Cleaning

There's a post listed in the Carnival on cleaning, I thought I'd throw in a couple of things. I may expand on this later.

First thing, cleaning rods. There's a couple of steel rods pictured in the post, and they do work. I've got one of those sectioned ones in the cleaning kits in the butt trap of my M1 and 03A3; but I will not use them for cleaning unless I've got no other choice, especially on a firearm that has to be cleaned from the muzzle. It's too easy to ding the rifling at the crown, and that is a Bad Thing.

Some of the best rods out there are steel, either small enough diameter to reduce the chance of rifling damage or coated with something. And there are the sectional rods; I've got one of those in my range servant Just In Case. You want to start an argument? Go to one of the gunboards and say you just got a new three-piece aluminum rod; you'll be told all about its drawbacks, and an argument will get started about bare steel vs. coated, and so forth. There are choices, which brings me to my current rods.

About a year ago I was pushing a tight patch down a bore, and the push got a touch out of line, and the damn rod bent. Not flexed, bent. It was a good-quality stainless rod, which I could never get completely straight again. Frustrating as hell. Part of the problem was that with a long barrel you need a longer rod, and that, combined with the small diameter, did it. So I looked around, and at a store found one of the Tipton carbon-fiber rods. Different diameters for a range of calibers, different lengths, solid rods(not hollow). I've been using it since, and got another one for the .22's and up. And they will NOT bend. Flex, yes, but they return to straight when the pressure comes off. And they've got the best swivels I've ever used. If you've cleaned many, rifles in particular, you know about pulling out a rod with a bare end because the swivels on the rod didn't and the jag or brush unscrewed. Or it falls off when it exits the bore. I've never had one come loose on these rods.

If you're cleaning something that must be done from the muzzle, use a bore guide. There are different designs, some for specific firearms, and they keep any rod from touching the crown. And on clean-from-the-breech rifles, you really should use some kind of guide to keep the rod centered. They range from the one I linked to to caliber-specific ones to homemade. I made one for the Enfield by taking a fired case, drilling a hole through the base and soldering a few inches of copper tubing on. Fits very nicely. I'm going to get a piece of small-diameter tubing and make one for the .22 rifles; I think if I work carefully I can grind off the base of a fired case- leaving the rim- and attach the tubing. We'll see.

Cleaning solvents
These range from basic stuff like Hoppe's #9 to newer non-toxic and good-smelling types, some for powder fouling only(despite what the label may say) and some that'll guarantee to strip your bore to bare steel atoms. Here's what I've been using:
Blue Wonder is a gel that comes in a tube. Outside of the FoulOut I've mentioned before, it's the best remover of lead fouling I've ever used, and cleans out powder fouling nicely as well. I don't think it works as well on copper fouling, a problem primarily of medium- to high-velocity rifles. It seems to do a pretty good job on the plastic fouling you get in shotgun barrels. It will also, combined with some fine steel wool, do a marvelous job of removing rust from steel.

Sweet's 7.62 is more specifically for cleaning copper fouling. It works. Be warned, it also stinks strongly of ammonia(which most good copper solvents do). Good stuff.

Ballistol is a water-soluble oil. Pretty good general cleaner, not as good as the above at lead & copper removing. Where I really like this stuff is cleaning after corrosive-primed ammo. Mix it in the proper proportion with water(1 to 9 if I remember right). I've got a small bottle of the mix in the range servant. When I'm done shooting I shake the bottle, run two or three patches damp with the mix through the bore, a couple of dry ones, then an oily one. Seems to do a very good job of flushing out the salts, and if I can't clean soon after I get home, no problem. It may very well be that this would be enough all by itself; I'm paranoid about rust, so I do my usual cleaning with Sweet's at home.

So far, these three have taken care of everything nicely.


Lube and protectant
You have places that need oil, places where a grease is better, and places that may not need lube but do need corrosion protection. Three products I mainly use.
Eezox is interesting stuff. It's a cleaner-lube-protectant that goes on wet, and if you leave just a very thin layer after cleaning the carrier evaporates leaving a dry film lube which does a very good job of protecting from rust. I use it on the outside of guns, and on the pivots of folding knives since it won't attract dust.

Corrosion-X is primarily a lube. It stays wet, is heavier than water so rain or whatever beads up on it and rolls off, and is a very good lube.

Tetra is my grease of choice. Comes in a tube, easy to use, and seems to do a good job of bonding to the metal and staying in place. Pivot pins and such inside actions, bearing surfaces of trigger/sear and such, it's good stuff.

There are a LOT of cleaners and lubes out there; many of them are good, some better than others. Tetra makes lube and cleaner besides the grease, but I have no experience with them. Same for some other copper-solvent cleaners and lubes. These seem to work very well. Hoppe's came out a while back with a new solvent that's supposed to be non-toxic, smell nice, and still do a good job of cleaning, for instance; Hoppe's is a good brand, and I'll probably try it one of these days.

One other thing I'm trying is Kroil. This is, from all reports, the slickest penetrating oil around. Something about the formulation breaking the surface tension of the stuff, so it can seep into the tiniest of cracks and crevices. I haven't had anything frozen to check it on, but I will say this; you can put a drop at the junction of nut & bolt and the stuff seems to disappear. I can see lots of uses for that.

I now have to go move the hose to try to keep some of the rest of the garden alive. I may touch on the subject of brushes and jags later, you lucky people.