Cleaning guns: Here are a few suggestions for easy, no-hassle maintenance from a man who enjoys shooting 'em more than cleaning 'em

Guns Magazine, June, 2002 by John Taffin

I was not very old before I discovered the three greatest smells in the world. They are, not necessarily in order, diced onions and green peppers sauteing in a frying pan, perfume on a lovely lady, and Hoppe's #9. I discovered the former and the latter first, and when the other fragrance came along, it was the only time in my life my guns became dusty.

This was not a good situation. To correct it, I married the lovely lady three months later so we could smell onions, green peppers, and Hoppe's #9 together. By our second Christmas, we had a baby on the way and I was out of work and going to college full-time. We had a grand total of a little over $6 to spend on each other for Christmas, so we cut it down the middle. And with her share, she bought me a bottle of Hoppe's #9 and some cleaning patches. She was, and is, a fast learner!

Proper Cleaning Interval

Prior to meeting this love of my life, I would spend every Saturday afternoon shooting my sixguns and leverguns, most often the affordable-to-shoot .22 caliber Ruger Single-Six and Marlin 39A Mountie. After every session, I would religiously clean both guns and actually enjoy doing it. This was, in the words of Burt Lancaster in the movie "Valdez" Is Coming!, "Before I know better." Every gun does not necessarily need cleaning after every session. It depends on the gun, the situation, and most assuredly the area of the country that one lives in. I live in a high desert environment with very little need to be concerned about humidity or moisture. Those that live in damp climates must learn how often their guns need to be cleaned. For some, it definitely means after every use.

This past weekend, I shot black powder in a cowboy action shooting match in a steady rain. You can be assured that I cleaned those guns as soon as I got home, completely stripping them, and making sure there was no moisture left inside. I'll also clean them again tomorrow just to be sure. If the weather had been dry and sunny and I had been shooting smokeless powder, I would simply have wiped them off and put them away. The key to cleaning and not spending a lot of unnecessary time is to know when, and what, to clean.

For example, I always clean black powder guns the same day they are used. In addition, about every third time, they are completely dismantled and all inner parts are also cleaned. Such firearms as the sixguns from Freedom Arms or those custom sixguns from any number of gunsmiths that specialize in tight tolerances must also be regularly cleaned, or they will not work. The same holds true for defensive handguns but for a more important reason. They must always be ready to go without unburned powder or crud under the ejector star on a double action revolver, or a sluggish slide or dirty extractor on a semiautomatic. I have to admit that a little superstition enters in here, as I have never swabbed out the bore of my custom Thompson/Center Contender chambered in 6.5 JDJ. It is fired two or three times to check its zero before each hunting season. And since it has more than two dozen straight one-shot kills to its credit over the past dozen years -- on everything from turkey to mule deer to waterbuck to zebra -- I am afraid to touch it and possibly break the magic spell.

A Common Sense Approach

I approach firearms maintenance the same way as I maintain my vehicles. I do not change the oil every time I drive, nor do I go anywhere past the recommended period between oil changes. If my truck goes through a period of heavy-duty use, it is serviced accordingly. The same holds true for light duty use. The key is to know which is which. And again, allow me to repeat this simple fact -- how often your firearms must be cleaned depends upon which part of the country you live in.

Here are the products I keep on my workbench and use to maintain my firearms. When I start shooting seriously in the 1950s, I don't know if there was even anything available other than Hoppe's #9. It is still used regularly and has also been joined by Hoppe's Black Powder Solvent. For years, the black powder guns were cleaned with hot soapy water. However, the use of solvents made for black powder certainly simplifies things. I also use a lot of Thompson Bullet Lube's Black Powder Cleaner and patches. Their solvent comes in a small, easy-to-use bottle with a spout for applying it to patches. While shooting black powder, I keep the guns going with a spray bottle of Windex. A soaked patch down the barrel, or a spray at the front and back of the cylinder, keeps the guns relatively clean while shooting and also prevents binding.

When I'm finished, I spray them all over with Windex, wipe them down with a paper towel, and then wrap them in a couple layers of paper towels for the trip home. This simplifies the final cleaning with black powder solvent. Two other products are especially necessary for black powder guns and/or guns that have been used in wet weather. For the latter, Outers' Metal Seal is a lifesaver. This is a spray on lubricant that displaces water. After every firearm is cleaned, Metal Seal is sprayed on the surface and wiped down, and I also use the extension tube to spray lightly inside the mechanism.