Lets talk gun cleaning! How do you clean your guns, and why?

[Joe Link]

I believe in taking good care of what I have. When it comes to my vehicles I'm a little fanatical with maintenance, with a good grasp on how to do what and when. Even though I've been shooting for a long time, I still don't feel I've achieved this when it comes to firearms. Even worse, the more I look the more I'm afraid there's a lack of consensus, with some even advising against cleaning kit staples such as barrel brushes.

My Setup

For several years I used one of these basic universal kits with CLP Break Free. I'd run a patch with cleaner down the bore, followed by a bronze brush, followed by patches until they came out clean. After it disappeared during a move I picked up one of these basic Gunslick kits (without brushes) to get me by until I figured out which more complete kit I should get.

Being one of those patient people willing to save up for the best, I thought I could 'buy the best' and have everything I needed. Though I'd never used one of their kits, I decided to splurge on an Otis Elite kit. Maybe it's just me, as I've only used it twice, but I really don't like it much. I'm fine paying for the best, but the system seems overly complex to learn and somewhat time consuming (switching out ends and 'configuring' it as needed). My current cleaning kit consists of this, the Gunslick kit, a single Hoppe's .22 tornado brush (I've heard these are great), CLP, and Hoppes No. 9.


Philosophies

After my recent purchase of a gun which was fairly dirty, I disassembled it for a good cleaning. My plan was to use an Otis brush and the rods from the Gunslick kit, so I didn't have to mess with the Otis kit. I noticed that even after two patch-brush-patch passes I continued to get black patches after running the brush through. Shining a light into the breech, I noticed that though the bore was bright and clean, there was a very small amount of black on the right side of the lands. I figured this was powder fouling. I ran another CLP patch through, let it sit for 30 minutes or so, passed the brush through again, and found that most of it was gone. My OCD kicked in and I almost went for another pass, but figured I'd read a bit first.

I was surprised to find that, not only can excessive brushing (even with soft bronze brushes) damage the bore, some people never use a brush. Further, there are also people who simply don't worry about copper, lead, or powder fouling; running patches until they're clean and calling it good.

Here's a link with some interesting info from Schuemann Barrels

Since the patch-only method was what I did prior to getting the Otis kit, I decided to inspect the bore of my Dan Wesson CCO using a light. Sure enough, I found copper fouling!

With more questions than answers, I figured now was a good time to start this thread and find out what others do when it comes to cleaning. If we get some quality replies I can pin this thread and create links in this first post to serve as a directory of replies, since I'm sure there will be conversation too. More so than just the products and procedures, it'd be great if we could get into the philosophy behind your method. Experiences and anecdotes are welcome, too!

Read More

 

[parallax]

i run a brass brush through barrel always in direction of bullet travel, never backwards. a few times with CPL or oil.. then run a few cleaning patches through a few times lightly oiled,then inspect, then put a few drops of oil on bolts and trigger assembly. wipe off excess, maybe wipe the barrel down with a light coat of oil.. then store it.. thats about it.. i dont get all crazy cleaning every nook and cranny.. I had a drill instructor who told me he shot 17,000 rounds thru his rifle (ar-15) and never cleaned the barrel.. only oiled and cleaned the trigger assembly when it got to full of residue. When i saw his rifle, i believed him… yet it shot everytime he pulled the trigger. So i guess the question is, if a guy can shoot 17,000 rounds thru an ar-15 and it is still not worn out,, why am i even worried about how clean my rifle is?

 

[Alexx1401]

I still love the smell of #9 but long ago stopped bothering to use it. Break Free just works too well for me. I use spray cleaner first. The regular stuff on all steel, the plastic safe on any guns that have any plastic. Unless I see leading I don't bother with the brush any more. The gunk comes out and bore is shinny that's enough for me. When I use the spray I do make sure I oil well after as the stuff stripes all the oil away. After I'm done sometimes I will put some #9 on the rag just to make the room get that aroma I have loved since childhood.
With anything you want real accuracy out of you need to watch what your doing. You can screw them up if you are not careful. With my hand guns, PCC's, and shotguns I am not nearly as careful as with a rifle. As long as you get them clean and don't damage something it's a matter of personal choice.

 

[FordPrefect]

Depends on the firearm. For rifles I use #9 and a brass brush followed with some oil.

For my pistols I bought an ultra-sonic cleaner that in combination with distilled water and some simple green makes the innards of everything look brand new. I follow this up with either some Frog Lube liquid or paste, depending on how fast I want to finish up.

 

[No_Regerts]

Improper or overcleaning probably ruins more barrels than actual shooting.

 

[Joe Link]

Depends on the firearm. For rifles I use #9 and a brass brush followed with some oil.

For my pistols I bought an ultra-sonic cleaner that in combination with distilled water and some simple green makes the innards of everything look brand new. I follow this up with either some Frog Lube liquid or paste, depending on how fast I want to finish up.

I was looking at those ultrasonic cleaners...

Which one do you have? How do you like it?

 

[Joe Link]

Improper or overcleaning probably ruins more barrels than actual shooting.

That was one of the things I heard

 

[No_Regerts]

That was one of the things I heard

This why I never use metal, screw together rods, and always clean from the breech if possible using a bore guide.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Solvents have almost as much to do with screwing up a barrel as any thing else! I make my own solvent using Ammonia and Vinegar and a little trans fluid and Diesel! Stinky stuff best done out side or at least out of the house! Use a one piece Composit rod and a chamber guide and push through the bore from Breach to muzzle! Use flannel patches and all should be fine! For pistols, a Good soaking of the barrels and swabbing with a plastic brush should work fine! For lube I like the Rem Lube and for pistol bushings (1911's) a little lithium Grease on the rails and bushing! Gun cleaning rituals are almost as personal as the guns them selves, so I say take the best of all you find and come up with what fits your needs best!

 

[FordPrefect]

I was looking at those ultrasonic cleaners...

Which one do you have? How do you like it?

I got this Kendal from Amazon, Amazon.com: KENDAL 170 WATT 2 LITER (0.53 Gallon) DIGITAL ULTRASONIC CLEANER with HEATER: Home & Kitchen. It works great. I can take the grips off my 1911's and just put the gun in there assembled and it comes out clean . It does come out better if I take it apart first though.

I am looking at getting that big Hornady one. I would like to get that one Because then I could put a complete AR upper into it and clean it that way instead of with all the little brushes and crap and still not have it as clean as I'd love to get it.

 

[CountryGent]

One of the things my father drilled into his many children, including yours-truly, was his mantra of "take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. Neglect it and it will let you down." As such, I'm generally pretty fastidious about taking care of vehicles, equipment, firearms, etc.

That said, I don't, necessarily, do the fine cleaning after every single outing like I used to. The bore is always taken care of, as is a general wipe down. But I do the deep cleaning only when they need said. That varies pretty widely depending on the arm, how many rounds were fired, what type of outing it was, etc. Regarding equipment, over the years I've gathered just about every type of cleaning tool, fluid, supplies, sprays, grease, and goops, and whatnot imaginable in my primary workshed. And there is a much smaller kit in the pickup truck.

 

[Reno]

I treat my work horses like my cars every 3-6 thousand rounds or 3-6 months they get torn down and cleaned. Usually with hoppes 9 followed by Mobil 1 0w-20.

I recently got a frog lube cleaning kit at one of the clean up raffles and I have been trying to use it more as it smells way better. However it spoils, natural ingredient, when mixed with hoppes.

My bolt guns get their barrels cleaned once every 200-300 rounds or when I notice any drifting more than my crappy shooting can't fix.

I do however always clean my guns before selling them.

I feel some folks overclean their guns. If only they treated their cars as well. Imagine changing your oil every time you drove your car lol.

 

[FordPrefect]

I recently got a frog lube cleaning kit at one of the clean up raffles and I have been trying to use it more as it smells way better. However it spoils, natural ingredient, when mixed with hoppes.

There is a solvent you should use to clean a gun prior to using frog lube. That solvent gets rid of the petroleum based cleaning/lube applied in the past. The frog and the hoppes don't mix too good.

 

[Reno]

There is a solvent you should use to clean a gun prior to using frog lube. That solvent gets rid of the petroleum based cleaning/lube applied in the past. The frog and the hoppes don't mix too good.

I've been using the frog lube cleaner before using the paste as a lubricant for storage.

I learned fast not to clean with hoppes and follow with frog. After letting sit the stuff stops smelling good.

But I will say the frog paste stuff makes for cleaning later much easier. Coated a bolt on an AR pretty thick with the stuff. Ran it for two days worth of heavy rainy shooting running drills including a little mud all over the gun here and there. The bolt practically wiped clean. I was really impressed.

 

[FordPrefect]

But I will say the frog paste stuff makes for cleaning later much easier. Coated a bolt on an AR pretty thick with the stuff. Ran it for two days worth of heavy rainy shooting running drills including a little mud all over the gun here and there. The bolt practically wiped clean. I was really impressed.

What addicted me to it was my .22lr suppressor. The 2nd time I took it out with me I shot about 200 rounds through it and I had to take it to a gunsmith to get it apart. I cleaned it in my ultra-sonic cleaner and then went about applying the frog lube and I've had no problems taking it apart anymore.

 

[Kruel J]

Break Free CLP, Quick Scrub and WD-40. Very occasionally I'll use some Sweet's 7.62 bore cleaner, in a very well ventilated area.

As for regular bore cleaning, just patches for me. I don't mind light copper residue in the barrel.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I'm going to boil my info down into points, it'll probably come across more easily, but it's only what i've found over the last few years.

1) Hoppe's (pronounced Hops, note the apostrophe) is a very old petroleum based product and it's not very good *Vs* more newly developed products.

2) I too searched far and wide for a complete kit to 'get started' or to have a good complete set. They don't exist. You will have to piece one together, but that's actually way easier than it seemed at first.

3) GunSlick & Tipton carbon cleaning rods are the dogs danglies. I have the Gunslick pistol length and .22 cal rifle length version, and the Tipton larger cal rifle version (availability at the time) Having actually decent bearings on the rod handle make a world of difference in *actually* cleaning the grooves of carbon build up etc.) One piece and carbon, not steal or coated steal.

4) These days, it doesn't seem worth using *any* petroleum based product, we're technically way past the point where it's needed and all the "natural" or synthetic stuff is way better.

5) I don't like CLP's - let me expand a little; it does, or tries to do too much in one go. I don't mind an "LP" or even using a CLP for the LP portion of it, but they're all crap at anything other than very basic cleaning.

6) I used an actual degreaser if the gun is dirty enough to warrant a proper clean, my preference is MPro7 Gun Cleaner, water based, only degreases, and leaves a coating that stops parts flash rusting after cleaning.

7) I use Seal1 to lube/protect any modern firearm, it's basically Froglube but without the additive that prevents the need for shaking the bottle (liquid, paste is fine) that additive can make it look a little funky if the firearm is stored for a long time, *can* cause slow strikes if you didn't wipe it off properly per instructions.

8) Milsurp stuff still gets synthetic. No need for petroleum, better stuff exists these days, but they do get "oil" and "grease" - I use Slip2000 EWL ("oil") and Slip2000 EWG ("grease")

9) Petroleum products react badly to synth stuff like Froglube, Seal1 etc. It's actually the petroleum product that gets broken down, so that's another reason not to use them. The stuff in point 8, above, is no petroleum based so you can mix 'n match if needed.

10) I don't see any problem brushing a barrel, you shove lead down it at a very high rate of knots, a carefully slid brush ain't changing it. Likewise, brushing 'backwards' - can't be avoided in some cases, and so long as the bristles are not in the barrel when you 'reverse direction' it's good. Careful with crowns on very expensive very long range rifles.

11) Bore snakes are good. They can be great for a quick 'wipe type' clean, can also aid in certain weapons not needing to be 'back brushed' - revolvers for example.

12) Cheap bore brushes are crap, notable cleaning performance between a pricier brand name and some value pack.

13) Ammonia free copper cleaners are much better and less harsh on your barrel, i use MPro7 Copper cleaner, sparingly and seldom.

14) WD40 shouldn't be anywhere near firearms. In a pinch you can use it as a very thin (therefore penetrating) "Cleaner" - It's use case is very niche and other than it's thinness (drawback is very short staying) it has no other use than water displacement.

15) RemOil makes me shudder every time i see someone use it it's a "nice thin oil" useful for penetrating rust & dirt - it's a bubblegume lubricator and a worse protectant, wears off/"evaporates" very quickly, leaving little protectant or lube.


I'm sorry, this wasn't meant to be so long, and i'm fairly certain i've forgotten some stuff too.

 

[cascadianliberty2012]

Breakthrough solvent on patches down barrel and any area of fouling. I use Q-tips to get into small areas. Once I'm satisfied, I put down a light film of CLP, followed by a small bit of grease on the friction areas. Cycle several times, wipe up excess, done.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I'm just going to add that I'm a brush from the breach guy too. It's the way I was taught!
So, in a rifle that I can't access the breech, I carefully run the rod down from the bore, then screw the brush onto the rod, in the action, by spinning the rod. Then gently pull the brush through the barrel. I don't over brush, especially in this tedious way!
I don't know, probably silly, but I feel I'm doing my best for some darned expensive and still accurate rifles!

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

It's important to remember that you will mostly be using patches and "solvent" - the brush is only used a few times (as required) to loosen the build up/work the cleaner into it and into the grooves. The patch is there to wipe it all out.