Cleaning handguns

[Guest mosinon]

When I joined this forum I promised i'd ask some stupid questions and since I don't like to let people down....

How do you clean a pistol? I'm going shooting next week and thus I'll have to do some cleaning. However if I look on the internet I see everything from "Spit on a tshirt and wipe it down" to instructions so complicated it would make stephen hawking constipated.

I know the reality is somewhere int he middle, but where?

And thanks for reading my stupid question in advance!

[DavidCBaker]

Maintain a Pistol (Handgun) - wikiHow

[hkusp40cal]

The manual will have instructions on how to field strip and clean your pistol. If you don't have one, I am pretty sure you can download one for your firearm.

[TNTitan]

get a simple cleaning kit from a gun store or wally world. Hoppes no.9 and some cotton cleaning cloths. follow the instructions on the kit. pretty simple. most mfrs suggest cleaning after each shooting.

[Guest mosinon]

I've seen the wikihow thing and read the manual. I've also read stuff where that just isn't enough (supposedly).

But from these answers I suspect basic maintenance is enough and everything else is just magic to make owners feel better about their investment. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Edited September 6, 2009 by mosinon
spelling

[Guest 3pugguy]

I've seen the wikihow thing and read the manual. I've also read stuff where that just isn't enough (supposedly).

But from these answers I suspect basic maintenance is enough and everything else is just magic to make owners feel better about their investment. Thanks for the advice everyone.

Most recent issue of Handguns Magazine has a good article and asserts keep 'em clean. Me, I keep mine clean and lubed, as I don't want to run the risk of a fouling causing problems.

But since my main carry gun is a Glock, I never have to clean it, cause Glocks will still shoot if set in concrete then busted loose, the drug behind a pickup truck in the mud, run over by a bus, and buried in the woods under a ton of sand and sludge for a month - but my other guns need maintenance on a regular basis:D.

+1 on the other posts, too...

[Guest SureShot308]

Just chuck it in the dishwasher for a cycle, and hose it down with WD40.

[Wingshooter]

I've seen the wikihow thing and read the manual. I've also read stuff where that just isn't enough (supposedly).

But from these answers I suspect basic maintenance is enough and everything else is just magic to make owners feel better about their investment. Thanks for the advice everyone.

+1 to getting a cleaning kit.

I clean my guns often (after every range trip if possible), but I don't get too carried away with it. If you just follow the manual's direction, get the crud off and put it away properly lubed, then you'll be fine. Now, blackpowder is a different story because it is very corrosive.

My grandfather had a lot of guns. He shot them often - all the time, in fact. I'm pretty sure he didn't own a cleaning kit and never cleaned them - ever. When I got them, they were dirty, but they still shot fine. Some of these guns are 50 years old! Of course, I have since cleaned them . I don't recommend that approach by any means, but it always makes me feel comfort if I'm not able to clean one of my guns after every range trip. Unless you drop it in the mud or shoot some really dirty ammo, basic but frequent cleanings are enough, IMHO.

Edited September 6, 2009 by Batman

[Guest mikedwood]

What are you wanting to clean? A revolver? Glock? Sig? CZ52 that has been shooting corrosive ammo (Super fun!)?

When I run into trouble on messing with any of my guns I usually go to youtube and more often than not ( I might have to watch more than one video, but they usually are very short ) my problem gets solved.

[cybernorris]

Don't feel stupid. I needed a drill sergeant to teach me how. I still find myself obsessively running patches down the barrel until they come out clean.

[Guest gunslinger707]

[QUOTE=cybernorris;356876]Don't feel stupid. I needed a drill sergeant to teach me how. I still find myself obsessively running patches down the barrel until they come out clean.

Me too !!! and the only stupid question is the one not asked.

[Guest logicprevails]

and the only stupid question is the one not asked.

+ 2,472,863

Here's what I covet: Sonic System Sales

[LagerHead]

Just don't make it too complicated. Your gun needs to perform a few simple actions in order to fire and feed the next round (assuming a semi-auto pistol). As long as there's nothing big enough to stop these things from happening, it's clean enough.

[troy917]

Just chuck it in the dishwasher for a cycle, and hose it down with WD40.

Just to clarify...and keep you from any danger. You can probably run it through the dishwasher but make sure it has been unloaded and slide locked back. But please don't use WD40 on it. WD40 has a penetrating property and it will RUIN your ammo by fouling your primers. This could lead to getting a round stuck in the barrel and perhaps cause you severe harm. I use BreakFree.

[StPatrick]

Ultrasonic is a great way to clean fine machinery, logicprevails. Before you buy the equipment, I would get as much info as possible from the mfgr on the solvent composition. Powder and copper / lead solvents are corrosive, and are likely to be solvated in a mix of water and alcohols, also corrosive. This would suggest that the lube had better be a strong water displacer (wd-40 or similar) blended with synthetic lube of some kind. I'm not trying to scare anyone off, but I AM a chemist, and I want to make sure nobody ends up buying a scaled up jewelry cleaner...rings not going "bang" and all.

[StPatrick]

And to reinforce what troy917 said, wd-40 is not a lubricant. It only pushes water out of the way and then keeps it gone. You would need a water displacement agent for two-stage ultrasonic cleaning, but that's really the only time. A light coat of oil / grease on metal parts will do the same and more.

[Guest mudduck]

i use brake clean to clean my guns with and then i lightly oil them with rem oil,brake clean works great,it gets to the small areas you cant get to with regular solvent.

[Guest CK1]

Ok here's a no BS answer: use enough solvent to get the job done, but don't go overly crazy or it will be a pain to get it all off and dry when it's time for the lube stage.

If you have an old credit card or something like that it becomes a great tool to run in the rail cuts w/ an old t-shirt or cotton to get all the grime and excess solvent out.

IMO get the inside of the barrel wet w/ solvent and let it hang out while you clean the slide and frame, then when you get to doing the barrel the solvent will have done a lot of your work for you.

pay particular attention to the chamber & under the extractor... dirty chamber or gummed up extractor cause like 98% of malfunctions so be aware.

oil metal on metal contact points and for most guns it doesn't take a whole lot (in particular Glocks need only 3-4 well placed drops).

Keep excess solvent or oil out of the striker/firing pin channels... wetness there will only attract grime.

everygun is slightly different but hope this helps!

[Guest SureShot308]

Just to clarify...and keep you from any danger. You can probably run it through the dishwasher but make sure it has been unloaded and slide locked back. But please don't use WD40 on it. WD40 has a penetrating property and it will RUIN your ammo by fouling your primers. This could lead to getting a round stuck in the barrel and perhaps cause you severe harm. I use BreakFree.

I thought that is was pretty obvious that I was being really really sarcastic with that one.

I do not condone washing firearms in a dishwasher or lubricating them with WD40.

[Guest NeuralFizz]

I love my boresnake cleaner, and would suggest one for your handgun. They're made by Hoppes and they're 15 bucks at Walmart. It makes cleaning the barrel much faster/easier, plus you don't use 10 patches trying to make sure it's clean. Couple passes with the snake and she's good as new.

[Guest 1shot]

First thing you do is unload the weapon. Check the chamber or chambers to make sure they are empty. Then remove all ammo away from where you are cleaning your weapon. This may sound elementary but how often do you hear of some dip stick shooting himself while cleaning his weapon? Then read the manual to see how to field strip your weapon and it should tell you how to clean it. One thing that I see people do all the time is run a a patch of solvent in the barrel and then right after it run a clean patch. Don't do this. Let that solvent sit in the bore 10 or 15 minutes so it has time to work. After cleaning remember to put a light coat of oil on all metal and to lube according to where the manual tells you to lube the weapon.

[Kevo]

If you were more specific about the models you are going to clean then you could get better(more specific) answers. Many shooters don't know how to field strip their pistol and then act suprised when they malfunction. Same thing with rifles and shotguns. Before long you will be giving advice to other intellignent inquisitive gun owners!

[Guest mosinon]

Thanks for all the help. My take away is: follow the manufacturers directions, don't go crazy.

Oh, and only the top rack in the dishwasher.

[Currently]

Fellow engineer pointed me to this stuff ...

Make sure whatever you use is "plastic safe" due to long term effects that some estrified hydrocarbons have on long chain plastic molecules.

Even some gun cleaners are not plastic safe, several owner manuals that I have read in the past cautioned against using certain solvents.

Oh, almost forgot ... buy a bore snake. Turns a 15 minute job into a 5 minute one.

Edited September 8, 2009 by Currently

[gregintenn]

I wear mine in the shower!