Gun cleaning

[4t5]

The post about gun cleaning in the movies , got me wondering , how do you guys clean your six guns and lever actions ?

[jeepnik]

Sort of type specific.

[Scott Tschirhart]

A patch soaked with Hoppes No.9 goes down the bore and cylinder chambers. That patch is then used to wipe the carbon off the recoil plate and bolt face.

Clean patches go through the bore and cylinder until clean.

Then I soak a patch in Ballistal. I put the patch through the bore and cylinder and wipe down the outside of the gun. That’s it.

I shoot cast bullets and I rarely see any need for a bore brush.

[LeverGunner]

I don't do a deep cleaning normally. I wipe the soot out of the action with a patch wetted with CLP for leverguns and remove the cylinder and wipe the soot from the frame and cylinder for a sixgun. For either, I'll use a toothbrush if it's very dirty to clean the breechface, around the barrel breech, the ratchet star, and other hard to reach areas.

I will run a wet patch through the bore, then a dry patch, then an oily patch, then a dry patch. Normally I don't scrub the bore, but occasionally I will. I oil the mechanism and wipe the outside off.

I dry toothbrush the sights, checkering, and the outside occasionally to remove dust/dirt from handling.

[Walt]

I use a nylon bristle brush dipped in a bottle of the original Hoppe's #9 to swab the chambers and the barrel. I let that soak for 30 or 45 minutes, then wrap a 1 1/2" wide piece of regular kitchen paper towel around a Montana Extreme brass jag and run it through the chambers and bore several times. If that doesn't get the powder residue and lead out of the bore I do it again. If there's still some remaining I take a worn out bronze bristle brush wrapped with "copper only" Chore Boy dish cleaning mesh through the barrel and that gets it clean in short order. Then I brush the recoil shield and dry it with the same paper towel. With single actions I take a Brownell's blade screwdriver, make sure all the screws are tight, then put a drop of oil on the ratchet star, inside the base pin hole in the cylinder front and back and on the cylinder nose, then wipe down the outside of the gun with an oily cloth rag. I'm done at that point and return it to my locker.

[Drawdown]

98% time I soak the bore good with #9, let it work 10 minutes or so, swab it few times with patches, brush good, then repeat with Ballistol sane process, but wrap patches around a worn brush make plenty passes until clean, mop it few times, few trips with a clean bore snake. I'm a Ballistol Believer! Occasionally use copper solvent if bad but seldom ever. That's it for me.

[4t5]

Thanks fors the replies,
I use mineral spirits in place of hoppes
Brush , spirits, patches and quick wipe , then ballistol.

[samsi]

I rarely clean .22's anymore but they all get run through with a boresnake/CLP and wiped down after use. Same with any levergun that wasn't shot extensively. Revolvers get cleaned similarly to what the majority here have already posted.

I'm forbidden from using Ballistol anywhere on the property due to the smell. The wife's description of what it reminded her of was highly comical though I no longer recall the specifics.

[4t5]

That’s why I stopped using Hoppes, the wife couldn’t stand the smell.

[Griff]

That’s why I stopped using Hoppes, the wife couldn’t stand the smell.

Just goes to show that it really is "different strokes for different folks!" My late wife loved the smell of Hoppe's No. 9! Liked it better'n my favorite aftershave... although she never came out said that... but regularly told how much she loved the smell of me cleaning guns.

For smokeless loads with either cast or jacketed, I just use a stainless brush after dipping it in Hoppe's #9. I then inspect the bore to ensure all trace of either lead or gilding material are gone. If not, then I repeat the use of a brush and inspection 00until spotless, then a wet patch on a jag soaked in Hoppe's, then a dry patch, then another wet patch with a preservative and followed by a last pass with a dry patch. I don't believe in letting a damp bore sit in the safe, as it might be months before I take that particular gun out again. (In my opinion, it'll need another pass before use to remove the accumulated dust before firing again).

For BP, I use plain hot water straight from the tap to flush out any fouling, usually with a brass or stainless brush, followed by a couple wet patches soaked in a metal
preservative, then lastly a dry patch.

I find that cleaning up after using BP much easier than smokeless, which is probably why after shooting smokeless my guns often go uncleaned.

[rossim92]

should a .22lr rifle be cleaned after each session, ive read both nay and yea on this subject

[AJMD429]

should a .22lr rifle be cleaned after each session, ive read both nay and yea on this subject

I am not sure if I’ve ever cleaned the barrel on most of my 22 LR guns, but the actions certainly tend to get gummed up, especially with semiauto rifles and pistols. I clean out the gunk fairly regularly, but certainly not after every use…! Probably every few hundred rounds or so (it would vary more with how much I shot rather than any particular number of outings or time interval). I clean the action mostly just when the crud gets to be enough to be visible, and certainly if the gun loses reliability. Nothing fancy, I just use WD-40 and a Q-tip or an old toothbrush.

[AJMD429]

.
My biggest gun cleaning frustration is when I wind up making the mistake of taking a levergun (other than my ‘non-traditional’ ones) out to hunt or woods-walk in bad weather. It seems like rain, or even snow or light drizzle, inevitably finds its way under the forend, which is such a pain in the rear to remove and reinstall on most lever action rifles. But I have found out the hard way with many otherwise beautiful, walnut and steel guns that no matter how much wax or oil or watt not is applied, the end result will be a rusty magazine tube if I don’t disassemble the gun when I get home.

So if the weather is crummy, I’m going to take a bolt action or semi auto, because with most of them, the stock comes off usually, and quickly, or in some cases are you going as built so that there is nothing touching the barrel or magazine tube to trap moisture.

Of course, my preference for most hunting and woods-walking IS a levergun, so for years that was a dilemma. But then they came out with the Ruger 96/22, which meant for a nice short lever, throw handy carbine that used the same reliable magazines as my 10/22, and the stock removed with one screw so everything can be thoroughly dried out if you drop it in a mud puddle. Then the next levergun miracle for me was the marlin 1894CSS; since 32–20 was one of my favorite woods-walking cartridges, 357 Magnum wasn’t that much different, especially the way I would load it, with bullets that were only about 50% heavier, and probably going at a slightly lower velocity. Still, the Marlin had a wooden two piece stock, which I guess was supposed to make the shiny stainless steel action somehow still look ‘traditional’ (at least Rossi burnishes their stainless octagonal leverguns to look sort of like an antique pewter or other old-fashioned metal), but it still made me nervous because I know even stainless steel can rust. Perhaps the final iteration to meet my needs was when they came out with the 1894CST, which I got in part because I could finally play around with my suppressor on it, but before long, I found a Ranger Point Precision aluminum forend that was lighter than the wood one and wasn’t going to trap any moisture, plus enabled me to attach the appropriate sights and lights if I were going out in the middle of the night to deal with predators. Since replacing the wooden forend with an aluminum one pretty much blue through the threshold of ‘traditional versus tactical’, especially since the sights I preferred for varmint patrol included a holographic sight and a laser, I went ahead and got the Ranger Point Precision aluminum buttstock as well. Now it’s probably the gun I’m most likely to grab when I go for a walk or I have to deal with some livestock issue.

[rossim92]

should a .22lr rifle be cleaned after each session, ive read both nay and yea on this subject

I am not sure if I’ve ever cleaned the barrel on most of my 22 LR guns, but the actions certainly tend to get gummed up, especially with semiauto rifles and pistols. I clean out the gunk fairly regularly, but certainly not after every use…! Probably every few hundred rounds or so (it would vary more with how much I shot rather than any particular number of outings or time interval). I clean the action mostly just when the crud gets to be enough to be visible, and certainly if the gun loses reliability. Nothing fancy, I just use WD-40 and a Q-tip or an old toothbrush.

[Old No7]

That’s why I stopped using Hoppes, the wife couldn’t stand the smell.

Aw man, I LUV the smell of the real older Hoppe's!! My late father's dog used to come running when he smelled it too. I'm about on my last ounce of a large quart bottle I was given 30 years ago of the old stuff -- as they changed the recipe and it's not as "Hoppe's" as it used to be... Sometimes I'll just clean with Shooter's Choice but keep a patch with Hoppes nearby just for the SMELL.

The only thing I'll add to the above is that "Lead Away" cloths work great on stainless revolvers to easily clean up carbon stains -- but DON'T use it on a blued gun, or you'll be sorry...

Old No7

Hoppes 9.jpg

[Ysabel Kid]

Hoppes 9.jpg

[Ysabel Kid]

I used to be obsessive about cleaning guns immediately after shooting them. My Dad always said a "clean gun is a happy gun", and said not to bet my life on a dirty gun.

Then life happened. Specifically kids, work, more work, even more work. I got lucky just to get out to shoot. So I changed my protocol and now wipe down my guns after shooting them but only clean them when they truly need it - except for black powder firearms. Those get cleaned immediately when I get back from shooting them.

But... it does backfire. I have a GSG-5 (a .22LR clone of the HK MP5) that I bought many years ago. Y2K loved to shoot it so when we went up to his grandfather's house in Ohio he'd ask me to bring it (and a dozen other guns ). I'd do so, and hand him it, some other .22's, and a couple bricks to go shoot with his cousin in the woods. He never came back with left-over ammunition, no matter how much he started with!

So, a month or so ago Y2K asked me to bring it to the range. I said sure, and did. The darn thing jammed right from the start, and we never got it to run.

When I got back I looked at my records and realized it had been a decade since anyone shot it, and it had a couple thousand rounds through it since the last cleaning!

I'm amazed it worked after a thousand rounds without cleaning.

.22 rimfires are just plain dirty rounds. I need to get back into the habit of cleaning them before they hit the point of repetitive failure!

[Scott Tschirhart]

My habit goes back to my Houston PD days.

I had very corrosive sweat in those days (not so much these days). So I would shoot the course at our police range under the bridge on my last night on duty. 50 rounds through my Gold Cup of ammo they loaded on well used Star machines.

When I got home, I would field strip the gun and clean it. It took no time and made good sense to me.

So I clean when I come home from the ranch and I clean every gun I shoot except my .22s. They get cleaned occasionally and they live in the truck.

[gcs]

I'm a lazy gun cleaner, a few squirts of brake clean, and a spray lube is about it for the action, and a quick swab of whatever barrel cleaner at the end of the season...a little lanolin spray for a wipe down and I'm good to go, lol

I have nothing collectible, all users and they look it... My duck and goose shotgun has survived years of salt water, all the original finish is gone and it essentially browned itself which is a rust preventative in itself....I don't believe I ever cleaned a 22 barrel, the action gets the above treatment....

They all work like they're supposed to, and not rusting away in a corner, so I guess it's been "good enough"