Undergiver
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Sturgeon County, AB
I made a grove in the safety with a swiss file and used a C clip to retain the safety. It looks like it will work fine, I will know the next trip to the range.
VZ58: Cleaning & Maintenance Techniques
- Thread starter Exoce†
- Start date
I made a grove in the safety with a swiss file and used a C clip to retain the safety. It looks like it will work fine, I will know the next trip to the range.
Anton Chigurh
New member
I am new to shooting corrosive ammo.
Will it be enough for me to windex scrub the bore / gas block, swab dry, scrub bore with bore cleaner, swab dry, and then lubricate bore after each use.
Once a year, boiling water / windex the whole thing.
I plan to (approximately go through a case of 1000 S&B rounds per year.
Just looking for a rough cleaning / maintenance schedule.
Will it be enough for me to windex scrub the bore / gas block, swab dry, scrub bore with bore cleaner, swab dry, and then lubricate bore after each use.
Once a year, boiling water / windex the whole thing.
I plan to (approximately go through a case of 1000 S&B rounds per year.
Just looking for a rough cleaning / maintenance schedule.
Anton Chigurh
New member
Thanks for clearing that up, I have spent the last 3 hours reading about cleaning techniques on this forum and was a little confused.
I will also bring some windex with me, spray and bore snake it immeidately after use at the range.
So im getting ready to store my firearms for winter here and im not sure what precautions i should take. Do i oil the barrel and just slop it on everywhere else? Im so meticulous when it comes to cleaning my 858 but im not sure how to store it away. Thanks for the replies in advance! 
- Location
- Alberta Free State
So im getting ready to store my firearms for winter here and im not sure what precautions i should take. Do i oil the barrel and just slop it on everywhere else? Im so meticulous when it comes to cleaning my 858 but im not sure how to store it away. Thanks for the replies in advance!
Living in Surrey you'll have humidity problems. You might want to consider getting one of the cabinet dehumidifiers - I think several of the site sponsors sell them. As to oil, I can only offer the old military axiom: clean, bright, and lightly oiled - I just use a light film of regular gun oil, not a lot, and just a touch of grease on the sliding surfaces in my 858. Seems to work.
Some folks swear by Ed's Red gun oil, which is just a 50/50 mixture of Dextron II ATF and kerosene.
Someone who lives where its humid will probably have a lot better answer to this than I do.
I'd like to pass along what an Ontario gusmith recently advised me, because I think might be a very good way of reducing both corrosion and cleaning time and effort.
After you've finished firing corrosive ammo for the day, fire three or four rounds of non-corrosive ammo. The "scrubbing" action of those last non-corrosive rounds will remove much of the corrosive residue left behind by the corrosive ammo and, therefore, minimize the amount of corrosion that will take place in the barrel during the time between the range and home. It's easy to see why doing this might also make the cleaning process itself easier and quicker.
I am going to give this method a try. Maybe the process conforms to the law of diminishing returns -- that is, the first non-corrosive round provides the greatest benefit and the following ones have a diminishing effect. Maybe just one round would do 95% of the job that 3 or 4 rounds would do. Regardless, as soon as I try this out with my soon-to-be-acquired shooter, Ill report how it works. (Maybe someone will beat me to the draw, but that would be just fine with me.)
After you've finished firing corrosive ammo for the day, fire three or four rounds of non-corrosive ammo. The "scrubbing" action of those last non-corrosive rounds will remove much of the corrosive residue left behind by the corrosive ammo and, therefore, minimize the amount of corrosion that will take place in the barrel during the time between the range and home. It's easy to see why doing this might also make the cleaning process itself easier and quicker.
I am going to give this method a try. Maybe the process conforms to the law of diminishing returns -- that is, the first non-corrosive round provides the greatest benefit and the following ones have a diminishing effect. Maybe just one round would do 95% of the job that 3 or 4 rounds would do. Regardless, as soon as I try this out with my soon-to-be-acquired shooter, Ill report how it works. (Maybe someone will beat me to the draw, but that would be just fine with me.)
Recently, ive been cleaning my VZ differently to save some time. I shoot about once a week and the gun sits between outings.
-After a day of shooting I do like most and disassemble the gun, place all gas related parts in a bin and fill it with boiling water.
-Then I pour the rest of the water down the barrel, gas port and anywhere else on the gun the gas would touch.
-While the other parts are soaking, I clean the bore, but not like most. I use a gun cleaning spray that is also an oil. Ill update this with the name when I get home. I just run patches with this stuff sprayed on them down the bore until they come out fairly clean. Repeat the same process with the piston spring area.
-Then i wipe down the whole gun with a rag sprayed with the same stuff. Any metal gets a light coating (its a light oil thats left on the rag after spraying).
-Then, I removed the parts from the bin, dry them off and anything that doesnt get oil gets sprayed with gun scrubber (brake clean) to remove any build up and/or water.
-Any parts that do get lightly oiled I dry off and wipe down with the rag I wiped the rest of the gun with.
-Finally, i pay extra attention to the firing pin. I dont disassemble it, just spray it liberally with degreaser while working the firing pin back and forth. I clean it until whats dripping off is clear and the pin rattles freely.
-Then I re-assemble everything.
Ive used this method all summer and really the only difference between a "real" cleaning and my method is that I dont use bore solvent or a wire brush. Ive got 1000 rounds through my VZ and nearly as many through my SKS and neither have given me any trouble. About every 4 outings I do a proper barrel clean with brush and bore solvent but for the times between I just use the gun spray. I realize many will say not to get any oil or anything on some of the parts I wipe down, but there have been no ill effects from this and I cant image a super thing layer of light light oil could possible effect anything.
Just thought id post my method. I have found if I dont clean the VZ after a day of shooting corrosive ammo it doesnt rust. If I wait 2 days a bit of rust starts to form. The SKS however, one day and its got rust everywhere. My VZ is NOT chrome lined.
-After a day of shooting I do like most and disassemble the gun, place all gas related parts in a bin and fill it with boiling water.
-Then I pour the rest of the water down the barrel, gas port and anywhere else on the gun the gas would touch.
-While the other parts are soaking, I clean the bore, but not like most. I use a gun cleaning spray that is also an oil. Ill update this with the name when I get home. I just run patches with this stuff sprayed on them down the bore until they come out fairly clean. Repeat the same process with the piston spring area.
-Then i wipe down the whole gun with a rag sprayed with the same stuff. Any metal gets a light coating (its a light oil thats left on the rag after spraying).
-Then, I removed the parts from the bin, dry them off and anything that doesnt get oil gets sprayed with gun scrubber (brake clean) to remove any build up and/or water.
-Any parts that do get lightly oiled I dry off and wipe down with the rag I wiped the rest of the gun with.
-Finally, i pay extra attention to the firing pin. I dont disassemble it, just spray it liberally with degreaser while working the firing pin back and forth. I clean it until whats dripping off is clear and the pin rattles freely.
-Then I re-assemble everything.
Ive used this method all summer and really the only difference between a "real" cleaning and my method is that I dont use bore solvent or a wire brush. Ive got 1000 rounds through my VZ and nearly as many through my SKS and neither have given me any trouble. About every 4 outings I do a proper barrel clean with brush and bore solvent but for the times between I just use the gun spray. I realize many will say not to get any oil or anything on some of the parts I wipe down, but there have been no ill effects from this and I cant image a super thing layer of light light oil could possible effect anything.
Just thought id post my method. I have found if I dont clean the VZ after a day of shooting corrosive ammo it doesnt rust. If I wait 2 days a bit of rust starts to form. The SKS however, one day and its got rust everywhere. My VZ is NOT chrome lined.
I'm relatively new here and new to the VZ/CZ platform. I really appreciate all the great info on here for newbs such as myself. I do have one question that am having trouble finding the answer to. Would it be possible for someone to explain all of the components that come in the "cleaning kit" for the VZ/CZ. I can figure out what some of them are, but there are a couple that are quite puzzling to me. Perhaps a illustrated diagram could be useful here?
VZ/CZ 858 cleaning kit.
Most of VZ/CZ owner know the tool kit but for the potential new owner, a little course 101 of the kit.
We have,from left to right
-The blank firing device. Screwed onto muzzle,permit the rifle to cycle using blank cartridge.
- Muzzle guide, protect the bore when using the cleaning rod
-cleaning jag
-Multi tool. The pointed end is useful to remove the extractor from the bolt and the tool also serve to lock the cleaning rod on the combination oiler/cleaning tool/rod handle.
-cleaning brush,mostly for chamber cleaning.
-oiler/rod handle
-cleaning rod.(The VZ kit have 2 rod section so i had another since the non restricted version have a longer barrel.)
Oiler, can be lock on the cleaning rod using the multi pointed tool, to serve as handle. Also, cleaning jag or brush can be attached to it.
The muzzle guide. Slide on the rod before using cleaning attachements. The guide is slip on the muzzle collar then turned to lock it.
The pointed tool is use to depress the extractor plunger so the extractor can be removed.
That's it!
Joce
Most of VZ/CZ owner know the tool kit but for the potential new owner, a little course 101 of the kit.
We have,from left to right
-The blank firing device. Screwed onto muzzle,permit the rifle to cycle using blank cartridge.
- Muzzle guide, protect the bore when using the cleaning rod
-cleaning jag
-Multi tool. The pointed end is useful to remove the extractor from the bolt and the tool also serve to lock the cleaning rod on the combination oiler/cleaning tool/rod handle.
-cleaning brush,mostly for chamber cleaning.
-oiler/rod handle
-cleaning rod.(The VZ kit have 2 rod section so i had another since the non restricted version have a longer barrel.)
Oiler, can be lock on the cleaning rod using the multi pointed tool, to serve as handle. Also, cleaning jag or brush can be attached to it.
The muzzle guide. Slide on the rod before using cleaning attachements. The guide is slip on the muzzle collar then turned to lock it.
The pointed tool is use to depress the extractor plunger so the extractor can be removed.
That's it!
Joce
- Location
- Waterloo Region
^^^Awesome, Thanks for that! I just bought one of these babies and was a little curious my self.
