Pistol cleaning question.

skookumchuck

skookumchuck

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I know this has been covered a brazillion times,,,, that reminds me of a joke,,, Presidential aid walks into the Oval Office and tells George W "Mr. President, there's been a terrorist attack. Two Brazilian people are dead." George W responds "Oh my God.....tell me, just how many is two brazillion?",,,,,but use the search function with the words cleaning or pistol and every thread ever posted comes up.
I've put just over two thousand rounds through my CZ Shadow now and clean all the parts I can get at but there's a lot of mechanism that I can't. Should I try to disassemble the frame to clean it?
 
I generally reserve detail stripping for special occasions, such as when stuff starts going wrong. In short, what I'm tryig to say is be careful what you take apart, because it may take all day to put back together.
 
I would take it apart if it was me but that's what I do, only start popping pins if you are comfortable with the design of your firearm enough to be able to re assemble it when the spring goes flying across the room and you didn't see where it was located before you removed the pin, most are fairly simple but some have a few pieces that may try your patience, if you don't feel comfortable, try a Q-tip and an aerosol cleaner like Hornady 1 step or something, good luck
 
I'd use some kind of spray lube/cleaner and then a toothbrush and Q-tips, then compressed air.

How dirty is the gun anyway? Unless there is a lot of grit or unburned powder in there, really detailed stripping and cleaning probably isn't necessary. I suspect more guns are worn by overcleaning and detail stripping than powder residue.
 
A couple thousand rounds isn't so much, and doesn't deserve a detailed strip and cleaning. A field strip and routine cleaning will be good enough. This is a good primer for cleaning.

http://www.czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=14698.0

To get into the nooks and crannies (e.g. behind the extractor) a set of picks or dental picks is useful. As stevey3737 points out Q-tips are good too, but make sure they don't leave any fibres behind.
 
Take grips off. Spray with brake cleaner or bore cleaner. Use tooth brush, plastic pics etc. Do it over an old towel since it will drip black. Then lubricate well. The barrel cleaning is separate and all I use is a bore snake. 2000 rounds is nothing, just keep it lubricated and shoot it.
 
Aside from regular wipe downs while field-stripped, detail clean it if you want to or if you have function problems. Just how dirty it gets at a certain round count depends entirely on the type of ammunition / powder you are using. Higher pressure loads tend to burn more cleanly and completely, leaving less gunk behind.

IMO, full disassembly is encouraged, mostly so that you better understand how your gun works.

In my experience with the CZ platform, the only area that requires particular attention is the extractor. When you get sufficient buildup in the extractor slot in the frame, extraction and ejection suffer.
 
The Shadow's action is made up of lots of small fiddly bits. I would never completely detail strip the action each and every time. Hell, I don't dig into mine unless there's something wrong for this reason. But it is very exposed so it's pretty easy to flush it and keep it nice and happy.

Brake cleaner shot through the little action group at the rear of the frame will do a great job. Do this outside since both the smell and black snot that comes out is horrible. The problem is that it also completely degreases the action. You can oil the snot out of it but then you have a drippy mess. The other way is to make up a flushing cleaner/lube called Ed's Red. Google for "ed's red recipe". It's popular.

I like the Ed's mix used with a plastic squirt bottle like a mustard bottle because it flushes out the crud well but leaves behind a mix of solvents and the ATF. When the solvents dry away in 5 or 10 minutes you're left with a light but protective coating of ATF oil that both protects and lubricates decently. For critical points I'll add to the oil with a touch of grease or a spot of thicker and better oil but basically you could flush, brush, shake and let dry then assemble and you're good. As mentioned a toothbrush aids in getting the worst crud out a little better.

Again this is all messy and smelly and uses stuff which is not good for your skin or internal organs. So do it out in the carport, garage or over top of those weed patches you can't seem to kill and wear nitrile gloves. The same applies to brake cleaner.

If you go with the Ed's mix do set up a basin to capture the run off from the gun. After the crud settles out the mixture can still be used a number of times So pour the majority of it back into a bottle or spare jar to settle. I tend to use the old stuff for the first flush n'scrub then finish with a light flush of the new fresh stuff.
 
alpining said:
In my experience with the CZ platform, the only area that requires particular attention is the extractor. When you get sufficient buildup in the extractor slot in the frame, extraction and ejection suffer.
Click to expand...

This.

I rarely strip my CZ "lower", but the extractor needs some TLC.

As far as cleaning the frame and trigger parts (intact), I like the varsol sink and compressed air approach. I clean the frame every 2-3k. I remove the grips and use it as an opportunity to replace the grip tape.

The slide requires a bit more frequent cleaning (and lubrication) to keep it functioning well. Wipe/wash slide and barrel and re-lube every 500-1000 rounds. Remove and clean extractor every 1000 rounds (this may seem excessive, but double feeds are a PITA).

YMMV depending on ammo type. I tend to shoot IPSC minor loads and those always seem dirty regardless of powder type... (Some are cleaner than others, but none are as clean as hotter loads - likely due to incomplete combustion. I use VVN320, and it is much cleaner in major loads than minor loads)
 
Thanks all, great advise. I don't think I'll attempt full disassembly without someone who's done it before present but I will flush it out and blast it with compressed air from one of my scuba tanks. Speaking of the extractor, do I just drift the pin out or do I need to put pressure on the extractor? Also I removed the firing pin to clean it and wasn't sure if the grooved side needed to go in in a specific position. It went in fine groove up but I haven't shot it since.
 
Ultrasonic cleaner and Ed's red... Good to go every time you shoot it. No Q tip fuzz, no little springs and pins to worry about... just a clean, lubed gun in less than a 1/2 hour. If you want you can take the grips off but it is not needed.

Lazy breeds innovation at the expense of effort...
 
Instead of cleaning every 1000 rounds or so, I give each handgun a squirt of G96 in the barrel and action as I take it from the range bag on the way to the locker. I position the gun muzzle down so the gunk flows out of the action and barrel.

When the gun looks real dirty, a few squirts of brake cleaner (slide removed) and a few strokes of a tooth brush will get most of the crap out. After using brake cleaner, I squirt the G96 to lube it up.

I developed this technique to reduce the need to take my Ruger 22 pistol apart. I had trouble getting it back together. The brake cleaner and tooth brush saved the day.
 
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