LarryT
Operator
You mean they should be cleaned????Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “How Do I Clean a Pistol?” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/how-do-i-clean-a-pistol/.
How Do I Clean a Pistol?
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
SimonRL
Hellcat
I don’t have an ultrasonic cleaner either and I’m aware that just like everything else to do with a gun there are at least three sides to any story. If you get a chance to read that whole thread there are some interesting takes pro and con. And like everything, if people were to follow directions there would be no issues, but of course, they don’t and hence produce about a third of the content we see on the collective forums. Where else would we get threads like - Oops I cleaned my P365 and now I can’t get my slide On/Off. Sig Talk would close its doors without that one! Or - I polished the internals of my Masada before shooting it and now it won’t go into battery. Saw that one yesterday. Or - I cracked the frame on my FN509 installing an APEX trigger and FN says I have to buy a whole new gun. You don’t say?
LarryT
Operator
Cleaning and self-gunsmithing screwups keep our gunsmith busy near full-time. Trying to save a buck can easily cost a couple hundred. I am fairly competent working on the firearms I personally own, but I still revert to reliable videos (i.e. from the manufacturer) from time to time, especially if it has been a while.
Bassbob
Emissary
My wife has an ultrasonic cleaner. I promised not to use it to clean my BCGs. Which is the only thing I would ever think about using it for besides used vintage razors. I have a doctor friend who uses one for his BCGs. Says it's awesome. To me cleaning a BCG and guns in general is cathartic.
Bassbob
Emissary
Bolt Carrier Group
I am still hemming and hawing over getting an ultrasonic cleaner for my BCG and its internals....but since I've dispatched re-loading as a potential new hobby, the attraction of said cleaner has ebbed somewhat. I figure if that damn firing pin cotter pin stops working when I re-intall when it still has carbon fouling (because I can't get it "perfect" with a brush and Hoppe's #9 bore cleaner), I'll just buy a whole new BCG. Money can be replaced. And there are so many fancy-schmancy coated BCG's now...I'll never get to try them all if I keep the ones I've got in good shape. So there it is....trying to rationalize ways for me to spend more $$ on cool stuff.
Snake45
Professional
Ah, I should have known that. Doh!
I learned how to clean the BCG the old-school way in the summer of 1972: rags and any solvent; USGI M16 5.56 bore brush and cleaning rod handle segment applied if/where necessary; lube lightly with LSA.
Bassbob
Emissary
Like to get my hands on some LSA.Ah, I should have known that. Doh!
I learned how to clean the BCG the old-school way in the summer of 1972: rags and any solvent; USGI M16 5.56 bore brush and cleaning rod handle segment applied if/where necessary; lube lightly with LSA.
Snake45
Professional
What, is it rare now or something? That's hard for me to imagine.
I might or might not have a few old bottles laying around somewhere. If I do, you want one?
Bassbob
Emissary
Hell yes.What, is it rare now or something? That's hard for me to imagine.
I might or might not have a few old bottles laying around somewhere. If I do, you want one?
The modern equivalent is expensive. There are a few Surplus stores that claim to have the real stuff. They claim. About $20/bottle. 4 oz.
belladonna
Professional
Bassbob
Emissary
It is the most important thing to clean and lube on an AR. Though over cleaning it is bad too. Also kind of an important thing not to cheap out on.Thank you, Mr. Snake, for asking that. I also, am old, white, and tragically unhip.
Snake45
Professional
WOW.
I can't promise anything, but I know I USED to have several bottles around here somewhere in the Snakepit. I haven't used it since sometime in the '80s. If I DO have it, I'm not sure where it is, and I'm not going to bother to look for it because I won't find it. I've discovered the best way to find something I need is to forget about it, and the NEXT time I go looking for something else, BOOM, there it is, and I say, like the little kid on the bed in Animal House, "Thank you, GOD!" and I mean it. If/when I find it, I'll let you know.
Annihilator
Emissary
Y'all know Glocks will melt in there, right?
