Cleaning pistols

[stickman]

I noticed a while back some folks were talking about how they cleaned their AR-15s...I was cleaning my pistols tonight and I had a couple of questions:

- How longs does it take most people to clean / lube their pistols after going shooting? It seems to take me about 30 min per.

- What methods do people use to clean? Single step C/L/P or two step clean and separate lube/protector? I've been doing a two step...

- What products do people use to C/L/P?

Brian

[maschronic]

it takes me around 30-45 minutes per hand gun. i usually start off by taking the whole thing apart. then, i get the solvent out and use a scrub brush to scrub everything. i scrub until everything looks like new. then i wipe it down. if i store the gun for more than three months, i'll oil it a little bit. its more like wipe it down with some oil. after that, its ready to go shooting.

[Josh]

depends on how many rounds ive shot.

if its only a few mags I just clean the barrel, wipe everything down with CLP and put some grease on it. About 10 min all said and done.

For a major clean I scrub everything with mpro7, some clp to keep the rust off and grease the rails. 25min

I use ezzox every once in a while to keep rust away, and then breakfree CLP the rest of the time, but I do not put clp in the bore of my rifles. For the bore I use use a light coat of machine oil to keep oxidation down and ezzox if I dont plan on shooting it for some time.

Mpro7 to get rid of heavy powder residue and sweets for copper.

To lube I use whatever gun grease I can find when I run out. Right now its tetra grease, before it was tw25.

[SVTNate]

All barrels get soaked in Butch's Bore Shine, then scrubbed with a bronze brush and Butch's, and then I flush it all out with a patch soaked in Simple Green.

Glocks - Strip slide, scrub all parts w/ Simple Green and hot water until clean, rinse w/hot water, dry w/air compressor, CLP, assemble.

HK USP's - same, but I don't bother stripping the slide

SIG's - same, but I remove the grip panels first

1911's - Same for slide, frame can trap water in the MSH, so I just wipe down with MPro7 (no water or Simple Green)

Revolvers - basically all the same.

Water is only the enemy of a firearm when it's left on the gun. I clean one part, then immediately dry it. I won't even clean all parts, then dry - one at a time, with no wait. I use very hot water which starts to evaporate before I even walk the 30 feet from the sink to my air compressor.

Most guns take me 30-45 minutes to clean, 1911's take me longer. But, when I say "clean", I mean 100% clean in every nook and cranny, perfect, better than new, and ready for fresh oil. I strip and scrub my magazines in the same manner, about every 500 rounds or so. I like keeping all my stuff clean.

I've been cleaning my handguns like this for years, and not once seen even a bit of rust or any other problem. I prefer handgun designs that can be soaked in SG and hot water, flushed, then totally dryed with the compressor.

Two things to remember - you need Q-tips for firing pin channels and other areas, but most things scrub clean with the nylon brushes. Also, the air compressor is essential. And I mean a big, serious unit that won't drop pressure. No canned air, nothing like that. If I didn't have my air compressor handy, I'd just blast the crucial areas with GunScrubber and re-oil until I could properly clean the gun at home. No way would I let water touch my guns without a proper air compressor handy that can maintain at least 100PSI.

[knifebright]

It is usually a 2 stage process for me. Usually immediatly after i use hoppes #9 to get the powder out. a few days later i usually dissasemble the whole thing and get out my tooth brushes and dental pics and go to work. I recently started to use Tripton Truely remarkable bore solvent for copper removal, though that stuff kinda scares me but it does work very well for gilding metal. I also now exclusivly use grease and not oil (accept for barrel). I've been having great results with a little paint brush and Tetra grease for all my firearms. Great stuff and stays put. I'm a big fan of seperate cleaners and lubes but that may just be the geek in me.
jimmy

[glen avon]

I don't clean my glocks. I don't have to, they are perfect. and when I do, I just throw them in either the dishwasher or the clothes washing machine. then I throw them out in the middle of the street to dry in the sun.

[TMC]

I don't clean my glocks. I don't have to, they are perfect. and when I do, I just throw them in either the dishwasher or the clothes washing machine. then I throw them out in the middle of the street to dry in the sun.

That's amazing! we have the same process for a Glocks but I don't put them in the street, people kick em, drive over them or throw them in the trash, so I put them on the back patio, that way I can find them. Its not like they're going to steal them.

[PistolKidd]

clean guns??? geez..no time to clean'em, especially if im gonna shoot'em the same week!

actually, I like to clean my guns to some degree everytime i shoot them.. but if i know im gonna use them in a few days or so.. i just wipe'em down and thats it about it..

i figure it all depends on how much you've shot, where you've shot and how dirty your gun is... if it's my rifle.. i clean the heck out of it.. it's a damn chore so i just make sure it's done right..

if it's my pistols.. blah..those things arent 'vastly' effected by not cleaning them.. unless the finish is blued then ill wipe it down with an oily rag or silicone cloth.. sometimes ill just field strip it, punch the barrel with some Hoppes and patch.. use the same patch to wipe down the rails, breechface, feedramp..and use another patch with some CLP to lube it all up again.. done.. is it clean? Not really, but it's not really dirty.. most of the gunk is removed and it's an impromptu inspection just to make sure nothing is busted or about to break.. besides, the barrels dont foul that much and after a certain point, anything built up will just get shot out.. you can only have so much crap in your barrel..

i use SLIP2000 Carbon killer (best stuff ever), Breakfree CLP, Hoppes #9, Butches BoreShine, Sweets, Tetra grease, Militec grease, Bushmasters' Moly Paste, Mobil1 Synthetic motor oil..

the list goes on.. in reality.. i typically just use Slip2000 carb. killer, Hoppes, and breakfree for my CLP.. i shoot often, about 2-3 times a week.. so cleaning is fairly moot.. i just make sure to lube often and thats about it.. I primarily shoot my Sig P226 and things never jam and it shoots extremely straight

[bu-bye]

WOW 30 min?!?

Some of you guys take a long time. Takes me about 10 min tops to clean any of my pistols. I strip them, clean the barrel with copper brush then run a couple patches of CLP then clean patches then wipe everything else down with a rag. If there are some parts that are very durty I use a little CLP on the rag to clean. Put it all back together and I'm done in 10 min tops. Rifles take me about 15 min.

[TMC]

Takes less than 10 minutes. Field strip, wipe off old oil/grease from barrel, inside of slide, clean rails, hose inside of slide and exterior of barrel with brake cleaner, reapply oil and reassemble. Competition guns I'll detail strip twice a year and clean the fire control parts otherwise I do the above before a match.

I'm one of those guys who doesn't clean the bore, only chamber and feed ramp. I know what's comming but I have guns with 10's of thousands of rounds through them and they're still more accurate than alot of new guns.

[rorschach]

You guys clean your AR's?? A manual I have from the early 60's says not to!!

Seriously though, old habits die hard, I still clean mine with CLP, pipecleaner, Q-tips and GI bore and chamber brushes, even though I recently splurged on an Otis kit.

Compressors are nice to have if you have somewheres to put one. In the field, its impossible, even those of us that live in apartments without a garage cant really have one.

[grammaton76]

Personally, I tend to take a paper towel and wipe out carbon buildup every other range trip. If I end up wiping the slide down, I oil the tracks. Once a quarter, I do a full clean and oil on everything, regardless of how often I've fired it. That quarterly cleaning takes longer every time I do it...

[m1aowner]

That's the great thing about Glocks, no meticulous cleaning needed. Just wipe it down after shooting, and leave it alone. Clean it if you want, but it will probably go forever without ever cleaning.

I don't clean my glocks. I don't have to, they are perfect. and when I do, I just throw them in either the dishwasher or the clothes washing machine. then I throw them out in the middle of the street to dry in the sun.

[stickman]

It's funny how there are so many different ways / methodologies people use to clean their guns.

SVTNate: I like the simple green / hot water method. Compressor would work for me...The method sounds like something a car guy would do How many car parts have you soaked in simple green or the like? Why do you strip the Glock slide, but not the USP slide?

As for rust, I've cleaned steel with brake cleaner and it's still started to rust shortly after (depending on the environment)...I don't think using water to clean water is necessarily any worse. If the part doesn't have some protection and there is moisture in the air, then it will rust regardless of what was used to clean it.

PistolKidd: Mobil 1 eh? How about Redline or Amsoil

grammaton76: Now that quartely cleaning...are you up to a full day?

Anyone use anti-seize compound on their rails? The gold compound on my Glock looked (past tense since it isn't there anymore) exactly like Wurth antiseize compound.

Brian

[Josh]

As for rust, I've cleaned steel with brake cleaner and it's still started to rust shortly after (depending on the environment)...I don't think using water to clean water is necessarily any worse. If the part doesn't have some protection and there is moisture in the air, then it will rust regardless of what was used to clean it.

PistolKidd: Mobil 1 eh? How about Redline or Amsoil

Anyone use anti-seize compound on their rails? The gold compound on my Glock looked (past tense since it isn't there anymore) exactly like Wurth antiseize compound.

Brian

When you use something like brake cleaner it strips off all the oil from the metal leaving it exposed to the air which will oxidize it. And its not the water itself that causes rust, its the oxygen in the water that causes it.

Antisieze is a horrible lubricant, the gold stuff on glocks is antisieze but its only there for assembly/packaging purposes. Anytime you get a new gun you need to strip it down and clean/lube it. Usually the stuff they apply at the factory is for preservation.