Well, the end of the semester is around the corner so it is time to catch up on the gun cleaning. As many of you know I have a modest collection that gets checked about once a quarter. I will start with one of mine, for .22 barrels I wrap the cleaning swatch around a q tip to do the pre soak of solvent and the final wipe. It is a tight enough fit to get into the rifling and will not damage anything coming from the muzzle. I push it with a cleaning rod with nothing screwed into the end. What is yours?
2014-04-27T20:11:06Z
@Crazy Dan - I'll look into that. I haven't used a bore snake, more a traditionalist I guess. Enough people have suggested them to where I suppose I should give them a try.
@357 - I'm not sure what kind of cleaning rod you use, but mine is polymer coated all the way around the lip. Further, it's smaller diameter than the barrel by a bit, and finally, the q - tip's other end fills the open end of the cleaning rod and bulges out a bit so it protects the barrel as well.
2014-04-27T22:57:58Z
@gooslegeek - I've picked up some of the plastic ones and haven't been impressed, are you using the surgical stainless for your hard to reach spots?
Lance T2014-04-28T13:20:35Z
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I have a bunch of different tips and tricks I've picked up and adapted over the years. I'll list a few.
First and foremost, is that many people clean their guns way too often. I know it goes against everything were taught growing up and/or in the military... but overcleaning can cause parts to wear out faster. I don't usually clean until after a few hundred rounds at least.
-Lube is much more important to firearm, always make sure you use enough.
-Utilize grease. Grease works very well on sliding parts on a firearm, and I'll tend to use it on places like the slides of pistols, and on the bolt carrier group for my AR. Use a very thin coat, or you'll get some splatter your first few shots. I use cheap automotive white lithium grease. Some firearms function better with grease, such as M1a's and Garands.
-Choose the viscosity of your lube according to the temp outside. A thicker lube when it is hot out, and a thinner lube when it is freezing.
-I stopped using traditional cleaning rods awhile ago, and have been using boesnakes ever since. Makes cleaning much easier.
-Use those disposable blue shop rags instead of paper towels. They work much btter when wiping your firearm down, don't leave lint, and last much longer. A roll is only 2 dollars and lasts a long time.
-If you use dental picks, make sure you get the plastic or coated ones to prevent scratches.
-Ed's red bore cleaner is a very famous homemade bore cleaner made from materials found in most hardware or automotive stores. A whole gallon can be made for less than $20. It is made up of equal parts k1 kerosene, dexron III ATF fluid, acetone and mineral spirts. Most of these items can be used as a cleaner themselves, when combined it works even better.
-You don't need to spend a lot of money on a big cleaning kit. I do about 90% of my cleaning with a brush, q-tips, shop rags and a boresnake.
-Fireclean. Hands down the best cleaning and lube product I've ever used. Read the reviews on it. Its the fist miracle cleaner I've used that works as advertised.
Well, that's what I could think of off the top of my head. Hope it helps
My best gun cleaning trick - is to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner that is large enough to dip a whole pistol in. Taking any gun apart and re-assembling it slowly dings all the parts and it will loosen them over time. Match shooters will dip their match pistol into a ultrasonic cleaner - it gets ALL the dirt, grease and grime out without having to disassemble it. You then rinse in hot water and blow dry with a heat gun until all the parts are too hot to touch - or if you don't have a nice one, you can use a hair dryer in a pinch. Just lube up the important places and you are good to go. This is especially nice when doing weekly match shooting and practice shooting several days a week.
I don't like cleaning rods on my rifles. I found Otis has a nice cleaning wire pack as well as other great stuff. I highly recommend it.
Personally I dislike running metal/copper brushes through my barrel especially if I'm just cleaning it after it been sitting a while. Normally I just use patches for clean up sessions and only run a brush via a bore snake or a chamber brush when I come back from the range.
So long as you use good quality CLP, you should be a-okay and much easier time cleaning.
Obviously with a cleaning rod with an open end it will scratch up and damage the barrel. My number one cleaning tip is to not send anything down a barrel other than a bullet until the groups open up.