1911 (and others) semi-auto cleaning

Patriot

Patriot

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I started a lube thread and I started a thread about my adventure into detail
stripping of my 1911s, so I thought that I would start a thread about how often
do you shooters clean your semi's. It doesn't have to be a iron gun, it could be
one of the plastic pieces that I hear about.[smile]

There are two types of cleaning, the field stripping and the detail stripping. I
guess what I want to have happen is for you guys to come clean (pun intended)
and share your obsessive compulsive behavior (or lack of) with the rest of the
forum and myself in particular.

I'm asking this as, except for a PPK/s that I hardly ever shot ,and cleaned after
each time I shot it I haven't owned any other semi's until last year and I know
that a lot of you folks are long time, hard core, semi shooters.

TBP
 
With the exception of my 1911 that I have been abusing for the past 700 or so rounds without a cleaning. For the most part, I strip and clean my guns after I shoot them. Usually the evening after I shoot, using the coffee table while watching the tube.
 
I tend to clean up my semi's using the field strip method after a day of shooting.

Although my intention is there I don't always follow through but I would say 80% of the time after each trip to the range or within a few days of the day it was shot.
 
Normally, I'll just do a field strip and wipe down.

Depending on the particular firearm... maybe 2-3 times a year I'll detail strip it.

I try to avoid detail stripping the ones that are a horror show to take apart and put back together.

The only other time I might detail strip a firearm is if I'm installing some sort of upgrade or new part. I figure if I'm going to take something apart to install say a new set of Wolf reduced tension springs, I might as well go all the way and give the firearm a thorough scrub-down.
 
I clean as rarely as possible. I throw on some lube before each range session and refresh every 200 rounds. The barrel doesn't seem to get dirtier and it cleans up with the same amount of effort no matter how rarely I clean it. I even mix plated and lead without cleaning. When I do clean the barrel it is because I have experienced more then one failure to feed in several hundred rounds that wasn't magazine related.

Every 700 rounds or so I will wipe down the internals and breechface but leave the barrel alone. All I am doing is wiping away the old lube an ensuring the cartridge can make the trip up the breechface easily. The only reason I can think of cleaning is to aid feeding. It really doesn't take much.

I stopped cleaning my Ruger MKIII after I found that it hurt accuracy for 50 rounds or so and I use it in a match almost weekly. That gun has zero build up in the barrel. I only clean the barrel face and bolt and run a bore snake through a couple times to clean the chamber.

Carry guns get a good scrubbing of the chamber and breechface before they are carried. I wipe down the rest of the gun mainly to keep the holster clean and the barrel is ignored like all my barrels.

Until I see reliability or accuracy problems I am not going to be changing my habits.
 
Since I almost always drag my current favorite shooters when I teach a class, I usually take extra efforts to make them as clean as possible.

I still do it the old fashioned way. Strip and go to town with patches, brushes, and even toothpicks. Takes a good 30 mins per gun on average (the damn compensator on the .500 makes that one a bit longer). I don't rush, and find the task relaxing. I might let them sit a few days tops until I can devote the proper time. I've been known to clean a gun or two during the opening class lectures if I hadn't had time before that.
 
Good timing on this topic. I used to clean my guns religiously after I used them- usually the night of the day I used them. However I often will go to the range with more than one gun and this can get old quick- cleaning 2-3 guns at a time.

I now field strip my guns on a fairly regular basis. However I don't have an issue waiting several days or longer before getting to them. In some cases I'll even use them once or twice more before getting to them.

I like to detail strip all my guns that I can. Exception K9 (can't do it without special tooks IMO) and new M&P .40 (since it's new and I don't have a guide on this yet). I only detail them once every 3-4000 rounds +/-.

I tend to be getting lazy lately. I enjoy shooting and reloading more than cleaning.... and I don't always have enough time.
 
Adam_MA said:
With the exception of my 1911 that I have been abusing for the past 700 or so rounds without a cleaning. For the most part, I strip and clean my guns after I shoot them. Usually the evening after I shoot, using the coffee table while watching the tube.
Click to expand...

You must be single.
 
RKG said:
You must be single.
Click to expand...

hehehe Nope not single, but unlike other men, I refused to be neutered, and guarantee I will do whatever I want in my house. [smile]

BTW, after writing about not cleaning my 1911, I took it out of the safe last night and had a good look at it. I ended up stripping it, and doing a thorough cleaning. And yes, I did it on the coffee table, after dinner while watching TV!
 
USMC training used to have me breaking down/ field stripping after every range visit. It's taken a few years of High Power shooting to figure out that the cleaning regime that the military beats into you is mostly busy work. I only clean stuff whenever it is causing functioning problems or accuracy is suffering. I don't mind seeing the carbon buildup on the end of the barrels/slides on my pistols - it lets me know I did something with them. When I do clean them, I don't go for the " Q-tip clean " crap that they used to torture me with. I clean them to maybe a light gray coming off on the patches and then and wipe them down that's good enough.

The only rifles I clean after range day is my milsurps that have had corrosive ammo shot thru them. The bore and bolt get a good soaking of Sweet's 7.62 to get rid of the salts. I follow that with a spray/patch of Gun Scrubber to stop the ammonia and then clean with Hoppe's Bore gel. So far no rust problems - I've had 3 times I've had to bring back rifles I forgot to clean after corrosive damage of some sort! You'd think I'd learn...

Joe R.
 
Joe R. said:
USMC training used to have me breaking down/ field stripping after every range visit. It's taken a few years of High Power shooting to figure out that the cleaning regime that the military beats into you is mostly busy work.
Click to expand...
Spread the gospel!
http://www.schuemann.com/Content/clean0.htm
My Personal Practice has become to never clean the bore of my barrels. I do use a brass rod to scrape the deposits out of the chamber. But, I've learned to leave the bore alone and it very slowly becomes shinier and cleaner all by itself. Years ago I occasionally scrubbed the bore with a brass bore brush. But, doing so always seemed to cause the bore to revert to a dirtier look with more shooting, so I eventually stopped ever putting anything down the bore except bullets...

Good luck,

Wil
Click to expand...
 
I field strip and clean after each range trip, mostly because i find it to be meditative. I too use the coffee table in front of the idiot box (tv). I don't really watch it, i just like to have the noise and flashing lights. I find myself just being totally zoned out. The wife doesn't mind at all. Infact, she's taking her LTC class in a couple of weeks and my 6 month old daughter just stares and giggles.
 
Any carry/protection guns get cleaned and lubed after use.

Range toys and competition stuff, eg, pin guns- I usually go a few
sessions w/o cleaning, although I will make a pass with a boresnake and
add some lube on key points. If the gun is dirty enough where I think
function is affected I will tear it down and clean it. None of my
handguns stay dirty for longer than a few weeks, at the
most.

As far as detail strips go I generally don't do them that often, although
since I know how to take apart the uppers on a 1911 or Glock I will do those
once a year or so. I know how to tear apart and reassemble HK USPs
and Sig Classics (eg, P220/P226/228/229) but its generally a pain in the ass
and I see little benefit to doing it, unless something needs to be replaced.

-Mike
 
For me, it depends on the gun. I find I have to clean my Ruger Mark III often - .22 is such a dirty ammo, gunks up the chamber like crazy. My Hi Power, 1911s and rifles, maybe once every 2-5 trips to the range. I've yet to clean my plastic gun or shotgun. However, I'll lube before I shoot any gun, and again after a couple hundred rounds.

Those are all just field strips. The only guns I've ever detail stripped are my 1911s, and I think that's more for pleasure than practicality.

Which reminds me - I read the manual for my Hi Power, and not only does it not give instructions for a detail strip, it specifically says you're not supposed to ever detail strip it. Is this for real?
 
I clean my SW1911 before I use it again. Field strip only. My SW manual warns to not detail strip.
 
I field strip and clean after a couple of range sessions.
Otherwise just a quick wipe down of the outside with an oily rag.
When I shot the 1911 every week in competition, a hosing down with brake cleaner after every days use, followed by hosing down with G96 gun treatment.
BTW, hosing with brake cleaner is definately an outdoor activity, evil stuff.
 
I feild strip every pistol after shooting, usually the same day. I use M7 Pro a stiff plastic brush and a small Craftsman air compressor. This gets just about everything clean. I follow up with M7 Pro CLP and/or Militec. The bore is also cleaned. My pistols look as good as new, and a few are approaching 1000+ rounds.
 
Gabe said:
I clean my SW1911 before I use it again. Field strip only. My SW manual warns to not detail strip.
Click to expand...

I read that last night as well. I guess they don't trust S&W 1911 owners. Has
anyone detail stripped a S&W1911 and are they so different from a Colt or other
1911 that it would require a 'do not detail strip' warning?
 
The Boston Patriot said:
I read that last night as well. I guess they don't trust S&W 1911 owners. Has
anyone detail stripped a S&W1911 and are they so different from a Colt or other
1911 that it would require a 'do not detail strip' warning?
Click to expand...

I think the only things that are different are the external extractor, which SW suggests you don't remove yourself and the firing pin safety, which can be a bugger to get back since it requires 3 hands.

I think everything else is the same. It looks like it to me when I compared it to my 1911a1 Colt GI.
 
It's the same except for the extractor and FPS. The extractor is in there REAL good and if you take it out too frequently you will loosen the tunnel the pin goes in. The FPS in the slide can't only be removed by drifting out the rear sight. I don't recommend that either as it will also loosen and can cause a variety of issues. The FPS lever in the frame is simple to put back in once you look at it even though it requires three hands.
 
adweisbe said:
It's the same except for the extractor and FPS. The extractor is in there REAL good and if you take it out too frequently you will loosen the tunnel the pin goes in. The FPS in the slide can't only be removed by drifting out the rear sight. I don't recommend that either as it will also loosen and can cause a variety of issues. The FPS lever in the frame is simple to put back in once you look at it even though it requires three hands.
Click to expand...

I haven't taken the S&W apart yet, but how does one clean these two items?
Does S&W address that? Do they ever need cleaning or have I purchased the
first and only gun in history that has components of it's system that never
needs cleaning? I'm impressed if that is the case. [smile]

I would imaging that eventually they will need to be cleaned so does that
imply that they need to be returned to a gunsmith or S&W for cleaning along
with a hefty charge?

I can't imagine that removing the extractor by and of itself will wear the
tunnel to the point of loosening. The simple process of removing an
extractor a few times a year will cause a loss of thousands of an inch
dimensionally in stainless steel? You're putting me on, aren't you. [smile]
 
There was a posting on the SW website a while ago about a guy who removed the extractor retaining pin and couldn't get it back in. Seems they are pressed in VERY firmly at the factory and re-installation by regular people with regular tools is VERY difficult.

The FPS is not that difficult if you mount the slide in a vise and have nimble/flexible fingers. I've done it but only when I thought it was necessary, NOT with every cleaning.
 
Pilgrim said:
There was a posting on the SW website a while ago about a guy who removed the extractor retaining pin and couldn't get it back in. Seems they are pressed in VERY firmly at the factory and re-installation by regular people with regular tools is VERY difficult.

The FPS is not that difficult if you mount the slide in a vise and have nimble/flexible fingers. I've done it but only when I thought it was necessary, NOT with every cleaning.
Click to expand...

While we were out at S&W I watched one of the guys doing assembly using
an assembly fixture to insert sights into the slides. It is nothing more than
a specialized alignment fixture using an arbor like press with stops to prevent
over travel. The S&W factory was an interesting take as I didn't perceive
there to be any earth-shattering assembly procedures or processes taking
place there with what I could see. It seemed to be a very well run place
using maximum machine automation and process tools with minimal manpower
but star-trek like, no way.

I can only assume that the pin is pressed in and trying to do that by holding
the pin in your fingers and banging it in with the framing hammer isn't going
to do a very good job. The pins on the Colt 1911 (sear and hammer) drop
in. The other pins need to be hammered in as they can't be simply pressed
in by hand. It seems that this pin is also of that nature. Time to break out
that arbor press in my garage.

TBP
 

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