Cleaning out metal shavings after drill and tap?

[Venom1956]

What have you guys found working best for cleaning out a gun after drilling and tapping?

I just had to put four holes in to a gun and there is debris that fell inside the action.

What I do is cover the chamber with cloth and tape to prevent chips from getting in there then after I'm done i hit it with compressed air, then wash it out with hot water then air again then eezox.

I still feel like there is some tiny chips that refuse to get out. Either stuck in tapping fluid inside the gun or just hard to clean areas.

Figured I would see if there is any secret way that I don't know about.

[tobnpr]

Light tapping oil isn't going to hold chips using compressed air, that should "relocate" them outside the receiver.
Many of the milsurps I see have never had the cosmoline fully removed from the forward part of the action /lug recesses though- and it will hold chips.

For them, liberal spraying of brake cleaner in there, followed by compressed air then some patches; end with lightly oiled patches including one down the bore to prevent flash rusting.

[4V50 Gary]

air hose. Wear glasses and be mindful where the chips may go.

[Venom1956]

Doh didn't think brake cleaner.

[T. O'Heir]

Compressed air with no water. Mind you, 'compressed air' does not mean a can of air.
Brake cleaner in not a lube. It's for removing carbon.

[Oliver Sudden]

I use carb or brake cleaner then rinse out with WD 40 and q tips. I don’t use compressed air because I don’t want chips blown into spots I can’t reach.

[Mobuck]

"then wash it out with hot water "

Really?

[Schlitz 45]

I like to put some grease on the tap so the shavings stick to the tap rather than falling off-kind of late for that but a good trick for next time.

[Venom1956]

Yeah hot soapy water is great for cleaning guns out?! If it's hot enough it'll be dry very quickly and surface will be ready for whatever you need. Paint prep work or simply reapplying oil(eezox in my case).

I don't really donit unless I need to but sometimes it's the only solution. I've had issues before with corrosive materials on my guns water seems to be the best bet for fixing such problems.

[Capt Rick Hiott]

Take it apart and put it in the dishwasher.................

[Venom1956]

I lack a dishwasher. If I did have one and started washing guns in it... I feel like there would be domestic tension

[Pahoo]

With all due respect, I can't believe some of these replies. ....

My go too general cleaner is mineral spirits on the end of a cotton swab. Lately I've started using my CO2 discharger to blow out any debris. The dischager has been a compact and handy source of compresses air. I sometimes wrap some toweling around the hole and discharge tip .......


Always;
Be Safe !!!

[Dufus]

The first step in my cleaning regimen is hot soapy water. Been doing it since I first cleaned my second gun.

I like Dawn Platinum.

For metal shavings, trichlorinated solvent in a spray can works for me.

Just don't breathe heavy while using it.

Note: it stinks.

[Mobuck]

The only place water is an appropriate gun cleaning agent is black powder and/or corrosive primers.

[Pahoo]

The only place water is an appropriate gun cleaning agent is black powder and/or corrosive primers.

YEP !!! .....

Be Safe !!!

[Dufus]

The only place water is an appropriate gun cleaning agent is black powder and/or corrosive primers.

Not to start a pissing contest, but you are wrong, Sir.

[Bill DeShivs]

Water is certainly not ideal for cleaning guns-with the exceptions noted above.
Water can get in areas that are inaccessible and cause rust. Heat can remove the water, but you really don't know when it's all evaporated. If detergent is used, it can strip all the protective oil from the workings of the gun.
If you use water, I recommend flushing the gun thoroughly with WD 40 afterward.

[Dufus]

If you use water, I recommend flushing the gun thoroughly with WD 40 afterward.

Absolutely, flush with WD40. It works.

I have WD40 in gallon cans.

[Pahoo]

The only place water is an appropriate gun cleaning agent is black powder and/or corrosive primers.

I know that there are a bunch of old-timers in here that clean with water and whatever, on their BP firearms and have no issue this. If it works for them. I'm good with it. In fact, I teach this as an option...

Now, on primered modern firearm, I just would not recommend it.. I am cheap but certainly can afford modern solvents. There is a time and place for water but modern firearms is not it. ...

I worked with a fella that use to wash his TV with soapy water, inside and out aid air dried it. Hey, his TV, his solution/problem. ....


Be Safe !!!

[Dufus]

I am cheap but certainly can afford modern solvents.

Well, I am not cheap and I have enough solvents to float a Bass Tracker in a small pond.

My first step is the hot soapy water. I flush with WD40 as stated above.

Then the fouling specific solvents come into play.

I take it by the negative comments that they are merely unproven statements.

All I will add is, don't knock it until you have tried it.

It sure does speed up my cleaning process quite a bit over what I started out with.

All of it has been proven with bore scope inspections just to make it certain.

[Unclenick]

The tricks with water are for it to be hot and distilled. I first learned about the hot part from a knife care instruction booklet maybe fifty years ago. Take a piece of plain or carbon steel and polish it and degrease it with solvent and boil it in water till it is at boiling temperature through and through. Take a pair of tongs and get them hot in the boiling water before pulling the work out and flicking it to throw loose droplets off. Watch the remaining water evaporate, then, when it is cool enough to handle, take a close look at it under sunlight at several angles and you will see a very thin layer of blue oxide has formed. This is just like boiling things in rust bluing to convert red rust to blue, except the "rust" is forming and bluing as the piece dries. That thin blue layer is protective.

I take advantage of this during Parkerizing. I rinse the part in tap water to get the solution out of it, then boil it in distilled water. That removes any minerals left by the tap water and it converts any oxidized free iron to blue oxide and protects the piece until I drop it into water displacing oil as the final treatment. I do this because I know the military procedure handled the free iron by putting the Parkerized parts into a mild chromic acid solution to coat free iron with chromium oxide so it couldn't rust. I don't want to mess with a chemical that hazardous and hard to legally dispose of, so boiling in distilled water gets the nod. I've never had any after-rust result.

The concern about water getting trapped in threads is real, though. Either a water displacing oil (and WD-40 is one, though I like to remove it with mineral spirits after it has got the water to prevent the surface becoming sticky when it dries), or, since I have an electric annealing oven, I stick parts in there at about 220°F and just let any stuck water be driven out as vapor.