Gun cleaning....

[OccamsRazor]

I know this is rehashed, but I wanted to make a point.

I went for an interview today for a short-term EP gig.

They wanted me to take a physical, interview and range test.

Passed the physical no problem; likewise the interview.

When we got to the range, I informed the detail lead and client rep I would be shooting the weapon I plan to carry, my satin Walther PPK in .380.

Well.

Up to the line, passed my safety and function checks, sighted in, breathing properly, squuuueeeeezzzzziiiiiiiinnnnnggggg the trigg-

Click.

What?

Screw it, bad round. Next one chambered.

Click.

WHAT?

Again.

Click.

Rounds on the lane table indicated a light strike on all three.

I rented a Glock 23 and aced the quals, but learned a lesson.

Clean, clean and re-clean, as Bill Warnock suggested.

The pin and spring were clogged in their little channel with oil and some carbon I must've missed the last time I cleaned it, along with fibers from concealed carry and what might have been skin flakes from carry under my shirt.

Better to learn this in training on a range than on the street when confronted with a cracked-up felon with a lust for my cash.

Clean, clean and re-clean.

[CAPTAIN KOOLAID]

Gun cleaning....

A great cleaning tool powder blast.

[Andy Taylor]

Brake cleaner from an auto parts store works great, but be sure to lubricate when finished.

[Bill Warnock]

I know this is rehashed, but I wanted to make a point.

I went for an interview today for a short-term EP gig.

They wanted me to take a physical, interview and range test.

Passed the physical no problem; likewise the interview.

When we got to the range, I informed the detail lead and client rep I would be shooting the weapon I plan to carry, my satin Walther PPK in .380.

Well.

Up to the line, passed my safety and function checks, sighted in, breathing properly, squuuueeeeezzzzziiiiiiiinnnnnggggg the trigg-

Click.

What?

Screw it, bad round. Next one chambered.

Click.

WHAT?

Again.

Click.

Rounds on the lane table indicated a light strike on all three.

I rented a Glock 23 and aced the quals, but learned a lesson.

Clean, clean and re-clean, as Bill Warnock suggested.

The pin and spring were clogged in their little channel with oil and some carbon I must've missed the last time I cleaned it, along with fibers from concealed carry and what might have been skin flakes from carry under my shirt.

Better to learn this in training on a range than on the street when confronted with a cracked-up felon with a lust for my cash.

Clean, clean and re-clean.

Young man, I am so glad you never had to deploy your .380 in a real life situation.
That is the 10th and last of the Ten Deadly Sins or Ten Commandments of Security and Law Enforcement.
Remember the last sentence, "What is the sense of carrying any firearm you do not know how to use or may not work?"
Thanks for posting that and press that lesson upon your peers and those whom you supervise.
Thanks also for the plug! I get emotional at funerals and will probably be distraught at my own.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[Hank1]

Young man, I am so glad you never had to deploy your .380 in a real life situation.
That is the 10th and last of the Ten Deadly Sins or Ten Commandments of Security and Law Enforcement.
Remember the last sentence, "What is the sense of carrying any firearm you do not know how to use or may not work?"
Thanks for posting that and press that lesson upon your peers and those whom you supervise.
Thanks also for the plug! I get emotional at funerals and will probably be distraught at my own.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

Once again, Mr. Warnock is right! Atleast you found out during a training session instead of a real life and death scenario.

Be Safe,

Hank

[Curtis Baillie]

Anyone who has been battle-tested will attest to the importance of keeping your weapon clean. At times it's more important than eating your next meal.

BTW - I would change the title of this thread to 'Weapon Cleaning' - Anyone who has been through USMC Bootcamp knows the difference.

[OccamsRazor]

Young man, I am so glad you never had to deploy your .380 in a real life situation.
That is the 10th and last of the Ten Deadly Sins or Ten Commandments of Security and Law Enforcement.
Remember the last sentence, "What is the sense of carrying any firearm you do not know how to use or may not work?"
Thanks for posting that and press that lesson upon your peers and those whom you supervise.
Thanks also for the plug! I get emotional at funerals and will probably be distraught at my own.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

I am glad as well. I break down and clean my Remington home-defense 870 at least once a week, primarily due to it's location near a furnace vent...It get lots of dust, so short of keeping it sealed in a plastic bag and therefore not quickly (as in under 5 seconds at 3:30 am) accessible, I do what I can.

I clean my handguns and rifles after I shoot them, without fail, but I never, until now, tried the patented Warnock's Sure Clean Method.

As for your funeral, I'm sure, should we ask for you then, we will find you a grave man.

[Chucky]

Anyone who has been battle-tested will attest to the importance of keeping your weapon clean. At times it's more important than eating your next meal.

BTW - I would change the title of this thread to 'Weapon Cleaning' - Anyone who has been through USMC Bootcamp knows the difference.

Curt would you be referring to "This is my weapon and this is my gun. My weapon is for shooting and my gun is for fun." Just a wild A.s guess AKA WAG

[Bill Warnock]

Anyone who has been battle-tested will attest to the importance of keeping your weapon clean. At times it's more important than eating your next meal.

BTW - I would change the title of this thread to 'Weapon Cleaning' - Anyone who has been through USMC Bootcamp knows the difference.

Curt I thought Air Force Police NCO and officers were fanatics on weapons cleaning until I met two Marines, Major R A Rainbolt, a mustang, and GNYSGT Joseph Hollingshead, Marine Barracks, NOB Guam. We asked them to instruct doctors, nurses and corpsman from the then 3960th Combat Support Group, 3d Air Division, Andersen AFB. This was in preparation to their deployment to Viet Nam. Before we went out on the known distance range, the Chief Nurse took off her blouse and bra and showed all of us, especially the nurses, burned off nipples thanks to North Korean officers. We were all stunned. She told all of us there were weapons around the field hospital but nobody knew how to use them. When she came back stateside, she damn well learned how to shoot both a pistol and rifle.
Those Marines had all those medics fire everything in military inventory as well as AK-47 and some Mauser 8mm rifles Charlie got from the French and Lord only knows the other weapons. After these folks fired these weapons, the Marines taught them and some of APs how to take down carbines, M-1, M-14s and M-16A1 rifles and pour raw linseed oil on the wooden receiver groups. Wow, the steam that generated! Then came the ramrods, bore brushes and patches.
Curt, I've never before thought of tripling a soaked patch, standing on the arms of a ramrod and pulling it through a barrel, both pistols and rifles. Got the hide taken off of several hands but all of learned.
GNY Hollingshead told all of us to never blame the weapon when it malfunctioned, it was your carelessness, you didn't treat it right. Before you eat a meal, that weapon is to be thoroughly cleaned. You can survive on an empty stomach. You die with a faulty or dirty weapon.
As a civilian technician, policeman and later as a conductor of security surveys, I tried my level best to drive home those lessons learned. As a result, I wrote some stinging reports.
Curt, thanks for giving me an opportunity to relate those incidents from 1964-1965. Semper FI, friend.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[Hank1]

the Chief Nurse took off her blouse and bra and showed all of us, especially the nurses, burned off nipples thanks to North Korean officers. We were all stunned.

Mr. Warnock~
I have to say that I am flabergasted and stunned myself!

Be Safe,

Hank

[gcmc security part 2]

I remember seeing some little poem about difference between a Soldier/Marine/Anyone serving in combat depending on who sent the email and a civilian stateside.

I can't remember how the whole thing went but at one point it states "He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never forgets to clean his weapon"

So true!

[Bill Warnock]

Mr. Warnock~
I have to say that I am flabergasted and stunned myself!

Be Safe,

Hank

Hank, it made a lot of us sick. One young medic and a 2dLt nurse ran off the range and threw up. I believe to the core of my soul her sharing what happened to her with all of us, especially the medical personnel, the true horrors of incidents within a war.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

[NRM_Oz]

I am thankful for my mentors in my younger days who insisted on ramming life's lessons down my throat so I would learn the easy way. Little things like always following a gear check before leaving the house (pens, notebook, licences, wallet, mobile phones, and other relevant gear) is standard as I have never left the house without any equipment needed for my tasks.

I still reset my watch every week (Wednesday - W for Watch) and check the edge on the Swiss Army Knife I have carried with me for years. Perhaps working CPP I was made to be paranoid about my firearm and the years in the reserves reminded me of always checking your weapons and a routine clean every week (even a simple wipe over) can make the difference in a SHTF scenario.

[Curtis Baillie]

Curt I thought Air Force Police NCO and officers were fanatics on weapons cleaning until I met two Marines, Major R A Rainbolt, a mustang, and GNYSGT Joseph Hollingshead, Marine Barracks, NOB Guam. We asked them to instruct doctors, nurses and corpsman from the then 3960th Combat Support Group, 3d Air Division, Andersen AFB. This was in preparation to their deployment to Viet Nam. Before we went out on the known distance range, the Chief Nurse took off her blouse and bra and showed all of us, especially the nurses, burned off nipples thanks to North Korean officers. We were all stunned. She told all of us there were weapons around the field hospital but nobody knew how to use them. When she came back stateside, she damn well learned how to shoot both a pistol and rifle.
Those Marines had all those medics fire everything in military inventory as well as AK-47 and some Mauser 8mm rifles Charlie got from the French and Lord only knows the other weapons. After these folks fired these weapons, the Marines taught them and some of APs how to take down carbines, M-1, M-14s and M-16A1 rifles and pour raw linseed oil on the wooden receiver groups. Wow, the steam that generated! Then came the ramrods, bore brushes and patches.
Curt, I've never before thought of tripling a soaked patch, standing on the arms of a ramrod and pulling it through a barrel, both pistols and rifles. Got the hide taken off of several hands but all of learned.
GNY Hollingshead told all of us to never blame the weapon when it malfunctioned, it was your carelessness, you didn't treat it right. Before you eat a meal, that weapon is to be thoroughly cleaned. You can survive on an empty stomach. You die with a faulty or dirty weapon.
As a civilian technician, policeman and later as a conductor of security surveys, I tried my level best to drive home those lessons learned. As a result, I wrote some stinging reports.
Curt, thanks for giving me an opportunity to relate those incidents from 1964-1965. Semper FI, friend.
Enjoy the day,
Bill

Thank you for your post. I was very serious when I made that statement. After participating in a day long battle with NVA troops and feeling like I couldn't walk another step, we dug in a circle perimeter, for the night, figuring they would attempt to overrun us that night. As tired and hungry I was that night, the first thing I did was clean my weapon. The word was sent down the line that the NVA were grouping and to prepare for hand to hand combat. Within what seemed just a few minutes after that Spooky (aka Puff the Magic Dragon) arrived and started laying down lines of fire and flares. Spooky stayed with us through the entire night and at daybreak we found the enemy had pulled out leaving their dead behind. Another thing I learned in the Marines, leave no one behind.

[Hank1]

Thank you for your post. I was very serious when I made that statement. After participating in a day long battle with NVA troops and feeling like I couldn't walk another step, we dug in a circle perimeter, for the night, figuring they would attempt to overrun us that night. As tired and hungry I was that night, the first thing I did was clean my weapon. The word was sent down the line that the NVA were grouping and to prepare for hand to hand combat. Within what seemed just a few minutes after that Spooky (aka Puff the Magic Dragon) arrived and started laying down lines of fire and flares. Spooky stayed with us through the entire night and at daybreak we found the enemy had pulled out leaving their dead behind. Another thing I learned in the Marines, leave no one behind.

First let me begin by saying that I am not a vetern like Mr. Warnock and yourself. So, I admire all that have served. I have seen video of what Spooky flights can do. I know being there is not the same thing as watching the television! Gotta love air superiority and ground support!

Be Safe,

Hank