Newb Seeking Advise: How To Clean A Browning Buckmark Target 7.25"?

[ArmedTerp]

I am confused. I am so new that I can't tell if this is because I don't understand, or my gun is unusual.

I have a new Browning Buckmark Target pistol with a 7.25" barrel. I thought I should learn how to break down the gun for cleaning before I start feeding it ammo.

I've read the owner's manual that came with the pistol and there is no information about breaking the gun down to clean it. The pages on cleaning mention a warning about wearing eye protection to prevent and spring-tensioned parts from causing injury, but there are no instructions on disassembly.

The cleaning instructions talk about wiping the gun down. Oiling key parts, wiping here and there. But, I was expecting some instructions on removing the slide and barrel to maintain the contact points. There is nothing in the manual about this. This seems odd to me.

I searched online and found a version of a Buckmark instruction manual that does discuss disassembly, but why is my owner's manual different?

So, are there other Buckmark Target owners who can give me some advice?

Thanks,
Steve

[dsa1115]

Browning specifically says not to breakdown the Buckmark. What is it about the instructions that you don't understand? See page 12 & 24 specifically..... Do not disassemble.

[ArmedTerp]

Being new, I sort of assumed that all semi-auto's would require some type of breaking down for cleaning. When I could not find that information in the owner's guide, I thought I must be missing something.

If the only maintenance required is what is listed in the owner's manual, this will be one very low maintenance pistol. ;-)

If you own one, can you give any advice beyond what is in the manual? For example, what lubricant do you use? Anything to absolutely avoid (I've already read that dry-firing is not to be done). Like I said in the post title... I'm brand new.

Thanks

[dsa1115]

Sure....the Buckmark is one pistol that shouldn't be broken down at all. To clean it, first double check and make sure it's unloaded by taking out the magazine, pulling back the slide and visually inspect the chamber and make sure it's empty. Dip or spray a small nylon brush with a quality solvent and scrub the breech and face of the slide to remove any build up. Clean the bore using a pistol cleaning rod with a tip and a patch made for .22 caliber pistols. Oil on the patch might be sufficient if it's been lightly used. A small bore snake can be useful too. Try not to allow the cleaning rod to strike the crown of the muzzle if possible because this could potentially damage the accuracy of your gun. If your bore is heavily fouled, a solvent with a brass bore brush will work best. Dip or spray the brush with a quality gun solvent and scrub the chamber and bore until the fouling is removed. After the fouling has been removed, wipe it dry with some dry patches through the bore until the patches come out clean. Finally pass a slightly oiled patch through the bore for a light coat. DO NOT OVER OIL THE BORE. After you've taken care of the bore. Use a small nylon brush (a small toothbrush works great) and scrub the other parts of the action. Lightly lubricate all moving parts, i.e. the frame where the slide contacts it and the spring guide with a lightweight oil. HOWEVER AGAIN>>>>Use oil sparingly. Using too much oil is bad bad bad. Finally, clean out your magazine every 500-750 rounds. Your Buckmark will serve you well for many many years, and you'll never have to disassemble it.

[highvel]

They are great pistols and very accurate!
The only cleaning I perform on mine is to spray Gunscrubber or similar on the bolt,spring,chamber etc. then spray it down with a little oil to keep it lubed, thats it.

[(BH)]

Since nobody seems to be telling you how to break down the BM, I'll give it a go. When I clean mine (and yeah, I clean it almost every time I shoot it and there is nothing wrong with that. Pay no mind to cranky new TFL members trying to prove themselves :rolleyes:), this is my process...

As you go, remember to take note of how everything goes so you don't forget how to reassemble. There are two screws on the topstrap (the area above the slide, in front of the rear sight), unscrew those. So you know, nothing is going to fly off at this point. Now remove the piece you just unfastened.

Next, remove the guide rod and spring. I usually just slide a tiny flat head under the foremost part of the rod/spring assembly and pop it up. Be careful with this part as the spring is under pressure.

Now you should be able to lift the slide off the frame. I wouldn't take it down past here.

I scrub the breach face and anywhere else that may have carbon buildup. Next run a brush through the bore, then run a few patches through it and your gun is clean.

As far as products go, I use Hoppes solvent to do all my scrubbing. I use Mobil1 to lube all of the moving parts, and Hoppes Oil to wipe doen the gun for rust protection.

Never take the grips off BTW. Tiny things will start falling off and you be all sorts of frustrated.

That's about all you need to know as far as the Buckmark is concerned. Hope this helps, and feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Congrats on the new gun. The BM will provide you with countless hours of fun. It's about the best IMO.

BTW: Welcome to TFL. This is a great site with tons of great info if you're just getting into shooting. Just remember, the only bad question is the one you didn't ask and the only bad answers are from the internet commandos not worth paying attention to.

[wbw]

I bought my Buck Mark about two years ago and the manual tells me how to break it down. Browning probably stopped printing that info because they got too many phone calls asking for little clips and whatnot that got shot across the room and lost. I know I called them. :o Browning is just trying to save themselves some headaches from every new owner calling them.

If you're interested in those instructions, PM or email me and I'll get them to you.

[Tacoma]

I've had a 10" buckmark silhouette for 5 years or so. It gets shot regularly in silhouette season . All I ever do is clean the barrel and chamber and lube it up. Don't tear it down unless you ahve to.
More guns are ruined by " over cleaning" than over shooting.

[ArmedTerp]

Thanks to all for the assistance.

I hope to be active here, and at the range. One day I'll pass along what I learn to help the next newbie.

Steve

[rduckwor]

Since nobody seems to be telling you how to break down the BM, I'll give it a go. When I clean mine (and yeah, I clean it almost every time I shoot it and there is nothing wrong with that. Pay no mind to cranky new TFL members trying to prove themselves ), this is my process...

As you go, remember to take note of how everything goes so you don't forget how to reassemble. There are two screws on the topstrap (the area above the slide, in front of the rear sight), unscrew those. So you know, nothing is going to fly off at this point. Now remove the piece you just unfastened.

Next, remove the guide rod and spring. I usually just slide a tiny flat head under the foremost part of the rod/spring assembly and pop it up. Be careful with this part as the spring is under pressure.

Now you should be able to lift the slide off the frame. I wouldn't take it down past here.

I scrub the breach face and anywhere else that may have carbon buildup. Next run a brush through the bore, then run a few patches through it and your gun is clean.

As far as products go, I use Hoppes solvent to do all my scrubbing. I use Mobil1 to lube all of the moving parts, and Hoppes Oil to wipe doen the gun for rust protection.

Never take the grips off BTW. Tiny things will start falling off and you be all sorts of frustrated.

That's about all you need to know as far as the Buckmark is concerned. Hope this helps, and feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Congrats on the new gun. The BM will provide you with countless hours of fun. It's about the best IMO.

BTW: Welcome to TFL. This is a great site with tons of great info if you're just getting into shooting. Just remember, the only bad question is the one you didn't ask and the only bad answers are from the internet commandos not worth paying attention to

You know, I can't believe any rim fire will run forever with out a field strip and cleaning. 22 is about the dirtiest stuff this side of BP.

I do exactly the same thing to my BM and it runs fine.

You do have to be careful not to lose the small parts and not to BEND the guide rod.

Show up at a Steel Challenge match with a dirty BM that won't run and see your head handed to you! Clean it!

[(BH)]

ou do have to be careful not to lose the small parts and not to BEND the guide rod.

Great point. I should have stressed that more for you. When I say pry up the foremost pat of the guide rod, I mean the absolute foremost part of it (ie. that little nubby part).

DO NOT PRY ON THE MIDDLE OF THE ROD! It will bend (don't ask how I know ;)).

[ZeSpectre]

I have never actually needed to disassemble a Buckmark.

All the regular cleaning and relubing can be done with the pistol fully assembled though once in a while you might want to pull the grips and hit the firing pin area with some gunscrubber spray or similar and then give it some spray lube.

Seriously, read the manual. There is no "field strip" for a Buckmark.

Oh and BTW, if you pull the grips make sure you do it over a towel. The grips hold a few parts in place and they'll drop off when you remove the grips and finding the parts on the floor sucks :rolleyes:


http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/zespectre/SSNG-7.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b66/zespectre/2009_10D_2754.jpg

[highnpressurized]

Hello All,

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I have a question. Is a bent guide rod fairly simple to replace yourself or should I have a pro do it. I received a set of buck marks for my birthday last year, one rifle, one pistol. The manual for the rifle gives full take down instructions including the action, the pistol does not. To my knowledge the action on the two guns is identical so after my last time out shooting, I figured I'd go ahead and take the pistol down the same as I do the rifle. The guide rod assembly does not lift out of my pistol nearly as easy as it does on the rifle, in fact I didn't get it out, I didn't want to bend anything, but I think I did. With the slide in the retracted position there is a definite upward bend. So folks, can I replace this myself?

[triplebike]

Get yourself one of these; (no more bent rods)

http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=306229

Then go here for any Buckmark info;

http://chim.embarqspace.com/#

[highnpressurized]

Thanks,

Good Info

[highvel]

Pay no mind to cranky new TFL members trying to prove themselves ), this is my process...
Yeah, dont wake up the old TFL members who think they know it all:eek:

[tristar viper]

I always completely took my Buckmark apart to clean. The amount of debris and residue in the thing was usually disgusting.....I can't imagine never taking it totally apart to clean it because without doing so you simply cannot do a good enough job in my opinion. There's nothing difficult about it, just pay attention.

[rtpzwms]

Here is some info from browning for the challenger 2 which is very similar to the buckmark that you have. See page 16 and adjust as needed.

http://media.browning.com/pdf/om/challenger_om.pdf

[Gdevine]

I don't know but I have a Buckmark Plus that I've owned for 23 years...and it looks like it came right out of the box with countless rounds run through it. I NEVER field stripped this gun and it's as reliable a semiauto that one would ever want to own. I will pass this gun down to my sons. No need to break this gun down IMO if you clean it correctly after each outing.

[EAJ702]

I have two BuckMarks. Up until a few years ago all of the manuals included fieldstrip instructions. Personally, based upon the amount of crud I normally see under the slide after a range session I’m not sure I could efficiently clean them without disassembly.

There are a few Utube BuckMark Field Strip videos that might be helpful to review if you’re not familiar with the process. (I don’t remove the barrel as shown in the video. Instead of using a standard cleaning rod, I like to use a flexible Otis cleaning cable. Or, as mentioned in part 2 of the video, a boresnake.)

Utube Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uKc7JxyJ8g)

Utube Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nhqxzPNLLE&feature=related)

My favorite: :)

http://www.fishkind.com/collection/images/bucknra_01.jpg

[Gdevine]

I've owned this gun for 23 years and without question is it my favorite for so many reasons. It's a Browning for one. It's simply beautiful in any configuration...I love it in the Plus polished look. The guns presence looks much more than a 22LR. Carries big, feels big and shoots like a dream. Never had a FTF or FTE in 23 years.

Like a Rolex; I will pass this gun to my son because this gun holds that much quality to me.

Yea I know...it ONLY a 22LR. But outside or in a range can you tell me a semi more fun than a rim fire in a frame like this? Just look at those grips :)

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p151/gdevine_photo/BuckmarkPlus.jpg