Hello everyone, so I have an hk45 for about a year now and I absolutely love it( except for the trigger that is. I feel like for what I paid for the gun, the trigger should be better. Wish something could be done about that. Anyway . . . . . .). So each time I go shoot it, I clean it when I get back home. If not that day, the next or so. But it seems like I can NEVER get the gun clean. I have a cleaning rod and an .45 brush. I spray Break-free down the barrel and go back and for with the brush. Run some patches down the barrel and dirty patches out. Sounds fine but no matter how many times I scrub the inside of the barrel, when I run patches down, they still come out dirty. Eventually I just get tired of cleaning and stop. I buy factory ammo from Wally world. Nothing fancy though. What am I doing wrong? Should I expect the patches to come out with zero black stuff on it or just a tolerable amount? Is CLP just no bueno? I've heard of some folks soaking their barrels in some sort of cleaning solution but with the rubber ring on the barrel I didn't know if that was a good idea. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would hate to be ruining this gun due to bad maintenance. And thanks for tolerating the newb question.
Total Newb HK45 maintenance Question
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You, like most of us initially, are over-cleaning.
CLP and one drag of Bore Snake is all that's necessary. Two drags if you're anal about cleaning. :wink:
Wearing out the barrel by scrubbing it is a waste of time and effort and is not necessary unless you're shooting corrosive primers. Not even the Russian stuff is corrosive.
Trying to get the copper out of the barrel is unnecessary. It's self limiting and right back the next magazine down range.
-- Chuck
CLP and one drag of Bore Snake is all that's necessary. Two drags if you're anal about cleaning. :wink:
Wearing out the barrel by scrubbing it is a waste of time and effort and is not necessary unless you're shooting corrosive primers. Not even the Russian stuff is corrosive.
Trying to get the copper out of the barrel is unnecessary. It's self limiting and right back the next magazine down range.
-- Chuck
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Cleaning, what's that? Some would have a stroke if they saw how dirty mine get (non carry firearms). Less cleaning, more shooting.
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Get the LEM light, once you get used to it you will never look back!!
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What kind of brush are you using? If the barrel shows sign of excessive carbon build-up, run a Bronze brush 5-6 times through the barrel, follow up with a few clean patches, then finalize with a very light oiled patch and you should be good. You want to push the brush all the way through the barrel and pull it back. Don't push half-way and pull back.
I usually clean mine after each trip to the range. If there is no excessive build-up, I would run a Boresnake a couple of times (with Hoppe's MPro-7), then follow up with a few cleaning patches.
I usually clean mine after each trip to the range. If there is no excessive build-up, I would run a Boresnake a couple of times (with Hoppe's MPro-7), then follow up with a few cleaning patches.
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This. Don't ask me when the last time I cleaned my IDPA/USPSA P30 because I couldn't tell you. Every once in a blue moon I'll knock the crud out and lose a couple of drops of oil in it but other than that I just feed the beast.
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Thank you.... I'm not overly anal about cleaning - just general from time to time.... They are HK's !!!! Valuable - yes, but they still fire EVERY freakin time I run them clean or dirty... Multiple times out to the range with no cleaning and ahhhhh Still Awesome !!!
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818 Posts
Here is the deal. Break free is a carbon dissolving product. If you DID get it spotless, any Break Free left in the barrel will continue to pull carbon out of the metal pours giving you a dirty barrel the next day just because of the way it works. We NEVER cleaned our service rifles the day before an inspection because when they did the white glove on your clean gun, it would be DIRTY even though it hadn't even been touched since you cleaned it.
Ditch the Break Free. Get yourself an M-Pro 7 cleaning kit. Make sure you get some Bore Gell with the kit. The Bore Gell will get all the carbon out. It is the ONLY product w use at the shop to get the carbon out of our 50 BMG chambered rifles. Give the barrel about 30 strokes both ways, add more Bore Gell, 30 more strokes & patch it out clean. The Bore Gell should be turning a frothy light blue color. You'll know you're done. Just for grins, try it a 2nd time just to see if you got all the dirt out. The copper cleaner is good if you have copper streaks. When done, run an oily patch thru to de-activate what ever solvent may remain. Dry patch it & you should be good to go. Make sure you use a bronze brush ONLY in the bore. NO STAINLESS steel crap. Nylon isn't stiff enough. Buy good brushes.
Regarding Boresnakes, after you use them, you have to WASH them or you just keep dragging the dirt back thru the barrel, scratching the hell out of them. If you had a bore scope, you can see this. I use them for field use ONLY to remove dust & things that can get in the barrel. NEVER use them as your main cleaning tool.
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66 Posts
Great advice, thank you.
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Mrs. Brownie would not be impressed.If you really want a super clean gun.....throw them in the dishwasher! Lmao...
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over cleaning is not good, will reduce barrel life
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conversely, just because a gun runs and runs without cleaning or oiling it doesnt mean it is good to do.
Sorry for not being able to reply sooner. I was driving across the great(ish) state of Washington.
But thanks for all the replies. It is a big help and relief. It was getting pretty irritating cleaning for so long. So I guess I'll ditch the CLP and get M-Pro 7. Thanks a bunch!
But thanks for all the replies. It is a big help and relief. It was getting pretty irritating cleaning for so long. So I guess I'll ditch the CLP and get M-Pro 7. Thanks a bunch!
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231 Posts
+1
These folks who have the spreadsheets and track every detail of their RANGE EXPERIENCE and clean after every range session are not shooting enough. That sheeeott quickly gets old. I do lube my pistols before every range session.
I don't shoot like i use to. At one time, I was shooting 1500 rounds a week. No less than 500 a weeks and it becomes work taping targets, spraying steel , setting up stages, reloading (even on a Dillon 1050) etc. Cleaning my pistol after each range session quickly becomes a pain in the A$$ I could live without with my range guns.
I do clean my Carry guns after each range session. Most of the time I was shooting 1911s and Glocks. Everyone knows they never need cleaning anyway.:wink:
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218 Posts
Most of you guys are cut from a different cloth than me. Maybe it's prior military training, I don't know. I clean all mine, whatever goes to the range with me, whether it's an M66 S&W 357 or the USP-C 45. Barrels have Hoppe's soaked patches run through them and all moving parts, rails and breach faces get cleaned. I use pipe cleaners, Q-tips and a bore mop sometimes. Once everything looks clean, I put a light coat of oil in the barrel, rails, etc. Does this extend the life? I like to think so.
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I clean mine after range session about 300rds, I only run bore sneak twice one direction ONLY toward business end.
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