Posted on 07/19/2004 4:17:47 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
Is it important to clean your guns? Why? How clean is clean?
I have asked, and been asked these questions for decades.
I am not a gunsmith, but I do have a general knowledge of what makes a gun tick - and what makes it stop ticking. When I wore the uniform of the United States Military, I was taught that my weapon (we never called them guns; there was a punishment for that slip of the tongue) was my best friend. Take care of it, and it will take care of you.
I cleaned all mine right by the book. I only had one malfunction that I can recall and fortunately that one wasn't life-threatening. Some M-16s did malfunction, and cost some young men their lives. That doesn't speak well for our Superpower technology, since the ugly old Kalashnikov AK-47, used by our enemies around the world, would have kept on shooting under nasty circumstances.
Since I am not a gunsmith, I always refused to work other people's guns, except for a special friend. My experience in that area taught me that in over half the cases of malfunction of a gun, all it needed was a good cleaning.
I always loved the aroma of Hoppe's No. 9 gun cleaning solvent, even more than Chanel No. 5. My basement still has that lingering aroma. I have used it by the gallon, and for years it did a good job for me. Even so, when a center-fire rifle had been shot 20 or 30 times without cleaning, it took 20 minutes of scrubbing with a bronze wire brush and about 20 patches to get the bore sparkling clean again. Believe me, a gun with carbon and metal deposits in the lands and grooves will not shoot a tight group.
Things have changed. There are some "new-age" solvents available that work much faster. One is Extreme Clean by Shooter's Choice. Another is Bore Cleaning Foam from Break Free. A third is made by Bore Tech and is called Eliminator.
These cleaners are very strong and you absolutely MUST read the cautions on the labels, since the solvents will attack the metal fish of your gun if left in the bore too long. But they will clean a dirty bore in a fraction of the time it takes with the old reliable Hoppe's.
A clean bore shoots more accurately, but most shooters stop here and do nothing else to the gun except to wipe down the exterior metal finish. The carbon deposits, under extreme pressure, permeate every nook and cranny in the trigger mechanism and in the ejection port. These must be cleaned as well.
A spray product known as Gun Scrubber should be sprayed into hard-to-get-to places and allowed to drain. After that, these mechanisms must be lightly lubricated after cleaning. A toothbrush with stiff bristles will get out more crud from tight places.
How often to clean? A .22 rimfire can go 100 shots without cleaning. The exceptions are the .22 magnum and the .17 calibers, which should be cleaned after every 30 to 40 shots because they leave copper deposits in the bore. For center-fires, I like to clean after 20 shots. Shotgun bores should be cleaned after each use.
Fail to clean these guns and - sooner or later - they will fail you, especially the semi-automatics which need lots of TLC.
...and Clean!
Hoppes No. 9... the best substance known to the shooting world! (Short of gunpowder, that is!)
Hoppe's Bench Rest bump.
Fail to clean these guns and - sooner or later - they will fail you, especially the semi-automatics which need lots of TLC.
I agree with you about rifles and pistols, but I have had a number of shotguns that fired over 100,000 rounds in competition without ever being cleaned.
I have never had a shotgun fail to fire or fail to cycle with factory ammo.
So9
When I was way younger, I asked my father if I could shoot his Browning-Belgium .380.
"Sure" he said.
We went out to our woods and he loaded one single round, which he allowed me to shoot.
He then took me home and proceeded to teach me how to break it down, clean it and put it back together. I could not discharge that weapon again until I was able to do it myself.
God help us if there was ever an unclean weapon on the racks.
Does anyone here have any experience with these?
It's my cologne of choice....
Ed's Red
and you make it yourself by the gallon.
Works great, and you can tailor the formula
to be a cleaner, a lube or a preservative.
Ed's Red is made with a quart each of,
Kerosene,
mineral spirits,
automatic transmission fluid.
For a solvent cleaner add a quart of acetone.
For a preservative add anhydrous Lanolin.
Many older gun oils and cleaners used Sperm Whale oil as it
was then the finest available.
During WW II. a substitute had to be found and ATF was invented, it makes a very good lubricant all by itself.
It's Ed's, it's Red, and it smells good too
especially if you add a tiny bottle of Oil of Clove, which by the way should be in every medicine cabinet for toothache!
Works wonders on a cotton swab and it tastes good too.
It's cheap and easy to make and when you have a gallon
you use a lot more of it and that gets out more dirt as
you aren't trying to scrimp on the $5 an ounce stuff.
Look it up on the net, a lot of happy and satisfied users.
If you are shooting benchrest, you should clean (centerfire rifles) at least as often as is suggested above. Other than that, after every time a weapon is shot it should be field stripped and cleaned. Weapons should be detail stripped and thoroughly cleaned at least every 500-1000 rounds.
Sweet's 7.62 copper solvent is a must have. That and Hoppes are the mainstays of cleaning firearms.
So9
I always clean my pistol after going to the range but if I don't get back to the range for several months, should I clean the gun anyway? Is there a standard interval for cleaning?
It would have been better if you had fired the rifle (.308? -- if you shoot it you could hit a crucial component and render it inoperable....
Here is a discussion group you might find helpful:
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum;f=41
I thought that you were talking about a pistol....
That is a good system for those who want to spend the money. We are about to put a Crest Ultrasonics system in our shop. That should save me about 5-6 hours of labor per week.
Sweet's 7.62 is good stuff, it makes cleaning up my AR-15 easy after a day at the range.. Gets the copper out. Usually I use hoppes to get the main junk out of the bore then a patch with Sweets on it let it sit for a few mins, then wipe out the rest of the junk, and coat with a patch with some light oil on it.
On a side note, people think I am nuts cus I always clean my guns, I enjoy it.. it is a great way to unwind and relax. :)
I'm curious as well.
I think Outers has pretty much given up the big expensive unit. The portable battery powered one they offer at a fraction of the price does everything the big unit did.
I sure wouldn't have paid multi hundreds of dollars for one.
So9
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