How often to clean your firearms. Specifically how often should I clean my firearms.
Some never do, as a test to the funtionality of their pistol. "This Thunderboomer has gone 8732 rounds without cleaning and hasn't malfunctioned once."
Personally I do after each range session. Even if I only shot 50 rounds of relatively non-dirty ammo. Probably nothing wrong with that. It gets me familiar with my equipment. But I don't HAVE to.
Even then I don't get all the dirt when I clean with various solvents and even anti-guilding compounds. After my most thourough cleaning work, here is always a nook or cranny I can't get to, or don't want to disassemble the gun down to detail level to get to.
And there is caked on film of carbon on the revolver that is much easier to see because the gun is stainless steel. It's there on the other guns, but not seen as easily because they are matte black in color.
Now if I ever used anything with corrosive primers I'd certainly clean every sessions, and then right quick. Corrosive primers are made with potassium perchlorate, these primers are corrosive because they are a salt and that is hygroscopic, and that means it suck humidy out of the air, aiding in oxidation of iron. Your gun is made of iron, in part. But that worry is only with ammo older than 1960 or so, generally. New, domestic, production ammo doesn't have this issue, as they have some lead-based primer. Some new imports from the OTHER side of the iron curtain is questionable.
For corrosive primer it is important to clean quickly and perhaps swab some ammonia based Windex window cleaner through the barrel before the session starts to get them salts on out of there.
Black powder shooters have a dirtier ammo to deal with and it may well be salt (saltpeter is hygroscopic maybe?) filled too, so their fastiduous cleaning job is cut out for them.
I don't think I need to invest in one of those sonic cleaners. These use sound waves to agitate a pan of solvent that you put metal parts of your dissambles firearm in. If I ran a gun shop and wanted to sell squeaky clean used guns that would be a worthwhile get.
I use anti-guilding solvent on well used guns once a year. This is a VERY strong cleaner that smell of ammonia. It is there to help get rid of copper rubs on the inside of the barrel that the full metal jacket copper bullets leave behind.
Is there something else I should be doing? I use Break-Free or Tetra or RemOil cleaner, with several applications, including a period where it just sits on the dirt for some time to wet it down. I use flannel bore patches to swab out the crud. I use nylone and copper bristled bore brushes and scrub brushes. I use spare patches and cotton swabs to get the small spaces as much as possible. I use boresnakes as extra good measure down the barrel a few times.
What am I missing? What could I add to the regime?
~~~~~~~~
As for how often to clean other things, I don't NEED your advice. I take that one bath every Saturday whether I need one or not.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I do a quick clean after each use. At least once a year I do a full break down, disassemble and clean.
It depends.
~Corrosive Primers~
I use a stronger form of Ammonia than Windex to remove stubborn copper fouling. Just about every consumer product with ammonia is a water-based solution. Use at your own peril. Flushing with very hot, soapy water is cheaper and easier on the lungs, as long as you do it immediately, clean it up immediately (and thoroughly), and apply some type of oil.
When I clean: as soon as the barrel cools down, or as soon as I get home. Some folks pour their solutions right down the bore while at the range.
~Front Stuffers~
Most black powder solvents are water-based, and contain silicates. I used to buy Hoppe's 9 BP Solvent, but that goes rancid, and anyway, they no longer sell it. Now I use Thompson's. I apply conventional oils to the exterior metal surfaces. I've never had a problem with bore rust in a front stuffer. I also use Pyrodex exclusively, because it much easier to find. I believe the charcoal in BP is what absorbs moisture.
When I clean: as soon as I get home.
~Conventional Ammo--General Rule~
My general rule is that weapons on the range rotation get a quick clean, and nothing more. Weapons going off the rotation get a detail clean, and are prepared for storage.
A "quick clean" means I scrub the bore with maybe 20 passes, and ten for the chamber(s). If it's a revolver, #9 is applied liberally to the outside and inside, then blown off with 80 psi from an air compressor. For an auto, I either do the above inside the frame, or use a foaming cleaner that isn't harsh--blown out with air pressure. I prefer air pressure because it's cheaper and non-corrosive, and it beats picking up a rag with a metal chip in it, and putting an L-shaped scratch in the side of a revolver. (The "L" is for "loser".)
When: Within two or three days. I usually soak the bore in #9 for a couple days, if I'm shooting lead.
Since I load my own ammo, I can choose components that make my life easier. I'm already long on this reply so I'll just give a single example: I use a flake powder (like Unique) in my autos, because ball powders blast hundreds of little green balls in the action and make it feel gritty.
It takes maybe 30 minutes per-gun to do a quick clean. If I know I'll be shooting the gun the next day, I clean the bore and just wipe off the soot.
Most I clean after range us,like you,even after 50 rounds. Others may go hundreds of round before cleaning,such as the Glock. Yet even others may get cleaned after sitting a few months in the safe,just for preventive maintenance sake.
I posted my post today before I saw yours. I'm going to do a post later in the week on just this. I don't know if I'll have any new information for anyone, but going to go with what has worked for me.
For now, off to work and that will have to wait.
I am trying to break myself of my cleaning habits. I'm, well, on the side of the obsessive-compulsive - I've been known to clean a firearm I've only shot 6-12 rounds out of...
For corrosive ammo, I've done pretty well with a spritz or two of Windex on a patch run through the bore a few times before heading home. Shot several hundred rounds of corrosive 8mm through my Turk mauser and the bore's still clean.
YMMV...
Post a Comment