quote:
I just shake and wipe as much wd40 out as possible, then apply oil. In real tight places you can use the canned air, like they use for cleaning electronics, that's dry air. I should say, the only gun I clean that way, is my AR-15, and I take the bolt apart when I clean it. It works for me, but you might choose another way.

Yeah, there's a difference between an AR and a pistol. A basic field strip on an AR leaves you with the firing pin out; I'm not doing that with a Tokarev.

I guess, physically, are the corrosive salts aerosolized enough to vent into the firing pin channel when you shoot? I do find soot everywhere with handguns, I suspect so.

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Posted by SneakyWaff1es

Member since Nov 2012

3940 posts

Posted on 11/28/20 at 6:17 am to deeprig9

I may have misunderstood your question. If you were asking about a specific oil, I don't have a clue. CLP stands for clean, lubricate and protect which would be 3 in 1. I thought you were asking more of a generic question.

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Posted by dstone12

Texan

Member since Jan 2007

30110 posts

Posted on 11/28/20 at 8:34 am to deeprig9

My first pistol that I bough, the rep suggested I pay 40 dollars for a cleaning g kit wi action grease.

Now I use old white tshirts, qtips and any oil I can find. But I still use clp or remoil to clean.

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Posted by Clames

Member since Oct 2010

16547 posts

Posted on 11/28/20 at 11:01 am to Scoob

quote:
technique #1. Ballistol-water mix, I think it says 1:7 for corrosive. I think the theory is that there's enough ballistol emulsified, that when the water evaporates, there's a layer of Ballistol in place to prevent rust. Would this be safe to dunk a complete slide in? Or to otherwise scrub everything, including the breach face?

Technique #2. Hot water bath (with soap or ammonia), then boiling hot rinse (teapot poured over). Surface water will evaporate fast, I've seen that on other parts, and can then wipe down with oil. Concern being the pin and channel; would you then shoot WD 40 down the channel to flush all the water out?
If so, do you then do something to flush the WD 40 out (brake cleaner)?

Ballistol with some water will flush out the water soluble salts that cause corrosion, the basic pH of Ballistol will neutralize acids that form from the hygroscopic nature of those metal salts. Since Ballistol will emulsify with water it will also drive off the remaining moisture and prevent corrosion later. What I would do is:

1. Immediately after shooting is hose down with Ballistol, that will prevent moisture from reacting with the corrosive residue until you get home.

2. Strip down the pistol as you normally would, dump the parts in a small plastic tub with a 1:9 Ballistol:water mix and scrub well.

3. Wipe down the parts with straight Ballistol and spray Ballistol into the firing pin channel to absorb and drive away any remaining moisture as well as neutralize any remaining residue and provide a moisture barrier. That's kind of the key with corrosive ammo, it's not corrosive until the salts come in contact with humidity in the air and form the acids that attack the metal. You can used compressed air to help get the bulk of the cleaning mix out of the small areas. As long as you are shooting corrosive ammo you are going to have to leave that gun with a good coating of oil before putting it away, humidity is your enemy here.

This post was edited on 11/28/20 at 11:02 am

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Posted by Scoob

Near Exxon

Member since Jun 2009

20350 posts

Posted on 11/28/20 at 2:11 pm to Clames

quote:
Ballistol with some water will flush out the water soluble salts that cause corrosion, the basic pH of Ballistol will neutralize acids that form from the hygroscopic nature of those metal salts. Since Ballistol will emulsify with water it will also drive off the remaining moisture and prevent corrosion later. What I would do is:

1. Immediately after shooting is hose down with Ballistol, that will prevent moisture from reacting with the corrosive residue until you get home.

2. Strip down the pistol as you normally would, dump the parts in a small plastic tub with a 1:9 Ballistol:water mix and scrub well.

3. Wipe down the parts with straight Ballistol and spray Ballistol into the firing pin channel to absorb and drive away any remaining moisture as well as neutralize any remaining residue and provide a moisture barrier. That's kind of the key with corrosive ammo, it's not corrosive until the salts come in contact with humidity in the air and form the acids that attack the metal. You can used compressed air to help get the bulk of the cleaning mix out of the small areas. As long as you are shooting corrosive ammo you are going to have to leave that gun with a good coating of oil before putting it away, humidity is your enemy here.

Thanks a lot, that's the level of detail I was trying to find.

I completely understand the concept of corrosive salts and humidity, and also understand South La is not a dry state at any time. Even in my house, with the AC set to 70 and running, I can turn on a dehumidifier and it will fill up in less than a day. Also, Murphy seems to visit and impose his law on me.

I've seen a couple references to rifles here; there's a big difference. With my AR and Cetme, I break things down to the firing pin level after range use most of the time. With bolt actions, I flush the barrel with boiling water, then swab it out with ballistol. I also wipe the chamber and bolt faces with something similar to dissolve the salts, and then coat up good with ballistol.

Pistols like the Tok and the Star are different matters. Shooting them, the gases get spewed everywhere. Do a couple mag dumps and you get black soot all over, and if there's soot, we know there's some salts there. I have no idea how much gets into the firing pin channel, but I suspect there's some. And I have zero desire to do a complete slide disassembly, pulling the rear sight etc, after each range day.
Like I said, I watched some guy drop his complete slide into a sink full of hot water and Dawn soap, and leave it there awhile. I'm sure the intent is good, but holy shite you're going to flood some internals with soapy water, and that is NOT going to evaporate. Not in little areas like that. And I've looked at schematics, both guns have little firing pin springs that will likely get shitted up if you soak them and don't pull them.

I use Ballistol a lot, so it's not a big difference in my habits. I also use some food-grade air compressor oil, but not in the older guns.
Thanks for the tips!

Back on the OP, my understanding is 3-in-1 oil, actual stuff, is a light oil. I'm thinking it was used on stuff like sewing machines etc. Should do a good job lubing. I don't think it's a CLP, as such.

Best CLP's are going to be stuff like Ballistol and Breakfree, with the biggest difference being Ballistol is able to emulsify in water (thus washing out the corrosive salts). That, and Ballistol has a very distinct smell. If you tell yourself it's like licorice, it's fairly pleasant. If you tell yourself it's like funky gym shorts left in a locker a month, you're going to hate it.

I like the point you make about Ballistol continuing to work if you leave it on. I usually leave things wet, and then wipe it off some before shooting. A mild caution: it's mildly effective at removing copper, which is good... but that will also include a lot of cold blues, so you might see spots you touched up lose their darkness if you use it.

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