Clean those clips!

[HardDrive]

More experience hand gunners will say, "Well Duh!", but it never occured to me to clean out the clip.

Big day at the range on Saturday, prolly brings my 226R up to around 700 rounds. My hands were damn tired (300 rounds total across 2 guns), but I noticed the clip in my 226 was kind of....chunky. Difficult to push the shells in. I look at the bottom, and notice a release 'nub' on the bottom.

Sure enough, got to cleaning tonight, and popped it open. It was crusty inside. Clean those clips!

[charleskieffner]

do not..........i repeat use WD-40!!!!!!! or gun will NOT GO BANG! reason............wd-40 which should only be used for what it was intended for, anti-corrosion of wwII aircraft parts stored outside along calif. coast. because it will deactivate primer.it will migrate. it is not good. do not spray your unloaded shells prior to reloading either. use whatever flavor lubricant that does not attract dust. ask any soldier who has returned from gulf region how to clean firearm in mega dusty conditions.

[red-beard]

I clean my magazines when I clean my pistol. I don't have any clips to clean.

[azasadny]

Originally posted by red-beard
I clean my magazines when I clean my pistol. I don't have any clips to clean.

+1

[Jim Bremner]

I clean my garand clips, but my m-14 magazines get cleaned and oiled


my wife keeps her hair clips in good order

[cashflyer]

The worst I ever used was Outers Tri-Lube.

Have used WD plenty of times without problem.
More often I use Hoppes products.


EDITED!!!

My comment about Outers was mistakenly applied to Remington Dri-Lube. My bad.

[Kevin G.]

I need to get out shooting more.

Cleaning my Mark II target on the patio last night, the smell of #9 on the air - it doesn't get any better. It had been over a year since the last time.

Kevin

[charleskieffner]

Originally posted by cashflyer
The worst I ever used was Remington DriLube.

Have used WD plenty of times without problem.
More often I use Hoppes products.

you are really really really REALLY RISKING a GUN DONT GO BANG EXPERIENCE!

do you drive your p-car after a bottle of tequila? DO NOT USE WD-40 on cases to be loaded/clips/new bullets anywhere it can migrate to primer. if you are the least bit doubtful, please ask any reloading company or the military why they dont use WD-40! and the simple fact.............IT ATTRACTS DUST/DIRT/LINT/GRIME!

this has happened to friends of mine. reloads-military ball ammo-military boat-tail hollowpoints-federal/winchester civilian ammo etc. new box rounds! have witnessed this first hand. gun does not go bang................and then the question of the day, why did other rounds not go bang. then gun gets stripped and everything checks out ok. then the wd-40 question. "yep i lubed the hell outta it with wd-40." and then we know the answer, why gun did not go bang!

if you carry a semi-auto daily like myself, rotate clips every 2 days. ie. one clip loaded in gun, other clip or clips unloaded at home. METAL HAS A MEMORY when 7-8 rds of 45 squished into it for months or any other caliber. if still a disbeliever call tramtek here in phx. all they do all day is mfg. springs for the miltary and aerospace. and they can give you spring-ology 101.

if still a disbeliever. do this test. spray some bullets with wd-40 right on the primer. wait a week. and then tell me what happens. the next time you grab for your gun may not be just to shoot paper or beer cans. it may be needed to save your life or your loved ones! and by god it BETTER GO BANG THE FIRST-THRU LAST ROUND!

[id10t]

charleskieffner -actually, its not used as a lube 'cause as a lube it sucks in general. Good for displacing water though...

[Jeff Higgins]

I use WD-40 to dry out and preserve muzzle loader, cap and ball revolver, and black powder cartridge rifle/revolver barrels and actions after a hot water cleaning. It does a great job in this capacity, as it does migrate quite well to any nooks and crannies that may hold water, like breach plug threads on the muzzle loaders.

Charles is right; if left in the gun, it will eventually cause a hangfire or failure. And it does suck as a lube; it was never intended as such. So use it to clean and dry collected moisture out of the gun, but make sure you get it all off when you are done.

I have always wondered why 1911 magazines do not come apart to clean. For a military sidearm, this would appear to be a serious oversight. Or is it? I have a Springfield Armory parkerized 1911A1, dead "stock" G.I. spec pistol. I have three magazines for it. I have shot this pistol regularly since about 1985, putting a couple thousand rounds a year through it. I clean it regularly, but have never cleaned any of its magazines. I wipe down the outsides of them, but that's it. I can count the jams this pistol has had on one hand. Hmm...

[targa911S]

Shame on you, you deserve a revolver. :-)

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally posted by targa911S
Shame on you, you deserve a revolver. :-)

Yup; them new-fangled autoloaders confuse me. Gimme a good ol' Peacemaker any day.

[targa911S]

There is a LOT to be said for the simplicity of a wheel gun. Very basic straight forward function. No bells and whistles, no fashion statement. Just purity of purpose.

[charleskieffner]

when you have a "big 10" az. hunter whom i highly respect, a member of the az. big horn sheep society, miss a shot because gun didnt go bang, it will make a believer out of you. he left his .300 win mag shells back in camp by mistake. buddy had same caliber gun. borrowed his reloaded w/wd-40 prepped shells..............and click.............NOTHING! talk about pissed off! once in a freeking lifetime dezert bighorn sheep hunt and freeking gun goes CLICK! he tore that gun apart like noones bizness. it was a big deal! finally back at camp they figured it out. not cool if bad guy about to do you harm! bighorn sheep dont carry guns or knives!

dont fool yourself about wheel guns being more reliable. spray wd-40 on bullets and try to fire.

i like jeff can count on one hand how many times i have had a misfire on any of my .45s. they work all the time! every damn time! and any of my 9mms w/18 rds crammed into clip on hk vp 70z, i have never had a problem. and pretty much everything that i carry has been modified to feed FEDERAL HYDRASHOKS! reason why? thats what all the cops carry, and you better not have killed someone with some mongo overpowdered, mega bullet. because the jury will hang your A$$, and portray you as a "GUN NUT" if any doubt to a justifiable homicide. think real hard before carrying reloads, especially mega reloads.

leave wd-40 for anti-corrosion of your left outside world war II aircraft parts. thats why it was developed in the 40's. pick SOMETHING/ANYTHING that has a little bit more technological advancement to it, made for GUN USE.

[HardDrive]

I pretty much use Hoppes solvent and oil for every thing. I have tried Klenbores 'all in one' product, and I was not very impressed. I felt like I was just pushing the soot around, it was not really get disolved.

[m21sniper]

For a dusty environment dry teflon lubricant has always been my preferred choice for firearm lubrication needs. One other advantage of dry lubes is that they typically reduce the visual firing signature of a weapon, which was a very desirable trait in my old line of work.

[m21sniper]

I have always wondered why 1911 magazines do not come apart to clean.

They do.

Unlike most magazines, they are disassembled at the top.

Directions here:
http://www.bobtuley.com/45/magazine2.htm

[charleskieffner]

i like M-21's. i LOVE MY M40A-1's, i like HK PSG-1's, i LOVE MY SPRINGFIELD/McMILLIAN STAINLESS HART BARRELED SUPER DUPER MATCH THAT HAS BEEN MASSAGED BY PHIL ARRINGTON of ARRINGTON ACCURACY!

happiness and warm fuzzies come from reaching out and TOUCHING SOMEONE or SOMETHING W/A 168GRAIN FEDERAL BOAT-TAIL HOLLOWPOINT!..................that goes BANG EVERYTIME!

dri-lube is used alot. having roguarded clips helps alot also. just wipe 'em down, and thats it. i being in constant dusty areas where i live, never spray anything in my clips. i will spray small amount on rag, then wipe down, and thats it.

as mentioned before here, try leaving your rifle outside in quad rack from a very wet snowy rainy slushie sleet freezing day hunting, covered. and the next day continue hunting in wet freezing snow sleet rain MUD, and see what happens to your WD-40 lubed up action! I CAN PROMISE YOU IT WILL FREEZE AND NOT WORK! my ROGUARDED McMILLIAN M40-A1 didnt freeze.

i have never in all my life had a gun that covered in mud snow rain and it performed flawless. yes i had to wipe mud off of action, it was a giant pain in the A$$. none of us had scabbards or cases. just the racks on the quads. and it was one giant mud fest from camp to hunt area. no matter what you did, or how you drove quad mud and snow covered rifles.

each year we roguard one firearm. it takes usually 6 months from time you drop weapon off for them to get to it due to backlog. it is worth every penny if you are like us and hunt rain sleet snow or shine. no more lubrication of weapon, no rust, no nothing. just wipe it down and swab bore as usual.

[cashflyer]

Charles... Maybe I don't have the problems because of how I use (or don't use) the WD. I use it after cleaning the weapon as a spray down to make sure there are no un-oiled spots for rust or corrosion to start. I never thought of using it on my ammunition, and never have.

And while I was in the Army, we had a product that was exactly like WD - except it was in a brown can with an NSN. Next time I think about it, I'll check and see if I still have a can and can find out exactly what it is.

"try leaving your rifle outside in quad rack from a very wet snowy rainy slushie sleet freezing day hunting, covered. and the next day continue hunting in wet freezing snow sleet rain MUD, and see what happens to your WD-40 lubed up action"

Like I said, in 20+ years of shooting I have never had a WD lubed action jam, hang, etc. But then again, I don't do that kind of stuff to my weapons... ever.

[azasadny]

The stuff we used when I was in the military (USN Corpsman attached to the USMC) was called "CLP" and the civilian version is called "Break Free". I still use Break Free to clean my pistols, shotgun and rifles. Good stuff...