Gun Cleaning 101.

[Adam Helmer]

It always amazes me how folks assume they know what they are about when they begin a task. Yesterday a neighbor came by with a STUCK cleaning patch in a very nice M19 4-inch S&W revolver he recently inheirited along with some ammo and cleaning gear.

"Clyde" shot off a box or two of factory .38 Special ammo in said M19 in his backyard. This is his first firearm and he figured his way through the shooting segment of the exercise. He then went into his garage to clean the pistol. He did not read the printed cleaning instructions inside the lid of the cleaning kit because he had a "Plan!" He put a brush onto the cleaning rod and then wrapped a cleaning patch AROUND the brush and introduced it into a chamber of the cylinder. It got stuck! Happily, he came down the road to my house and sought help.

I removed the cylinder from the M19 at my bench. I put the "masked" cylinder in the vise with the cleaning rod down and gently tapped out the brush and patch. We then had a seminar on proper gun cleaning. "Clyde" does not own a pair of ear protectors because, "he was only going to shoot a few shells." I gave him an old pair of my ear protectors.

Many "pilgrims" are not aware they lack gun savvy. I see Basic Instruction as a basic need for chainsaws, guns, tractors and garden tillers, etc.

Adam