Who Cleans their guns? Ruger Mark III reliability confirmed

[45collector]

I have used motor oil to lube guns before. I guess you could use it to clean up one too.

Maybe I'll do the same. I've got plenty of half empty synthetic motor oil quarts sitting around the shop.

 

[mac1911]

I believe that the reference to "cleaner" is similar to the term "detergent" used to describe a function of motor oil. Both lubricants may have additives that help clean the motor/firearm, but they are not intended to be used as cleaning agents.

The last time I checked, Break Free was $6 for 4 oz at the local gun store. This is way too expensive to use for cleaning. The solvents I use are much cheaper, more effective and do not harm any finishes that I am aware of. I do a lot of shooting and cleaning and can't afford to waste money in the process. This caused me to give up on my $6/4oz Break Free. I now use synthetic motor oil which is just as good as Break Free and a lot cheaper at $10 per quart.

Everyone has their way. My dad's take on CLP is it won't strip the oils that seat deep in the nooks,and crannies of the metal surfaces vs a "cleaner" that removes all the oil. If your gun functions and you have very little issues your doing something right.
Stripping a gun and cleaning the bejeez out of it after every trip is to me like removing your car's bearings to clean them to after a oil change....that dirty oil in between the bearings is always there.
Wipe your guns down after use give the bore a quick swab oil the bore if it's going sit for a while.
Find your happy zone....I give all my guns a early clean/inspect. The ones I shoot the most get a good cleaning after 1000 rounds or when accuracy starts to suffer.
I am actually going to do a little comparison test between my standard mil spec barrel and my match barrel. Both have had 800 rounds through them last year. Going to see the difference in copper fouling.... both barrels received the same treatment. Boresnake , one solvent patch, three dry patches and a oil patch....

 

[9x19]

My wife bought herself a Ruger Mark III about 4 and a half years ago, she loves the gun and has put over 10,000 rds thru her. I have never taken it apart as I have heard how much of a pain it was. I never had a reliability problem with it until the last time we went to the range we and had 2 ftf.
That was right before Christmas and while we were at the range another gentleman was there with his Mark III that had a Volquartsen trigger in it. He let her try it and she loved the trigger on it so like a good hubby I bought her a Volquartsen accurizing kit for Christmas. 
I finally got the time to install the trigger kit Saturday, and I figured while I was installing it, I might as well give it a good cleaning. When I finally pulled it apart I couldn’t believe this thing still fired. Haha Just goes to show you these things can take some abuse and neglect.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

All Cleaned up inside. Yay

I will get a picture up of it all done once my computer stops acting up

Wow...I'm not a neat freak by any means, but nope. Couldn't go that long without cleaning haha. I've got a 40 year old MK 1 I acquired a few years ago and it's easily one of the best guns I've ever shot...shoots well, no problems with any ammo, and a little CLP in the chamber at the end of the day is all it's needed so far.