Let's talk gun cleaning
12-18-2016, 05:18 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Montana
Posts: 33
Let's talk gun cleaning
I had a conversation with a friend recently that left me scratching my head. He told me that all he ever uses on his firearms is synthetic motor oil, for lube and for cleaning. He never uses brushes, either nylon, stainless, or brass; just motor oil and patch after patch after patch. I would find a method like this much easier to dismiss if it had come from some old pine-hacker hillbilly, but this is a guy that really knows his stuff (I won't go into this many credentials, just trust me on this).
Anyway, it got me to thinking about gun cleaning and I thought I'd post this up and see what other methods people use. Thinking primarily of the barrel, since that's where accuracy is mostly effected, I do a pretty standard job - mainly use Hoppes #9 and lots of patches, then a coat of rem oil if I'm going to place the rifle on a rack for the next few months. I scrub my rifles out w/ a nylon brush about once a year and use metal brushes very sparingly.
Anyway, it got me to thinking about gun cleaning and I thought I'd post this up and see what other methods people use. Thinking primarily of the barrel, since that's where accuracy is mostly effected, I do a pretty standard job - mainly use Hoppes #9 and lots of patches, then a coat of rem oil if I'm going to place the rifle on a rack for the next few months. I scrub my rifles out w/ a nylon brush about once a year and use metal brushes very sparingly.
12-18-2016, 05:59 AM
#2
Spike
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: WV
Posts: 57
12-18-2016, 09:24 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Illinois
Posts: 3,695
Your old hillbilly friend must not shoot a lot then. Those of us that put thousands of rounds downrange each year can tell you that method is about useless. My methods are dependent on which rifle,handgun, or muzzleloader I am working on at the time. It can also be dependent upon which load/bullet I am using as well. Leading, copper fouling, even some of the more caustic powders can also come into play in deciding which cleaning method one uses. Or SHOULD be using.
12-18-2016, 11:02 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,834
Your old hillbilly friend must not shoot a lot then. Those of us that put thousands of rounds downrange each year can tell you that method is about useless. My methods are dependent on which rifle,handgun, or muzzleloader I am working on at the time. It can also be dependent upon which load/bullet I am using as well. Leading, copper fouling, even some of the more caustic powders can also come into play in deciding which cleaning method one uses. Or SHOULD be using.
12-18-2016, 11:04 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 3,903
Synthetic motor oils do contain detergents which will process carbon fouling. They don't do much of anything for leading or copper fouling, however. So his synthetic motor oil isn't so far off from a simple, HIGHLY DILUTED carbon gun cleaning clp type product like Hoppe's gun oil or Rem oil (these tend to have extra solvents too, which the synthetic motor oil does not).
In other words, it works, kinda, but not as well as other products. And it won't do squat for lead or copper.
For lubricating, synthetic motor oils are thicker than gun oils, so they stay where you want them longer, but they don't have the lubricity of finer gun oils, so they heat up and foul faster, and don't protect your parts as well. I ran Mobil 1 synthetic motorcycle oil (gotta look at weight - have gallons on gallons of it for my sport bikes) in my AR's. Works fine as a lube until it gets cold, and cleans the action well, where there isn't any copper or lead to deal with.
You can polish your jewelry with toothpaste (fluoride & abrasive aggregate), you can lube and clean your AR with Mobil 1, you can clean your battery terminals with Coke-Cola, and you can drive a nail with a socket wrench... Working "ok" for the task doesn't make it the right tool for the job.
After all of the cleaning I've done, and all of reading on the chemistry and testing for myself (helps having a degree in chemistry too), I'm happy as a pig in schitt to use exclusively Hornady One Shot dry lube & Cleaner, Butch's Bore Shine solvent, silicon patches from Hoppe's, Frog Lube, white lithium on triggers, nylon brushes and brass jags from Tipton, and carbon fiber Tipton rods... I have G96, CLP, Break-Free, and a handful of others on hand, but I spend the least time cleaning and get the cleanest results using Hornady One Shot and Butch's bore shine on my bores, Hornady to clean action parts, and Hornady or Frog lube to slick them up.
Hornady and Frog Lube have completely changed my perspective about certain actions which I would have said 10yrs ago "like to run wet." I used to run my Benelli's and AR's almost dripping with Mobil 1. They run just as well today, with less gumming, using Frog Lube and One Shot.
In other words, it works, kinda, but not as well as other products. And it won't do squat for lead or copper.
For lubricating, synthetic motor oils are thicker than gun oils, so they stay where you want them longer, but they don't have the lubricity of finer gun oils, so they heat up and foul faster, and don't protect your parts as well. I ran Mobil 1 synthetic motorcycle oil (gotta look at weight - have gallons on gallons of it for my sport bikes) in my AR's. Works fine as a lube until it gets cold, and cleans the action well, where there isn't any copper or lead to deal with.
You can polish your jewelry with toothpaste (fluoride & abrasive aggregate), you can lube and clean your AR with Mobil 1, you can clean your battery terminals with Coke-Cola, and you can drive a nail with a socket wrench... Working "ok" for the task doesn't make it the right tool for the job.
After all of the cleaning I've done, and all of reading on the chemistry and testing for myself (helps having a degree in chemistry too), I'm happy as a pig in schitt to use exclusively Hornady One Shot dry lube & Cleaner, Butch's Bore Shine solvent, silicon patches from Hoppe's, Frog Lube, white lithium on triggers, nylon brushes and brass jags from Tipton, and carbon fiber Tipton rods... I have G96, CLP, Break-Free, and a handful of others on hand, but I spend the least time cleaning and get the cleanest results using Hornady One Shot and Butch's bore shine on my bores, Hornady to clean action parts, and Hornady or Frog lube to slick them up.
Hornady and Frog Lube have completely changed my perspective about certain actions which I would have said 10yrs ago "like to run wet." I used to run my Benelli's and AR's almost dripping with Mobil 1. They run just as well today, with less gumming, using Frog Lube and One Shot.
12-18-2016, 04:42 PM
#7
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
Use a bore guide on your rifles !!!
If you use one of these while your barrel is still warm, you will not need to clean (deep clean) your gun as often.
http://www.otistec.com/ripcord/
"Cleaning your gun is way over rated"................. LOL
If you use one of these while your barrel is still warm, you will not need to clean (deep clean) your gun as often.
http://www.otistec.com/ripcord/
"Cleaning your gun is way over rated"................. LOL
12-18-2016, 08:00 PM
#9
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location:
Posts: 5,130
I use to use bore snakes (2 for each caliber - one for solvents & one for oil).
The ripcord is the "gen 2" version from Otis - works even better !!!
BTW - Use a one piece rod also (preferably from Dewey).
https://deweyrods.com/
Last edited by Sheridan; 12-18-2016 at 08:04 PM.