I'm pretty new to this forum (and have my 20" Bushmaster parts on order....YEEHAAW!)....but was wondering if yall would recommend using mineral spirits to clean my new Bushie after a day at the range??

Here's my current cleaning system:

I've got a large rubbermaid (Sp.?) food container found at walmart and a gallon can of low-odor mineral spirits (also found at walmart) to clean my handgun parts after a shooting session. I fill the container about half-full, then totally submerge frame/slide/parts (minus grips) and go to work on them with an old toothbrush, do any neccessary bore solvent work, then set them aside to dry. While parts are drying, I put a coffee filter into a large funnel, pour the mineral spirits back into the gallon can via the coffee filter, put the cap back on, wipe out the container of all small metal/carbon/debris, then dispose of the filter with a lighter.......Poof!! hing
Good system?? he
Thanks for opinions!

Mike

Note:  I posted this message as a reply to a post in the "AR Discussions" section, but figured that I'd put it here too, since it really belongs in the cleaning area anyhow!

That is what I call making 8 the hard way.

Unless you drop your guns in the mud or they get completely wet, I would not bother taking them down that far to clean. I would also wonder what the constant exposure to mineral spirits does to you over time as far as skin contact and breathing it in. Be careful here.

All I do is clean the bore and wipe down the metal surfaces so as to keep rust and fingerprints from rusting. Wipe down with an oily rag and clean the bore when it needs it. Your method is far too involved and unnecessary IMHO. Maybe that detailed once a year, or even every several years.

By the way, I am a highpower shooter so I do shoot my rifles quite a bit. With cleaning you do not need to break the weapon down after every shooting session.

Personally, I wouldn't want to keep drying the metal out like that after every range session.  I am a firm believer that many tend to overclean their weapons.


Here's my cleaning regimen after taking a handgun to the range.

Disassemble.

Run a bronze brush loaded with FP-10 through the barrel a few times and set aside.

Wipe all carbon/grease/dirt etc. off using an FP-10 soaked patch followed by dry patches and pipe cleaners, Q-Tips, etc.

Finish the barrel with a series of dry patches, followed by an oil loaded patch, then dry again, and finally finish with a patch dampened (not soaked) with oil.

Put a drop of oil on the springs and pins.

Wipe everything down with an oil dampened rag.

Lube the slide rails if it's a semi.

Reassemble, function check, and a final oil rubdown.

Done in 15min.

Quoted: Personally, I wouldn't want to keep drying the metal out like that after every range session.  I am a firm believer that many tend to overclean their weapons. Here's my cleaning regimen after taking a handgun to the range. Disassemble. Run a bronze brush loaded with FP-10 through the barrel a few times and set aside. Wipe all carbon/grease/dirt etc. off using an FP-10 soaked patch followed by dry patches and pipe cleaners, Q-Tips, etc. Finish the barrel with a series of dry patches, followed by an oil loaded patch, then dry again, and finally finish with a patch dampened (not soaked) with oil. Put a drop of oil on the springs and pins. Wipe everything down with an oil dampened rag. Lube the slide rails if it's a semi. Reassemble, function check, and a final oil rubdown. Done in 15min.

I agree totally. Don't make it any harder than it is .

How does metal dry out? If that happens everything metal outside would be dried out and falling apart but that never happends.

I always detail clean every time I shoot(once a week). I now scrub the gun in water in the sink with Dawn and dry throughly with compressed air and re oil. Never a problem.

Mineral spirits (along with brake cleaner, carb cleaner, and any number of other solvents) suck the oil out of the metal.  They work great for the initial cleaning of milsurps and the like but I certainly wouldn't subject any of my weapons to a steady diet of the stuff.

I started using water and Dawn to clean to get away from all the harmful solvents that can make you sick over time. Water and Dawn will do no harm to you (or the gun if dried fast).

Quoted: How does metal dry out? If that happens everything metal outside would be dried out and falling apart but that never happends. I always detail clean every time I shoot(once a week). I now scrub the gun in water in the sink with Dawn and dry throughly with compressed air and re oil. Never a problem.

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The use of solvents and surfactants like "Dawn" extract oil that is in the pores of the metal. The pores can then fill with water or other debris. Recoating them with oil can trap that water and begin to rust the metal. Use of a water displacement spray like WD-40 should be the first step, then re oil liberally and wipe. I use hot water also to clean but always displace it afterwards.

In case you haven't noticed yet.....things that get left out in the rain get wet with water, this washes the surface clean...then they rust. They dry out and DO fall apart.  Ever see a bridge thats been left unpainted for years?  It flakes away very quickly.     Geezus! :D

Bunch of the guys are shooting subgun matches and the guns tend to get very dirty shooting a case or more of ammo (last Indiana Subgun Match everyone fired over a half million rounds, as each run was 200 to 300 rounds of 9mm and many of the guys did five runs).

For this type usage have found the 20 gallon take of slovent based parts washer fluid (which is a even lower odor version of mineral sprits) works well to flush all the dirt and junk out for a major cleaning of several subguns.

Besides watching the plastic parts, have found that cleaning with just mineral spirts does not do as good of job as when one spot cleans the barrel, chamber and bolt / face with MPro7 or Hoppies 9 or Shooter Choice (this one have to be the most careful of using too much).

After cleaning in the mineral spirts, blow dry the parts and then after dry flood with Break Free (that way no dry metal).  The execess Break Free drips off and/or is blown off with dry air.  While sounds like a lot of effort, works well if you have a couple parts washers, air compresser and a couple tables setup all the time in the shop (like I said some of the guys are really into this ... plus single  .... LOL!).

Similar works on belt guns, but here like using 8% ATF in the mineral spirts (leaves a little oil on the parts and helps clean).

Yeah, mineral spirits seems like overkill.  An army manual (on this site) specifies cleaning with CLP and  to avoid overcleaning to strip off the CLP "buildup" that occurs over time.