How I Clean My Guns

Introduction:

I'm someone who really enjoys cleaning his guns. After a trip to the range, I like getting all my supplies out, stripping down my rifle or pistol, and just spending a while getting everything nice and clean. Firearms are expensive, and even though I know that my AKs will function without a hiccup when they're extremely dirty, I would rather treat them better than that and keep them in nice shape. Even if a firearm can function in adverse conditions, doesn't mean you should actively allow it to become so dirty that it eventually does jam. Regular firearm maintenance also gives a shooter a chance to inspect their gun for potential issues such as backed off screws, unnecessary wear, etc. For this post, I'm going to go into a few of the things I use for the general maintenance of my guns. Since I primarily shoot my AKs, I'll be talking about these products in the context of how i use them to clean/lube my AK. 

Details:

After shooting, one of the first things I do when i get home is strip my rifle down and clean off the old oil and grease that was on everything. For this, I like Lucas contact cleaner. It really works well and drys everything out so that I can reduce the overall mess on my hands from handling the gun's parts. The weird thing about it is that it is basically brake cleaner. I haven't done a direct comparison of the ingredients, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were identical, or maybe it's not as aggressive to be polymer safe. 

For cleaning carbon deposits, such as the stuff that gets really caked on the gas piston of AKs, or on the inside of the gas tube, I like Hoppe's Black gun cleaner. I typically spray it on carbon-caked parts after they've have been degreased, and then let them sit while I work on other things. After a few minutes, I can typically scrub with a brush a little bit, and then wipe parts clean. One thing I hate about it though is that it leave a really sticky, tacky residue. It definitely does not dry cleanly and I'll usually take extra time to clean the residue off after using this.

For cleaning my barrel, i typically just some CLP and a bore snake. I used to be someone who spends a ton of time running patches down my barrel until they come out clean. After using a bore snake a few times, I was sold. It makes giving your barrel a quick clean nice and easy, and it gives great results. I'm not sure how long bore snakes typically last, but I'm happy with them so far and I not have one for every caliber that I shoot.

Once everything is clean, I like to lube things up wish some grease. I like using grease on my AK due to the low tolerances of the system. Because of these tolerances, oil tends to not stay in place well and not be very effective in my experience. Grease stays in place and makes the system function  extremely smoothly. I typically just apply the grease with a cotton swab to places where there are lots of metal on metal contact, such as the receiver rails. 

I'm someone who is very paranoid about rust building up on my guns. Since AK's are steel, unlike aluminum ARs, they are susceptible to rusting. To prevent this, I like using Barricade. It's super thin, so it gets into every corner, and it works well. I'll normally just put some on a paper towel and wipe down parts like my bolt carrier, which is in-the-white on my N-PAP. Additionally, since one of my AKs has a barrel with no chrome lining or anything, I'll use the aerosol version of barricade to spray a little bit down the barrel to coat everything. 

After everything is all clean, lubed, and reassembled, I'll typically grab a role of those blue, oil absorbing shop towels and wipe down the exterior. These are great for removing excess oil and wiping off finger prints.

Conclusion:

I know that there is no one way to clean your firearms, but these have been some of the things that work well for me. Going through this process has given me firearms that work great and stay in great condition. I really enjoy cleaning my guns after a trip to the range. I like sitting down at the workbench, turning on some music, and just diving into it. Next to shooting, its one of my favorite parts of range day!