[USSF06]

First off, Happy Mother's Day to any mothers on the forum. Unfortunately my mother is half a country away, as is my wife (military sacrifices, no biggie), so there just wasn't much for me to do here by my lonesome. The power on base was out, so I couldn't go to the gym with my buddy. There just wasn't much for me to do, until I remembered that my rifle needed cleaning :biggrin:

Last time I fired the rifle, I put 100 dirty Tul rounds through it, so quite frankly the thing was a big mess. As usual, I ensured the rifle was safe and clear, and then broke down the entire rifle. Out with the trigger group, spring, op rod, bolt, and a few little pieces that like to fall out along the way. Once I had all the pieces laid out for cleaning, I thought to myself, "I wonder if anyone else cleans like this?"

So I guess that question is what this post is all about. How far do you break down your rifle when cleaning? Do you normally just clean the bore and chamber area? Do you do thorough cleanings EVERY time?

Also, for those of you who are Gunsmiths/Experts, is there any risk in completely cleaning a rifle after every firing session? Or is that how it should be?

Maybe this is a dumb question, but I'm bored with nothing to do. I just spent 2 hours cleaning and photographing my rifle like it's modeling for playboy. :wacko:

 

[traveller]

i generally just clean the bore and chamber. i also use something to hold the bolt open when i put it away so that the op rod is away from the gas port letting any moisture on the gas port evaporate.

 

[USSF06]

i generally just clean the bore and chamber. i also use something to hold the bolt open when i put it away so that the op rod is away from the gas port letting any moisture on the gas port evaporate.

I've never considered, or heard of, doing that. Where does the moisture come from, the cleaning solvent?

 

[Poor_Dog]

You're allot more organized than me, I usually just toss it all in a pile

I usually thoroughly disassemble to clean it, everything but the gas block and trigger group. Ran a hundred or better through mine today as well, so it will completely torn down tonight.

PS... I like those pictures, folks on here never done it before, they could be handy.

 

[USSF06]

You're allot more organized than me, I usually just toss it all in a pile

I usually thoroughly disassemble to clean it, everything but the gas block and trigger group. Ran a hundred or better through mine today as well, so it will completely torn down tonight.

PS... I like those pictures, folks on here never done it before, they could be handy.

They're organized for photogenic purposes, haha. I throw mine in a pile, too.

I just clean whatever I can get to on the trigger group, but it stays pretty clean anyways.

 

[Crazy88Fingers]

i generally just clean the bore and chamber. i also use something to hold the bolt open when i put it away so that the op rod is away from the gas port letting any moisture on the gas port evaporate.

Considering the heat that thing generates I'd be genuinely surprised to find any H2O anywhere near it.

I usually just run a wet patch followed by a dry one down the barrel, maybe brush the action a bit. Every few range trips it gets stripped down and cleaned/lubed properly.

I think I read that disassembly and reassembly wears out some of the parts, but likely not enough to worry about it for a few decades.

 

[USSF06]

I think I read that disassembly and reassembly wears out some of the parts, but likely not enough to worry about it for a few decades.

I guess I could see that happening with certain parts, i.e., the trigger part that has to be popped out in order to disassemble the rifle.

 

[40nascar]

I would just do what the manual says to do in the "field stripping" portion of the manual. Then clean all the parts that are accessable from doing that. When using brass/boxer I go about 500 rnds between field strips. Frequent field strips can cause your action to "loosen up" therefore resulting in a loss of accuracy. This is a common occurance with wood stocks, and a good reason to have it glass bedded eventually.

 

[traveller]

when i first got my mini i cleaned it after firing it and put it away. it was several months before i took it out agean. it was locked up tight. i thought i was going to have to send it back to ruger. i was so mad after my son and i both tried to pull the bolt back and failed to budge it i slammed the but on the floor and it jarred the bolt free. some time later i read on this forum some one had the same problem. thats when someone explained what coursed it. the moisture is from heating and cooling, just condensation.

 

[USSF06]

I would just do what the manual says to do in the "field stripping" portion of the manual. Then clean all the parts that are accessable from doing that. When using brass/boxer I go about 500 rnds between field strips. Frequent field strips can cause your action to "loosen up" therefore resulting in a loss of accuracy. This is a common occurance with wood stocks, and a good reason to have it glass bedded eventually.

I suppose firing cleaner ammunition would validate fewer cleanings, but with steel cased rounds, I'm probably better off cleaning after every session.

 

[KingANuthin]

That's what I do. Love it

 

[passtime]

I noticed in your signature you defected from Va. to NC. I did the same. The commonwealth was detrimental to my way of life. Beautiful state though. I am going to clean my Mini 30 this evening at some point pretty much like the manual describes for field stripping. Great Sunday afternoon project. Thank you for your service to our nation.

 

[dave_g]

I break it down the same way you do after every range session. Probably way overkill, since lately I'm only shooting 20 - 30 rounds at a session. It just bothers me to put it away without cleaning it.

Never thought about potential wear from breaking it down being a problem. I guess that is a possibility, though even with a wood stock most of the contact surfaces are metal.

Question back for you. Do you mak the last pass down th barrel with a dry patch or a lightly oiled patch? If you use an oiled patch, do you run a dry patch through before firing the next time?

 

[Poor_Dog]

Question back for you. Do you mak the last pass down th barrel with a dry patch or a lightly oiled patch? If you use an oiled patch, do you run a dry patch through before firing the next time?

Always run a dry patch before firing, never lube the bullets

 

[Splicenut]

I recommend that you pay special attention to cleaning powder fouling from the area of the gas pipe and gas block, also the hole in the front of the op rod where the gas pipe blasts fouling into it. I recently got turned on to a product called Frog Lube that cuts carbon and fouling better than anything else I've used. It even made cleaning the carbon off my M4 bolt easy! I now use it on the gas system parts of my Mini. Bore cleaner and elbow grease will work, though.

If you let it get nice and dirty and then let it sit around in even a moderately humid environment, the fouling will absorb moisture from the air and the gas pipe will rust to the op rod. That's how I got my mini from the original owner...cheap. Now I have to pay attention to cleaning it, since the finish on those parts is roached and they have a tendency to rust.

 

[USSF06]

Question back for you. Do you mak the last pass down th barrel with a dry patch or a lightly oiled patch? If you use an oiled patch, do you run a dry patch through before firing the next time?

I use a dry patch for the final pass. I go through over and over with a lightly oiled patch and then dry patches until they come out clean.

I recently got turned on to a product called Frog Lube that cuts carbon and fouling better than anything else I've used. It even made cleaning the carbon off my M4 bolt easy! I now use it on the gas system parts of my Mini. Bore cleaner and elbow grease will work, though.

If you look closely in my pictures you'll see a bottle of green liquid, that is actually some FrogLube I bought. Very good product, but I only use it for lubricating the parts. I don't have enough to use it as a cleaner

Today I had to scrape A LOT of carbon build up from around the gas system parts. I don't know how I missed it before.

 

[USSF06]

I noticed in your signature you defected from Va. to NC. I did the same. The commonwealth was detrimental to my way of life. Beautiful state though. I am going to clean my Mini 30 this evening at some point pretty much like the manual describes for field stripping. Great Sunday afternoon project. Thank you for your service to our nation.

Thanks for your support.

I didn't really defect from VA. I was born in VA close to the NC border. Half of my family lived in VA, and the other half in NC. I ended up living in NC, but I was in VA almost every day (my elementary school was actually right at the border).

Wish I could go back more often.

 

[Adjuster]

Mine is in stainless to avoid the corrosion issues, but I do take it down as you have to clean it anyway, just to keep it clean, and working correctly.

That said, it can get very dirty and will work just fine, unlike many direct impingment weapons I've shot that start to fail after just a few magazines. (And is why I no longer own a single DI style weapon, and will never buy another.)

For lube, and the question of a dry or oiled barrel, I give everything a light coat of either Rem Lube/Dry Wax, or DuPont Dry Wax. Leaves it protected, and yet there is no sticky oil that attracts dirt.

 

[wxl]

I have two stainless Mini's the oldest is 30 years old, but I do the same for all my blue guns as well. For the Mini I take the trigger group off and take the gun out of the stock. I then flush everything with carb cleaner. After soaking for a couple of minutes I hit the gas block area with a toothbrush and the chamber with a bent 38 cal brush and then flush everything with WD-40. I then wipe everything down and run a bore snake thru the barrel. I then grease all the moving parts and oil the springs, firing pin and trigger group. About every 3rd time shooting, I remove the op rod, heat shield, and bolt and clean those real good. The carb cleaner does a great job on the carbon around the gas block and the WD-40 flushes everything out. In 30 years, I've only taken the bolt apart once and it was pretty clean except for one tiny spec of copper. Gundoc has a pretty good video on taking the bolt apart and recommends doing that at least once a year.

I've heard of the op rod getting stuck on the gas tube on blue models when stored for a long time or when there is moisture but it's never happened on my stainless ones. As a precaution I put a light film of grease on the gas tube before I store it. Others don't like to do that, but I've never had a problem. If you use steel case ammo, I would recommend cleaning the chamber every time with carb cleaner and brush. I've read about a lot of problems with carbon build-up in the chamber with steel case ammo.

 

[Splicenut]

I find that rubbing just a LITTLE BIT of the frog lube on carbon deposits will loosen them up after 10-20 minutes, especially if you put the parts somewhere warm or apply some heat with a hair dryer or heat gun. The stuff IS expensive, though. Around $20 for 4oz and $35 to $40 for the 8oz size in my area. Something I'm going to look for at Cabela's on my way home from Seattle this week. That's why I still use oil and grease for the other areas of my Mini.