Here is great advice for anyone who wants to know how a trained armorer cleans his pistols.
Do any shooting over the holiday? It’s the time of year for it and I recently engaged in a bit of cleaning. I’d done a ‘factory adjustment’ on three firearms, those meant to achieve some primary role as defense handguns. As I just ‘got on paper’ with a pair of them during annual recertification, I confirmed zero with fresh carry ammo and got them cleaned and lubed.
As I checked the guns at the range, I had cleaning gear on hand to do the job there. A good rule is to have a ventilated space to do gun cleaning. The outdoors is a good choice.
It doesn’t hurt to glove up before cleaning to keep the bad stuff from the gun off of your skin. Even using the new ‘safe’ cleaning chemicals, there is the matter of toxic metal residue and other junk. Also shown, the needle oiler – critical to put lube where you want — and hand cleansing wipes, along with a plastic shopping bag for trash.
For cleaning, I used nitrile gloves, some clear safety glasses, a crevice tool from Real Avid, a brush, a cleaning rod and patches, as well as some CLP from Breakfree (now a part of the Safariland Group).
The first thing to do is to positively clear the piece. A handy thing about a shooting range is having the bullet-absorbing backstop into which you can direct the muzzle. I had the clear safety glasses on – I’d been shooting. I gloved up and, keeping the muzzle in that safest direction, removed the magazine and stowed it. I locked the slide to the rear so I could look into the breech. The pistol, a GLOCK, is like most pistols with a barrel hood that throws a shadow across the chamber.
It was overcast anyway, but neither aspect mattered. I also checked the chamber physically, feeling for the presence of an unextracted round. It’s not common for the extractor to miss a live (or empty) round, but it has happened.
Better to be safe.
Armorer’s grip.
After the visual and physical inspection, I lowered the slide, aimed into the backstop and pressed the trigger. This is to put the striker at rest, required with this handgun for disassembly. I use the ‘armorer’s grip’ to disassemble the gun; hooking my thumb under the grip tang and encircling my hand over the top of the slide behind the ejection port, I can close my hand. This puts pressure on the slide, moving it back the requisite amount to pull the slide lock lever down on both sides of the frame – using the ‘wrong’ hand.
It’s a simple matter to remove slide, then recoil spring assembly and barrel. Some application of chemicals to each component (keeping those chemicals clear of the rear of the slide where the striker channel resides) before doing anything else gives time to let the chemicals do some heavy lifting.
I can use reading glasses and a bore-light to inspect the pieces/parts for fractures, crud, etc. while the CLP does its stuff. From there, I normally start by punching the bore from the chamber side. This pushes the corruption in the direction the bullet takes and keeps the muzzle crown pristine and free from nicks.
I wipe down the inside of the frame, frame rails, slide and slide rails using a patch and the crevice tool to get into the recesses. A general brushing and wipe down does the job. I use a needle oiler to get lube where I need it and keep from generally spraying everything everywhere. A drop in each rail, on the barrel hood and barrel exterior; another goes where the draw bar and connector meets. I also add one to the locking block and locking block lug.
Reassembly and a wipe down follows. The safety and function check ends the process – but don’t forget the magazines. Those require periodic maintenance too.
A crevice tool, like one from Real Avid, gets a patch into corners and crevices to get the gunk out. Below, a needle oiler helps to place oil exactly where you want it without generally overspraying chemicals all over.
At the end, I use a plastic shopping bag to place dirty patches, paper towels and gloves (remove them inside out, one over the other – like you just finished working a crime scene) for disposal.
Which cleaners and oils should you use? I don’t take sides. I find Ballistol to be very good stuff, a bit odorous, but effective. I’ve used various CLP blends over the years, especially Breakfree as that’s what they purchased at the outfit. Some people swear by Slip 2000 and I’ve used it with considerable success.
I’m known by industry types as the clown who shows up and says “You have to actually clean those things?” and “More guns are worn out by ‘cleaning’ them than by shooting them.” That said, I do actually clean guns once in a great while whether they need it or not.
Don’t do as I do. Take care of your gear and it just may take care of you.
