How to Use a Gun Cleaning Kit in 2023 {user Guide}

Now that you’ve purchased your new Best gun cleaning kit, what do you do? If you’re a beginner, the first thing you should do is check a few Youtube clips and follow the instructions.

Each gun is different in terms of maintenance, so make sure you have read and re-read the owner’s handbook for yours.

We’ll go through the basics of utilizing a universal gun cleaning package, which you’ll need if you own a sniper, pistol, or shotgun. 

Cleaning ARs is a little unusual, and it normally necessitates the use of specialized instruments, including an AR cleaning tool. This article will learn how to use a gun cleaning kit.

How to Use a Gun Cleaning Kit

Wash Your Hands (or Wear Gloves)

Before you go in, make sure you clean your hands. This will assist keep lubricants from getting on your gun’s outside and interior surfaces. 

To prevent oil from absorbing into the skin, most individuals, including me, use gloves when cleaning our weapons.

If you’ve been cleaning weapons for a long time, the danger of getting some of these solvents on your skin isn’t worth it. My personal favorite among the many is the throwaway black latex gloves.

Unload Your Gun

Ensure that the ammunition is out of reach. If your weapon is active, there’s a chance you’ll accidentally discharge it while washing it. 

There’s also a potential you’ll accidentally blast a box of ammo, so double-check this step.

This is the moment to utilize your pistol cleaning pad if you have one. I strongly advise you to use a surface protector to protect your panels from chemicals and scratches.

Make Use of a Bore Snake.

You may use a bore snake instead of cleaning rods to save effort. This will get rid of part of the muck in approximately 10 seconds. Bore snakes can help you save a lot of time.

Disassemble your Gun

Read your instructions and disassemble everything as instructed. If you don’t have an owner’s handbook, you can typically obtain one on the manufacturer’s website or, better yet, watch a tutorial video on YouTube and follow along.

If you have a gun cleaning rack, be sure it’s well secured. A gun vise is fantastic for keeping your gun stable, and it works wonders with long guns. For handguns, this isn’t actually essential.

Cleaning Rods

Install your scrubbing rods and select an appropriate brush size. Begin by cleaning your pistol using a bronze brush and your preferred gun cleaning solution.

PULL the pad through around 5-10 times. Make sure you just pull and not push. The barrel will last longer if the barrel brush is only used the same way as the bullet goes.

Patches for Cleaning

The idea is for the cleaning spots to come out completely white. Until this occurs, you can use 10 to 20 cleansing patches, which are inexpensive.

If your cleaning patches are black when you remove them, you’ll need to run your bristles through your rifle again.

All solvents must be removed.

Dry cleaning pads and a gun brush attachment should be used for this. After you’ve used up all of the cleaning solutions, you’ll want to add some lubrication.

Lubricate

Hoppe’s makes an excellent gun lubricant, which you should use once you’ve finished cleaning. This helps prevent dust from building up on your gun, leading to muck accumulation.

Exterior Cleaning

This may be done with a double-sided wire brushing. Simply apply a little CLP to the swab and scrape away any places requiring cleaning.

Around the motors, you want to be a tiny bit of lubrication. Look for any minor rust spots as well. Rust often starts off as a small speck, and if it isn’t seen straight away, it can quickly spread.

Wash your Hands Again

After you’ve washed your hands again, dab a little oil on them to erase any prints that may have accumulated on your pistol throughout the cleaning process.

Assemble your firearm

You’re almost done at this point. Ensure your hands are lubricated with your lubricant before reassembling the puzzle.

Cleaning Tools for Guns

The following are the tools you’ll need in your bag to give your rifle a thorough cleaning:

#1 Nylon Brush

The nylon brush is the item to use if you want to clean regions of your rifle that are more delicate. A nylon swab can also be used to avoid scratches on the body of polymer weapons.

#2 Bronze Barrel Brush

Bronze firearm cleaning wipes will help you get rid of stubborn residue from your firearm. These brushes are excellent for cleaning your weapon’s chamber and barrel, removing dirt as you brush.

With a copper brush, you shouldn’t have to be concerned about harming the rifling or scraping the bore; just make sure the copper brushes included with the gun cleaning package are appropriate with your caliber.

Check: good gun cleaning brushes

#3 Cleaning Jags

Cleaning jags are thin poles made out of plastic, copper, or nickel used for cleaning. Washing jags and wiping patches should be used at the end of your gun cleaning operation. 

This is because the scrubbing jags will absorb any leftover dirt or oil. Make absolutely sure that you wash your pistol using cleaning jags every time you clean it.

#4 Cleaning Swabs

Cleaning swabs will allow you to reach areas that might otherwise go unnoticed. Cleaning swabs may be used to clean your weapon’s barrel by inserting these cotton bits into the wiping jags.

Although the maintenance kit you’re going to buy comes with a few cleaning swabs, bear in mind that you’ll likely have to purchase more than that in the future.

#5 Bore Mops

Bore mops can assist you in removing any leftover oil or residue from the chamber and barrel. 

Bore mops are available in various sizes to match the caliber of your pistol. If you want to extend the life of your barrel cleaner, make sure you clean it after cleaning your pistol.

#6 Cleaning Solvents

Dust from the slide components and the barrel might be hard to remove. In this case, a cleaning solution might be really beneficial. 

Cleaning solvents formulated expressly to remove powder debris from weapons are available, including many weapon cleaning packages.

Check: Good gun cleaning solvents

#7 Oils For Lubrication

You’ll need to grease your gun when you’ve finished cleaning it. These lubricants will keep the mechanical components of your gun smooth and slippery, reducing the likelihood of misfires, loading issues, and friction.

Also check: Gun Oil Vs Grease

#8 The Case

All of your gun’s tools must be housed someplace, which is where a box comes in useful. Typically, they are constructed of ballistic nylon or metal.

Conclusion

Hope you learned how to use gun cleaning kit in this guide.

For the vast majority of weapons, this is the procedure to follow. 

Although each pistol cleaning kit has its own components, most of them use the same brushes and poles.

If you’re not sure how often you should clean your handgun, it all depends on how many times you use it and what kind of ammunition you’re using.

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James

I'm an passionate gun cleaning expert from NY US. My goal is to save you time by doing the leg work for you and putting all the essential information in one location to be confident about the cleaning your gun.

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