¿ Clean pistols with what ?

[Snookay]

I've used the search button on this forum and came up empty. I want to know what products I should buy to clean my gun? I didnt want to go the gun store and just pick up what they had and waste $$ on inferior products.

I found a link in another topic for this stuff http://www.clenzoil.com/

Somewhere I read about an all in 1 cleaner, that cleans and then lubs the gun. Also I keep seeing these cheap $13 cleaning tool kits. I almost bought one but I decided the price was too good to have anything good in there. Are there any specific brands of tools that i should look out for.

Oh and for now I only have a bersa 380 for my safety.

BTW what is a IWB, someone posted it while talking about where they carry their gun at. Couple other acronyms I coudlnt decypher but i forget em.

 

[Kamicosmos]

IWB = Inside the WaistBand. It's a type of holster.

Cleaning solvents are many and varied. The most common is the Hoppes brand. The famous No 9. They also have a Copper Solvent and a Semi-Auto specific one. I've used all 3, the copper one works well, but man....you better like ammonia!

Some people swear by FP10, but it's more expensive. I haven't used it myself.

Also, CLP (clean, lube, protect) is hard to beat, especially for a all in one cleaner-luber solvent. I have a nice big jug of it that my brother brought home from one of his Reservist weekends. My AR loves it, of course! Not sure if you can get it commercially or not. Probably available online and/or at military surplus shops and gun shows.

 

[1 old 0311]

Gun cleaning

All 18000 different members clean a different way. I start by field striping the gun AND mags.I spray them down with Gun Scrubber.I then clean the bore with a stainless bore brush soaked with Hoppey's #9 bore cleaner.Use a old tooth brush, also with Hoppey's, and clean the all the areas you can get to both in the gun and inside the mags.I just wipe the mag springs and followers with a rag. Let the Hoppey's soak for a few hours if possible and then scrub the bore with the bore brush again. I then use clean bore patches and run them through the bore, changing 3-5 times , till they come out clean.I then respray everything down with the Gun Scrubber. Lube all the springs and pivot points with gun oil. On the slide rails use gun grease, applied with a q-tip. Reassemble.
Variations of the above include running the gun through the dishwasher after soaking with Hoppey's.
Also some will soak with Hoppey's, put the gun in a plastic container with hot soap and water and after securing the lid let it sit on your washing maching while it runs to aggitate the solution.
As long as you finish with a clean gun and Oil AND LUBE IT you did it right.

Kevin

 

[GRB]

My cleaning rod kits cost me a whole $5.00 each. It is a Hoppes Universal cleaningkit that came with a multi piece cleaning rod, bore brushes (.30 caliber and 12 gauge shotgun), adapters for the different size bore brushes, the patch holder (never have known what you actualy call these), patches, and a can of all in one cleaner/lubricant. I bought about 10 of these kits about 5 or 6 years ago. Gave some as gifts and kept 2 or 3. I use this cleaning rod a lot of the time. You can also opt for a one piece rod for rifles, but if you are careful while cleaning a multipiece set up is ok. I also use a small bladed instrument, like a small screwdriver or knife to scrape out under the claw end of the extractor. I also add a few metal bristle cleaning brushes, one brass , one steel (never nylon) to my kit. (These are sort of like an over sized toothbrush, buy em at a gun store pay a premium, buy em at Home Depot or a gun show and they are usually dirt cheap.) As for cleaners, I prefer Hoppes #9 Powder Solvent and Hoppes Bench Rest Copper Solvent (if shooting copper jacketed ammo). Then after the guns are clean I lubricate them with Breakfree CLP (cleans, lubricates, protects). I prefer to clean them with the Hoppes first even though Breafree cleans them to. I prefer to clean without an oil base, and I think the Hoppes does an overall better job of just cleaning, while Breakfree does a superb job of lubricating. Just old fashioned I guess. Anyway, I find my method works very well. My kit is good for pistols, shotguns and rifles. It has come in very handy.



If I am cleaning my issue MP5 I sometimes use Gun Scrubber aerosol cleaner, or brake cleaner (have to be careful as these can destroy some plastic grips/stocks). It sure does clean metal very well and easily gets into hard to reach places. use outdoors and make sure it does not blow into your face. If used on a parkerized type finish it turns it sort of gray until you wipe it down with oil.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[Azrael256]

$15 cleaning kits aren't all that bad. I spent $15 on a boresnake, and it was worth it. You might look at Kleen Bore's cleaning kit. It'll run $40-50, and clean most of the popular calibers. $15 sounds about right for a small kit that will clean two or three calibers. A pistol kit that does 9mm/.38/.357, .44/.45, and maybe .40 should be in the $15 range. Your Bersa is covered in that one. A similar rifle kit that does .30 caliber and .22-ish calibers should be about that much. Otis makes a kit that will do most anything for around $100. Rifles, shotguns, and pistols are all covered. They advertise it as doing everything between .177 and 10 gauge.

If you're into buying one piece at a time (a little more expensive in the long run, but good if you have a few guns and are on a budget), pick a brand you like, and just buy brushes and patch loops as you go. The rod you buy for a .380 may be too big to work in a .22, but that's an issue for later if you're trying to save some cash. I'm rapidly becoming enamored with boresnakes, but you'll need a different snake for each caliber, and they run about $15 each. It's something to consider.

As for actually cleaning it out, I like to run a patch or two of Hoppe's, followed by a bore and then chamber brush (you won't need a chamber brush for a .380) to loosen everything. Then a couple more patches of hoppes, and then dry patches 'till it's clean. I clean internal parts with CLP and a *NEW* Oral-B 60. I don't like to use old brushes, as I'm never certain that I got all the caked toothpaste off of them. Since your Bersa has a whole bunch of polymer components (I think, anyway), a toothbrush, or similar nylon purpose-made brush is the way to go. Use bronze brushes on internal metal parts that are particularly fouled. I have seen stainless brushes, but I can't come up with a use for them. I put on a coat of CLP for a finishing lube.

One thing to keep in mind is that you'll wear out a barrel faster with a cleaning rod than with bullets. If you're just dealing with powder fouling (shooting jacketed loads), I would use a nylon bore brush over a bronze one. If your preliminary patches show a great deal of lead fouling (lead is gray, powder is black, copper is orange to green depending on time), you might go ahead and run the bronze brush. Do try to keep in mind that it is better to dissolve fouling with Hoppe's than to scrape it out with a metal brush. In fact, some barrels, such as a Marlin micro-groove, do not allow for the use of metal brushes. Your Bersa should not have this restriction, but do try to minimize the use of them anyway. If you can clean it with nylon, do so.

 

[neoncowboy]

I use that foaming bore cleaner from WalMart...it's GREAT! I fill the barrel of my .45's with the stuff and let it sit while I clean the slide and frame. By the time I get to the barrel all the copper comes out with a patch and the foam. I then run some CLP on a nylon bore brush through it and follow with dry patches then one lightly oiled patch to finish.

 

[gazpacho]

Take a look at M-Pro 7. Just the gun cleaner, not the CLP. I like it because it is non-toxic, doesn't stink up the house, and works fine for 95% of my cleaning. Just field strip you weapon, soak it, let it sit for a few minutes, then scrub with a toothbrush, and run a boresnake two or three times. Usually that will clean everything up nicely.

I've never been a fan of CLPs. Just because, no particular reason.

For tough work, I rely on Hoppe's No. 9, and typical brush and patch set.

For lubrication I like FP-10. However, I gonna start experimenting with Slip2000, because it live in a dusty climate.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Whatever cleaning kit you start with, rest assured you'll eventually end up with a very large tackle box stuffed to bursting with gadgets, solvents, patches, brushes, more gadgets, and assorted other stuff. All this stuff multiplies when we're asleep, I swear.

 

[Ala Dan]

I like the Shooter's Choice products for cleaning; and
Break Free C-L-P for lubricating.

 

[Cosmoline]

Another vote for M-pro and CLP. I switched from the traditional cleaners about two years ago and I've had much easier cleaning and less rust since then. The traditional cleaners tend to be very, very toxic and my hands would always break out. But with the M-pro spray bottle I can get it all over my hands with no ill effect. I wait long periods between cleaning sometime, and it works better if you let it sit for awhile.

 

[308win]

Clenzoil is more of a lubricant/protectant than a cleaner. It does fine for powder fouling, cleaning up fingerprints, surface dust, etc. It is also great for protecting your firearms during storage. For copper fouling the foaming cleaners work well as does JB Boreshine and others. Lead fouling is something I haven't much experience with as I only shoot lead in my 45acp and have never had a fouling problem that Clenzoil and some copperwool wouldn't take care of. You can get the copperwool at grocery stores in the cleaning products aisle.

Off topic but if you are looking for a conditioner/protectant for leather, the Cleanzoil company also makes a product called Glove Lugi that is used by several of the major league baseball teams and many of the players individually that is a great product.

 

[Ala Dan]

For copper I recommend Sweets 7.62 solvent.

 

[stevelyn]

A loyal MPro-7 user here. I use Break-Free CLP for relubing. I currently use Tetra Copper remover when needed, but I'm switching to Sweet's when the Tetra runs out.

 

[Snookay]

So i should...

1) buy nylon brush

All i've seen are these brass types.

2) get cotton patches.... why are they called patches? I was thinking maybe they filled holes in the barrel caused by shooting but they are cotton, so there is no way they could do that.

3) figure out what solvents to buy. Some of you guys say to soak the slide in some solvent... would that kill my paint? I have this one here...

I dont understand cleaning the "little" peices though. Such as the safety pin, slide release, clip release etc. Do these parts normally just need a little bit of lube? I took off my slide and everything is oiled up the ying yang. Took a while for me to get the damn slide off and while i was trying oil started running down the side of the gun.

 

[W Turner]

If oil was running down the side of the gun onto your hand while you were field stripping it, then yes, it had WAY too much oil on it.

Break-Free CLP is the standard do-it-all product that is most people's default Cleaner/Lubricant/Protectant.

I have used CLP, Hoppe's no. 9, and Gun Scrubber all with good effects. The best for me were CLP and Hoppe's. I use NON-CHLORINATED brake cleaner to get all of the cleaning solution and it has never harmed any wood or plastic parts on my guns. I finish up with lube by RemOil or CLP and spray the entire gun down with a light coat of RemOil or CLP and wipe off the excess.

I bought the stuff needed to mix up a batch of Ed's Red, a gun cleaning solution you can mix up at home for about $15 a gallon and may end up using it for cleaning in place of the more expensive CLP's.

This would be a good kit to start out with....

-Bronze or nylon bore brushes in needed calibers
- 2-3 old toothbrushes or AR-15/M-16 double-ended cleaning brushes....you can always sand/shave down the toothbrushes to fit the tight spots
- q-tips or pipe cleaners
- rags/old t-shirts
- Hoppes No.9
- Remoil or CLP in a small squirt bottle (not the spray cans)
- Cleaning Rod (most pistols .32 and larger can use the same cleaning rod, but you will need a smaller one for .22's) a cheap aluminum one form Wal-Mart will suffice, but be careful when using.
- patches made of cotton, flannel or old t-shirt material
- Small tackle box to store all of this in

Couple of tips...

1- I use either bronze or nylon bore brushes, stainless is too hard to use consistently and will eventually scratch the bore.

2- I always finish up with a light spray of Remoil or a wipe down with CLP. This will do wonders to prevent rust.

3- I run my guns with as little lube as possible. I don't run any completely dry, but I only oil/grease limited areas, and even then, I use very little oil.

4- Old t-shirts can be cut up to use for rags or patches if you have the time to sit down and cut them up.

W

 

[CAS700850]

Anyone else use Flitz on the exterior of their guns? It's great for getting the carbon residue off the front of the cylander of a revolver without harming the bluing. Also works great on stainless guns.

I've also been a Break-Free fan since my military days.

 

[chopinbloc]

all you really need is toothbrush, rag, boresnake and breakfree clp. militec is nice for a dry lube, but not necessary, i think. why bother with all kinds of fancy cleaners and tools when simple works really well?

 

[MoeMentum]

If you want only one product that Cleans, Lubes, and Protects, then get Breakfree CLP. As for cleaning tools, all you need is a cleaning rod, brush, and a patch loop. You can cut your own patches from old cotton t-shirts.