I recently recieved my M1 Garand 30-06 and I love it, but I've got some questions about cleaning it.
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First off, it came covered in cosmoline, whats the best way to get that off?
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Then, Ive got some Nitro bore cleaner solution, is that okay to use?
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And finally, any tips on cleaning the gas system would be much appreciated.
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Thanks in advance for help with any of these questions.
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The M1 deserves the best care I can give it.
Learn how to dis-assemble into the different groups. Outside, start with rags dampened with kerosene and wipe the heavy accumulations of cosmoline off all the parts and stock.Don't wear your Sunday clothes and the location outside should be somewhat discreet from view. Put that first rag aside and wipe with another rag. Soak the bolt, and trigger mechanism. The idea is to get rid off all that you can. Use whatever new rags till the gun is clean.With a cleaning rod clean the barrel and gas cylinder. Wipe dry with a dry rag. Lube lightly the trigger mechanism. Reassemble, oil and grease the proper spots. This is a method of bonding and becoming familiar with the gun. That of course is a short tripe method, but it's basically what you got to do. Don't use gasoline! Brake cleaner can be used at the very end to get the hard to reach caked on cosmoline. A 2" brush dipped in kerosene also helps.
Strip it down. Follow the online instructions. Soak the parts in kerosene. The cosmo and dirt will melt right off. Don't use it on the wood. It will always smell like kerosene afterward. An old toothbrush will help get the crud out of small areas. Let everything dry. Wipe each piece with some CLP and inspect. Look for broken or worn parts. Reassemble. Clean the wood with oderless mineral spirits. I used to use brake cleaner to remove cosmo. It works well, but I cannot imagine skin contact is healthy. Gasoline is way too dangerous. Don't forget to grease your Garand before you take it to the range.
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The nerds will never understand the awesomeness of it.
go to surplusrifle.com He has a disassembly video on the m1 and he has instructions on how to build a cosmo cooker. i built the cosmo cooker to his spified instructions. it works very well and i built it for less than 50 dollars. the only problem that i found with his design is that it was too hot. it uses four light bulbs to supply the heat. i found that 2 light bulbs was more than enough to do the job.
Mike
British Columbia, Canada
when u get to surplusrifle.com click on general mantaince located in the top left corner. then scroll down until u see cosmoline removall.
Mike
British Columbia
Canada
Instead of using Kerosene, you can just use oderless mineral spirts for everything. Works great. And you definitely don't need any kind of cooker. Unless you have a load of rifles to do. A good sized pan, such as a oil change pan, to let them soak and hold the parts over while you use the tooth brush is very benificial. Just keep the tooth brush wet with new spirits from the pan. Mineral spirits, a tooth brush, and a couple rags will get'er done. Another cheaper option is just a can of WD40, but might take a little more effort. Just wipe off the heavy stuff with paper towels, spray one some wd40 and start wiping and brushing. This is what I do with small parts I buy that come lightly cosmoed. WD40 is great for breaking down grease. I even use it for cleaning up those old hard gease stains on the garage floor.
Ya, don't bother using brake cleaner. THats what I first started using but will never go back. Even the wd40 works better than that believe it or not, you just have to work it in and wipe/spray it off.
AND DON"T FORGET SAFTY CLASSES!!! And some good dish washing gloves are sure nice.
Good afternoon,I read all your replies to cleaning the gun but I had a more general question.
I have been taking my 1942 M1 out and shooting it every so often. When done I have taken out the trigger assembly, and the barrel and receiver and such.
I clean the barrel with Hoppes until the patches are no longer black, then lightly oil the barrel. Clean the trigger, lightly oil, then put it all back together and wipe the whole thing with some hoppes to clean it off, and lightly oil the stock and outside metal parts, then put it away in the case.
Does that sound about right?
How often do you need to really get in there and clean the gas system and so on? I am assuming I should have a pro take it apart and clean if I am a real beginner?
Thanks!
If you are removing the action from the stock everytime for cleaning you are effecting accuracy. It takes 40 rds or so for the action to settel into the stock. There is simply no reason to remove it or the gas cylinder forevey cleaning unless you are shooting corrosive ammo.
Heres what I do. After a trip to the range I clean the bore and wipe down all metal. Once a year I will do a complete tear down clean, grease . Thats all that needed. Any more than that you are wasting time and putting undo wear on your Garand
Another tip. When cleaning the bore position rifle upside down if useing a cleaning station. This keeps oil, solevant from running into the gas cylinder. The gas cylinder is supposed to be dry so when you do the once a year cleaning use no oil.
I just got my SG HRA last weekend. I followed the American Gunsmithing Institute's "M1/M1A Armorer's Course" video in disassembling and cleaning my M1.
It basically involves completely disassembling the rifle down to every last pin and cleaning with simple green and a nylon brush. After rinsing and hand-drying I put all the parts on a cookie sheet in the oven at about 150F for about an hour or so while I cleaned the bore with Barnes CR-10 to remove all of the copper fouling. I then soaked everything in Break Free CLP and let it penetrate overnight. The next morning I wiped off all excess oil and then hit the grease points shown in the owners manual that came from the CMP with NAPA's Lubriplate.
When I was wiping the excess oil off of the parts I inspected them all as well as I could looking for any cracks or signs of excessive wear or burrs. Everything looked fine so I took her to the range and put about 100 rounds through her. When I came home I field stripped it and cleaned the bore with the gas system removed. The copper fouling was insane (I was shooting HXP 68 stamped Greek from CMP). Even with using the CR-10 I had to scrub the bore two or three times with a Montana Extreme Ny-Brush. Finally got it all out so that there wasn't any blue on a wet patch passed through the bore. I then dried it all out and ran a patch soaked with Break Free CLP through the bore. I always run a dry patch through before firing and make sure the chamber is dry too.
I guess that was a bit of overkill to field strip the rifle, but I want to take very good care of her and I wanted to wipe out the inside. I'll adhere to the upside-down tip if I clean the bore without removing the gas cylinder. I read that you only need to really do the armorer's detailing once a year, but I would think that would depend on how often you shoot the rifle and what kind of conditions it gets exposed to.
You are going to wear out your Garand from over cleaning. Dont worry about the copper, everytime you shoot you will get alittle. Sounds like you did a real good first cleaning, after this when coming back from the range just run a few patches down the bore with cleaner, wipe dry , lightly oil , wipe down metal surface and you are done. Do not remove the gas cylinder every cleaning, you will prematurly wear out the gas cylinder splines. The gas cylinder does not need cleaned. It is stainless steel and pretty much self cleaning, and is meant to be dry, no oil.
Do your complete tear down and clean once a year
I'm used to meticulously cleaning my bore after each shooting with my other rifles. I don't think I would be able to fall asleep knowing that I have a rifle in my safe with a copper-fouled bore. Damn this OCD of mine!
I'm planning on replacing the barrel eventually anyway, but I definitely see what you mean about wearing out the splines. I was looking at some articles about peening them to tighten them up. There is a little play in it right now.
My first 60 or 70 rounds grouped pretty good and then they started opening up and raised about 6 inches or so. I wrote it off to me getting tired and possibly changing my POA slightly due to the rain that had started coming down or because it was dark and I was shooting under the lights of the range. But when I got home and went to clean her I realized that the gas cylinder lock screw was very loose. I have since read that it should be something like 120 inch lbs or something.
I'll have to figure out what tool/gauge I need to measure that as I tighten it but for now I'll just keep an eye on it and make sure it isn't coming loose when I'm shooting. I also read that it's important not to over-tighten the lock screw. The gas cylinder doesn't seem any looser now than it was before I shot it so I don't think I damaged anything, at least not significantly. But I imagine it is very bad to shoot it for any length of time with a loose gas cylinder lock screw.
Never used a torque wrench on a gas screw yet on any of my 10 Garands. That small amount of copper isnt a issue, you will do more damage with the over cleaning than that small amount of copper left in the bore. But do as you think is best
I'm not trying to be smart, but how exactly am I going to damage the bore by cleaning it? I use a nylon brush, a one piece cleaning rod and a muzzle guide to protect the crown. I never leave the CR-10 in the bore for more than 5 minutes and I make sure it doesn't get on anything other than the inside of the bore. After I run the Break-Free soaked patch through the bore I let it sit for as long as I can afford to so it can penetrate then I run a loose, dry patch through to get the excess before I put it back together and stand it up in my safe so the oil doesn't run back into the wood and mush it all up.
I am new this year to centerfire rifles, so I'm trying my best to be responsible and take good care of my rifles. I'm just the type that has to know the "why" part of the equation. What is it about cleaning out the copper fouling that is bad for the bore? Of course, from now on I won't be taking off the gas cylinder and I'll clean it upside down so that solvent doesn't run into the gas system. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'm going to peen the splines. Since I'm planning to get a new barrel eventually I might go ahead with that or maybe take it to Phil Arrington or Bob Gamm and see if either of them can do it for me. I *definitely* don't like the little bit of slop there is in the front sight, but I don't want to rush into anything like that and screw it up.
