I happened to buy an original buttstock cleaning kit for my M1 (the type that was used during WWII). The brushes for this kit are new but the rod and disassembly tool are authentic. Anyway, after looking at the chamber and bore brush I wondered if I actually want to use them. The brushes are brass but I'm still a bit apprehensive about running a wire brush through my bore and chamber (I also just got a new kit for my shotgun and the brushes are similar to a hard plastic instead).

Can somebody give me advice on this? Should I buy a new cleaning kit and just use the WWII one as a display piece or will the brass brushes do fine.

I've never cleaned a rifle so any tidbit of info will be a great help :confused:

Thanks again!

-Cow

You'll need the bronze-brass brushes to clean both the bore and the chamber of your M-1. Don't worry about damaging them IF YOU DO IT RIGHT! By right, I mean use the brush and rod from the breech end, if possible. If you have to ram them down from the muzzle end, be sure to get a muzzle protector bushing to negate crown damage. It is always best to clean any firearm from the chamber end.

Run some solvent soaked patches down the bore and swab out the residue with clean patches until the black fouling is pretty well removed or softened to where you can get at it with the brush. Wet the bore, wet the brush with solvent and full length stroke the brush about a dozen times. DON'T SHORT STROKE. You'll just ruin your brush. Follow with a patch to knock the crud out, repeat the wet and dry patch treatment.

I leave the bores sit overnight with the solvent (none containing ammonia) treatment, then repeat the wet patch, brush, cleaning patch, wet patch routine until all the green stain is removed and no longer shows on the patches. If using an ammonia based bore cleaner, follow bottle directions closely and precisely. Never leave an ammonia based cleaner in your bore for more time than the directions state.

After the bore is clean, follow up with a good gun oil treated patch (not soaked) to coat the bore until ready for shooting again. I prop my oil treated barrels down onto a carpet remanent for a day or two to allow excess oil to drain into it, rather than sitting the rifle down on it's butt to have the oil drip into the action.

Nobody's fussier about their barrels than the benchresters, and they use brass brushes. I'd suggest a muzzle guide, as rubbing your rod or pull-through against the muzzle will harm your barrel.

http://www.sinclairintl.com/cleaning.html
http://www.shooters-supply.com/cleaning_and_maintenance_equip.html

Bye
Jack

Thanks again everybody. What a well of information and you don't make me feel like an idiot! :D

Hey, Cowtamer -

We've all had to start somewhere!

You absolutely, positively, need some sort of muzzle guide to clean your M1 without ruining the crown.

Even a the front half of a cut-off .243 case will suffice.

Since the M1 has to be cleaned from the muzzle, a lot of them have worn-out barrel crowns due to this. Sometimes the rifling is completely worn away.

Ok, how exactly does a guide protect the bore/rifling from getting damaged? In what way does the cleaning rod do harm? I’m only asking out of ignorance.

And would this be what I want: http://www.sinclairintl.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=CPCRGMG&item=03-3200&type=store (Thanks for the link, Jack).

Finally, I’ve read that in order to keep loose particles and solvents from dripping into the chamber and gas cylinder I should clean the gun with it’s muzzle pointing downwards. How would this be possible if I’m placing the rod in from the muzzle? Sorry if that sounds moronic but I just can’t envision the process--or maybe it said the gun had to be upside down, meaning the sights should be towards the floor, and I misinterpreted it. Oh well, time to search my history list for all the things I read. :rolleyes:

Cleaning rods pick up grit, mostly hard carbon, from the bore. So if you don't hold the rod centered in the muzzle, and let it rub the side, it will wear the crown. If the point between the rifling and the front face of the barrel isn't prefectly uniform all the way around the bore, accuracy suffers. If one point is worn down, the powder gas escapes by the base of the bullet as it exits the barrel at that point first and tips the bullet. As the bullet is spin stabilized, it can recover from this yaw, but it's better off if it doesn't have to.

That's the bore guide you want, but Mike's cut off .243 case will do in a pinch. In Mike's case, for about 20 years. :D

Probably the best way to clean from the muzzle is with a cradle that hold the muzzle about 6" low, like this fancy unit does. You could make your own, minus the tray & frills out of a 1"x5" board in half an hour.
http://www.mtmcase-gard.com/products/shooting/gunm.html

Bye
Jack

All right I found what I had previously read and am now clear on the subject. I interpreted the writing incorrectly as I guessed at the end of my last post. I’m not supposed to hold the gun w/ the muzzle pointing downwards; I’m supposed to hold it with the sights pointing downwards. It’s amazing how smart I am once I remember what that thing is sitting on top of my neck.

As soon as I get that muzzle guide I should be all set and ready to shoot.

If you field strip the rifle prior to cleaning, you won't have to worry about solvents and stuff running into the gas cylinder and the action - they will all be stripped down and out of the barreled action, anyway. You need to do this to clean the gas cylinder piston rod to clean built up carbon from them - if you don't you'll start getting a cranky bolt handle and lockup.

If you don't know how to strip down the M-1, get an instruction manual or talk to other club members.

Scheesh - this brings back memories!! The M1 was the standard shoulder weapon in my Army days. We used to strip them down in the barracks, run into the steaming showers with them, scrub them down with hot water, GI brushes and soap to clean the carbon out. Then, the bores had the H... scrubbed out of them with bore cleaner (a water soluble oil, basically) to get the fouling out. No one ever worried about the gilding copper wash because there was nothing to take it out, other than the bore brushes and solvent. At weapons inspection, they used white sheets to lay the parts on and dental mirrors to check all nooks and crannys!

Kdub, I'm glad you mentioned field stripping the M1 because I meant to ask another question regarding that.

I've read two manuals for the M1, the one from Springfield and one from the Army. In the Springfield manual, it states, "Disassembly should be kept to an absolute minimum." The Army manual says to do it "...only when maintenance is required."

Now I'm wondering, would "maintenance" constitute a simple cleaning or does it mean repair work and the such. Should I strip the rifle after a day of shooting and clean it thoroughly or will a cleaning of the assembled gun suffice (that is, if I can get to the gas cylinder without having to break everything apart)?

I'm just confused with Springfield's manual saying not to strip the rifle frequently.

Thanks again, you guys are wonderful.

You can pretty much break down an M-1 with just your hands and the few very basic tools in the cleaning kit. Disassembly of the trigger group and the bolt, plus sights should be left to the experts. Everything else pretty well breaks down easily. I suppose dedicated target shooters would leave the gas cylinder and rod alone until malfunctions ocurr, but in the old "Brown Boot" Army, we were taught to strip it down (sans the groups mentioned above) and clean the tar out of it.

One of my more amusing memories is that of riding in an APC and watching the gas cylinder plugs vibrate out of the M-1's racked in the center of the vehicle and go rolling all across the floor - don't know why that pops into my head when thinking of the M-1.

Somebody help him, he's experiencing flashbacks! Quick before he slips away. ;)

Thanks again. Maybe after so many cleanings I'll break it down and give it a thorough scub. I'll play it by ear and observe the performance of my rifle closely.