cleaning the shotgun

[Dark&Good]

Hi,
I was wondering what you guys use/used for cleaning and how well it worked... I'm looking for a good solvent that would leave the wood stock's finish and the barrel finish alone, preferably non-toxic and non-flammable. I would use it on a smoothbore Mossberg 12ga with wood stock, and I shoot slugs only. I'm trying to avoid advertisements and rather get some facts...

[CalNRA]

I just run a patch through the barrel and wipe the residue off the action/breech, and apply a bit of oil on the moving parts. As far as I know most solvents will be bad for the wood, so a good wipe down and lightly oil all parts of the gun you can get to would be enough. If you shoot a lot of cheap skeet rounds then a through cleaned might be needed. I have only used hops on the metal and then coat the whole gun with a light coat of oil. Never had a problem.

I am of course if you are talking about a pump action. I don't own a semi-auto so I wouldn't know. Since you only shoot slugs there should be minimal need for scheduled cleaning.

[Conker]

I use WeaponShield for every firearm I own. It is non-toxic and contains no solvents, but cleans nicely. Not sure if it would be safe on wood. Probably safer than a lot of other cleaners out there.

[Joe_13]

Shooters Choice to clean,

Break-Free CLP to protect

[Dark&Good]

Joe_13,
No offense meant, but I wasn't simply curious what others use... any facts WHY Shooters' Choice?

[Ricky B]

I'm looking for a good solvent that would leave the wood stock's finish and the barrel finish alone

Take off the barrel and clean it separately from the stock! That's what I always do. You want to run the rod from the chamber to the muzzle (not vice versa), and it's pretty hard to do with barrel still attached the stock. Moreover, with the barrel detached, there's no issue of solvent running off and removing the finish.

Both Breakfree (which I often use to clean as well as protect) and Shooter's Choice are recommended by many users, magazine articles, etc. If you're looking for "facts" as exemplified by our personal lab tests, good luck. The truth is that any standard firearms solvent that is regularly used by shooters is adequate.

[Dark&Good]

Thanks.
I was wondering about using dishwasher soap + warm water for cleaning... then oven-dry, and oil. Does anybody know what ppl used, say, 100 years ago?

[nick]

Kerosene and castor oil. Or nitric acid and cosmoline

[BTF/PTM]

I use Hoppe's No. 9 cleaning solvent for my guns. I always take the barrel out of the gun simply becuz it's much easier to clean thoroughly that way. I use a bore snake, it really does a nice job.

Kerosene is good for a severely gunked up gun (or any gunked up metal part), that stuff cuts thru anything. That being said, kerosene can be quite flammable if it's allowed to vaporize, so I wouldn't use it on a gun without cleaning the gun a second time with something else (like Hoppe's) after I got it de-gunked with kerosene.

[Ricky B]

I was wondering about using dishwasher soap + warm water for cleaning... then oven-dry, and oil. Does anybody know what ppl used, say, 100 years ago?

In the AGI video for the Remington 1100, Robert Dunlap, the gunsmith, recommends using Simple Green and water. Oven dry? Only if the heat is kept low; I wouldn't fool with it. If using water, I would simply towel dry with a cotton rag and maybe use a blow dryer.

As for oil, I would use one of the modern "wonder" lubes, such as BreakFree.

[11Z50]

Break-free or CLP. If you've just shot a box or 2, simply wipe the shotgun down with a CLP soaked rag. Every few hundred rounds, or when common sense tells you the gun needs cleaning, detail strip and liberally apply CLP. Go have a beer and let soak. Return, scrub with toothbrush and wipe down all metal parts. If you have one, an air compressor works nicely to blow gunk out of the crevices. Apply the proverbial "light coat of oil" and re-assemble. Don't forget a function check.

[Dark&Good]

I KNEW you don't need space age stuff or 4 cleaning sessions a day to keep the baby working for a lifetime or two!

An oven set to 200 F shouldn't be too much for metal parts IMHO - that's below water boiling temp. The stock should be left out though... There are tiny nooks in the bolt and trigger mechanism that would be hard to towel-dry, that's why I thought of the oven. Or do you disassemble those, too?????