It's bothered me for years that I'm not capable of completely cleaning trigger groups and so on. Dissassembly of an 870 TG is past my skill level, so deep cleaning of them has been limited to a once(so far) per lifetime ultrasonic bath. And with my oldest 870 over 50 years old, I'm concerned that it be as useful in 2102 as it is right now. So, I called up SLIP the other day.
Some of you may recall they make a Choke Tube and Gas Piston Cleaner. I wanted to find out if there was a possibility of soaking complete TGs in a bath of this cleaner, then draining and drenching with SLIP or CLP to relube and protect same. I figured that if the stuff stripped off plastic wad grunge from chokes it oughta do fine even on old grunge in the receiver.
So I called SLIP up and asked. Greg, at the other ned of the country, said I could, but that they had another cleaner that was "Not as aggressive".
Since I didn't want my cleaners picking fights or beating up school kids for their lunch money, I was interested.
Long story short, Greg sent me a large spray can of 725 cleaner, and an industrial sized container of the Choke Tube and Gas Piston Cleaner to try out. These were freebies.
Greg mentioned that the depts using the stuff would spray on the 725 cleaner, RINSE it off under a tap, and relube with SLIP 2000. "Rinse?", I muttered doubtfully. "Yup, rinse" sayeth Greg. "The stuff's waterbased and contains no fluorocarbons". He further stated that either cleaner removed ALL lube and rustproofing, so relubing immediately was mandatory. After a few more minor points were covered about methods, I thanked him and hung up.
So, last night I broke the 870TB down and tried out the 725 cleaner. The can says, biodegradeable, non toxic, and non petroleum based. The need for relubing was also on the can. HHhmmmmmmm...
So, I sprayed the TG down, let it set for a few minutes, and rinsed it off under the tap with hot water. Borrowing a method from the Muzzleloader guys, I then set it in the oven, turned onto Warm, for a brief bit of time. I then removed the TG and plunked it into a large Zip Lock bag with a couple oz of SLIP 2000 in it. I drenched the TG ,let it soak, and then hung it to drain over the utility sink. I repeated the cleaning with the bolt, which was getting grungy, about 1K round since the last cleaning. The visible grunge flowed off like water.
After reassembly, I noted that the safety's off ring, of red paint or plastic, seemd not as red as it had been. Other than that, the extreme cleaning seem to have had no harmful effects, and the parts are super clean and now lubed heavily.
Anyway, this looks like an inexpensive way to get all the works of your favorite repeater clean and lubed. Next, I'll do all the 870 TGs here one at a time.
BTW,I receive no fee, pay, gratituity, honorarium or bribe from SLIP 2000. I do get free stuff to try out.
HTH.....
Some of you may recall they make a Choke Tube and Gas Piston Cleaner. I wanted to find out if there was a possibility of soaking complete TGs in a bath of this cleaner, then draining and drenching with SLIP or CLP to relube and protect same. I figured that if the stuff stripped off plastic wad grunge from chokes it oughta do fine even on old grunge in the receiver.
So I called SLIP up and asked. Greg, at the other ned of the country, said I could, but that they had another cleaner that was "Not as aggressive".
Since I didn't want my cleaners picking fights or beating up school kids for their lunch money, I was interested.
Long story short, Greg sent me a large spray can of 725 cleaner, and an industrial sized container of the Choke Tube and Gas Piston Cleaner to try out. These were freebies.
Greg mentioned that the depts using the stuff would spray on the 725 cleaner, RINSE it off under a tap, and relube with SLIP 2000. "Rinse?", I muttered doubtfully. "Yup, rinse" sayeth Greg. "The stuff's waterbased and contains no fluorocarbons". He further stated that either cleaner removed ALL lube and rustproofing, so relubing immediately was mandatory. After a few more minor points were covered about methods, I thanked him and hung up.
So, last night I broke the 870TB down and tried out the 725 cleaner. The can says, biodegradeable, non toxic, and non petroleum based. The need for relubing was also on the can. HHhmmmmmmm...
So, I sprayed the TG down, let it set for a few minutes, and rinsed it off under the tap with hot water. Borrowing a method from the Muzzleloader guys, I then set it in the oven, turned onto Warm, for a brief bit of time. I then removed the TG and plunked it into a large Zip Lock bag with a couple oz of SLIP 2000 in it. I drenched the TG ,let it soak, and then hung it to drain over the utility sink. I repeated the cleaning with the bolt, which was getting grungy, about 1K round since the last cleaning. The visible grunge flowed off like water.
After reassembly, I noted that the safety's off ring, of red paint or plastic, seemd not as red as it had been. Other than that, the extreme cleaning seem to have had no harmful effects, and the parts are super clean and now lubed heavily.
Anyway, this looks like an inexpensive way to get all the works of your favorite repeater clean and lubed. Next, I'll do all the 870 TGs here one at a time.
BTW,I receive no fee, pay, gratituity, honorarium or bribe from SLIP 2000. I do get free stuff to try out.
HTH.....