Cleaning a Semi-Auto

[XD9]

I bought a used Bersa 380 ACP a while back to shoot plinker targets with.  It's in excellent shape and fires well but could use some cleaning up.  I've used my cleaning kit and oils, etc but I just can't seem to get it clean enough.  One of my friends said that he sometimes completely dissasembles his handguns and soaks all of the pieces in warm soapy water for a while.  He then takes them out, rinses and scrubs them, and uses a blow drier to get them completely dry.  He then proceeds to oil the gun up and reasemble it.

Has anyone else done this?  Will soaking your gun in water not hurt it as long as you completely dry and oil it afterwards?  Thanks.

[kansas45]

No, soapy water will not hurt four firearm.   Dissamble it completly, wash each part & rinse well with plenty of water. A cleaning agent like Simple Green work's well on hard to clean part's. Don't soak aluminum part's too long as the cleaner may damage them. I don't think it eat's them up but may discolor them. I use compressed air to dry the part's being very careful not to blow them away and loose them forever. Then assemble and oil the gun as normal.

[XD9]

Thanks for the quick response!  I'll give it a try later today and see how well it can clean this thing up.  Thanks.

[rockbilly]

A method I have used for years to clean all handguns works well for me, even when the gun is filthy.

Remove the grips, swing the cylider open, or the slide back and lock it in place, then surmerge the entire gun in dry  cleaning solution (Varasoil, I think the spelling is correct), let it soak overnight.  The next day I clean the bore, with a brass bore brush and solvent, put it back in the dry cleaning solution and use a shaving brush to scrub it, take it out and blow the gun dry with the compresor and shoot the oil to it, stand it barrel down and let her drain for a short period, then wipe it down and put the grips back on.

This is (was) the practice when firearms were being placed in long term storage while in the military.  It has worked well for me.

The varasoil will make the gun appear to have a white substance all over it, that is just the absence of oil, the color will return once oil is applied.

[XD9]

I'll take a look at the Varasoil.  Any suggestions on the type of oil to use?

[rockbilly]

I use "Breakfree."

[mg66]

I also use CLP 'Breakfree'

My brother-in-law had a revolver that the cylinder was almost frozen with crud. A couple of generous soakings in breakfree and it's like a new one now.

[PaulS]

At the range they use "stoddard solvent" you can find it in the paint store under the general "paint thinner" but it is not laquer thinner - it should say stoddard solvent on the label. Get a gallon of it and use it in a gallon rectangular can with one of the big sides cut out of it. disassemble your gun and clean it with old tooth brushes and a bore brush - maybe even one of those brass brushes that look like a tooth brush for the reallt grungy parts. Blow it dry or air dry it and use a 50/50 mix of ATF and kerosine for oil.