Thread cleaning

[thysonsacclaim]

Just thought I'd share a neat way of cleaning the threads of the block (or whatever else may be a bit rusty / grimy).


I had a bit of a problem finding the right tool at Lowes, Home Depot, Advance Auto Parts, Ace Hardware and Autozone. What I needed was a small, brass or copper scrubby that was narrow enough to fit in the bolt holes and long enough to reach throughout the entire chamber.


Solution? Well, it should have seemed obvious at first since I own a few guns. What I did was go to Wal-Mart and pick up a rifle, shotgun and pistol bore cleaning kit. It was about $10 and comes with the ram rod, cloth and brass "scrubbies" of different calibers / mm. It's too dark to take a picture of the one I've got, but this is the same thing: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Winchester-99720-Universal-Gun-Cleaning-Kit/14644730

I used Seafoam Deep Creep and soaked the bores for a bit, then applied more Deep Creep to them and scrub away with the brass scrubbers. After that, I used the cloth ones along with some acetone to clean out anything stuffed up inside and to expedite the drying time since I was doing this prior to assembly. After most of the acetone was dried, I fired up the air compressor and attached the blower to shoot air inside and get any last remaining bits of liquid / dirt out.

I didn't take picture, but the results were quite good and I'd recommend the gun cleaning kit to anyone who doesn't have a tool on hand to clean the bolt holes out. I don't want to have to open up everything again, so I'm trying to be as thorough as possible.


The kit also came with a brass brush which I used to clean the male threads on the bolt. I soaked them in undiluted Purple Power, which works quite well and is non-flammable, biodegradable and non-toxic. I find it best to scrub the threads along their surface (side to side) instead of up and down. It seems a slower way of doing it, but since the bristles can get inside the inner thread surface, it seems to clean better.

[robertd]

What a bloody good idea!
Cheers

[thysonsacclaim]

One more thing: I found it better to twist the ram rod & scrubby in a circular motion rather than up and down. I think this cleans the bore better (or just as well) and does not destroy the brass scrubber.