Clean guns often for reliability

The Macon Telegraph ^ | Jul. 18, 2004 | Emory Josey (Associated Press)

[eXe]

I have used the Bore Cleaning Foam, no where near as good as Hoppes and the Sweets copper solvent.

[Larry Lucido]

Viking Kitty inspects all of my guns for cleanliness.

[Jeff Gordon]

The scent of Hoppes No. 9 - - it is good to know that I am not alone in loving the smell of that stuff.

[NewRomeTacitus]

Someone gave me an aerosol can of Remington "Rem-Oil". Great stuff when you're shooting for several hours and want to keep buildup at bay between real cleanings.

Thanks for the "prop" the other day.

[yarddog]

I very seldom clean my guns.

I live in Florida and if one is handled, I always wipe the outside with oil to keep it from rusting. Also keep a coat of any good oil on all of them to prevent rusting.

A .22 will shoot far more than 100 rounds before cleaning but they are a little bit dirty and need cleaning more than most, especially .22 auto's.

Most centerfires will shoot a long time before they really need to be cleaned. The exceptions are if you are shooting for extreme accuracy, and of course any kind of corrosive primers, or if you use the guns in a bad environment such as dust or salt water.

When I do clean them I really clean them.

[Living Stone]

I could always tell when my ex was feeling frisky. She would come to bed with a drop of Hoppes #9 behind each ear.

[humblegunner]

Ping for your mil-spec sample link.

[NY.SS-Bar9]

GM TEC, Kroil and JB Bore paste.

[Living Stone]

I use Kroil as a penetrating fluid on stubborn screws, and for very little else. I don't use the other two you listed.

[Alas Babylon!]

The Lifer Follies, from the Original Saturday Night Live, a sketch about death row inmates trying out for an off-Broadway show:

Lorraine Newman: What are you in here for?
John Belushi: I shot someone while cleaning my gun.
Garret Morris: You killed 47 people!
John Belushi: Hey, it was really, really dirty!

[Eaker]

Militec, the best panther piss on the market!

[KarlInOhio]

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.

They tried to teach you that, but you still knew that on the friendship scale it was gun first, then weapon. :-)

[baltodog]

Har! Har!

I had a friend who once accidently shot his truck.

It was a pistol that my father had.

[Eaker]

Sombody pointed out the other day that darn near every pic I post has a bottle of Hoppes #9 included!!!

[Billthedrill]

I like to clean my firearms every five years or so whether they need it or not. You clean any more often than that and bad things happen. Like last time I cleaned my .45 I found these little spirally lines inside the barrel. Took me three days with a rat-tail file to get 'em out.

But I guess I was too late - dang thing don't shoot worth spit now. Anybody wanna .45?

Gunny, relax - I'm just a-kiddin'...

[Living Stone]

Junkie.

[Woahhs]

Try using a piece of silk for wadding when you tamp the bullet in ;o)

[MarkL]

It really depends on the design of the weapon... For instance, I've got a Ruger Mk-II .22 pistol, and it would jam right after cleaning... Once I got about 100 rounds through it, it would function beautifully. I would typically clean it about once every 7,000-10,000 rounds, which at the time, was about every 4 months back then. On the other hand, I'd do a light cleaning of my .45 1911 and revolvers everytime I shot them (a few wet patch/copper brush passes), and then cleaning the front of the cylinder, and a field-strip cleaning of the 1911. About every 2500 rounds (about once a month), I'd strip the 1911 down to the pins and give it a really good cleaning. The revolvers? Well, let me put it this way... I promised a very good gunsmith friend of mine that I would never remove the sideplate from a S&W revolver again! lol I could never get the damn thing back on so that the revolver would function!

There is one other thing... Cylinder & Slide up in Nebraska, had this really wonderful cleaning solvent that they sold by the bucket. It was great with my revolvers. Take off the grips, and drop it in the bucket (OK, gently lower the revolver into the bucket, but you get the idea). Leave it submerged for a while, then while still submerged, cycle the revolver 20 or 30 times. Remove it and let it drain, then blow out the excess with compressed air. The solvent also acted as a light duty lube. I had wonderful luck with it, but I don't know if they still sell it.

Mark

[coloradan]

but I have had a number of shotguns that fired over 100,000 rounds in competition without ever being cleaned.

Wow! I wonder what the gun grabbers must think of a gun that not only goes off by itself, but enters itself in competitions! Did that gun win any prizes for you?

[Servant of the 9]

Did that gun win any prizes for you?

No, they were really inacurate unless I held them.

So9