Firearm Cleaning - Best practices

[CoolShi7Designer]

I want to get some opinions from knowledgeable people.

- Bore snake or cleaning rod? why?
- CLP or cleaner + lube? Which brand?
- Best tool to clean inside the barrel extension of an AR? (behind the lugs, before the chamber)
- Field strip clean vs Full breakdown - How often do you deep clean?

just looking for opinions to read while I waste time at work.
Thanks if you take the time to reply with your know-how

Brandon

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Just my opinions for "routine" cleanings of run-of-the-mill guns. Obviously, special circumstances might exist (badly lead-fouled barrel) or maybe it's a special gun that needs particular care. I'm not referring to those situations.

I think most people overthink this. I was one of them. For the most part, field-stripping a gun and cleaning it with Hoppes 9 or whatever solvent/gun cleaner you have is sufficient. Chrome-lined bores get a bore snake from me. I bought an ultrasonic cleaner a few years ago...anything that can go in there, goes in there. It's fantastic. A really dirty AR bolt/carrier...not a problem. 20 mins in the ultrasonic, wipe it off, lube it, good to go.

As long as you pay attention and clean your gun according to mfg's instructions you should be OK. Make sure you don't use something that could be harmful. Example: Gun Scrubber will melt certain plastic grips or other plastic parts. Especially from Sig. Ask me how I know. (That's dated info from probably 15 years ago so may not be applicable today). If you do use something like Gun Scrubber, test it first on various parts. BTW...I love Gun Scrubber.

I typically use whatever is cheap, on sale, available, etc... I've tried all the high-end cleaners and nothing seems to work better than anything else for me. An exception to that was Sweet's 7.62 solvent. That worked really well for copper-fouling.

Same with lubes. In my opinion, pretty much anything works fine. Again...normal situations, run-of-the-mill guns. Don't over-lube most guns.

I really just try to keep it simple and not make this task any harder than it needs to be. Or more expensive...

I'm sure there are plenty of folks out there who thinks that's probably the worst advice in the world.

 

[Aries]

Something like this to clean the chamber and lugs. I got one at Sportsworld of Tulsa several years ago, and I think they said some local guy made them up for them. The brush will fit any cleaning rod, but most cleaning rods have a swiveling handle that makes it hard to use, you need a fixed handle. Google ar-15 chamber cleaning brush and hopefully you can find one somewhere.

 

[TeamTomlyn]

Not sure i qualify as knowledgeable but here is my routine.
Bore snake, tooth brush and some qtips for a quick field strip and clean after light use.
After heavy use repeat above but I will use a cleaning rod as well to brush the bore really good. Then work over the gas system really well.

Best advise: Once a quarter invite the guys over for for a gun cleaning night. Beer, burgers, action flicks and clean clean clean.

 

[sherrick13]

What is cleaning a gun?

 

[Matt Giroux]

Those chamber brushes are a life saver for AR's especially if shooting suppressed or in adverse conditions that can cause lots of carbon build up. I prefer brass cleaning rods, don't really know why guess cause that's what the old man used so that's what I use. For solvent and lube I've always used Hoppes no 9 for my run of the mill guns. I keep a special stash of Milsim and M7pro oil for my P365 and duck hunting shotgun since they are put under more adverse conditions than my others (I carry the 365 when I go for jogs and doing yard work...I sweat a lot). Normally will only field strip and use about 3 cloth patches when cleaning after a range trip with my plinking guns. After hunting season (insert gun here) will normally get a full strip down and deep cleaning since all of them are blued steel I go ahead and pull the wood off and do a good final oil rag wipe down then put the furniture back on to ensure no moisture will cause it to rust in an area I can't see while it sits in the safe for another year. Some of my higher end Sigs like my MK25 (P226 Navy) I have let go with just a little oil on the slide and barrel for my own personal experimentation just to see how they do without being cleaned adequately and small torture testing (+/-500-1000 rounds) before I ever touch them with solvent. I also performed similar minimal maintenance on my SHTF rifle just to see how it held up both suppressed and un suppressed. Other than those two instances I'm pretty religious about cleaning and oiling most of my weapons, even the safe queens get pulled out from time to time (about every 6 months) and taken down lightly oiled then back together. My EDC (P365 and Sig M11A1) get field stripped wiped down and oiled every week even if they haven't been shot. My old man did this weekly with his duty gun and again I learned it from him so its what I do with my EDC's.

 

[Matt Giroux]

Not sure i qualify as knowledgeable but here is my routine.
Bore snake, tooth brush and some qtips for a quick field strip and clean after light use.
After heavy use repeat above but I will use a cleaning rod as well to brush the bore really good. Then work over the gas system really well.

Best advise: Once a quarter invite the guys over for for a gun cleaning night. Beer, burgers, action flicks and clean clean clean.

My buddies and I in college used to do this at his dads shop with our trap guns and it was always a good time

 

[xseler]

I use a bore snake on most of my firearms. You can pull the snake from breach to muzzle instead of having to run a rod from muzzle to breach, Mo'betta.

I mainly use Lucas CLP for the cleaning and lubing. One step.

Your results may vary. Good luck!

 

[Chuckie]

With me it's always been cotton gun patches on a cleaning rod dipped in Hoppe's #9 Bore Cleaner, Q-tips, brass brushes, tooth brush, and cotton cloths (oid 'Birdseye' diapers), followed up with Hoppe's Lube and [now] Tetra Gun Grease.

It's not because I'm 'old school' (old fashion) or anything like that . . . It's only because I'm trying to keep tradition alive, you know, so kids these days can learn what gun cleaning use to be like in the old days

 

[El Pablo]

I use non chlorinated brake cleaner, rem oil and white grease.