Cleaning the bore of your TSMG

[katanafred]

I am just curious how some of you clean your gun bores after firing ... do you attach a bore brush to end of your TSMG cleaning rod and push it down the barrel from the muzzle end to the breech then pull it back out from breech to muzzle -or- do you feed the rod down the bore from the muzzle end, attach the bore brush at the breech then pull through from breech to muzzle -or- use a rope type cleaner to pull the bore brush from breech to muzzle -or-???

Thanks!

[StrangeRanger]

I put my 24" Teflon coated cleaning rod through the hole for the recoil spring guide rod at the rear of the receiver, attach a jag or a brush as appropriate and clean the bore from the breech end just like you're supposed to.  Patches go breech to muzzle and are discarded after one pass. The brush obviously gets stroked back and forth.

Cleaning the breech area is a whole other nightmare

Edited September 17, 2023 by StrangeRanger

[troll]

Same for me

[Maine-iac]

In general, I clean muzzle to breech. It's far more convenient, and I'm of the opinion that the inverse being the "proper" way to do it is equal measures old wives tale, and institutional inertia.

Remember, we're not using steel cleaning rods anymore, and a brass cleaning rod won't damage your crown any worse than a hot copper and lead bullet flying out under thousands of PSI of gas pressure!

But that's just my opinion. If anyone else has thoughts on the matter, I'm glad to hear 'em!

[StrangeRanger]

It's nor just about damaging the muzzle.  It's about shoving all the crud out of the gun rather than back into the action where you have to clean it out a second time. 

[Maine-iac]

2 minutes ago, StrangeRanger said:

It's nor just about damaging the muzzle.  It's about shoving all the crud out of the gun rather than back into the action where you have to clean it out a second time. 

Loose crud and oil. I think of it like painting, you always start from the top! It doesn't strike me as that much more effort, since you're wiping through those areas anyways.

[full auto 45]

Bore Snake and some Rem-Oil. Worked for 20+ years now.

[katanafred]

12 hours ago, Maine-iac said:

In general, I clean muzzle to breech. It's far more convenient, and I'm of the opinion that the inverse being the "proper" way to do it is equal measures old wives tale, and institutional inertia.

Remember, we're not using steel cleaning rods anymore, and a brass cleaning rod won't damage your crown any worse than a hot copper and lead bullet flying out under thousands of PSI of gas pressure!

But that's just my opinion. If anyone else has thoughts on the matter, I'm glad to hear 'em!

Yeah, reading through the old TSMG handbook issued to Marines & Soldiers, it doesn't specify one way or another and given the cleaning rod that was issued then, I suspect 99-100% of grunts punched the bore from the muzzle end anyway. Interesting to note that my old M16A2 USMC operator's manual DOES specify that the bore brush should be pulled through from chamber to muzzle and not reversed, but the AR design makes that much easier than with the TSMG. All that being said, Strangeranger makes a good point about not having to do additional cleaning in the receiver and breech areas after punching the bore from muzzle to breech.

Thanks all for your thoughts!!!

[First Sergeant]

Like Full Auto 45 bore snake for me over the past 20 yrs. Last week I spent an hour trying to get clean patches thru a 28A1. Bore looked super shiny before, during and after.  I never got one clean patch or even close to it with bore brush and Hoppe's.  Gun never lost it's accuracy so..........to each their own. 

[Sig]

I start with a strong Blast or Spray of Gun Scrubber or something similar from the breach end into the chamber and thus out the barrel muzzle end, to blast out some of the grime and loose stuff.  I have seen others even use brake cleaner.  I am pointing the muzzle down usually onto an old newspaper to absorb the mess.

Then a bore snake from the breach end a couple times at least.

Spend time at the breach end cleaning that area.

Following with patches from the muzzle end with a brass cleaning rod soaked with Cleaner and then when those are coming out clean, finish with a patch with protecting lube of some sort on it.

 

 

[katanafred]

5 hours ago, Sig said:

I start with a strong Blast or Spray of Gun Scrubber or something similar from the breach end into the chamber and thus out the barrel muzzle end, to blast out some of the grime and loose stuff.  I have seen others even use brake cleaner.  I am pointing the muzzle down usually onto an old newspaper to absorb the mess.

Then a bore snake from the breach end a couple times at least.

Spend time at the breach end cleaning that area.

Following with patches from the muzzle end with a brass cleaning rod soaked with Cleaner and then when those are coming out clean, finish with a patch with protecting lube of some sort on it.

 

 

When running the patches down the barrel, do you use a patch loop or jag?  In my experience, a jag with patch seems to clean out the lands and grooves better after loosening all the crud with a bore brush.

[Sig]

13 hours ago, katanafred said:

When running the patches down the barrel, do you use a patch loop or jag?  In my experience, a jag with patch seems to clean out the lands and grooves better after loosening all the crud with a bore brush.

Loop works for me, it's clean when I am done

[Doug Quaid]

On 9/17/2023 at 8:31 PM, Maine-iac said:

In general, I clean muzzle to breech. It's far more convenient, and I'm of the opinion that the inverse being the "proper" way to do it is equal measures old wives tale, and institutional inertia.

Remember, we're not using steel cleaning rods anymore, and a brass cleaning rod won't damage your crown any worse than a hot copper and lead bullet flying out under thousands of PSI of gas pressure!

But that's just my opinion. If anyone else has thoughts on the matter, I'm glad to hear 'em!

 actually, a steel rod is better than brass, because it's harder.  

carbon grit is very abrasive and it tends to embed in soft metals like aluminum and brass, turning them into a piece of sandpaper.

in fact, metal polishing called "lapping" is done with brass as the "lap", because polishing compound grit embeds in it.

Just avoid rubbing the muzzle or bore with any cleaning rod and you'll be fine
 

Edited September 22, 2023 by Doug Quaid

[Doug Quaid]

On 9/19/2023 at 10:40 AM, Sig said:

I start with a strong Blast or Spray of Gun Scrubber or something similar from the breach end into the chamber and thus out the barrel muzzle end, to blast out some of the grime and loose stuff.  I have seen others even use brake cleaner.  I am pointing the muzzle down usually onto an old newspaper to absorb the mess.

Then a bore snake from the breach end a couple times at least.

Spend time at the breach end cleaning that area.

Following with patches from the muzzle end with a brass cleaning rod soaked with Cleaner and then when those are coming out clean, finish with a patch with protecting lube of some sort on it.

 

 

Bore snakes pick up a lot of carbon grit.  That's not good.  Something to watch out for.

[Rabbit57]

When I shoot my M1 with lead bullets, I wrap some of this on the bronze brush. It takes the lead right out of the bore, and does not hurt the bore at all.

https://www.big45metalcleaner.com

Mark

[xracer]

I am very particular about cleaning from the breech. My Dewey coated rod goes in through the hole in the breech end of the receiver. As an extra precaution to insure that it stays concentric with the bore I slip a .38 cal brass muzzle protector whose tapered body fills the hole in the receiver on to the cleaning rod. The muzzle protector is available from Brownell's.

 

[Chappy]

I let the next owner clean them.

[LSU Tiger]

Hoppe's 9, brush, patches, then oil.  If I'm storing it for a while, I give all metal parts a dose of Kroil.

[Rekraps]

On 9/17/2023 at 5:18 PM, StrangeRanger said:

I put my 24" Teflon coated cleaning rod through the hole for the recoil spring guide rod at the rear of the receiver, attach a jag or a brush as appropriate and clean the bore from the breech end just like you're supposed to.  Patches go breech to muzzle and are discarded after one pass. The brush obviously gets stroked back and forth.

Cleaning the breech area is a whole other nightmare

So the 'ol breech issue that plagues most collectors. I found the perfect solution. If you go on Amazon and search for "daubs" you land on wool or cotton daubs which are essentially large balls on the end of soft twisted wire handles. You get 100 for $15 or so and they are perfect for cleaning receivers, breeches and then applying light coats of oil to all internal parts. 

My contribution today!

[Rabbit57]

Rekraps, I placed an order. It seemed like a great idea to me, thanks for the tip!

Mark

[Rekraps]

On 10/31/2023 at 11:12 AM, Rabbit57 said:

Rekraps, I placed an order. It seemed like a great idea to me, thanks for the tip!

Mark

I am the Daub Yoda.

[Mk VII]

Daub your Thompson you must.