What is it with cleaning handguns?

[harmonic]

I clean my guns every I go to the range.

But I also take them out occasionally and clean them even though they've not been fired in a while.

Like today. I'm cleaning the 357 magnums. Hoppes #9, bristle brush, etc. The works.

The patches come out dark. Not dark like they've been shot. But dark enough that I'm thinking, "What the...."

So I run dry patches through until they're light.

Then I do the whole bristle brush, Hoppes thing. The patches should be light, right? Wrong. They come out dark again.

No matter how many times I repeat this cycle, the patches will still come dark at first.

This happens with Colts as well as Smiths. But it's more on the cylinders than the barrel.

Irritating.

 

[ByAnyMeans]

I would wait for a more educated answer but I have three guesses.


1) more copper fouling loosened up since last cleaning. If you brush then run patches to clean it you may just be getting what's loose and next time you brush it it's loosening up more stuff.

2) Brush is dirty and whenever passing through the bore it's not removing anything but dropping some dirt that is on the brush.

3) You can clean a barrel to much. You may not need to run a brush if there was no shooting done since last cleaning. Only run patches because the brush could be flaking some of the barrel grooves.

 

[harmonic]

Very astute suggestions. Questions.

1) more copper fouling loosened up since last cleaning. If you brush then run patches to clean it you may just be getting what's loose and next time you brush it it's loosening up more stuff.

Wouldn't that make the patches green? Copper + Hoppes = green residue, not black.

2) Brush is dirty and whenever passing through the bore it's not removing anything but dropping some dirt that is on the brush.

Very possible. Next time I'll use a new brush and compare.

3) You can clean a barrel to much. You may not need to run a brush if there was no shooting done since last cleaning. Only run patches because the brush could be flaking some of the barrel grooves.

I don't know what that means. You're saying a (soft metal) copper brush is causing the (hardened, tooled) steel barrel rifling to flake off?

I ask because this whole thing is most obvious in the cylinders, and in the cylinders I use a nylon bristle brush.

 

[rcmodel]

Bronze bore brushes DO NOT flake off steel from bores or chambers, period.

Hoppe's #9, or most all bore cleaners will continue to soak out dirt from the microscopic pores of the metal any time they are left to their own devices.

It is not at all uncommon to get a dirty patch or two the next day after you thought the gun was perfectly cleaned.

It's just more cleaning action going on at a molecular level after it is allowed to set and do it's thing.

A dirty bore brush transfering dirt to a clean patch is also a very strong possibility.

rc

 

[harmonic]

So, in 99.9% of cases, there will always be some dirt? The .1% maybe being in an unfired gun?

 

[rcmodel]

Using conventional cleaning methods, yes.

All bets are off using some of the new foaming bore cleaners, or Outers FoulOut electrolysis cleaning machine. They very likely get it all out of the pores of the metal the first time.

Just a suggestion, but you might get a bore-size cleaning rod jag made out of nylon to run the patches with.
That takes dirty brushes transfering dirt and Hoppe's eating copper jags out of the equation.

rc

 

[CWL]

My guess is that you are transferring junk back from the brush. Shoot your brushes with some brake cleaner after you clean your guns.

 

[Damon555]

My solution to this problem is to only clean my guns when they need it......I'll go 500-600 rounds in a handgun. But when I clean them I do it right and I use oil sparingly.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

Cleaning guns again after you've already cleaned them is a little overkill. But it is a good idea to reapply fresh lube if it has sat for a long time.

 

[harmonic]

Just a suggestion, but you might get a bore-size cleaning rod jag made out of nylon to run the patches with.

I already do that.

 

[rmfnla]

More guns are damaged by over-cleaning than under-cleaning.

We know you love them but try to restrain yourself!

 

[Nicodemus38]

most oils will turn into a laquer like compound when they have oxidized with the air. cleaning them off with solvent will almost result in a blackish colored patch. Hoppes gun oil is a big one for this after 3 months of storage if you hit it with hoppes 9.

also, the pores of the metal in your barrel and cylinder absorb residue and will take a while to get out. its why super clean fanatics get migraines when trying to clean a milsurp rifle barrel. Its also why the army and marines like to do a 3 day cleaning routine on service rifles at the end of basic training.