Routine Cleaning and Lubrication

I know cleaning guns is supposed to be one of those chores that shooters hate to do, but I’ve always enjoyed it. Maybe I’m an exception, but I’ve always found a great amount of satisfaction in getting my guns cleaned, lubricated, and ready for work.

Additionally, I’ve always found it difficult to let a dirty gun sit. I guess I was raised to “never let the sun go down on a dirty gun,” but even if I hadn’t been, I’m naturally wired like that. Every one of my shooting sessions usually ends with a cleaning (and I was doing things that way looong before I signed on Uncle Sam’s dotted line, so I can’t blame him for making me like this).

Too Much?

Now, before I get too many complaints from the less industrious among you (grin), I’ll readily admit that my obsession with cleaning guns is excessive. Clearly, a gun doesn’t have to be cleaned every time it’s fired, and in most situations, it won’t hurt a thing if you put a dirty gun away for a while, before you get around to cleaning it.¹ You don’t have to be as, um . . . attentive, as I am to cleaning, to preserve the health of your gun.

In fact, you could make a good argument that more guns are damaged through excessive cleaning efforts, than through use. Screw heads get bunged up, muzzles and bores get scratched and worn, finishes get rubbed and scratched, parts get dropped, springs get lost . . . there’s all kinds of ways you can put extra wear and tear on your guns, if you’re not careful about how you clean them. Sometimes the best way to protect a gun is to prevent its careless owner from taking a screwdriver or steel toothbrush to it!

Testing, Testing . . .

You could make a good case for function testing a duty gun by firing a few live rounds through it, after every cleaning, before it goes back into service. The procedure is designed to ensure the gun was reassembled properly, and everything is working as desired, before you rely on it for defense.

I can’t find much fault with the concept, but don’t do it, myself. Instead, I put my guns through a detailed inspection and function check after they’ve been cleaned and lubricated, to verify that everything is working as it should. If the gun passes the function check, then it gets loaded and holstered for duty. It works for me.²

No Squeaky Wheels

Even if you don’t actually clean the gun, it can still be really helpful to lubricate it. Moving metal parts like to be lubricated, and you can keep an incredibly dirty gun running smoothly if you apply a little lube in the right places. In fact, the interweb is chock full of examples of filthy guns that keep running without a hitch, because they’ve been properly lubricated. They might look like the bottom pan of a garbage truck, and fling dung all over the place, like a monkey in a zoo, but they run.³

Some of these “torture tests” are indeed a torture to watch for obsessive gun cleaning freaks like me and Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, but I think you’ll find there’s a happy middle ground somewhere in between the extremes, Private Pyle.

101 Ways . . .

There’s a bunch of ways you can go about cleaning a gun, and a million different products you can use to do it. We all have our favorite methods and tools, and just because I do things differently doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m doing it better.

However, there’s one thing that’s non-negotiable, and it’s safety. There’s no excuse for a negligent discharge while you’re cleaning or maintaining your gun, so you must ensure that your firearm is unloaded, using all the necessary safety protocols, before you do any work on it. This is especially important after the maintenance is done, and you have the gun loaded up again—resist that urge to wipe the little bit of muck or lint off the gun that you didn’t see until the last second. If you have to make a correction, then do it right, and unload the gun first! I won’t give up any names, but I know a person who negligently discharged their .357 Magnum revolver when they were cleaning off the last little bit of schmootz in just this kind of scenario. He got lucky, and only damaged the kitchen table, the linoleum, his hearing, and his pride, but you may not be so fortunate if you do the same.

Speaking of loaded guns, there’s a good argument to be made for loading and unloading your gun in an area that’s separate from your cleaning area. The physical break involved in moving from one location to the other may also promote a mental break that reminds you that you’ve shifted gears from one activity to another. “Gun cleaning is done, function checks are done, and now it’s time to load my gun—I will NOT be cleaning, inspecting, or pulling the trigger from this point forward.”

There are other safety issues to consider, as well. You need to wear suitable eye protection when you’re cleaning guns, to prevent debris from getting into your precious eyes. Flying bits of muck, solvent, bristles, and other garbage can cause permanent damage, as can springs under pressure, so wear the same safety glasses that you do for shooting when you’re doing maintenance on your heater.

Another thing to remember is to keep your work area properly ventilated. There’s nothing that smells quite as good as Hoppes #9 to a gun nerd, but you don’t want to be snorting all those chemical fumes in concentration. Do it too much, and you’ll start voting for gun-hating liberals.

One last, very important thing is to take precautions against lead poisoning. The lead residue from bullets and primers is all over your gun, and you don’t want it all over you.  Wear disposable gloves to keep your hands clean, and don’t eat or drink while cleaning, to keep from ingesting lead residue.  Thoroughly wash your hands with cold soap and water (hot water opens up the skin’s pores and promotes lead absorption), and wash the areas around your nose and mouth as well, to prevent ingesting the stuff. Take off your range clothes and boots outside, before you enter your home, to prevent tracking lead dust onto your carpets, furniture, and such.

Focus areas

When you’re cleaning a gun, it helps to know the critical areas that deserve the most attention, to ensure the gun functions properly. You can spend all kinds of effort cleaning every nook and cranny, and while the gun may look beautiful when you’re done, it’s not necessary to keep the gun running smoothly.

For example, in the world of double action, swing-out cylinder revolvers, the areas that deserve the most attention include, from front to back:

• • • • The forcing cone / barrel extension;
      • The cylinder face and gas ring;
      • The yoke / crane;
      • The chambers, including any recessed mouths;
      • The area underneath the extractor star;
      • The ratchet;
      • The firing pin channel;
      • The tip of the hand / pawl.

Making sure these areas are clean and free of debris will keep your revolver revolving, so it’s important to spend some time on them, and inspect them closely when you’re finished.

Note that I didn’t say anything about cleaning the bore. It’s not that I think cleaning the bore is unimportant, it’s just not as critical to reliability as those other areas on and around the cylinder. Your gun will come to a grinding halt if you don’t keep those critical areas suitably clean, but you can get away with a dirty bore for quite a while, depending on the ammo you shoot.  If you shoot rimfire bullets (always filthy, due to their outside lubrication and soft lead), soft lead bullets, or Magnum rounds which cause excessive leading, your bore will need more frequent attention to preserve accuracy and prevent buildups, but if you’re shooting jacketed ammo, you normally don’t need to spend inordinate amounts of time scrubbing the bore clean. Give it some love, but spend most of your effort on the areas listed above.

A similar philosophy applies to other types of firearms. Every firearm has its own list of critical areas that must be kept clean for proper function, and it’s part of your job to know what those are, as a shooter.⁴

step by step

Let me walk you through my process for cleaning a double action revolver, to put all these ideas into action:

1. 1. Don your safety gear (glasses, gloves) and set up your cleaning area (light, ventilation, protective barrier for the table to prevent leaving contaminants behind, etc.);
   2. Safely unload the revolver and set the ammunition aside in a different location than your cleaning area. Move the gun to the cleaning area after it’s verified unloaded;
   3. Disassemble the gun, as required. If the grips are easy to remove, I’ll do that, but if they fit tightly and I’m worried about damaging them, or loosening their fit via repeated removals, I might just cover them up (with plastic kitchen wrap or a disposable glove) to keep solvents and oils off of them. I won’t remove the yoke and cylinder from the frame every time, but will occasionally do it to detail clean those parts, as required;

1. 4. With a rag or patches, wipe all the extra surface crud off the gun. I like to focus on the muzzle, the forcing cone, the face and sides of the cylinder, inside the frame’s cylinder window, and underneath the extractor;

1. 5. Put some solvent (my favorite is Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner) on a patch and run it through the bore and chambers.  Follow up with a clean patch, to remove the big, surface crud and most of the dirty solvent;

1. 6. Put some more solvent on a patch (or a suitable bore brush–I have a nylon one that I like to use for this chore), and swab/brush the bore and chambers, to distribute the solvent evenly;

1. 7. With a soft toothbrush and a little solvent, scrub any deposits of carbon and lead that you find around the forcing cone, the top strap, the cylinder face / flutes / stop notches, the ratchet, the breech face, inside the cylinder window, and around the muzzle. Scrub with the muzzle down, to prevent excess solvent from leaking into the action through the holes (for the firing pin, hand, bolt, and stop) in the frame and breech face. Wipe these areas with a rag or patch occasionally, to remove anything you broke loose. Brush a little more solvent onto these areas after you’ve wiped them off;

1. 8. Set the gun aside for a while, to let the solvent do its job. With a product like the Blue Wonder Gun Cleaner that I prefer, the solvent will start to chemically break down the lead, copper and carbon deposits, saving you from a lot of scrubbing. Some other solvents may not be as efficient as the Blue Wonder product, but they’ll still benefit from having some time to “bake in” and attack/soften/lift the fouling. If you’re using a low-viscosity solvent (like the traditional favorite, Hoppes #9), rest the gun so the excess won’t run/flow into the action through the holes in the frame and breech face (another reason I like the Blue Wonder product, because it’s a viscous gel and will stay where it’s put, instead of running off or pooling);

1. 9. While you’re waiting for the solvent to do its work, use the time to clean and inspect your holster, ammo pouch, loaders, ammo, grips, and other support gear. Check/tighten screws on your holster and pouch, and clean the inside of them out. Check the ammo for corrosion, dents and other defects, and replace as necessary. Wipe off the inside of the grips, to clean any salts that may have built up from your perspiration. Check and/or change batteries in your LaserGrips, flashlight, etc.;
   10. After the solvent has had sufficient time to do its work, wet the bore brush with a little more solvent and give the bore and chambers another quick scrub, to knock loose all that fouling that’s been softened;
   11. Wet your soft toothbrush with a little more solvent and scrub the areas on the frame and cylinder that you hit earlier. Heavily-leaded areas, like the area around the forcing cone and top strap, may require you to use a  bronze toothbrush (not a steel one, please!), or a pick or scraper if the soft toothbrush isn’t doing the job. I like to use plastic tools for picking and scraping,  but sometimes use a smashed brass cartridge case (I find a brass .223 case works well) that has been shaped into a scraper for the really heavy stuff. Don’t use steel tools because it’s easy to damage the gun with them;

1. 12. Use a rag or patches to wipe that gooey mess off! Try to get most of the solvent, fouling and goop off the external surfaces of the barrel, frame and cylinder. If the cylinder face has stubborn carbon/lead rings, brush them off with solvent and a bronze toothbrush, or use a lead remover cloth (best reserved for stainless guns only—on my blued guns, I just use the Blue Wonder cleaner, which is blue-safe), then wipe clean with a dry rag or patch;

1. 13. Once the external surfaces are relatively clean and dry, use dry patches to get the bore and chambers clean. If you discover that you still have residual fouling in the bore and chambers that you want to get out, hit them again with the bore brush. A little extra scrubbing usually gets the rest of the soaked, softened fouling out. If it’s stubborn, repeat the soak-wait-scrub-patch process.⁵ Your objective here is to have clean, dry chambers and bore;

1. 14. Pulling those dirty patches out of the bore and chambers probably sprayed some junk around.  With a rag or patches, detail clean all the external surfaces of the barrel, frame and cylinder, so everything is clean and dry. This is the time I start wiping down the nooks and crannies, like the hammer, hammer nose, and hammer channel, the area under the extractor, the center pin hole in the breech face and the slot for the hand, the crevices around the yoke, recessed chamber mouths (a toothpick is useful, here), the sights, etc.;

1. 15. At this point you’ve got a clean, dry gun. Inspect it for damage and defects, like erosion, cracks, broken or worn parts, etc. Pay close attention to the critical areas we discussed earlier. If everything looks good, reassemble it, as required (put the yoke and cylinder back on the frame, put the grips back on the frame, etc.), and/or check all screws to ensure they are tightened;

1. 16. Lubricate the gun with your favorite product. I like to use grease in many applications, especially on my semiautos, but for my revolvers I prefer to use a thinner oil. I’m partial to products like Lubriplate FMO Gun Oil, Slip 2000 Gun Lube, Lucas Oil Extreme Duty Gun Oil, and good old Break Free CLP (they’ve got a dedicated gun oil product now, but I’ve been using the Break Free CLP as oil since the late 1970s and it’s always treated me well), but I know there’s lots of other good products out there. I like to use a needle oiler to apply these, so I can put the right amount of oil exactly where it belongs. Areas to lubricate include:

Other areas to lubricate could include the thumb piece and either side of the trigger (invert the gun, put a small drop on either side, let it flow inside, then wipe off the excess);

1. 17. When you’re finished lubricating, verify the gun is unloaded, then close the cylinder and cycle the action several times to distribute the lubrication;
   18. Conduct a function check to ensure the gun works properly;
   19. Wipe the gun down with a silicone cloth, or a lightly oiled cloth (Break Free CLP works great for this, in my experience), to remove residual fouling and excess oil, and clean and protect the finish. Don’t leave the gun excessively wet, as that will just attract dirt. All you want to do is get the fingerprint acids off the steel, and give it a thin film to protect against corrosion. Those of you who live in a very humid environment might want to use a more robust preservative to combat corrosion, like Birchwood Casey Barricade, or Sentry Solutions Tuf Cloth, to keep the rust off your gun;

1. 20. Take your gun to the loading area and tell yourself, “I am now loading the gun,” then load it. Place the gun into storage or holster it, as appropriate;
   21. Clean and pack up your tools and supplies, clean up your work area (I hope you didn’t spill solvent on the kitchen table, because your spouse will be M-A-D!), safely dispose of the contaminated cleaning materials, then wash up and change/launder clothes, as required.

Extras

That’s a pretty good outline of my typical cleaning chores, but sometimes there’s more to do on a really dirty gun and I’ve got to use other tools, products and methods to finish the job. The process I described will take care of most of your cleaning requirements, though.

Periodically, I’ll remove grips that haven’t come off in a while, to ensure there’s no corrosion forming, underneath. I will also periodically remove the side plate and do a full disassembly and cleaning of the gun’s action, then apply some grease to the right places, like the hammer and trigger studs, coil mainspring struts, etc.  I’ll also evaluate if it’s time to clean the forcing cone with my Lewis Lead Remover (which usually isn’t necessary unless I’ve been shooting large quantities of soft lead bullets). This kind of disassembly and maintenance is beyond the scope of this article, but I mention it so you can appreciate that occasional “heavy maintenance” is required. You may want to enlist the help of a gunsmith if you’re not comfortable with diving deep into the guts of your revolver.

mistakes and pitfalls

There’s a number of cleaning and lubrication traps you can fall into as a RevolverGuy, but the good news is that they’re easy to avoid, if you know what they are. Some of the biggies include:

• • Failure to keep the critical areas clean. A revolver can look really gross, but run just fine, if you keep the critical areas clean. We discussed those earlier, but we’re basically talking about the cylinder and the axle it rides on. If you can keep the barrel/cylinder gap free from obstruction, ensure the cylinder can spin freely and pivot into/out of the frame, ensure the chambers are clean, and keep the extractor star and ratchet clean (including underneath), you’ll keep your revolver running. Ignore these areas at your own peril;

• • Shooting dirty ammo. Shooting soft lead bullets without a coating or jacket will contaminate your revolver relatively quickly. Lead deposits will build up in the bore, in and around the forcing cone, on the gas ring, and on the cylinder face, if the revolver is not occasionally scrubbed clean. These deposits will eventually effect reliability and accuracy if left unattended. Additionally, ammunition which doesn’t burn clean may leave excessive soot or unburned powder granules behind that can foul the gun. You can greatly relieve your maintenance burden if you just feed your revolver some clean shooting ammo to start with;

• • Careless use of the bore brush. It doesn’t take much to damage the barrel crown and/or muzzle on your revolver, so you need to be gentle in this area with your cleaning rod and brush. Keep the cleaning rod centered and don’t push or drag it along the side, where it can cause uneven wear. Make sure the bore brush is in good shape, and the steel wire at its core will not scrape the crown, muzzle, or bore. Push the brush all the way through the bore before you change direction;

• • Failure to remove grips. If water gets underneath your grips, it can promote corrosion on the frame, mainspring, and other parts hidden underneath. Perhaps the most insidious source of water is your own sweat, which adds corrosive salts to the mix. To avoid rusting your gun underneath the grips (or rusting the grips themselves—the old Pachmayr grips, for instance, had a steel skeleton that could rust if not properly cared for), take them off occasionally and wipe down the metal underneath with a silicone cloth or a lightly-oiled cloth. I’ve even applied a thin coat of car wax to the frame of guns that are going to be carried close to my body, and subjected to lots of perspiration (especially in the summer months). It’s always a sad day when you pop your grips off and find the demon rust, so stay on top of it.

One other thing about grips—if you’re going to leave them on the gun while it’s cleaned, cover them up to protect them from getting splattered with solvents and debris, or soaked with oil. I like to cover them up with an extra disposable glove, or some plastic wrap from the kitchen, so I can handle the gun without transferring goop to the grip;

• • Not reading the label. Some cleaners can be harmful to blued or nickel finishes, and should not be used on those guns. Others can be harmful to the steel if left to soak too long, or if residue is left behind (such as ammonia-based cleaners like Sweet’s 7.62). Read the label, and use the products as directed to protect your gun;

• • Using too much cleaner and/or lubricant. Using too much of these products may cause them to collect and pool inside the gun. In turn, this may lead to other problems like ammo contamination, fouling or gumming up the action, or damaging a leather holster. Use cleaners and lubricants sparingly, only apply them where needed, and be sure to wipe off any excess. If you need to use a spray can to dispense a cleaner or lube, spray it onto a cloth, patch, or brush first, not directly onto the gun, to avoid getting it in the wrong places and getting too much of it on the gun.

Got something to add?

So, that’s about it for basic cleaning and lubrication. If you caught something that I forgot, or have a good cleaning tip you want to share, please let us know in the comments. I’m always open to learning something and picking up a good trick.

Additionally, if you’ve got some favorite cleaning products you want to tell us about (like your special formula for Ed’s Red, or your favorite weight of Mobil 1), let us know that, too. I mentioned some of my favorites, but I know there’s a lot of good products out there that I haven’t tried, yet.

Thanks for reading, be safe, and get out there and get those guns dirty!

endnotes

1. 1. 1. 1. There are obvious exceptions to the rule, of course.  A gun that’s so dirty that it may affect reliable function needs to be cleaned, and there are some contaminants (blood, acids, solvents, water, corrosive ammo residue, etc.) that need to be cleaned off right away, lest they promote corrosion or other damage–especially if the storage environment is humid. Duty guns that are really filthy from practice should be attended to before they go back into service—wipe off the big stuff in the critical areas, and put some lube in the right places, at the very least. A full cleaning is even better. You can be more casual about your recreational guns, but the guns you rely upon to keep you and your family safe deserve timely attention.
         2. Honestly, I’m not aware of anyone who routinely does this with their handguns. I’ve seen it done once or twice by law enforcement snipers who want to “foul” their rifle bores, for consistency, and have heard stories of it being done in wartime military service, but most folks simply don’t clean their weapon at the range, then shoot it again before they leave. Maybe some of the benchrest rifle shooters do, but that’s for sporting purposes, not for duty purposes. I never saw it in my own LE/MIL experience—the cleaning areas at our training locations were always separate from the range, and there was never an opportunity to return to the range to fire the necessary function test shots. I don’t suppose most civilian ranges are set up to support the practice, either. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, only that logistical considerations usually prevent people from doing it;
         3. Most of these are semiautos, but there’s some pretty nasty looking revolvers out there, too, like the Kimber K6s that we ran for 464 rounds before it couldn’t go any further. The revolvers will typically fail before the semi autos if proper cleaning and maintenance is neglected, due to their closer operating tolerances. Revolver ammo is often dirtier than semiauto ammo, too, especially if unjacketed lead bullets are used, which can dictate a shorter cycle between cleanings;
         4. On autoloading pistols, my critical item list includes the chamber, feed ramp, breechface, extractor, barrel hood, rails, and magazine, for example;
         5. Stubborn deposits in a heavily-leaded barrel may require overnight soaking, or more aggressive means to clean them out. One trick I’ve seen is to chuck a cleaning rod and brush into an electric drill, and brush out the barrel with the power tool (go easy on it!). Another I’ve seen is to pull strands off a copper kitchen scrubber pad, and wind them around your bore brush to clean the bore more aggressively. Frankly, my favorite technique is to just use the Blue Wonder product I’ve mentioned previously–that stuff is chemical magic in a bottle, and makes short work of even the worst fouling, while being both biodegradable and non-toxic. It works like oven cleaner for you gun–smear it on, let it sit, wipe it off. Easy. It’s great stuff, and will save your elbow from a lot of scrubbing work;