nor which end to place in the sharpener!

Bob Wright
 
The pencil test is a good one, but you have to be aware that you will get markedly different results with different pistol designs. A 1911 will push the pencil up maybe 1/2 to 2 inches, whereas a SIG might stick the pencil in the ceiling! Yet, the firing pins for both of them are working properly. So don't use that test as an indicator that your hammer/firing pin needs any work. Use it to show that the firing pin is indeed extending into the primer (pencil eraser).
 
What I should have said, I guess, is that the pencil should jump some distance.If there is no movement, the firing pin is not hitting the primer and will result in a mis-fire.

Thank you for the correction.

Bob Wright
 
Properly cleaned

Properly cleaned
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Where you can run a lightly oil patch anywhere on the gun, magazine button area[internal side]/under the trigger/trigger housing area/barrel/slide/frame/etc, and a very faint black/to no black powered comes off.

This is how I clean my guns, about 1 hour each gun.

Dry fire gun with a pencil, what I been doing for a few years.
 
Long before I ever heard of the pencil test (wish I had at the time) I took a snap cap, and cut a piece of a yellow sticky note to fit the back of it, chambered and fired it. If there was a good hole in the paper it was good.

Now if it is a revolver you can just hold the trigger to the rear and look behind the cylinder. You will see the pin protruding whether it is frame or hammer mounted.
 
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