To ensure that your firearm is always accurate and has a long life, it’s very important to regularly clean it. There are plenty of guides on the internet that talk about taking care of the gun internally but there is very little awareness about maintaining the exteriors of the gun. Often, shooters neglect the care of the exteriors of the gun. Therefore, we are here with our detailed step-by-step guide on how to clean the outside of a gun explained in easy to understand language.
Cleaning the gun with cleaning kit
This section will give you a walkthrough of how to clean the outside of a gun if you have a cleaning kit. It is always recommended to clean a gun with the help of a cleaning kit as it has products that are meant for guns in particular.
1.What do you need to clean a gun?
The first step before starting the cleaning process is to gather the useful items needed for cleaning. A basic cleaning kit can include:-
- A cleaning cloth
- Bore brush
- Earbuds
- Cleaning solvent
- Lubricant, or gun oil
- A toothbrush
2.Unloading the gun
This might be probably the most important step. There should not be any ammo loaded in your gun and it should be completely empty before starting the actual cleaning process.
Whenever you decide to clean the gun, make sure that it is unloaded. Your gun is not considered as completely unloaded if the gun’s magazine is empty.
Few rounds might be hiding inside the barrel and those have to be taken out. Open the chamber, closely scan the barrel for rounds and remove them.
The barrel and the chamber should be clean from the rounds. The gun would be considered unloaded if its barrel is empty.
3.Disassembling the gun
The gun has to be disassembled in order to properly clean the gun. Each type of gun disassembles in its own way and they would have different cleaning processes but the basic procedure would remain the same.
Make sure to read the user manual of the gun if you are stuck while disassembling the gun. You need to carefully remove all the dirty parts and keep them separate.
4.Find a well ventilated room
It is always advisable to clean your gun in a well-ventilated room with plenty of air circulation. Solvent cleaners can release fumes that can be hazardous to your health.
Also, the gun lubrication can be stinky if used indoors which might irritate your family members. So , keep the room well ventilated.
Also, to minimize dirt, make sure to cover your cleaning place with newspaper or maybe with plastic wrap.
A garage is a good place to clean your gun as you can completely open one side of it that will allow maximum airflow.
5.Cleaning using the gun cleaner
There are two types of cleaners. One is spray cleaners and the other is normal cleaners that have to be applied on the top of the gun.
A spray cleaner is very easy to use but it might finish early if not sprayed directly on target. One highly used spray cleaner is CLP break-Free.
6.Cleaning the gun thoroughly
After the solvent is sprayed over the gun, it has to be scrubbed thoroughly. A toothbrush can effectively give a good scrub and clean the hidden dirt as well.
A toothbrush is a very commonly available thing in every household and is highly effective in cleaning.
For the places where a toothbrush cannot reach, you can clean with the help of an earbud that is widely available in a medical shop.
Even the tiny little spaces can be accessed and cleaned with it.
7.Cleaning the barrel
The barrel of the gun has to be cleaned separately after the other parts are cleaned. The most effective tool to clean the barrel is a bore cleaning brush.
Depending upon the caliber of the gun, there are different varieties of the bore cleaning brush. These different bore brushes have different sizes and diameters to fix a particular caliber.
Drip a couple of drops of oil over the bore brush and placed it inside the barrel. Twist and rotate the brush inside the barrel in order to take out the stuck debris.
Once you’re done with that, just make sure everything is cleaned up and then oil the gun.
8.Oiling the barrel
On the top of the cleaning rod, a tiny piece of cotton can be fixed. Drip a few drops of oil over the cotton piece and insert the cleaning rod inside the barrel. Do it for few times to add a small layer of oil on the inner surface of the barrel.
9.flossing the action
After dripping a few drops of solvent over the gun brush, rub it through the gun’s action for few times. Later, with the help of a clean dry cloth, dry the action.
Now, in order to prevent rusting, make sure to apply little lubrication on all moving parts of the action. Also, Make sure not to over-lubricate the parts as debris might stick to the lubricant.
10.Gently wiping the outside of gun
The final cleaning of the gun can be done with the help of a flannel cloth that is pre-treated with silicone lubrication.
This cloth is highly effective in cleaning the remaining dirt and also cleaning the fingerprint marks.
A considerable alternative of flannel cloth can be an old cloth or old socks. Make sure the shirt and socks are perfectly clean before cleaning the gun with them.
How to clean a gun without a cleaning kit
In this section, we will learn a few ways how to clean a gun with household items:-
1.Cleaning the gun with hydrogen peroxide
- Hydrogen peroxide can be mixed with vinegar in 50/50 proportion.
- Dip a cloth in the solution.
- Gently pat the cloth on the top of the gun.
- This method is highly effective in removing burned metal stains along with gunpowder stains.
2.Cleaning the gun with rubbing alcohol
Rubbing alcohol can be an amazing solvent to clean the gun. It removes the water residues and the best part is that it evaporates in the environment so you don’t have to manually wipe the parts to remove the alcohol.
Also, make sure that you apply oil after using alcohol as it would take off all the oil from the gun.
3.Cleaning using kerosene
- In a metal container equally mix kerosene, transmission Oil, and mineral spirits.
- Then disassemble the gun with the help of the user manual.
- First clean the bore, followed by barrel and chamber.
- Dip a small piece of cloth in the lubricating mix that we have prepared and again clean the bore, barrel, and chamber until there is no debris left.
- Assemble the parts of the gun back.
- With the help of a clean cloth give a wipe over the gun.
Precautions while Cleaning the outside of a gun
Here are some important points that you should keep in mind while cleaning the gun:-
1.Do not over-lubricate the gun
Only use a few drops of oil while lubricating the gun. Excess oil will mix with the gunpowder and form a cement-like material which will hamper the accuracy of the gun.
2.Household oil does't work
If you think that I would use kitchen oil or cosmetics oil to lubricate my gun then you are totally wrong. You should always use a dedicated gun oil for lubrication.
3.Don't Hurry !
Dealing with a firearm is a serious job and you should always be serious with it even if you are doing simple work such as cleaning it. Follow each and every protocol step by step no matter how small or easy it is.
A small mistake can cause huge mishappenings therefore always take your time and don’t hurry while cleaning your gun. Assume that the gun is loaded and handle it accordingly.
4.Recheck your weapon
Once you assemble your gun, make sure that you check them properly if they are working or not.
Question and Answers
Should you oil the inside of a gun barrel?
Slight oiling is essential inside a gun barrel. Oil helps in preventing rust. With the help of a layer of oil, the gun’s metal doesn’t come in contact with atmospheric oxygen.
Inside the barrel, a couple of drops of oil can be dropped. Too much oil inside the barrel can cause an issue by mixing with gunpowder or with the material of the gun such as copper, plastic, or any other metal.
What is the first step in cleaning a firearm?
The first step of cleaning a gun is to make sure that is completely unloaded. A gun is considered unloaded only if its barrel is completely empty with any kind of ammo.
What is a good substitute for gun oil?
A considerable substitute for gun oil is WD40. You should use WD40 only if that’s the last choice you have and you don’t have any other lubricants with you.
WD40 works well as an anti-corrosion solvent. However, you can use WD40 to clean gun. Alternatively, you can also use Breakfree CLP.
Should I oil the outside of my gun?
Though many user manuals won’t suggest that putting oil outside the gun is a good idea. I prefer putting a super thin layer of oil on the top of the gun that I can barely feel just to make sure that it doesn’t attract debris or dirt. Also, it protects the gun from rusting.
Is gun grease better than oil?
If the gun has parts that rub against each other and potentially undergo lots of friction stress then it’s better to apply grease there and not oil.
If there are patches on the gun where bluing is depleting due to the rubbing of metal parts, then apply grease there and not oil.
Conclusion
Here we come at the end of our article with the title how to clean the outside of a gun. Sometimes we are more concerned about taking care of the internal mechanism of the gun but taking care of outside parts is equally important to keep the gun healthy. I hope you have found this guide helpful and if you have any suggestions feel free to use the comment box.
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