A Nurse with a Gun

Friday, October 10, 2008

Gun Cleaning

I spent the afternoon cleaning a few pistols. It has been several days since I shot them. If I am going to carry a gun, I want it absolutely clean, but if I have been running and gunning, I often just want to deposit the range bag in the gun room and get back to them later. I'm not obsessive about it like some. I might detail strip a given pistol once a year, perhaps more often if it sees frequent use.

Years ago, corrosive ammunition required that firearms be cleaned immediately. Modern ammunition gives a shooter a bit more latitude. I sometimes use a bore snake for a quick clean up. I'll remove the magazine and run it up through the magwell and into the barrel, exiting the muzzle. This helps give the feed ramp a quick clean as well. Most of the time though, I will field strip the gun and use a bronze brush followed by a brass jag to push Break free impregnated cotton patches through the bore. I might use a stiff stainless steel chamber brush if the barrel is really dirty. Once done, I relubricate and reassemble the gun. Finally, I wipe down the outside with an oil soaked chamois.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Chrome said...

Xavier,

What are your thoughts on the SW1911? I'm looking for another 1911 to compliment my Kimber Custom II. The only thing I can't get over on the SW1911 is the external extractor on it.

Later,
Chrome...

9:46 PM  
Blogger DarwinOSX said...

Two of my favorite things. Kings bushing wrench and S&W 1911.

11:37 PM  
Blogger Xavier said...

Hi Chrome,
I pretty much summed it up here. S&W has a long history of external extractors on their DA pistols. They simply used the same design on the 1911. It works. When you compare it to the design Kimber used, you can see they are totally different. Kimber's external extractor failures are not a liability for the SW1911.

6:19 AM  
Blogger Weer'd Beard said...

My primary carry gun is a S&W1911Sc (Pretty much the same as Xavier's S&W1911PD) I love it, light, strong, and reliable.

My home defense gun is a S&W1911 in stainless with a 5" pipe. Also the same, reliable as hell! Only failures on that gun have been due to bad magazines. Sofar no problems with the Wilson mags I use now.

5:00 PM  
Blogger Crucis said...

I've never had cleaning issues with my various pistols. Recently I've acquired some S&W wheel guns. At first it seems easy, clean the cylinder and the barrel.

Then, I began to think what else needed cleaning and lub. Should I take off the grips and side plate? How was the cylinder release cleaned? How far is really needed for cleaning a revolver.

Inquiring minds are searching. :-)

10:08 AM  

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