I expected to get a few of my guns cleaned and lubricated today. I sat down this morning with the Yugo SKS across my lap and commenced to take it apart. After a few minutes of this and that, I realized I forgot a step and I had to resort to my video on how to field strip it. Yes it has been awhile since I cleaned it. No problem though, a quick trip up to my PC, a fast view of the video, and the issue was resolved. Piece of cake to field strip it once you remember how to do it. While I have the instructions for disassembly and reassembly on disc, you can also find those instructions online for free. If you need such info you can find it here: http://www.surplusrifle.com/sks/index.asp.
After that I went at getting it clean. Once I had it apart, and I had gotten a look inside of it, I thought - 'Oh my gosh that 7.62x39 Wolf Ammo sure is dirty shooting ammo". There was black fouling just about everywhere. I cleaned here, cleaned there, then cleaned here and there again, and again. Finally after using about 20 cleaning patches, and about 25 double ended cotton swabs, and a brass brush, and a steel brush, and about an ounce of Hoppes, and a pipe cleaner or two, it looked almost clean. As you may have guessed, that cleaning took me some time, I'd say at least an hour and fifteen minutes. Heck it never takes me more than about 15 to 20 minutes to clean one of my rifles thoroughly, so while I was taking all that time cleaning this one I had lots of time to think about why it was so dirty. The consensus of my little gray cells, both the lively healthy ones, and the slower dying ones, and even the totally pulverized ones all came to the consensus that maybe - just maybe - it was not the fault of the ammo so much as it was that I had not cleaned the darned thing after having shot it several times on various range trips. It actually took me a moment or two to remember I had been testing it.
Now there is an important point in knowing that my SKS could be fired at the range, and in between trips to the range that it could sit in my basement without having been cleaned, then be taken out again and fired again, then stored without cleaning again, then fired again, then stored without cleaning again, and on and on over the course of at least several more range trips. That point mind you is not that I am lazy about cleaning my SKS, but rather that it can and will fire when very dirty, and that it fires reliably despite the fouling. As a matter of fact, the carbon deposits on the face of the gas piston was probably as thick as two sheets of 20 lb. computer paper. That is darned thick. Yet the SKS has functioned flawlessly throughout having hundreds of rounds fired through it, then being stored, then fired again, and so forth on and on without cleanings. My guesstimate is that at least 750 to 1,000 rounds have gone through it since I last cleaned it.
Of course I do not recommend that you neglect cleaning your firearms. I only did it because I wanted to test it; I wanted to see about how long it could go without a cleaning and if it could go up to 1,000 rounds without cleaning. Somewhere in there though I lost my tally sheet. I do recall I was close to the 750 mark, and I also recall I shot it once or twice after that. It is not a picky rifle, and the gas vents stayed open and not fouled badly although things like the gas control valve, and the front face of the gas piston, and parts of the bolt were fouled almost beyond belief (yes the Wolf ammo is dirty but not excessively so, the excessive fouling was due to no cleanings). I like the fact that is can handle some dirt and still keep firing like a charm. From now on though it will get properly cleaned right after each time I fire it.
Now you may remember that I began this piece by saying: "I expected to get a few of my guns cleaned and lubricated today"; but the truth is it just did not happen. There was no time, what with all the time it took to clean the one SKS, so that is all I got done in the gun cleaning department. With relatives coming for a belated Christmas celebration, and with me needing to go to a few stores, especially to the beer distributor time was tight. Those Franziskaner Hefe Weissbiers I picked up were great, but my guns had to be put away before I could enjoy even a sip, and there is always tomorrow to get some others cleaned and they just need a routine light cleaning having been in storage. Once I get them done, I just may have to have another bier or two.
All the best,
Glenn B
Showing posts with label Hoppes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hoppes. Show all posts
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
BallsEyes Fireams Training and Tactics - A Little Oil Goes A Long Way
Yes a little oil goes along way, really it does. It goes a long way to assure that your firearm functions properly under most conditions, that it operates smoothly, and that it stays in fine condition both inside and out. For example I went fishing yesterday. A day or so before I went on my fishing trip I had cleaned my sidearm, and put a light coat of oil on its exterior. I also had lightly oiled some of the moving parts that the manufacturer recommends oiling. When I got to the fishing boat yesterday, I thought to myself why on earth did I bring along a pistol. I guess it was force of habit, I work while armed, travel armed, and when I am off duty from my job I am armed 99% of the time; nothing wrong with that, and nothing wrong having the pistol along with me yesterday on the fishing boat. I was thinking of taking it off, but there really was no place for me to have secured it, so in the holster, on my belt it stayed. As the few fish came over the rail it stayed there as they flopped and got water everywhere. As the fishing line went out of the guy's reel next to me the salty water again sprayed everywhere. Not lots of it but I felt it each time. As the mates sprayed salt water on the fish cleaning table and into fish buckets I again got wet. I did not give my pistol a thought for the whole trip. When I got home at the end of my fishing trip, I saw that my gun had obviously gotten wet with salt water. A tell tale dry salt stain was on my holster, and on the gun itself. I took it out of the holster, wiped it down, and guess what - Look Ma, No Rust! Nope it is not a stainless steel pistol, nope it does not have any sort of rust proof finish, heck the finish it has left is pretty worn off in many places. What it did have was a light coat of oil. It got another cleaning and light coat of oil after the trip. I looked at it this morning, still no corrosion. Now if you doubt a gun can corrode that quickly from just a little salt water, well try an experiment someday with one of your guns without any protecting oil on it. Just let it get damp with salt water, and leave it for several hours. I was on the boat for about 7 hours of actual fishing. I have had guns before this one get rusty from less exposure than that.
Besides preventing rust from forming on a firearm, a light coating of oil on some of the moving parts will reduce friction, and often will help to prevent malfunctions. I cannot even estimate how many times at the range I have seen someone show up with a dry firearm (dry as in not lubricated at all). Not only are some of the guns I see dry, they are also dirty. When the shooter who has a gun in either condition goes to fire it, that person has a much higher chance of having the gun malfunction. Often the problem will be either it will fail to eject, or will fail to feed. This is, in these cases, almost always due to the side not operating as freely as it should either because of buildup of fouling or because of lack of lubrication, or both.
Now oil may be expensive, and getting more so, but it is not too expensive to apply to your firearms to protect them and make sure they work, especially if you apply the right amount. The right amount is usually a light coating. When I apply oil to my firearms I usually do so on the out side with my finger (this may not be the best way for the gun or for my health, but it is a habit I have), with a gun cloth or cleaning patch, and with a cotton swab (being very careful that absolutely no cotton strands remain on the firearm). Once I apply what I believe is a fairly light coating, I wipe down the gun with a cloth to make sure it really is a light coating that remains. I don't wipe off all the oil - just most of it. There are a couple or a few reasons you want a light coat of oil instead of a heavy one. A heavy coat of oil can literally gum up the works. No most modern oils do not get gummy under repeated heavy use (such as the slide going back and forth) or when they heated up, but they ca be gunky if too heavily applied. When dirt is added, and oil is a dust and dirt magnet, it can get sort of gummy. You don't need too much oil attracting and holding a lot of dirt. A fine coating will also hold dirt or dust, but nowhere nearly as much as could a heavier coating. In addition the dirt comes off easier when in a fine coating, so just cycling a weapon will make some of it come off. The fact that the light coat holds less debris also means the firearm while lubricated to reduce friction is less likely to jam because of dirt.
Yes a light coat of oil means the gun will attract some dirt, but overall it usually makes the firearm operate with less friction, and protects it from corrosion. That second part, the protection from corrosion is why oil is usually better than a dry lubricant like graphite dust. Graphite and other dry lubricants do have their place. They are used in very dusty environments where oil on a firearm would possibly cause malfunctions because of the dust it would attract. Such places included areas of desert where there is a lot of fine, and I mean very fine sand. I worked in the Border Patrol for 4 years in and around Calexico, California. The area outside of Calexico is about as desert like as you can imagine except for some irrigated areas (even those are dusty when they let them dry up, or when the cattle pens are set up - nasty dust from those cattle for sure). There was a lot of dust in the air that kicked up onto my revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. I always used oil as a lubricant for my firearms while there, and never once had a problem from the dust. Still though, some who lubricate their firearms with oil claim to have major problems with dust in places like Iraq (funny others using the same oil and same firearms don't have a problem at all). Many of them prefer a dry lubricant like graphite or product like Militec-1, or Hoppes Dri-lube. I can tell you, if the soil there was anything like it was around Calexico, just using dry lubricant would make for one heck of a rusted firearm with just the moisture from sweat because of the amount of alkali in it. In a case like that, I would lightly oil the exterior, and use the dry lubricant on the inside, and clean my firearm everyday. Dry lubrication may lubricate well in a dusty area, but it offers no protection from corrosion of which I am aware; although there are claims by manufacturers that dry lubricants protect from corrosion.
Of course, before you lubricate with oil or dry lubricant, and before you apply a protective coat of oil, the firearm preferably should be clean. A good cleaning with a powder solvent is recommended after each time a self defense type firearm is fired. Some modern day .22 rimfire recommend cleaning less often; but that is usually the exception not the rule to cleaning firearms in general. I use products like Hoppes No. 9 Powder Solvent, or Hoppes Bench Rest Copper Solvent which removes fouling from copper jackets bullets in addition to being a gunpowder solvent and lead remover. After cleaning I usually (as in virtually always) apply a thin coat of Break-Free CLP. Keeping a firearm clean, lubricated and protected is worth the cost when you consider that said firearm may someday be called upon to protect you and your loved one; and the cost is minimal when compared to what it could be if you don't!
All the best,
Glenn B
I will probably add a cleaning video at a later date.
Besides preventing rust from forming on a firearm, a light coating of oil on some of the moving parts will reduce friction, and often will help to prevent malfunctions. I cannot even estimate how many times at the range I have seen someone show up with a dry firearm (dry as in not lubricated at all). Not only are some of the guns I see dry, they are also dirty. When the shooter who has a gun in either condition goes to fire it, that person has a much higher chance of having the gun malfunction. Often the problem will be either it will fail to eject, or will fail to feed. This is, in these cases, almost always due to the side not operating as freely as it should either because of buildup of fouling or because of lack of lubrication, or both.
Now oil may be expensive, and getting more so, but it is not too expensive to apply to your firearms to protect them and make sure they work, especially if you apply the right amount. The right amount is usually a light coating. When I apply oil to my firearms I usually do so on the out side with my finger (this may not be the best way for the gun or for my health, but it is a habit I have), with a gun cloth or cleaning patch, and with a cotton swab (being very careful that absolutely no cotton strands remain on the firearm). Once I apply what I believe is a fairly light coating, I wipe down the gun with a cloth to make sure it really is a light coating that remains. I don't wipe off all the oil - just most of it. There are a couple or a few reasons you want a light coat of oil instead of a heavy one. A heavy coat of oil can literally gum up the works. No most modern oils do not get gummy under repeated heavy use (such as the slide going back and forth) or when they heated up, but they ca be gunky if too heavily applied. When dirt is added, and oil is a dust and dirt magnet, it can get sort of gummy. You don't need too much oil attracting and holding a lot of dirt. A fine coating will also hold dirt or dust, but nowhere nearly as much as could a heavier coating. In addition the dirt comes off easier when in a fine coating, so just cycling a weapon will make some of it come off. The fact that the light coat holds less debris also means the firearm while lubricated to reduce friction is less likely to jam because of dirt.
Yes a light coat of oil means the gun will attract some dirt, but overall it usually makes the firearm operate with less friction, and protects it from corrosion. That second part, the protection from corrosion is why oil is usually better than a dry lubricant like graphite dust. Graphite and other dry lubricants do have their place. They are used in very dusty environments where oil on a firearm would possibly cause malfunctions because of the dust it would attract. Such places included areas of desert where there is a lot of fine, and I mean very fine sand. I worked in the Border Patrol for 4 years in and around Calexico, California. The area outside of Calexico is about as desert like as you can imagine except for some irrigated areas (even those are dusty when they let them dry up, or when the cattle pens are set up - nasty dust from those cattle for sure). There was a lot of dust in the air that kicked up onto my revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. I always used oil as a lubricant for my firearms while there, and never once had a problem from the dust. Still though, some who lubricate their firearms with oil claim to have major problems with dust in places like Iraq (funny others using the same oil and same firearms don't have a problem at all). Many of them prefer a dry lubricant like graphite or product like Militec-1, or Hoppes Dri-lube. I can tell you, if the soil there was anything like it was around Calexico, just using dry lubricant would make for one heck of a rusted firearm with just the moisture from sweat because of the amount of alkali in it. In a case like that, I would lightly oil the exterior, and use the dry lubricant on the inside, and clean my firearm everyday. Dry lubrication may lubricate well in a dusty area, but it offers no protection from corrosion of which I am aware; although there are claims by manufacturers that dry lubricants protect from corrosion.
Of course, before you lubricate with oil or dry lubricant, and before you apply a protective coat of oil, the firearm preferably should be clean. A good cleaning with a powder solvent is recommended after each time a self defense type firearm is fired. Some modern day .22 rimfire recommend cleaning less often; but that is usually the exception not the rule to cleaning firearms in general. I use products like Hoppes No. 9 Powder Solvent, or Hoppes Bench Rest Copper Solvent which removes fouling from copper jackets bullets in addition to being a gunpowder solvent and lead remover. After cleaning I usually (as in virtually always) apply a thin coat of Break-Free CLP. Keeping a firearm clean, lubricated and protected is worth the cost when you consider that said firearm may someday be called upon to protect you and your loved one; and the cost is minimal when compared to what it could be if you don't!
All the best,
Glenn B
I will probably add a cleaning video at a later date.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Industrious Insomnia...
...must surely be better than sleepless sloth. So tonight, or should I say this morning, when I found myself unable to sleep, I figured I could put my time to good use and I cleaned my Berettas, all four of them. There is something about the aroma of Hoppe's No. 9 gun cleaning solvent, in the wee hours of the morn that leads to a certain satisfaction. I guess that satisfaction lies in a job well done, and Hoppe's surely gets the job done well enough for me to think of these words of wisdon taught to me by a fellow federal agent/firearms instructor Pete G.: A Clean Gun is a Happy Gun. If that is true, then I can say without a doubt: My Berettas are quite happy.
Starting at 12 o’clock and working clockwise is my 9mm Beretta 92SB, yes the gun that made me Ballseye! The next is my model 70S in .22LR. Both of these fine pieces of the gunmakers skill were crafted in Italy. The next is a model 92FS in 9mm, and the last another 92FS, These two basically a brace of pistols in as much as they have consecutive serial numbers. Go figure on how I ever convinced she who must be obeyed to allow me to buy two of them at once, but somehow I weasled my way into getting her to believe conveyed to her the importance of having one for work some years ago, and one for retirement in (back then) some years to come. One is in almost pristine condition having only a few hundred rounds at most fired through it. The other is in excellent but used condition. The Beretta 70S is also in excellent condition. As for the Beretta 92SB, well it has seen better days. While it is mechanically excellent, the finish leaves quite a bit to be desired, but is still in NRA very good to fine condition. Of course now that they are clean, I'll have to follow the words of wisdom of someone else who taught me a lot about shooting. He said every time you shoot your guns you should clean them, and then test fire them to make sure you put em back together right. I guess that means I'll soon be off to the range to test fire them, maybe a couple of hundred rounds each (except for the 92FS that I am saving for retirement). Yes, that means I'll have to clean em again, and of course that means I'll have to test fire em again. Its a vicious circle it is, but as long as the ammo and Hoppe's No. 9 hold out, it will be a blast. As for the Berettas holding up, well Beretta makes some fine firearms and these have not failed me yet after many years of good service, excellent firearms indeed!
Starting at 12 o’clock and working clockwise is my 9mm Beretta 92SB, yes the gun that made me Ballseye! The next is my model 70S in .22LR. Both of these fine pieces of the gunmakers skill were crafted in Italy. The next is a model 92FS in 9mm, and the last another 92FS, These two basically a brace of pistols in as much as they have consecutive serial numbers. Go figure on how I ever convinced she who must be obeyed to allow me to buy two of them at once, but somehow I All the best,
Glenn B
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