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What do you use to clean/lube your firearms?

MAIZEandBLUE09

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I honestly haven't been shooting much this year (I've only been a couple times earlier in the year) and I just spent time cleaning all my firearms this past weekend (while watching some football). Ann Arbor Arms just opened up a brand new range that's like a few minutes from my house so I plan to be shooting a lot more now.

I have my handgun (Ruger P95), bolt action (30-40 Krag), and my AR15 and use the same process for all. I use Hoppe's cleaner and go through and put it on, scrub it a bit and then wipe clean. Then I go through and put on a layer of Break Free LP lubricant on all the important surfaces. It takes a pretty long time to go through and basically do the process twice.

I've seen some people using some of the cleaning & lubricating solutions like Break Free CLP but I'm not sure how well that works and if it provides enough lubrication for something like an AR15 or any semi-auto? I just feel like if something is a cleaner AND lubricant that it won't do either of those things particularly well?

Thoughts?

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Bridgeburner

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I'm a Mil-Comm guy. Mainly because of the TW25 grease for my rails. Just figured what the hell and use the whole line. Not that the other stuff matters. Hoppes is as good as anything.

MC25 Gun Cleaner <--- This is kind of like a CLP.
MC2500 Gun Oil <--- for the stuff that pivots.
TW25 Gun Grease <--- for the stuff that slides.

I have been thinking about trying CGW molly grease but I'm happy enough with the Mil-Comm to just keep with the program.
 

Bridgeburner

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And as to the CLP as a lube... I've never been a fan. I use the MC25 to clean but I won't use it to lube. I like a dedicated oil for the little things and a good grease for the rails. Nothing like a good grease for the rails.
 

bamabear82

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I use the Hoppe's Elite stuff for pretty much everything and really like it...

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AHFox

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G96 I use for cleaning, simple lubrication and to whip guns down with for storage. I use good old dot 3 brake grease. It's high temp and will not break down. It's cheap and will last you a long time and does the same thing as any gun grease. For rifle bores I use wipe out is a foam that works wonders on copper.
 
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rfjeff9

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Hoppes 4 in 1 is good. I also have recently been using WD40. I tried it in a pinch and was totally pleased about how well it did. Keep a small can handy and spray it down the barrel before storage.
 

Edisto_Tiger

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How often do ya'll clean your handguns? After every use or after so many rounds?

I clean my rifles and shotgun each time I come back from the field even if I don't shoot. I'm crazy, I guess.
 

bamabear82

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How often do ya'll clean your handguns? After every use or after so many rounds?

I clean my rifles and shotgun each time I come back from the field even if I don't shoot. I'm crazy, I guess.
I clean mine after every use, usually knock it out as soon as I get home from the range or what have you. I'm fairly anal about them being clean tho.
 

AHFox

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Hoppes 4 in 1 is good. I also have recently been using WD40. I tried it in a pinch and was totally pleased about how well it did. Keep a small can handy and spray it down the barrel before storage.

WD40 is one of the worst things you can use on guns. It might clean them but it leaves behind a nasty residue over time that can be a bitch to get rid of. If you swear by that that's fine but if you spray that shit down the barrel before storage or any aerosol spray store the gun barrel down. So that shit doesn't drain into your action and head of the stock. All it does is gum up your action and weakens your stock.
 

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How often do ya'll clean your handguns? After every use or after so many rounds?

I clean my rifles and shotgun each time I come back from the field even if I don't shoot. I'm crazy, I guess.
Every time I shoot, I clean them. Unless I'm screwing around and seeing how long the gun can run dirty before locking up (I'm known to do this at times, because it's fun).
 

MAIZEandBLUE09

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How often do ya'll clean your handguns? After every use or after so many rounds?

I clean my rifles and shotgun each time I come back from the field even if I don't shoot. I'm crazy, I guess.
I clean them after each time I go out, especially since I don't go out often. Just drives my brain crazy to have a dirty gun in the safe. I like to have them all clean in the safe so that the crud doesn't just sit in there.

That's partially why I was asking. I've seen people use a combo lube/cleaner and then you just have to go through your gun once. With my current process I clean the gun, then I go through again and lube the gun.
 
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