Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

1
Waiting on delivery of my first ever gun, a Springfield XD9 Tactical. In the interest of being a responsible owner, I’ve been scouring the interwebs for how to do so. Cleaning is something I’ve never done, as I’ve always had borrowed 4-H club guns or rented. I’m sure you’re well aware of the tons of “how to clean” videos out there.

However, most of the top results inevitably have comments of “wow you used way too much oil” or “I prefer to do it this totally different way” or “wow that will totally ruin it”, and then proceed to write a detailed counterpoint, which to my untrained eyes look reasonable.

I found the owners manual for my model, and it does have cleaning instructions, but I am a pretty visual learner and seeing as this would be my first time even field stripping a weapon, much less cleaning one, I’d like to have a visual aid.

So what are your favorite “how to clean” videos out there? And is there a good cleaning kit I can find, or what should I be looking for? The manual details a lot of what I should be getting, but I see an awful lot of bore snakes out there, and the manual doesn’t mention them at all, so I’m not sure who to trust ha.

Thanks in advance!

Re: Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

5
A guy on youtube, GunBlue490 has some great videos on rifle cleaning. That guy is an encyclopedia who's forgotten more than I've ever learned. I can't say enough how thorough and informative he is. But no video he does is short, and he will old guy story tell the entire history of everything he is mentioning, which I think is great.

I've never seen these videos, but all his videos are wonderful and I'd bet real money that these are great.

How to clean handguns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olOzxldPXXI

Gun Cleaning Basics - Revolver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sl48fRL4qw

Cleaning a Blued Revolver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALrqE4MRc0

I have seen this one and I found this to be great in general,

Gun Cleaning and Solvents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYINxnvaxuc

Re: Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

6
A few years ago, I did some research on gun cleaning techniques. I went to 5 or 6 guns shops, and questioned every staff member who was free to talk. I talked with about 25 different people--I got 25 different answers! Long story short, there is no ONE Correct way to clean your gun.

So here are a few general tidbits that may help...

Empty the gun and magazine of ALL ammo. Take the ammo into another room. Go back and check the gun again to make sure it's clear.

Don't use anything iron or steel to clean your gun. No steel wool, no steel brushes, or steel dental picks.

Don't use acetone to clean your guns. It is highly flammable, but worse, it will damage the bluing on your gun. (yep, I found this out the hard way.)

Many gun cleaning/lubricating product contain a chemical called trichloroethelene. Eeze-ox and GunScrubber are two favorites. This chemical does a great job, but it is toxic as hell. It will dissolve candle wax. Imagine breathing the vapors into your lungs. Bad news and big time carcinogen. Use this stuff OUTDOORS. If you use Eeze-ox to lube your gun, set it out in the sun for 15 minutes to let the trichlor evaporate.

For Scandium/aluminum/titanium use M-Pro7 products per S&W tech support staff.

Don't buy a caliber specific pistol cleaning kit. Buy a big kit that covers rifles and handguns, in all calibers. The reason for this is something called the "Slippery Slope." You will learn about the slipper slope as you read through our forum.

One last thing, make sure the gun and magazine are unloaded.
All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.-Henry Clay
Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.—Aristotle

Re: Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

9
StopCollaborate wrote: Mon Mar 26, 2018 1:35 pm
SailDesign wrote: Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:46 am I won't be so crass as to say "Let Me Google That For You"... But here you go:

https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube ... e&ie=UTF-8
...

I have looked, and am overwhelmed by choice and also every single video is bashed for doing things wrong. As a first time owner, I have no idea what to watch out for.
Read the manual. Seriously. Then come back with specific questions if you get lost. You'll have a much better idea of the specifics of your gun.

Re: Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

10
again, i say boresnake. also a toothbrush and a bottle of hoppes. do not brush your teeth with that brush anymore, get another. do not clean guns on the kitchen counter or the dining room table, or the only thing we'll ever read about you again is your obituary after your wife/mom/gf finds out. no, hoppes is not an aphrodisiac. (well, ok, maybe for gun nuts)
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

11
DougMasters wrote: Mon Mar 26, 2018 9:56 am A guy on youtube, GunBlue490 has some great videos on rifle cleaning. That guy is an encyclopedia who's forgotten more than I've ever learned. I can't say enough how thorough and informative he is. But no video he does is short, and he will old guy story tell the entire history of everything he is mentioning, which I think is great.

I've never seen these videos, but all his videos are wonderful and I'd bet real money that these are great.

How to clean handguns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olOzxldPXXI

Gun Cleaning Basics - Revolver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sl48fRL4qw

Cleaning a Blued Revolver
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ALrqE4MRc0

I have seen this one and I found this to be great in general,

Gun Cleaning and Solvents
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYINxnvaxuc

Gunblue490 is one of the best out there I think. Cuts through all the BS and lays it out there. I count him as my base knowledge builder. He has specific model cleaning videos and general theory ones - they are all worth watching from start to finish.

For the most part - I use Hoppes #9 solvent and Hoppes regular oil to clean and then lube all my bolt guns. Sometimes I use a (naptha) cleaner (like Rem-action cleaner or others) to degrease areas like my chamber so there is no oil or solvent left or where I really want to remove all the solvent if any is left before lubing. For long term I use hoppes grease and mineral oil combo.

On my semi auto guns I use SLip2000 gunlube and grease, after the same Hoppes # 9 solvent/sometimes degreaser too, to clean.

The process I use on my bolt is fine for semi auto too, and maybe when I run out of slip, I'll just stick to the hoppes (Gunblu490's approach) for everything.

Good conversation.
Last edited by Cyndicalist on Tue Mar 27, 2018 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary." - Karl Marx

Re: Cleaning a handgun - favorite videos?

13
Bore: jag (not loop), patches, and solvent (Hoppe’s or Kroil brand penetrating oil)

Push three wet patches through follow with a few dry patches. If the dry patches don’t come out mostly clean, go back to wet and follow again with dry.

Everything else: toothbrush rag and solvent. Dry brush first, then solvent rag, then dry rag.

Oil afterwards: Rem Oil, Barricade, 3 in 1, or 5w motor oil. Not a ton. Some guns are meant to use grease, I dunno what brands to suggest. I use Enos’ Slide Glide.

Now all you have to get from videos is the field strip procedure.

Some people use a bore brush. I suppose that’s ok. Don’t reverse direction with the brush inside the bore.
Image

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests