How clean is clean enough?

[WarPig1976]

When you pick up a "new" rifle or handgun how clean is clean enough for you?
I have given up after hours of cleaning to get a "clean" patch out of all my Milsurp weapons. Now I do my cleaning routine 5x after shooting and call the weapon clean.
Anybody ever get one SPOTLESS?

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[browningautorifle]

Yes, I used to. Now that I'm out of the military I know no one is going to inspect my rifles...so clean and oiled is fine.

[Patrick Chadwick]

When you pick up a "new" rifle or handgun how clean is clean enough for you?

"I cleaned it 5 times already"
- get serious, this is real cleaning:

Before

Attachment 44771

After
Attachment 44772

Of course, you don't have that much work every time

Attachment 44773 Attachment 44774

If you can see the rifling reflected in the wall of the chamber, then that's about as good as you can get.

[Peter Laidler]

Yep.......... You knew that the first three or four times you took your rifle back to the Training Sergeants (it HAD to go via them to go back into the Armoury incidentally) it would fail miserably. It'd even almost fail when he did eventually let it pass and even a pass was through gritted teeth with a few encouraging words such as '.......... if you ever present me with such a filthy wrethched sack of pure unadulterated pig shxx to pass as clean and fit enough to go back into my pristine armoury I'll .............' and off they'd go on and on and on.

L1A1's were the worst as they wanted you to lay all the parts out and if the gas plug or the piston or breech block face wasn't like new, off it'd go over his shoulder into the grass followed by the same verbal diarhorrea spewing out.

While on ops, being REME, we had regular range days to keep us up to speed and someone told me that one of the mouthy training Sergeants called 'Piggy' Newton (or was it 'Boggy' Marsh..... but they were both the same and BOTH from Castlemain to boot! Castlemain must breed asshxxxs) was manning target number 12 so being on lane 9 and an Armourer with a pocketfull of loose ammo, I swung my rifle over to shoot my loose rounds down lane 12 and sent about 10 rounds thudding over and skimming the bank, sending clouds of shale and red laterite rock and dust all over him and the other nearby butt markers...... He was jumping up and down like a frog on fire.......... He didn't need a radio, believe me. And poor old Alan Sandford, an RAAOC Nasho blanket stacker who WAS shooting on lane 12 got an earfull to die for!

Being about 100 degrees or so and a zillion percent humidity, the butt markers would throw their jackets and webbing onto the bank and mark the targets just wearing their boots and strides. Of course, the red dust and shale just stuck to them like shxx to a blanket. So they'd all come ambling back to the firing point looking like red dwarfs!

Not so happy times but fun when you're just 20 or so! Oh yes, where were we.........? When is clean enough? Well, in my experience, if you were a Nasho (a National Serviceman which 60-70 percent of the battalion were) then it was NEVER clean enough

[emmagee1917]

I'm one that goes for spotless ......but I cheat a little. I have a corner in the store where I run an Outers foul out set up. I clean the powder out with solvent , brush , patches and rod after every outing . I then let her soak till I go to work Monday . I then put it on the foul out and let it do the work . A lot of copper and crud comes out of that " clean patch " bore . It will work 8 hours a day for several days , if needed, while I'll only put in a couple of minutes every hour or so maintaining the set up between work tasks. At night it is soaking with a gentle solvent wipe.
Some guns , like 1917s , '03s or the subguns , go on easy. Browning beltfeds have to have the bbl removed . Bars , carbines and Garands have to have the gas port sealed with tape or a rubber pad or plug which requires complete stripping . No problem with the BARs or carbines that have free turning gas nuts ( ones without are not done ) , but the Garands are not done every time . Usually just once a year or so.
Chris

[WarPig1976]

Patrick, cutting new rifling and a recrown DO NOT count as cleaning!!!

---------- Post added at 04:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:47 PM ----------

I will say, I tried the boiling water technic on a Mosin Nagant a few weeks back to see what the hub bub was about. After the first pour big chunks of gunk did come out on the patch. I could scrub that bore with sandpaper and I still don't think it will shine!!

[Patrick Chadwick]

Patrick, cutting new rifling and a recrown DO NOT count as cleaning!!!

An understandable mistake, but the rifling was not recut!
It was cleaned. It may have pits and scratches, but they are clean pits and scratches!
And, of course, they don't always come up as well as that!

The recrowning was unavoidable - to ensure that the bullets actually hit the target and didn't arrive sideways.

[WarPig1976]

I knew that, was being a wise arsz.. How on earth did you get the rifling to shine Patrick? It appears that barrel saw saltwater or something...

emmagee, I have seen homemade versions of your set up "online". Apparently Otis stopped selling the foul out set? Anyway, would it shine up say a RC Mauser bore or a Mosin fresh from a crate guns that have been abused before we get our hands on 'em?

[Patrick Chadwick]

How on earth did you get the rifling to shine Patrick?

Very, very slowly.

It appears that barrel saw saltwater or something...

Maybe someone plugged the barrel and then left the rifle on the beach for a couple of years? I really don't know, but I prefer rifles like this to the ones that have the shine on the outside and the rust inside!

---------- Post added at 08:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 PM ----------

arsz

My dear sir, don't be shy, it is ARSE. And although I often find US spelling preferable to the UK version, I do wish Americans would stop kicking a-s-s. What have the poor donkeys done to deserve that?

[Johnny Peppers]

Many years ago I bought a Model 1895 Winchester in .30 Army locally. The barrel still had most of it's original rust blue, and the receiver had about 20% of it's niter blue, but the bore was a disaster except for the last couple of inches where the rifling was sharp with just a little shine. The remainder of the bore was solid rust with just a hint of the rifling. After soaking and brushing for about a week with little results, I started scrubbing the bore with 1/0 steel wool. Even after all the soaking, red rust dust was coming out of the bore. After several of the steel wool treatments the rifling was well defined but still rough, but the old gun would then shoot into about 12" at 100 yards. I wouldn't recommend 1/0 steel wool for your prize rifles, but it worked on that one.