1911A1 Cleaning and Maintenance of the pistol unit 1B
OK folks Unit 1 Discussed the Field strip of the Venerable 1911A1 Pistol and it's clones and copies, this unit will discuss the Cleaning and Maintenance of the gun in the field or after range time or normal carry and use?
What all do ya need to do this, I have shown most of it in Pic # 1 this is all easy to find at any Gunshow, Wal-or K-mart and or gun shop, none of what ya see is a heavy $ investment and will last a long time if you clean it after use. What the use of Stainless steel brushes while they do last longer than Brass, they can damage barrel internals as well as mark up finishes on weapons, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Pic # 1
How to do it! Once the Gun is Filed stripped (See Unit 1 Fieldstrip and maintenance of the 1911A1 pistol) you should have the parts laid out for cleaning, any Horzontal surface is workable, I used a Poncho when I was deployed and lost no parts that way and it was easy to clean after
Use the Cleaning Brush and handle to Clean the Barrel I do Crown first see :
pic # 2
Then I reverse it and use a lot of Solvent to do the chamber end of the barrel see
Pic # 3
Then use a Tooth Brush or I like the Military weapons Brush with lots of Solvent to clean all surfaces of the barrel see
Pic # 4
Then place the Barrel off to the side after a light coat of oil is wiped on it and remove all excess oil.
Now lets start to clean the Lower area, see
Pic # 6
Pic # 7
As I stated you can use a tooth burch some folks use a barrel cleaning brush but I feel this kind of brush does a better job
It's Possible to clean the slide this way see pic
Then I use the same Brush soaked in solvent to brush out the magazine well see , I use a Cloth to remove the grit and dirt after the brush has removed the bulk stuff!
Then I use the Bore Brush and Cleaning Brush to do the same srub and clean job on the slide, remember get it soaked in solvent and scrub all the dirt, fired powder and all out of all the surfaces inside the slide area see
Pic #9
Once you have completed these larger parts wipe them all off externally with a clean cloth and add a little oil and white the parts with your fingers all over then whipe with the cloth to remove excess, you don't need to leave a ton of oil, but if storning it, a light film of it is OK?
Now lets scrub off, wipe off and Oil up the Small parts as in
Pic #11
Pic# 12
I like then to do more scrubbing and cleaning of the barrel assembly with care invested in the barrel locking notches as in
PIC# 14:
Once all that is complete, Whipe all the parts off with a cloth soaked in solvent, dry and lightly oil, and if you have time re-examin the parts and look for worn parts, cracked, dings and dangs, if any noted set those aside for
replacement from parts in Unit 2 or see a Gunsmith for other work required?
I did this in my Laundry room, Total elapsed time 12-15 minutes including strip time? Use Minumal Oil, and a lot of Solvent and rags! No Need for fancy stuff here, use those old T-shirts and stuff you were gonna toss? Rember these with Solvent and Oil should be carefully disposed of as they are contaminated and can be flamable?
While these cleaning methods are used for 1911A1, they do carry over to Browning High power and other Semi-Auto handgun designs, no MAGIC HERE, Hardly hard work INVESTED, and not a lot of time invested, a good time to take a Closer look at the handgun your trusting your life to? Right?
