8/23/2011

OK, so yesterday I told y'all about the clay shoot. Remember how I mentioned that my sister provided ammo? Do you also remember how I mentioned that the ammo she provided was weak and dirty? Well, since I've told y'all about the weakness already, I'll tell y'all about how dirty it was now. After I showered and napped, I went to the garage to clean the three guns. I set up a table and rounded up the cleaning gear and got to work. I think I started with the Auto 5 because... well, I think it was because it was sitting on top, actually. I ran a pair of solvent-soaked patches through the barrel and then ran clean patches until they came out the way they went in, clean. I soaked a patch in WD-40 and ran it through the barrel. Then I scrubbed the action with a tooth brush, oiled the rest of the gun down pretty good with WD-40, and cycled the action a few times. “Hmm,” thought I, “it sounds a lot better with oil on it.” Live and learn, I guess. I packed it back in its case and moved on to Mossy. I disassembled the gun and started cleaning. The A5’s solvent-soaked patches came out of the barrel coated in a thick, black, plastic residue. I ran a fresh pair of SSPs through it after I saw what came out. It was almost as nasty as the first patch. I flipped the patch to a “clean” side and ran it through again. Then turned them inside out for another pair of “clean” sides and ran them through. Once they began to come out without plastic residue, I ran the bore brush through and then some clean patches. Once I was satisfied that the barrel was clean, I ran the WD-40 soaked patch through and oiled up the action. I debated switching the butt stock back to the pistol grip but realized the screwdriver and pistol grip were both upstairs. I cycled the action a few times and put it back in its case. I moved on to the Saiga. Now, if you will remember, I switched the Saiga back to Federal ammo once I realized how weak the Winchester stuff was. John kept shooting the Winchester. I hoped this meant the Saiga wouldn't be as nasty as Mossy had been. It was. The fresh pair of solvent-soaked patches came out almost as nasty as... well, probably the second or third SSP pass in Mossy. Oh, I omitted that I disassembled the gun down to the bare receiver and had the bolt, gas plug, and gas piston on the table while I cleaned the bore. I ran the bore brush through the gas tube but didn't bother with solvent. I'm not 100% sure why. With the bore clean and oiled, I then cleaned the bolt and gas parts. I put the bolt back in and hosed it all down with WD-40. I reinstalled the gas piston and plug and cycled the action a few times with the cover off. I reinstalled the cover and moved on to cleaning the muzzle brake. It was caked with plastic residue and I finally gave up when it was “clean enough.” it still has some residue in it. I'm hoping it will burn out with good ammo. We'll see. I tried to call Larry to tell him to clean his gun immediately but it went to... well, it would have gone to voice mail if he had a mail box set up. I shrugged it off and moved on. I put them all away in the safe and wasted the rest of the evening. I have a bit of a tale about the 7.62x39 and another modification I've done to it, but I'll save that for tomorrow.