Questions about Cleaning Semi-Auto

9

9x18_Walther

New member
This has been bothering me for a while now.

I have a very heavily cosmolined semi-auto pistol. Through the magic of break cleaner and mineral spirits, the handgun is totally clean of oil and grease.

When I reassemble, should I oil just the specified points and moving parts and call it good? Or should some sort of rust preventive be applied to the frame and other non-moving components.

I know the outside of the slide and frame needs to be oiled to prevent rust. How about the inside?

On a website, I read:

After you remove the protective grease, lubricate the gun as indicated in the gun's manual. If you're not going to take it to the range immediately, give the metal parts a light coat of oil, or wipe them down with a silicone gun and reel cloth to prevent rust.
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This doesn't make any sense. So the gun can be dry except for the lube points? Should the barrel have a thin film of oil?
 
Quote:
After you remove the protective grease, lubricate the gun as indicated in the gun's manual. If you're not going to take it to the range immediately, give the metal parts a light coat of oil, or wipe them down with a silicone gun and reel cloth to prevent rust.

This doesn't make any sense. So the gun can be dry except for the lube points? Should the barrel have a thin film of oil?
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What doesn't make sense? It says apply a light coat of oil or "wipe down" with a silicon cloth which is an excellent moisture barrier. It doesn't say leave the gun dry.
 
I use the same oiled patch used for bore/chamber to lube the inside of the disassembled colume of the magazine. Spray or brush all surfaces and wipe with cloth.
 
I should say what I don't understand is why I've gotten different responses from different people. Radically different.

A few people have told me to not oil anything but the contact points.

Some people say to give the whole gun a light film and then hit the contact points.

Some people say to only give the contact points lube and then the a light film on the untreated portions (bare steel).

Some people say not to oil the outside of magazines or the spring inside (lightly). Some people say that if the outside of a steel magazine doesn't have a thin film it is going to rust.

The only thing anyone has told me that they agree on its to give the outside a thin coat when you are done.

It's disconcerting when one person says DON'T DO THAT, another says DO THIS! I'm looking for a general consensus from a much more informed group of people. :D
 
I've spoken to many at the shows and find a high percentage of folks never disassemble. This is more so when it's a pain in the rear like a Ruger Mark series pistol to Glock magazines.
 
You get widely different responses, because some respondents don't know what they are talking about.

The instructions you quoted say to coat all metal surfaces lightly to prevent oxidation. Water vapor is always in the air, and air can reach all parts of your handgun. Given these facts, what do you think is the wise thing to do?

I coat the inner and outer surfaces of my magazines with buffed car wax. It provides lubricity, inhibits rust formation, and doesn't attract dirt.

You can also opt to refinish your internal parts with a lubricating and protective coating.
 
Any blued steel or unfinished carbon steel should have some sort of anti-corrosive coating on it to prevent rusting. That coating can be a very light film of oil or a wax, or something similar.

The inside of magazines should be dry. I wipe the springs and inside of the mags with a silicone impregnated cloth to protect them from rust. A "dry" lube/protectant can be used if desiredn.

The inside of firing pin channels should generally be dry to prevent particles and fouling from building up. A silicone cloth, or some other kind of "dry" lube/protectant (such as Hornady One Shot) can be used to prevent corrosion.

Stainless steel, as long as it's not going to be in very hostile environments can generally be left completely dry except for lubrication points. Same goes for the most corrosion resistant finishes over carbon steel. Finishes like hard chrome, nitro-carburizing/melonite/tenifer, NP3/NP3+, etc.

Painted finishes or "baked on" finishes don't need any protectant unless/until the finish wears off or is compromised.
 
It's disconcerting when one person says DON'T DO THAT, another says DO THIS! I'm looking for a general consensus from a much more informed group of people.
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Well let's think this through.

First you had a gun that was coated with cosmoline or some other protective coating. These lubes are intended for long term storage and protection in a situation where rust may form if the gun left unattended. By long term we mean months or years.

So you have removed all that long term protection.

What does the manual say is next?

After you remove the protective grease, lubricate the gun as indicated in the gun's manual.
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So the manual indicates that at this point apply a little, a few drops of oil, or a small dab of grease (depending on which you prefer) to the areas of the gun the manual directs you to.

If you're not going to take it to the range immediately, give the metal parts a light coat of oil, or wipe them down with a silicone gun and reel cloth to prevent rust.
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So after the few drops of oil are applied to the places that need it and you want to go shooting....go shooting. If you don't it instructs you to either, your choice, wipe the gun down with a silicon cloth or place a few drops of oil on a rag and wipe the gun down with that. That's all. A gun can sit for months in a safe or non humid location with no more than this.

Guns are made of steel or have steel parts. Those parts are susceptible to rust. But not overnight and not if kept in a dry place where metal doesn't rust. If the blade of a knife, or a pair of scissors, or a micrometer doesn't rust, in most conditions than a gun won't.

Some of this may be confusing because people have preferences and their own experiences. Some in more humid and damp areas than others. But the basic principals are the same.

tipoc
 
Hah.

It's actually not a big deal either way. As long as the contact points are lubed.

two questions...

1. what type of gun is it? (Doesn't really matter though)

2. Where do you live? (also doesn't matter much, I'd treat it about the same unless conditions are fairly humid.)

So basically, you want a light film of oil on all metal parts, in most peoples opinion that means ALL METAL PARTS, it doesn't matter if they are coated with some kind of finish, although some people might make exceptions for painted parts or whatever. Generally speaking something like a Glock with whatever type of coating it has over the slide inside and out, and other coatings like nickel plating, ceramic coatings, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah, will all be fine with a light coat of oil on them inside and out. Although they may not NEED a light coat of oil, (however it may help with rust prevention in humid and or salty conditions) it will add just that much more protection, and it will also aid in cleaning the gun by providing a bit of a barrier between the grime you encounter from firing the gun and the finish it's self. Again, this goes for inside and outside the gun.

Things that need no oil are wood in general (Unless the wood has been finished with oil and needs occasional attention) plastic, rubber, etc. If you have bare steel, stainless steel, blued steel, metal of any type really, it's best to have some oil on it, and then wipe it off to leave a thin coat behind. Pretty much all guns in my experience work perfectly fine with just enough oil to keep the contact points lubed, and then everything else wiped down.

This is the same in my opinion with magazines and their springs. The inside and outside of magazines get oil from me if they are metal. I might attempt to wipe the inside dry a couple times after lightly oiling since it actually holds the cartridges and people always talk about the idea that too much lube can attract dirt and muddy things up, and can also gum things up in extremely cold conditions, but generally I just "wipe on wipe off".

Once you've done it enough, you'll get the idea. It's pretty simple. There is no need to leave a lot of lube on the metal parts that are NOT contact points unless you are in humid conditions and/or you intend to store the gun for a long time. But it wont hurt anything if you do leave a bit on all metal parts, and generally speaking it's probably best.

As far as inside the barrel. It's always the same... send your last oily patch through, then one dry, and that will leave enough behind so that it's safe to store, and ready to fire next time out... unless you intend to keep it sitting around for years and years or you're in humid conditions then I'd run an oily patch through and leave it that way without following up with a dry patch. Then when it comes time to shoot the gun (years later) I'd run another oily patch through followed by a dry one just to be sure things are clean and clear. But if I had a gun sitting for a really long time, I'd probably give it a once over (quick disassemble and lube) before shooting it anyway, just because.

I hope that helps...

That's what most anyone who's done a lot of shooting or has lots of experience with guns in general will tell you... unless you run into someone who just really likes to run their guns dry, or doesn't like to spend much time cleaning.

One last thing...
This applies to all guns, not just semi auto's.
 
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2. Where do you live? (also doesn't matter much, I'd treat it about the same unless conditions are fairly humid.)
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The Sonoran Desert :D.

Generally speaking something like a Glock with whatever type of coating it has over the slide inside and out, and other coatings like nickel plating, ceramic coatings, etc. etc. etc. blah blah blah, will all be fine with a light coat of oil on them inside and out.
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Blued guns (need to be treated - I get that). Would you be coating a Glock in a very dry environment? Limnophile seems to agree with you.

tipoc for example is recommending you not oil the gun's surfaces at all except for lubrication points. It sounds like blued guns included...

It would be interesting to conduct a poll.
 
Glock's instructions are to wipe the barrel and the inside of the slide with an oiled cloth, to put one drop of oil on each rail, and to apply another where the trigger bar makes contact with the connector towards the rear of the frame. Beretta, on the other hand, says to lightly oil all moving parts on their pistols. This causes some folks to talk about Glocks liking to run dry and Berettas liking to run wet, and some who misunderstand the phraseology to run Glocks with no lube at all and Berettas with oil splattering everywhere when they shoot.

Moderate. If a pistol has a thin coat of oil where the instructions don't say, it isn't going to be a disaster. As mentioned earlier, oil is going to have a preservative effect on most finishes, and I can't think of a surface it is going to damage before it is wiped off.

Absolutely avoid getting oil in the firing pin channels of striker-fired pistols, though, to avoid gumming them up and causing like strikes as the oil becomes thickened with soot and such. Mags have been known to malfunction for similar reasons, and that is the reason you get recommendations to use a light wipe of oil or a dry lube there.

Following your manual will seldom steer you wrong as long as you don't read "lightly" and hear "glug, glug, glug."
 
Really enjoyed all the replies. One day I posed a question to my fellow gun club members at a monthly meeting: "How often you clean your firearm and to what degree do you disassemble it (field strip or detail strip)?

I got lots of different answers and even had one guy tell everyone not to take the gun apart because it just invites having the gun cease functioning and there is a great possibility that parts could be lost.

The first word of advice I give to a new gun owner is: READ THE OWNER'S MANUAL. If you gun is previously owned and it did not come with one, find one on the Internet.

My guns all get field striped, cleaned, and given a light coat of oil prior to going to the range. Places where a DROP of oil is applied, for example, is in the slide assemble where it rides on the frame. I put a tiny drop on each side and stand the slide on end letting the oil drip all the way down the track, wiping any excess off at the end. It is my habit to field strip a gun each time it has been shot and detail strip it after it's third time being shot since the last detail strip.
 
tipoc for example is recommending you not oil the gun's surfaces at all except for lubrication points. It sounds like blued guns included...

It would be interesting to conduct a poll.
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I did not say that. I quoted your manual then I said:

So after the few drops of oil are applied to the places that need it and you want to go shooting....go shooting. If you don't it instructs you to either, your choice, wipe the gun down with a silicon cloth or place a few drops of oil on a rag and wipe the gun down with that. That's all. A gun can sit for months in a safe or non humid location with no more than this.
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So I did not say "don't oil the exterior of your guns" I said something quite different.

No one here can anticipate all your needs and conditions. They will vary. If you live on a boat in the Gulf Coast, in Alaska, in Arizona, Kansas, etc. If you plan a hunting trip in extreme weather and changes of temperature. Or any other conditions. Your needs will vary.

Folks differ on their routines as well based on where they live, their experience and their preferences. As long as they keep rust away they all work. There are many variables.

I also assume folks intelligence. If your hand tools are kept in the garage and they rust in a few days, so will your guns, so take action to prevent that. For both tools and guns. There are many resources on how to do that online etc. If you legitimately don't know the resources are there.

There are some fellas that are stumped, or affect being stumped, when they learn that there is more than one way to sharpen a knife or tie your shoes. Sometimes they are "stumped" because it humors them.

tipoc
 
Lubrication and cleaning practices may need to vary by gun.

Glock, for example, recommends only putting oil on a few spots; I have a couple of FNS-40s, and they seem to give similar advice. Poly-framed guns don't need as much oil as some guns, and only the slide really suffers from corrosion risk.

Read the owner's manual. A light coating of oil or CLP-type lubs on metal parts will seldom hurt, but some poly-framed gun manuals are very specific about where, what, and how much to oil.

No one standard or set of instructions will necessarily suit every gun.
 
There are some fellas that are stumped, or affect being stumped, when they learn that there is more than one way to sharpen a knife or tie your shoes.
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Reminds me of that old saying, "A man with one watch knows what time it is, a man with two watches is never sure."
 
I suppose I should rephrase.

It seems like blued guns have a chance of rusting pretty easily.

Do baked on finishes (Springfield, HK, Glock) need any rust prevention? Will they rust under reasonable condition? What do y'all do?
 
You live in a desert. Little humidity. Lube contact points and call it good.
I live in MT and our humidity is pretty low. I lube contact points and sometimes a wipedown with a silicone cloth. No rust around here.
 
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