1911 Cleaning Ways

[WildOkDee]

I believe there is no right or wrong way, but what is a simply quick spray or technique to clean your 1911?

[Blackfoot]

Quick cleaning 1911:  I remove the slide, take out the bushing, barrel, spring and quide then clean everything that I can see.  Apply lube as needed,  reassemble and go shoot.  Your mileage may vary.

Blackfoot

 

[August West]

I use non-chlorinated brake cleaner, and Wilson Universal Lube.

[Garrison Joe]

Perfect your load until you get to where NO leading occurs.  It is VERY important and fairly simple to do.  Shoot a good fitting slug.  Don't shoot a lubed lead bullet that is TOO HARD (at our pressures and velocities, a Brinnell hardness of about 9 to 12 is the perfect hardness - one that expands to fill barrel and is not so soft as to lead due to friction with barrel walls).  Poly coated goes a fair way toward preventing leading....but make sure these don't leave you with a barrel film (like shotgun wads do).  I still shoot lubed lead bullets almost exclusively, BTW, which does add to the "grease fouling" that blows into the action.

 

Once you know that you don't have to clean crud out of the barrel, you reduce your quick cleaning to just taking care of fouling on the moving parts of the action.

 

Blackfoot describes just about what I do to clean.  Underside of slide, rail ways and "bolt" face with extractor.  Barrel - throat/ramp, no barrel brushing.  Frame - rails and barrel link area and top part of magazine well.  Barrel bushing. 

 

Lube - Rem oil (or your choice) on slide ways and rails, a drop on the disconnector tip, barrel locking grooves and hood, barrel link, inside of barrel bushing and tip of barrel where bushing rides. 

 

 

Every six months I tear down more completely to get into fire control parts, magazine release, extractor and firing pin channels/spring.  Check grip bushings for being tight/loctited.

 

I'm not a "flush and forget" guy with 1911s because they generally don't run well and long when just flushed and no lube placed back on the steel.    My main match Colt series 70 now is at 120K rounds and going strong and smooth without being loose. 

 

Good luck, GJ

[Last Chance]

At a match cleaning*

disassemble

spray and wipe all the dirty sh*t off

once its bare and clean inside, apply a bit of grease/lube to all parts where metal touches metal.

reassemble

go shoot

[WildOkDee]

Thank you all for the information.

 

To expand the subject to specific locations....Here in Texas, there is usually not dry, dusty, sandy conditions, such as at Winter Range and End of Trail.

 

1. When at a match such as one of these, does a shooter need to be at an unloading table or on the firing line, in order to take down and clean and reassemble a gun?  Or can one be at your guncart?

 

2. In an environment such as Winter Range or End of Trail, there are differing types of lube...Is there a preference that is proven for Wild Bunch Matches at either location?  One's to steer clear of?

 

Many thanks for all the helpful advice.

[August West]

[quote author=WildOkDee link=topic=2766.msg18858#msg18858 date=1579211763

 

2. In an environment such as Winter Range or End of Trail, there are differing types of lube...Is there a preference that is proven for Wild Bunch Matches at either location?  One's to steer clear of?

 

I use Wilson Universal.  Seems to be the correct viscosity for Winter Range.  A couple of years ago, I used Wilson's "Grease", which is a heavier viscosity than the "Universal."  Things got sticky in the Winter time with the grease -- too thick for Mother Nature in the cold part of the year.

[DUSTY BODDAMS]

WD, really when you get the right load and it’s clean shooting if you have a good oil that will stay on the rails and in place like Lucas gun oil a good pistol like yours will run several hundred rounds without doing anything. When I first started shooting WB after a day’s shooting the pistol had to be field stripped and cleaned before the next day. Now with cleaner powder and hitek coated bullets I can shoot a big match and a couple of small ones before I decide to clean it , but it’s still running great. That said magazines need cleaning every so often and if dropped in that talcum powder type sand it will be amazing to see how much of that can get inside.

[Garrison Joe]

Cleaning or troubleshooting at EOT or WR is best done at one end of the Unloading table.  Firing line is way too busy most of the time.  You probably don't have room on most carts to hold all the loose pieces of a 1911 while you work on it.  As far as the rules go, it would be allowed to tear one down there, just return to the unloading table if you want to dry fire or cycle slide several times (just to keep from scaring the uninitiated).

 

For me, Rem Oil is quite capable of handling the environment at either venue.  Most other quality oils should do the same.  I really don't use a grease at all for a 1911.  If I get in a bad dust devil at EOT, I'll take a dry rag and a finger tip and wipe off as much as I can, but I have never had a gun get gunked up so as to effect the function.  Magazines can be clogged - so every time I get mine back, I look at the follower and wipe off dirt in that area.  I use no lube on or in magazines.

 

Good luck, GJ

[Blackfoot]

Hey Dee,  Don't overthink the issue of lube for Winter Range.  Most any common gun lube should work just fine.  The only time that I have known of a real problem was when Nonstop dropped a pistol during the cowboy match.  He had to feel around in a mud puddle to find it. Actually the lube on it wasn't a problem at all.  That being said, I like Rem Oil and also Ballistol. 

 

Blackfoot 8)

 

 

[WildOkDee]

Thank you ...Thank you...Thank you  :D

[VICIOUS]

Grease is BAD on a 1911 at below freezing  :-[

[UnionJack]

Full cleaning ,it gets stripped and into the ultrasonic for 10 mins then into another ultrasonic tank full of weapons lube for the same time ,comes out clean as a whistle  .Otherwise a good spray down with Hornady one shot and then i use Lucas oil for everything.The red kind .

[Garrison Joe]

Here's one of the best investments of 15 minutes of your time while waiting for matches (or even practice) to startup again.  A GREAT video on cleaning, spring changing, and shooting a 1911 from a great "GUN GUY" - Bill Wilson.

 

He tells you what springs and parts he replaces on a regular schedule.  Yes, he peddles his own oil on this one - I'm sure he has a good line of oils.  But, most important is the INFO that is here.

 

Good luck, GJ