Keep em clean: Good firearms deserve good care. Here are a few thoughts on the subject from the Guns staff

Guns Magazine, June, 2002 by Charles E. Petty

Gun Cleaners

March down to your local gun shop, and odds are that you'll find a wide variety of products designed to clean, lubricate and/or preserve the finish of your fine firearms. Unless your local shop is particularly well stocked, you can look at the assortment of different concoctions on the shelf, multiply that number by about 15, and you'll be close to the actual quantity of such products available on the market.

Out of this staggering variety, which products are actually the best for your uses? The only person who can answer that question is you. You'll want to experiment to learn for yourself what works well, but you will probably also observe what your shooting and hunting partners tend to use. That is the idea here.

Massad Ayoob and John Taffin have shared some thoughts on cleaning materials in the pages of this issue. Here is some additional input from other members of our staff...

When I got this assignment, I went to the workbench where I do most of my gun cleaning and took inventory. Frankly I was a bit surprised to find 15 different cleaners and 11 lubricants. Now in my work I am often sent samples to try out and -- packrat that I am -- they don't get discarded. At one time or another I've used them all but routine cleaning chores are usually done with a few favorites.

I make a distinction between rifles and handguns. Almost any good solvent will do a great job on handguns because the main thing we have to remove is powder fouling. Most often I'll use Outers' Nitro Solvent in an aerosol can because it is so convenient and I don't have to worry about spilling bottles.

Rifles are a very different story. High pressure/high velocity cartridges leave jacket metal behind as they pass through the bore and before long you've got to remove it or accuracy will go to pot. Conventional solvents are unlikely to do this job. For the last few years I've been using a bore scope to monitor the condition of several barrels and judge the effectiveness of various cleaning products and procedures and have developed a two level process using escalating force. At the range I clean the bores of most rifles every 15 to 20 rounds. The solvent changes from time to time, but right now it is Butch's Bore Shine. I've found it to do a good job of removing metal fouling without being so aggressive as to be difficult to use somewhere that you can't wash your hands. Let me explain.

Almost all bore cleaners that effectively remove copper fouling contain some form of ammonia Most commonly these are in a solution that is basic -- sometimes very much so. In chemistry class I learned that if you get a base on your fingers it feels really slick right before it starts to burn and make you want to get it off. You can usually identify these cleaners by smell -- it's hard to miss ammonia's smell.

I'm not one who believes that you have to get every microgram of copper out of the barrel and my routine usually does not require further work. But now and then a gun may need more. My next step up is either Shooter's Choice Copper Remover or Outer's Super Solvent. Both of these are pretty stout but if they don't get everything the next step is Sweet's. This stuff is strongly ammoniacal and really needs to be used with care and ventilation. The last step is to use the Outer's Foul Out electrochemical cleaner. If none of those work it's time for a new barrel.

VOODOO FREE CLEANING

Roy Huntington Editor American Handgunner

Frankly, I've found virtually all of the name-brand, quality cleaning products seem to work well. For specific chores, like heavy leading, heavy copper fouling, etc. it does pay to work with a product specifically intended to attack, the problem at hand. For general cleaning, I've had very good luck with MP-7 products, from their cleaner to their lubricant. It is non-hazardous and doesn't stink up the garage when you're using it. Having said that, there simply isn't anything as delightful as good old Hoppes #9. And for all the reasons we all understand, it smells better than $200-per-ounce perfume.

Sweets 7.62 makes easy work of copper fouling and Brownells JB Bore Cleaner (a mild abrasive) makes a good companion cleaner for the really tough stuff. Ditto for getting the lead out. Find a Lewis Lead Remover and worship at the alter of whoever invented it. In revolvers and autopistols, it is the final word in scraping out all the crud prior to a good working over with your favorite solvent.

Outers' Foul Out is the period on the end of the sentence when it comes to the lazy man's cleaning gear. Plug the bore, dump the solvent in, turn on the power and go have a cold one. The lead or copper is magically transferred to the Foul Out rod and everyone is happier for it. Don't ask me to explain it but suffice to say there isn't any Voodoo involved. Or at least I don't think so.

Finish up with a good quality light oil or rust fighter. The aerosols work nicely. Just a quick shot on a shop rag, a wipe down, and your favorite Parker is protected from those friends you have with sulfuric acid fingerprints.