Cleaning Supplies

[gunnie 12]

First time in the shooting hobby and with so many cleaning products out there you do not know what’s good or not. Cleaning is very important for gun function. So what's ggod and what to stay away from?

Any cleaning techniques to share as well.

“Thank you” to all!

[amishclark]

Originally Posted by gunnie 12

Cleaning is very important for gun function.

you'd be surprised at how many people don't understand this concept...

i prefer hoppes #9 for cleaning purposes and either hoppes gun oil or breakfree clp for lubing purposes...anywhere that shows wear needs oil, and a LIGHT coat on the rest can't hurt. others may suggest different products, which i am sure are fine to use. i use these because i learned from my grandfather, who learned from his father, who learned from his father...blah blah blah. suffice it to say that my (and my family's) use of hoppes has kept guns that are over 70 years old in excellent, rust-free condition.

finally, there always seems to be a debate about "over-lubing." i say, you're better off with too much oil than with not enough. if you clean after every shoot, you won't have a problem with the oil collecting sand, dust, carbon, etc.. combat situations may be a little different, but in general, wet is better than dry. $.02

[stroker]

Can't go wrong withe HOPPES #9 for cleaning & a little spray of "rem oil" to slick er up!

[Tally XD]

I am no expert at it, but I use the Synthetic Safe Gunscrubber (available at Wal Mart and almost everywhere else) to blast off the grime from the whole gun. Its safe for composites and metal and leaves no residue.

Then I use Hoppes #9 with a bore brush or Boresnake to clean the bore. I use a light coating of Marvel Mystery Oil on a swab to lube the barrel. Then I use several clean swabs to clean out the excess.

Then I wipe everything down good, wipe the outside of the barrel clean, a very small drop of Marvel Mystery oil down into the trigger and safety mechanisms and striker block assembly, and finally some Hoppes Lubricating oil lightly onto the slide rails before reassembly. Hoppes lube is slightly thincker than Marvel Mystery Oil and stays on the slide rails better.
After assembly and function test, I wipe it all down again and rack it several times.

Things to stay away from:
- Over oiling, too much is messy and attracts dirt (I agree with amishclark about frequent cleaning negating the dust part though)
- Regular brake cleaner, contains chemicals which can damage your gun, especially the composite parts
- Anything with chlorine or ammonia

[xd4life]

My cleaning kit is really simple, I have bore snakes for each caliber I have. I keep Hoppes #9 for cleaning those guns that I shoot lead bullets out of and my blackpowders. Nothing removes lead fouling and spent powder better than hoppes #9. But the wife hates the smell. For most everything else I use the Blue Wonder products. I have been really happy with their products. I have a couple different brushes for the hard to get places, a couple diaper cloths, and some silicone cloths that have long lost their silicone lubricant that I keep lightly oiled for a quick wipe done. I do have a few rods but I rarely use them since the bore snakes in my opinion do a better job that patches...

I made up some Ed's Red a few years back and that stuff worked great. I may have to make up another bucket soon.

[Niner4Tango]

Hoppes #9 for the bore.
Rem Oil for cleaning and lubing everything else.

I use a bronze brush in the bore cause it makes a fine spray of Hoppes when it comes out the end of the barrel and I get the full aromatic effect.

[wot_racing]

For a standard field strip, I use breakfree clp to clean everything, then gun butter to lube it all up well.. For a detail strip, I do much more...

I strip every part of the gun apart, then clean with hot soapy water and toothbrush.. Then I use an airhose to blow it all dry.. The parts are then coated in breakfree clp, and left to soak a few minutes.. Everything gets wiped off then, and lubed with Gun butter, and reassembled.. I reapply armadillo to the surface and slides if needed..

[wmrawls]

Ditto on the Gun butter. Best stuff on the market IMHO....you can get it from Pistol gear.

[Andrew LB]

Originally Posted by wot_racing

For a standard field strip, I use breakfree clp to clean everything, then gun butter to lube it all up well.. For a detail strip, I do much more...

I strip every part of the gun apart, then clean with hot soapy water and toothbrush.. Then I use an airhose to blow it all dry.. The parts are then coated in breakfree clp, and left to soak a few minutes.. Everything gets wiped off then, and lubed with Gun butter, and reassembled.. I reapply armadillo to the surface and slides if needed..

I do pretty much the same thing with my XD. It was pretty funny the first time I did a complete tear down and tried the hot soapy water and toothbrush method of cleaning the pistol because my dad saw me doing it and thought it was nuts. He's very strict about his gun cleaning methods... probably due to his time in the Army during vietnam and serving as a Drill Instructor at Fort Ord, CA afterward. He used to catch guys soaking some part of either the M14 or M16 (i forget) in CocaCola overnight which made it spotless for some reason. They'd still get their arses handed to them when he caught one of them doing it through.

[CPES]

Originally Posted by Andrew LB

I do pretty much the same thing with my XD. It was pretty funny the first time I did a complete tear down and tried the hot soapy water and toothbrush method of cleaning the pistol because my dad saw me doing it and thought it was nuts. He's very strict about his gun cleaning methods... probably due to his time in the Army during vietnam and serving as a Drill Instructor at Fort Ord, CA afterward. He used to catch guys soaking some part of either the M14 or M16 (i forget) in CocaCola overnight which made it spotless for some reason. They'd still get their arses handed to them when he caught one of them doing it through.

I've heard that there is an article about people using coke for 101 different purposes, and it being very effective...I think i'll google that in a few minutes and see what I come up with.

Ditto on the Hoppes and CLP Breakfree. I also like to use gunscrubber to get down in the really tough to reach areas - it works great for blasting gunk out of the locking block on my old sig. Great stuff. After than, hoppe's oil to coat the internals, and thats that.