Q tips for gun cleaning?

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If it's wrong to use Q-Tips there is a lot of Marines that are cleaning their firearms wrong.

Happy Shooting
 
I use Q-tips all the time. I clean my ears with them sometimes too! :)
 
You can cut the Q tips in half and put them on your cleaning rod, and they make a perfect swab for the .17HMR
 
Not all "cotton-tipped swabs" are the same.

It would be prudent to consider the potential for unintentionally leaving cotton fiber debris inside the firearm's mechanism where it might have the potential to cause a malfunction.

I remember in one of my more recent armorer classes listening to an armorer describe how enough of the head of a cotton-tip swab had been left inside a slide's firing pin channel so that it prevented the striker-type firing pin from firing the pistol afterward. Apparently it wasn't noticed at the time of a detailed cleaning. :scrutiny:

I use them, but I'm also careful in their application. Ditto pipe cleaners.
 
Apparently it wasn't noticed at the time of a detailed cleaning.
Click to expand...
Apparently it wasn't a detailed cleaning, if they left in more than they took out.
Sorta like; "the surgery went perfectly....now what did I do with that sponge?".
Can't blame the tool for the workman's error.
 
Hey, there's folks who are trained armorers ... and then there's folks who are trained armorers ... ;)

I've yet to go to an armorer class in which I'd let 95% of the class touch one of my weapons.

Granted, I made my fair share of mistakes after returning from my first couple of armorer classes, but I was fortunate in that I was able to basically apprentice myself to a much more experienced armorer at my agency. Even after more than a dozen armorer classes I was still learning new things about various platforms. The more classes I attended, though, the more stories of problems I heard from other armorers.

I've seen junior armorers I've tried to assist do their own fair share of mixing up parts, installing parts backwards or in some incorrect orientation that I hadn't seen done up to that point. :scrutiny:

As with other training venues, sometimes a newly minted armorer returning from their first armorer class may have learned just enough to really cause some problems. :uhoh:

I've seen armorers have problems in recert classes, too.

FWIW, I try to make sure the cotton-tip swabs I use resist coming apart easily ... and I check for errant fibers left behind, too. ;)
 
Fast bolt, give one of them a CZ-82/83 bag gun, and have them assemble it, tell them the sear spring is easy, you just have to put in the hammer block at the right angle...

Only should take them a day or 7..
If Q-tips arn't for guns, then why, when I was in the army as a medic, did the supply sergeant "help" us pick up medical supply's (different channel, they can't actually order CL VIII stuff) so they could horse trade for Q-tips?

If they aren't for guns, it isn't just the Marines who are wrong.
 
Yep, lots of swabs of all kinds.

I buy the 1000 pack of Q-tip brand at Costco.

If I can't find the wooden ones with the medical supplies I usually find them in the electronic section.
They use them for cleaning the heads on old cassette players and gawd knows what else.
 
I use so many, I yelled at my son for cleaning his ears twice a day and wasting them....Just kidding about my son, but I do use a whole lot...Small wooden skewers can be had cheaply at restaurant supply stores or oriental food stores and are great for getting gunk out of small spots and loosened up before swabbing it down.
 
I have about 40 cases of the six inch dental q-tips with the wood shaft. Each case must have 40 packs of 50 or 100 in each pack (med quality). We used them alot on the film and audio business to clean delicate wlectronics and things.

I just love them for reoiling the collector guns I don't shoot and just store. Great for getting into odd places.

Wonder if I could sell them at the gun show?
I though I was the only one that used them on guns.
 
Seems crazy to see all the people that thought no one besides them used them.

I thought it was commonplace.
 
Yup chalk up another here as well.....good stuff.
Using the Q-Tip for everything that I can reach with it......
Far from the only thing I use (keeping it on topic:neener:).
 
don't forget to clean behind your ejector! dental picks are great for this.
 
I've had problems finding them occasionally, but the wife and I were in a CVS Drug Store one night after supper and I found some in the "makeup" area with a pointy tip on one end, and a sort of paddle-shaped tip on the other end. I think I cleared the shelf....

One comment - some Q-Tips fluff too much in use, and make a mess. Others just have too little "cotton" on 'em. Wood v.s. paper or plastic sticks don't seem to matter.

Regards,
 
One comment - some Q-Tips fluff too much in use, and make a mess.
Click to expand...

If you rotate them between your fingers it seems to "tighten" them up a bit so loose strands don't get all over the place.
 
Lone_Sheep_Dog said:
Does anyone use q tips for gun cleaning? I have been doing this lately and I really like to use these. I put solvent on them to clean and then I use them to oil the gun too. Seems like it saves a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Huge box of Q-Tips have always been in my bag, ever since day one of Basic Training to today.

Q-Tips ROCK. They clean you, and your weapon.
 
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