Cleaning the weapon

I looked forward to cleaning my weapon for the first time. There's something about tearing an instrument of self-defense apart, making it gleam like new (albeit it an oily residue on certain surfaces) and putting it all back together. After firing 50+ rounds at the range, my hands covered in spent powder and smelling of smoky potassium nitrate, charcoal and just a whiff of sulfur, I knew it was time. What kind of responsible gun owner would I be going to the range with a dirty weapon? Sakes!

Once again, I turned to the interweb to instruct me in the proper cleaning of my handgun. I had purchased a handgun cleaning kit (for $32.00) that didn't have any solvent or gun oil, nor instructions, so I had to spend a bit more getting that stuff. It did have a lot of neat attachments, most of which I still have no idea what they do. I grabbed several cleaning rags, spread everything out on the table on a clean towel and got to work.

Granted, 50 rounds is not a lot. In fact, I've heard of people putting several hundred rounds through their handgun before cleaning it. Todd Jarrett fired 1000 rounds in 10 minutes Why? as a personal record. Considering the guy's accuracy, the strength and stamina required to pull off such a feat, I'm the last one to question why any gun owner does what he does with his weapon, but I can't imagine what the bore of his handgun looked like. But for me, my handgun had visible powder residue on the slide, and friends, that just won't do.

For the most part, cleaning the handgun is a simple process. Take it apart, and clean the individual parts. Use the scrub brush (some people use a toothbrush) and solvent to clean the barrel then scrub and rub. My particular handgun is half high-tech polymer plastic, half metal. Don't ignore the polymer half. I found crud in the slide, more than I thought there would be. I was also very stingy with the oil, and avoided putting it in the barrel. Apparently doing so can cause problems such as jams and poor accuracy due to a buildup on powder and oil making a sludgy mess.

The hardest part was cleaning the spring. I did my best to remove the spring, but it just wouldn't come off. So, I used solvent, scrubbed, then a clean cloth with oil and wiped it down around the springs, then just a plain cloth, rubbing until it came away clean.

Putting it back together with a cha-chink as the slide engaged signalled it's readiness and willingness to be fired once again. Soon, my little friend... soon.

As an added bonus, yesterday I found a great deal on 9mm ammo. 12.99/box of 50, so I bought 100 rounds. Also, I learned, while at the range, that my mag actually holds 15 rounds plus 1 in the chamber. I wonder if that's going to cause problems for me down the line because the paperwork I received from Classic Arms said it was a 6 round mag (what?!) and that's what I turned in to the LPD. I should have paid more attention to it, but I only recently discovered this error while reviewing my paperwork.

More soon, bullet-heads.