All posts tagged Break Free CLP

Cleaning and fixing guns at the same time

I’ve had a few mistakes in firearm ownership that have nothing to do with gun safety or hunting, it actually had to do with gun maintenance.   There were a few times that I took guns on a hunting trip, didn’t fire them, brought them home and put them in a safe, only to find out a few days later that they were all covered in rust.   Even the morning dew can rust and possible ruin a firearm if you don’t pay attention to what your guns are made out of and how to care for them.   Another time was carrying a Taurus T-85 handgun in a leather holster and not cleaning it once a week, the holster held body sweat and the salts from the sweat pitted the barrel of the handgun.   It wasn’t worth the time and trouble to remove the pits without risking more damage to the firearm.

Along with taking care of your guns and preventing rust from building up, sometimes dents and dings can occur.   It always bothered me that some guys spend thousands on combat firearms and are afraid to shoot them in the rain or snow and then get upset if they get dirt on them.   The reason  most firearms are coated in what they are is for combat or adverse weather conditions.  Next time you are looking for gun cleaning supplies, you should look into picking up a gun blue touch up pen for fixing minor scratches and dings on your firearms.   There are gun blue kits you can buy to re-blue a firearm, but the touch up pen is good for the majority of the minor tweaks and only takes a few seconds.

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Some guns were not designed to be cleaned very well

My first semi-auto was a Russian SKS which was when they were going for under $100.   The Russian SKS is a very well thought out semi-auto because in my opinion, I like the operation and disassemble more than the M1 Garand.   I think the Garand is  a fine rifle and far more accurate than an SKS, but the stripper clips and lighter ammuntion is better suited for WWII combat although it was not introduced that early.   The AK ended the short adventure of the SKS much in the same way the M16 shortened the life of the M14.   They were all very well designed and reliable firearms, but they were not modern enough for combat.   One gun I have found that I still enjoy shooting and operating with is the FAL.   The triggers on these guns are a little hard to drop in weight, and the mounts on them really need to be locked in place with something other than just a screwdriver.   The .308 caliber will do a number on scope mounts especially exposing any operator failures to properly “lock it down”.

One thing that made me a fan of the DSA FAL I own is that it was designed to be easy to operate and maintain.   I’ve heard many firearm instructors that I respect say that the M16 does not need to be cleaned as much as people think and lubrication is more important than scrubbing every spec of carbon off the firearm.  I still enjoy cleaning some of my firearms just because I like inspecting the geniousness of the designs.   I literally can clean and FAL with gun cleaning supplies like the Hoppes bores snakes.  The Otis gun cleaning kits aren’t necessary on one of these guns and more appropriate for more complicated designs.  The FAL is hands down the simplest battle rifle to clean.

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Boresnake life span, are they worth it?

Are they worth it?  Do they hold up to heavy use?   I have the same 22 caliber bore snake and it has been used in 22LR rifles, AR15 rifles, M4 Carbines, AK74 and Mini 14s.   The same bore snake is approximately 6yrs old and probable gets used about  50 times a year.   I usually run the snake through the gun about 2 times.   I may only need to do it once, but i’m use to using cleaning rods and just get in the habit.   I almost only use Break Free CLP on my firearms, and the occasional grease application, and gun cleaning is now simple.

Cleaning revolvers is probable easier than some semi-autos because there is nothing you really need to disassemble.   I have been using the Hoppes boresnakes for rifle the majority of the time because handguns just don’t seem to be that much of a hassle and I’m really not that worried about how clean the barrels are for any particular accuracy reason.    When it comes to cleaning out a bolt action rifle like a Winchester M70,  It sure does make a difference in cleaning time when you do a one, two, and then just wipe the gun down and put it away.   If you clean the guns often, from my experience there is very little worry about hard to clean areas.

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Watch it with those gun patches

I will admit that I have stuck gun cleaning patches in some of my firearms.   I tried to do a fast clean with a Hoppes gun cleaning kit patch on a 22LR and punched a whole through the patch and had trouble getting the cleaning rod out of the firearm.   Another time I used a wrong size cleaning patch on a Otis gun cleaning kit and almost broke the wire trying to get the patch out.    I read something funny on the internet about this happening to a few other people and they had to put the gun in a vice or wrap the cord around a tree and  yank.   That’s never a good thing.

There is still nothing wrong with using a cleaning rod, but I think boresnakes really did do damage to the old cleaning rod relic sales.   When you can simplify your gun cleaning supplies, and you can cut down on the amount of exposure to the toxic chemicals, you really are sold on upgrading your gear.   I still haven’t gotten around to putting an Otis gun cleaning kit into my butt stock or grip, but I may do so in the near future.   Cleaning brushes are something else I hate dealing with because if you don’t keep them organized, it’s hard to tell which caliber is for which, and you’ll know soon enough when the gun isn’t getting cleaned.

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More range time, less cleaning time

Otis gun cleaning kit I first got turned on to changing my cleaning system after I ran out of a certain type of cleaning patch for my 22lr rifle.   It really can be a royal pain in the butt when you are going from cleaning a 22lr rifle, 45acp pistol, a 30 caliber battle rifle and realizing that all you have is a bunch of 30 caliber type cleaning patches and it’s time to look around for that pair of scissors that you thought was in the kitchen and now it’s know where to be found.   If the cleaning patch isn’t cut right, you will risk jamming it in your rifle barrel and that can be a real difficult challenge.

The Otis gun cleaning system that I use is very versatile.    I admit that I do own a few bore snakes, but I’m not going to run out and pick up a bore snake for every single caliber I own.   The Otis kit I have is a universal kit that can clean most handgun and rifle calibers and is very compact and works as well as any of my cleaning rods do.   I’m sure if you had to literally scrub a bore, y ou may want a cleaning rod, but that’s a non issue for me.    The best thing about this configurtion is I only need 1 cleaning patch and depending on how you fold it, you can use it for 22LR on up to 30 caliber firearms with ease.

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