What do you consider the best cleaning method?

Gramreaper

Gramreaper

Regular
EE Expired
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Red Deer Alberta
I'm currious to see the different methods members use to clean/oil/rust prevent their rigs. Do you prefer different lubricants, or an all in one? How meticulous do you get? Are their any secrets you care to share with your brothers in arms? I guess it depends on the type of fouling as well, but I speak in general of the type of weapon for this thread. Please specify and share.
Thanks.
 
I use either CLP or Motor oil or whatever else is handy for cleaning. For grease I use TW25. Some might use the same, some might not.
 
I clean my guns once a month whether they have been fired or not to prevent rust creeping up.

If they have been fired, I lock them up in the vise, scrub out the bore with Hoppe's, and use WD 40 to scrub parts. Then I dry everything off and put on a coat of Breakfree gun oil. I really goop it on for the AR, for some reason it seems to need mor lube than my other guns to cycle reliably.

I don't have to worry about fouled bores, because nothing seems to be able to stick to that chrome lined bore.
 
I use M-Pro 7 products. ( No... They don't pay me to say that! :p )

I leaves a thin coat of protection ( whit the cleaner ) and make's it a lot more easy to clean the more you use it. Practically nothing stick to the metal after.

I use separate products. A cleaner and a lubricant.

The oil is good but a bit too light for AR's.

I never use metal (brass etc...) brushes for bores. I use the nylon one whit a cloth wrap around it. A few pass soaked whit cleaner and another few passes whit a dry clean one.

I use an aluminum rod that free spin around is axe to follow the rifling. Pistol rod has a bore guide.

Once a while I use a copper remover. But like it was said earlier nothing stick to chrome much. As for pistols I use it but not very often.

Cheers.
 
Gramreaper said:
How well do you think a bore snake cleans?
Click to expand...

The onlything I use a bore snake for is in the field, I keep one in case snow/rain gets in the bore. And then, I use it with the brush removed. As Suputin said, you are just grinding crap around.

This is the bore guide I have been using on an AR:
http://media.midwayusa.com/ProductImages/Large/115057.jpg

like anything AR, there are 100 ways to do it, and remember, the grunts in the field that outshoot me handily do not use a JP bore guide.

I have similar widgets that I have either made, or bought for each of my rifles.

For cleaning the nasties off the moving parts on my gas guns, I pretty much do this:
http://www.weaponevolution.com/forum/showthread.php?p=13840
 
Gramreaper said:
How well do you think a bore snake cleans?
Click to expand...

I use a bore snake for a quick pass through the barrel after shooting to remove unburnt powder and junk. I don't use it for regular cleaning at all, I use brushes and patches on a rod with Outers Nitro Solvent. I use a tooth brush to clean the bolt and sometimes a bronze wire brush for stubborn carbon.
 
I use wipeout to clean the bore then push a nylon brush with a patch around it through it after letting it sit for an hour or more, a few dry patches then one patch with BREAKFREE CLP then two dry patches. everything else gets cleaned and lubed with BREAKFREE CLP cleans well and great rust inhibitor. If using a gas piston unit, it gets cleaned with wipeout to remove the carbon fouling then dried, the spring gets a very light coat of BreakFree CLP to prevent rust and the tube and rod are simply dried.

Dental picks and a toothbrush come in real handy along with a can of compressed air.
 
For my AR's and most of my weaps, I completely strip the weapon and immediately I punch the bore with a swab saturated in CLP and leave the CLP in the bore, then with a rag I wipe all of the grease (Aeroshell Moly grease) off of it which also takes off a lot of the carbon.

I then work from the rear of the rifle to the front and scrub every operating part (lower receiver, bolt, CH, buffer+spring, upper receiver, chamber) with a weapons brush saturated in LOTS of CLP, and a short pistol rod (i like the otis ones) with a swab on the end for the chamber. I leave the parts to soak in CLP and then I go to work on the chamber and bore of the rifle with an otis pull through. I run a nylon borebrush saturated in CLP through 8x, then I run 8 swabs through the barrel, alternating wet and dry patches, with the final patch being a dry one. Chamber is cleaned by rotating wet and dry patches on the end of a pistol length cleaning rod.

Once the bore and chamber are clean I wipe the CLP carbon slurry off all the operating parts (starting at the rear of the rifle working to the front). I then begin re lubricating and re assembling the rifle. Starting with the buffer+spring (CLP for lube), trigger group gets a drop of CLP, hammer gets a coat of grease, CH, bolt+bolt carrier gets a coat of grease, with a drop of CLP down the gas key. All lubrication is wiped off the bolt face, chamber and bore, re assemble and done.

Additionally I dont do ANY scraping with metal tools, if scraping carbon deposits is required I use the brass scraping tools in the OTIS kit. For my high round count/high use guns I only clean and re-lube every 500 rounds.
 
Grunt21 knows what he's talking about. The following was posted by Borebrush on Lightfighter.net, it's a good guide for the AR family of firearms used in a .mil or high round count training situation:

Cleaning schedule.

There is no hard answer for that. It's directly relative to your locale, usage, and frequency of carry. Its just too broad and the phrase "#### happens" holds true. I will say this. ARs, properly set up from quality components, will run with greater ferocity when kept lubed (wet). This has been proven time and time again. That doesn't mean its OK to keep your duty weapon nasty, you have to cover your ass at the same time.

Just file "it will run wet" away as a continuing action. That means keeping the gun up and running while shooting. Not so much for a LE shooter, because extended gunfights are an extreme rarity.

Cleaning Steps.

This is what I do, and what I tell my shooters to focus on.

Bolt, Bore, and Chamber Mod 1 (Priority of Maintenance)

This is a bit different from what I was taught in the Corps, as I've learn some #### about guns since T1 at MCRD. At no time do you need to use anything harder on your weapon than a wooden Qtip stick or nylon brush. You aren't cleaning to remove the finish. You clean to remove the fouling and gunk.

The Mod 1 I am referring to is just the application of uncommon sense. You clean the weapon in the direction of bullet travel. Therefore that means it would make more uncommon sense to prep the bore with a wet patch (solvent) and let it sit as you proceed with cleaning.

Keep in mind, as you clean you should be visually inspecting the weapon and its components for possible signs of trouble. That's fractures, cracks, wear (not shiny places) resulting in a raised burr, or a broken part. You'll know if its broken if it buzzes when you tap it (pistol frame rail) or if its a jagged place with a light crystalline gray appearance where a locking lug used to be.

As you visually inspect the weapon, look for symmetry.

-Do the hammer spring legs on either side of the hammer and trigger, mirror each other? Does the hammer swing true? Or is it canted or not parallel in the receiver?

-Is the gas tube parallel with the charging handle raceway?

-Does the carrier slide forward easily without any noticeable wiggle of the gas tube (without bolt installed of course).

-Is there only one lug on one side of the extractor?

-Does the Firing Pin Retaining Pin look like hammered ####?

-Are my sights canted?

....that kinda ####.

Cleaning your bolt:

Remove the extractor and clean the extractor recess. I do this after I've suspended the bolt in a jar of Slip Carbon Killer for 10 or 15 minutes. Means little scrubbing. While the bolt is soaking I clean the interior of the upper/chamber with Carbon Killer, chamber brush if needed, and Qtips/Rags. Change patches, QTips, and Rags as often as they get dirty. You don't wipe your ass with the same #### ticket over and over do you?

I do not waste time on the tail of the bolt, if it doesn't wipe off, it stays. Don't pick at the gas rings. Just wipe any #### off of them so that you can insure that they aren't missing or broken and bent.

I do get that firing pin channel clean by pipe cleaner and Slip, then blast it out with air.

While I'm cleaning that bolt I soak the carrier in the Carbon Killer. Blast it out with air, then lightly brush and wipe the thing down. Same goes for the firing pin, extractor and cam pin. Be sure to get the Cam Pin raceway clean, as carbon there can cause drag. Again, carbon there wont shut a gun down as long as it's lubed.

Once you are done with the bolt and carrier, reassemble it. ( don't leave the parts sitting around so that you can lose them.) Check your gas rings by setting the bolt carrier vertically on the bolt face. It should not fall closed under its own weight. If it doesn't, then bump the table, it should fall part way but not completely foreward. If it does, you need new gas rings.

Now that your bolt carrier assy, and chamber are clean, you go to the bore.

DO NOT HARPOON THE CHAMBER WITH YOUR BOREBRUSH or EYELET. It is not designed to work that way. You feed the rod from the chamber end, while pulling the brush/patch through the bore. When done this way it is a one person job. If you harpoon it, you will bend ####, break the rod, or get the whole thing stuck as the brush bends, or your patch wraps the eyelet and causes a restriction. Pull the brush a couple passes, then go to the patches. Use a patch only once. Again, #### tickets and your ass.

Do not fist the bore like your favorite Ex. There is no need to scrub the bore back and forth with the bore brush.

Lastly, Lube and reassemble the weapon. Perform a functions check to insure it is assembled correctly.

Oh, once all this is done. Now you can worry about getting the dust and rust off of the externals of the weapon. Once done, do some mag drills and snap in. This will let you know if your mags, mag release, sights, and optics are GTG.


BOLT BORE AND CHAMBER

PREP-BORE, BOLT, CHAMBER, CLEAN BORE

Once that's done, worry about cleaning the buffer assy and lower internals. That can be achieved with flushing it with some solvent, fresh water rinse, blast it dry, and some lube.
Click to expand...
 
Mixed up a small patch of Ed's Red, coat the inside of the barrel let it soak in for a few minutes, run a scrubber down the it and wipe it clean with a few patches, for small parts like bolt and carriers they simply gets dunk into a small jar of the formula, as for lubrication a simpler version of the Ed's red with just kerosene, lanolin and ATF does the trick.
 
hbean said:
Mixed up a small patch of Ed's Red, coat the inside of the barrel let it soak in for a few minutes, run a scrubber down the it and wipe it clean with a few patches, for small parts like bolt and carriers they simply gets dunk into a small jar of the formula, as for lubrication a simpler version of the Ed's red with just kerosene, lanolin and ATF does the trick.
Click to expand...

+1 Home brew Ed's Red, kerosene and ATF.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom