Is Breakfree CLP all you ever need to clean a gun?

[silverlance]

I've been using clp on EVERYTHING - mechanism, trigger, finish, barrel, bore, etc... on my ar, sks, sig, benelli for about five years. this was because my buddy, who is a medic with the 109th, had told me that that's all the military uses.

anyway, now that he's in bosnia i've been going shooting with other folks, and i've been getting raised eyebrows when i tell them that clp is the only thing i use. according to these folks, clp isn't for bores and doesn't do a good enough job of removing residue from the action. these folks
1) soak all small parts in #9,
2) breakfree powder blast all the gas ports,
3) use Birchwoodcasey Bore Scrubber on the bore,
4) oil bore with gun oil,
5) paper towel dry parts from #9 tub, then oil with gun oil
6) dry with compressed air
7) buff with silicone impregnated cloth.

have i been doing a lousy job cleaning my guns? to be honest, my guns are never "new-clean"; they always have a kind of slight greasy feel and i must admit that i don't really give them as much of a scrubbing as i should. i've always figured that good guns ought to be able to function only with 20-minute cleaning jobs, so pretty much all I do is
1) disassemble, spray clp on everything liberally
2) scrub with toothbrush, poke gast vents with pipe cleaners
4) yank boresnake through bore two or three times
5) rub dry with clean towel.

i'd appreciate any thoughts or comments. what do you guys do/use to clean your guns? i remember someone asking a similar question about wd-40 a little while ago... but that post didn't quite answer this.

by the way, do any of you ever worry about chemicals mixing in an adverse way while cleaning with several different cleaners?

 

[Ransom]

Personally I use #9 to clean the barrel and such but CLP on everything else. That guy seems to be going overboard. There is nothing wrong with what youre doing, but a little #9 in there couldnt hurt.

edit: To me soakings seems like a waste of cleaner. Sure, its going to get it squaky clean but it seems a little elbow grease will save you a ton of the stuff. The only things I'd consider soaking are black podwer guns or something equally messy.

 

[entropy]

If all you shoot is non-corrosive ammo, BreakFreeCLP will be all you really need to clean and lubricate your weapons with. I was am Armorer in the Army, and that is all we used, though there was still some RBC in the inventory. I would recommend using Sweet's 7.62 Solvent for cleaning your bores, it will get copper deposits out as well as powder residue. It will eliminate the effects from corrosive ammo if used soon after shooting, so you wouldn't have to worry about picking up that cheap case of surplus for your SKS. I mostly use these two formulae for cleaning guns at the shop as well as on my own weapons.

 

[Infidel]

I'm sort of in between, and I do mostly what the other guys said. I like to clean the bore with Hoppe's #9, and if there is copper fouling, with Sweet's. I have some WipeOut that I intend to try soon. For the rest of the gun, I use Breakfree, sparingly. I wipe the surfaces with a patch that has a few drops of Breakfree. I don't ever slather anything on so that it's running off.

 

[1557]

It's all I ever use.

 

[Atticus]

I still use Hoppes and Sweet's on the bore sometimes....but I'm not sure why. Try this- Clean your bore with Hoppes till it appears to be clean, then swab it with Breakfree CLP and see what comes out. I think you'll be suprised.

 

[Rexrider]

If I had only one product to clean my guns, it would be Breakfree CLP. I use it all the time on all my guns.

But I do have a few more products that I use also.
-Gun Scrubber for the real heavy stuff.
-Hoppes #9 for the bore.
-Hoppes gun oil to run through the bore (followed by a dry patch) and for the rails on handguns.
-Remoil sprayed onto a finishing rag to for a final wipedown.
-Breakfree for all general cleaning

When cleaning my ARs, I tend to only use only Gun Scrubber and CLP. Since they have chromed lined bores, it does not take a lot to clean the bores.

There are two wrong ways to clean a gun, IMHO.
1. Not cleaning it.
2. Over cleaning it. You can get your firearm only so clean. Sitting there scubbing with wire brushes for hours will do more damage then good.

Your cleaning proceedure looks good to me. Everyone has a different "receipe" of products methods they use. I would not worry about it. As long as you firearms function when you need them too and are not rusting away, your doing just fiine.

Almost forgot, don't worry about the mix of chemicals. I have never seen or heard of any kind of reaction when working with different cleaners and oils. I am more concerned with fumes and contact with skin. a box of rubber gloves from any auto parts store will do just fine. Always use eye protection too. I learned the hard way a long time when Gun Scrubber shot back into my eye. That was very, very unpleasant (think shampoo in your eyes but X 1000).

 

[dolanp]

I run Hoppes solvent down the bore but everything else I clean with CLP.

 

[RKirby]

I still use Hoppes and Sweet's on the bore sometimes....but I'm not sure why. Try this- Clean your bore with Hoppes till it appears to be clean, then swab it with Breakfree CLP and see what comes out. I think you'll be suprised.

+1..surprised is an understatement!

 

[Firehand]

For general cleaning CLP is good stuff. For copper fouling, especially in rifles, I use Sweet's 7.62, and the best- bar none- lead fouling cleaner I've ever uses is Blue Wonder.

 

[Technosavant]

BF-CLP is good stuff, and works fine. I used to use #9 on the real dirty bits, but switched to Hoppes Elite gun cleaner (wife not enamored of smell of #9). It seems to take more crap off of there faster than CLP on its own.

That reminds me, I am almost out of Break Free- guess I need to go get more.

 

[Guyon]

Same story. Hoppes in the bore. CLP everywhere else.

 

[Rpriestlyjr]

I tend to use CLP for everything. on certain items, a light coat of Hoppes oil does what I need. But I did recently find that Blue Wonder cleaner is awesome. And fast.
With CLP, I usually let the part soak and the crud absorb the CLP. Then clean it.

 

[NineseveN]

CLP on everything, unless copper fouling is present, then some Sweet's 7.62 will be called in.

 

[1 old 0311]

There are about 900 ways to clean a weapon. According to my DI at MCRD San Diego THEY ARE ALL WRONG.

Kevin

 

[Standing Wolf]

Just one cleaning product? Isn't that illegal?

 

[f4t9r]

what you are doing is fine , keep it up

 

[KriegHund]

I use hoppes, for both oil and solvent.
Smells good.

 

[Koobuh]

If it's all you need, it's all you need.

Shotguns shouldn't be particular, there isn't much that can go wrong fouling wise.
I used to take a couple hours to clean three guns after a range session with corrossive surplus ammo. Now I just fill the bores with Outers bore foam and let them sit, then brush and wipe out. Awesome stuff, and no problems with the primer salts. A bit of CLP for the bore and everything else and we're golden.

 

[fjolnirsson]

Depends. Usually, I use Hoppes #9 on the whole thing, along with a toothbrush. About a 10-20 minute cleaning. Once in a while, I use CLP or similar on the whole thing, to get it "inspection clean".
I used to know a guy who cleaned with Simple Green and boiling water. He scrubbed with a toothbrush and SG, then poured boiling water over the whole works to rinse. A light lube, and he was done.
It depends on the person. As long as your firearm functions, and you don't harm the bore, I'd say you're fine.

 

[Mulliga]

I just use Breakfree. For the casual shooter, I think it's fine - no need for the bore to be spotless - it's just going to get dirty at the next range trip anyway. Most people obsess about the bores of guns when the actions are far more important to keep clean.

 

[JohnKSa]

If you have to pick just one product, I don't know of a better one.

BTW, it's a surprisingly good bore cleaner. Sure, it's not a copper solvent, but it does a better job than most nitro solvents I've tried.

 

[BigRobT]

Break FreeCLP must be a military thing. I started using it in the late 70s/early 80s on Navy Aircraft. I figure that if it's good enough for the Navy and their aircraft, it's good enough for me!! I also found that it works really well on firearms!!

 

[possum]

clp is all we can get around here on post and the old style cleaning kits until recently when they started issuing the otis cleaning kits, but we still use only clp, and we have a nice new solvent tank but that is for the real dirty stuff like the 240 charlies! For my personal weapons i uses hoppes and shooters choice lead remover for the bore, with clp where needed elsewhere.

 

[Tom Servo]

Don't use Breakfree, but Eezox covers 95% of my cleaning. Every now and then, some of the Outer's bore foam to get the copper residue out, and I use Wilson grease on the rails.