when cleaning your hand guns do you

No need and doing that will just wear the gun out faster.

I've heard of people doing that if there is a feeding problem, or just to touch it up and give it a good smooth, but never just as a matter of regular cleaning, seems like it is not necessary for cleaning. IMHO, just regular cleaning process should work for rails and feed ramp. I have polished or stoned a few little places where I've found a burr that catches on a patch just to smooth things up, but never just as part of a standard cleaning job.

Never. If the gun runs good I just clean and lube.

That’s totally unnecessary. Clean it with some Hoppe’s and move on.

Do not waste your money on a Dremel tool to clean a feed ramp. Over decades of pistols ownership I have had to polish a feed ramp only one time. The finish on that ramp was a bit rougher than it ought to be. it was a 9mm. I bought the finest emory paper I could find at Home Depot. Wrapped tight on a dowel and just light rubbed the ramp examining the surface with a magnifying glass often to see that the rough spots were being corrected but no overdone. The gun's fee problem was fixed.

As for polishing the rails -- I think that is crazy. If the gun in not broken, don't fix it cause there is nothing wrong with it.

A spot of FLITZ on a pencil eraser , yes.

Take a dremel to a feed ramp? No.

I never use my Dremel for routine cleaning of my handguns.

Overthinking, overdoing, more harm than good, time wasted, unnecessary, etc. - all of that sruff.

No.

Nope.
If it's causing issues while clean, carefully polish it.
Actual cleaning only needs Hoppes or CLP and a rag.

After a few years of working metal, I've found that rubbing compound and a Dremel can remove a surprising amount of material when overdone.

Only if there is a problem. Sometimes, when done to guns like a hi-power, you can actually create a problem by going too far.

I've owned dozens of semi-auto pistols in my lifetime. I've never used a Dremel on any of them. Never seen the need of it.

If you actually study how a bullet hits the feed ramp on a 1911 you'll find that polishing it does very little. Every round in the magazine presents at a slightly different angle in regards to the ramp.

For *cleaning*?

NEVER.

Buffing is quite often by definition material removal. Well, in fact it is ALWAYS material removal but when it comes to the base metal of the gun - that should only happen in; building, repairing, fitting and deliberate modification and not maintenance.

I've seen dremels and injudicious filing be the source of some very difficult to back out of issues of fellas' guns.

Todd.

Dremels are a bad idea for firearms in general. I know, I've made one worse. The touch you need when using them is great.

I would hazard a guess that more guns have been made worse than made better with them.

Taking a rotary tool with some sort of abrasive to the feed ramp and chamber of a 1911 was once commonly referred to as a throat and polish. It was at one time “necessary” to get a 1911 to feed anything but ball ammo reliably.

The practice is archaic. If it polishes, it’s removing material.

POLISH vs removing metal....there IS a difference.

The somewhat solid bullet shaped dremel accessory is NOT what is needed - this will change the shape of what is being polished.

Cotton bore mop, with Flitz (added a 20% light oil), and polish with a LOW speed cordless drill.

Have I ever used a buffing medium like Flitz to clean and slightly polish a 1911 feed ramp? Yes with a felt bob on a dremel tool. Have I ever used a heavy jewelers rouge and buffed enough to remove material to speak of? Nope.

Ron

Working in a gun shop for quite a few years, the Dremel was needed a few times to smooth up feed ramps on certain brands of semi autos. Not a lot but I wish I'd taken pictures as some looked to have been cut with a horseshoe rasp. We got asked to clean hundreds of guns. Good money for little actual work. Never used a power tool other than on a few badly leaded shotguns and scotchbrite and Kroil did great things.

Unless there is a problem with the feed ramp, it doesn't see my Dremel. Have I done this? Sure. With the polishing wheel at very low speed.

I simply inspect the feedramp before I buy a semiautomatic firearm.

buddyd157 said:

i'm going to clean both guns

Click to expand...

Enjoy cleaning your guns. Keep in mind though that a Glock 17 and CZ 75 will operate just fine if you clean them every 4000-7000 rounds, unless you get mud or dust in them. Regular lubrication is far, far more important than cleaning.