An old gunsmith’s secret for detail cleaning any firearm quick.

by Chick Blood

Perhaps you’re not impressed with the idea of a quick detail cleaning procedure. Not if you own a sonic parts cleaner with a combination circulation/filtration/agitation system sitting on your bench. Not all gunsmiths can afford such luxury. One old gunsmith who couldn’t passed along this means of avoiding the expense. The needed components are inexpensive and readily available. A rubber squeeze syringe is the central piece of equipment in preparation to remove any handgun, rifle or shotgun firing mechanism crud without initial detailed disassembly. Securing a squeeze bulb for this operation will call for a visit to your neighborhood pharmacy. I caution you against using the household poultry baster as a substitute. The reaction of the resident kitchen master to that happening is too terrible to speak of here.

A short commentary about detail cleaning a gun. I’m among the majority believing the only perfect means of going about it is to begin by breaking the piece down into all its components. All of them. These can be placed in a compartmentalized tray or on a series of clean paper towels. One by one, they will be inspected for obvious signs of wear or damage, scrubbed with good solvent and a brush, reinspected, and set aside to dry if no need for replacement is apparent or suspected. Polishing may be called for, such as with pivot pins, ejector rods, the inside surfaces of firing pin assembly tunnels, and the side surfaces other parts that see frequent action, hammers and triggers being notable among the latter. After the polishing has been done and all remnant of the polishing compound flushed away, the part still has to dry. A hairdryer is recommended. A paint remover heat gun is not. Afterwards, the part should be very lightly lubricated by wiping it down with a high quality, pre-treated gun cloth.

However, long experience has proven what follows to be true of entirely too many gun owners.

Read more in the January 2016 issue.

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