Help w/cleaning & lubricating

[LittleFoot]

i recently purchased a pm9, which is the 1st ever gun i own with a stainless steel finish slide & barrel (i didn't get the blackened one)

after shooting 200+ rounds to break it in, i found i was unable to clean some areas of the slide and barrel 100% from the residue and/or gunk. i used a combination of solvent, gun scrubber, patches, a toothbrush and a thistle barrel brush.

please tell me whether or how much of this i should learn to live with, or in the alternative, some tips on how to get my gun the cleanest it can be w/o risking any damage to it. i would also greatly appreciate any info re necessary lubrication points, as the manufacturer is silent about this (unlike glock); photographs would be a plus! thanks

[oldguy]

First off what type ammo do you use, sounds like wolf brand.?
One method I use is an air compressor and fp10 seems to work great
especially on the small handguns like Kahr. The fp10 after time
gives a coating that seems to shield off dirt, I also use it in the barrel.
If you are using wolf ammo I suggest not especially in a gun like Kahr.,

[chiz45]

i suspect you're referring to the areas to the rear of the slide, or the slide rail areas? Those are indeed hard to clean. I usually spray CLP on the bottom surfaces,and use a toothbrush to scrub the gunk away. I suppose brake cleaner (or gun scrubber) can wash away the dirty fluid, but i haven't used that on my Kahr yet. You might try a toothpick in the rails as well.

My regimen is probably lacking, but i use 2 wet patches down the bore, followed by 10-15 strokes with a BRASS bore brush. An old .45 brush works well as a chamber cleaner. 2 dry patches, and my barrel is usually done.

I lube the barrel 3/4" off the muzzle; a dot on the area where the barrel hood meets the slide, and a drop on the rear of the slide/frame lockup. Actually, as this gun reminds me of a glock, i lube it like one ;f

[Colorado Fatboy]

CLICK HERE (http://www.goldenloki.com/guns/keltec/care2.htm) for a link on how to properly lubricate. It shows a Kel Tec but I use this for all my non Glock auto pistols. Seems to work really well.

[Michigun]

Could it be that maybe you're trying to clean some of the normal ‘staining’ off caused by the ammo?

(Think of them kind of like grass stains on white pants...)

These stains won’t affect function.

It sounds like you may just be getting just a tad carried away with your cleaning! ;) (For an example: It only takes me 15 minutes to clean my whole Kahr after a day at the range.)

[LittleFoot]

thanks for the answers thus far

it was mainly the surface of the slide where the striker pin contacts the bullet primer (i will try to attach a picture so you can see what i am talking about); if it is normal to see this on a stainless finish then so be it...being used to the glock finish, i was not used to seeing this stand out so much

i will try to be more specific...

with regards to cleaning products, gun scrubber safe on slide? brake cleaner? hoppes? break-free/fp10 okay inside barrel to protect?

with regards to lubricants, break-free/fp10 alone? break-free/fp10 w/ tetra grease? gun oil? synth oil?

fatboy...thanks for the lubricate link, but what differences for a gun w/o a hammer like the kahr?

[LittleFoot]

oh yeah...and what about the little slide rails that are molded into the plastic of the receiver...lube or not necessary?

[Michigun]

Will this help?

It dang well better as I spent a while on it!!! ;)

[Dandapani]

Nice, Michigun! The mod should sticky this thread!

[oldguy]

Excellent michigun, very helpful.!!! I had been using grease up to approx.9-10 months ago since then I have been using FP10 in all
spots on your diagram, I also use the fp10 in the barrel, it appears
to me with the grease I was using it picked and held to much dust,
dirt. Now I just shoot perhaps 100-150, blow everything off with
air, and clean/lube with fp10 and guns never run better. The biggest
improvement seems to be with my ruger 22/45 polymer frame.The fp10
seems to "coat/stick" over time without collecting dust.

[LittleFoot]

wow, its amazing what a lil' cajoling can do....thanks for the detail michigun! now THAT'S what i call resourceful!

everyone else should hang their heads in shame!

any thoughts on the burn marks? should i learn to deal w/it?

[Cagey]

Nice work, Michigun! And, it prints very well. :cool:

[Colorado Fatboy]

Michigun, that is some GREAT work! Thanks for posting.

I agree this thread should get a sticky.

[Jitterbug]

Nice work Michigun...I printed it out. Thanks

[Michigun]

After looking over everything again I should explain why I lube some of those points...

I don’t necessarily think that (8), (9) & (10) are all that important. I also think that if you lubed point (1) that you really don’t need to lube point (4) or visa-versa. However lubing all those anyways won’t hurt a thing & I definitely don’t think it would be considered “over-lubing” by any stretch.

My wife (She acted as my “editor”for this one. ;)) says that I should have explained how I lube points (2), (3) & (5) if I don’t use a Q-Tip for them... I thought that was only fare.(I was just trying to keep it as simple as possible.) For both points (2) & (3) I just place a drop of lube from its bottle directly on the part & then spread that around the whole surface with my finger tips. (A Q-Tip would work for this too, but I just found the Q-Tip to take too long...) For both point (5)s I just put a drop of lube from the bottle. (FYI, I clean the slide 1st before I clean anything else on my Kahr... this way I can put the lube into the rails & let gravity pull it down to the other end while I’m cleaning the rest of the parts... by the time I’m all done with those the lube in the rails has reached the other end!)



I also highly recommend these nifty little needle nosed lube bottles sold by www.brownells.com found here:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=1200&title=NEEDLE+OILER+BOTTLES

I’ve tried other bottles like it that worked just as good, but they had the tendency to leak... these don’t! They work REAL well for those times when needing a precise small drop of lube is preferred... they take the aggravation out of getting lube into the rails found on semi-auto handguns in particular.

Originally posted by LittleFoot
any thoughts on the burn marks? should i learn to deal w/it?

I say learn to deal with'em... I have! They won't hurt a thing as they're just stains.

Originally posted by Cagey
Nice work, Michigun! And, it prints very well. :cool:

Thanks, that was exactly what I was going for!

[JCM298]

Michigun,

Thanks for the lube info. I learned a few things. Can I post a copy of that on the pistolsmith Kahr forum?

Thanks,

John

[chiz45]

Originally posted by JCM298
Michigun,

Thanks for the lube info. I learned a few things. Can I post a copy of that on the pistolsmith Kahr forum?

Thanks,

John

i'd like to pirate the cleaning pic for the Kahr yahoogroup as well!!

[Michigun]

Have at it guys! ^c

[JCM298]

Thanks. I'm sure it will appreciated,

John

EDITED:

I tried posting a direct link to your attachment but I couldn't do it. I know more about shooting than I do about computers. I hate these "devil's devices". Anyway, I did post a hot link to this site and Kahr people can follow it.

If you are a member, could you post your attachment at:

http://www.pistolsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=22398

Thanks,

John

[Michigun]

Originally posted by JCM298
If you are a member, could you post your attachment at:

Yup, I'm a member & have this all set for ya.

[oldfella]

Here are two lubricant products you all might want to consider:

http://www.corrosionx.com/gun_use.html

http://www.jardinescustom.com/accessories.html

[Michigun]

I like my Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil… never evaporates or burns off during long shooting sessions!

Been using it for years now… I use Shooter’s Choice &/or “rubbing alcohol ‘ for actual cleaning.

I never lube my bores after I clean them… the very last thing they see is a patch soaked in “rubbing alcohol” to remove any traces of CLP, which is what I use to “deactivate” the trace amounts of Shooters Choice left in the bore.

[drofnas]

Michigun!

[LittleFoot]

thanks for the tips guys...

i'm going to give Eezox a try...several reviews and forum chat rated it extremely high or best for corrosion protection, although several chat members indicated they use it in conjunction with other products for lubrication (although i suspect many perhaps just feel more comfortable with a more traditional "wet" lubricant)

it did not go unnoticed by me that the maker of fp10 (a competitor's product mentioned in oldguy's posts) features a lubrication test on their website which rates Eezox a very close second best....usually, competitors slam each other on these "tests", so I took this as a sign of respect

since i intend to pocket carry, a "dry" lubricant obviously appeals to me, as does the extreme corrosion protection

am i wrong to feel this way?

[oldguy]

Littlefoot cleaning products is like ammo each person will swear by his favorite brand, I've tried Eezox and I like it however FP10 seems
to give a more smooth function on moving parts, I also use it in barrel, wet cloth push thru a few times then dry cloth one time.
Accuracy over a period of weeks seem better, because of fp10 or me,
not sure. I can tell you I have hundreds of products purchased over
the years that just dident work, grease can be helpful used in "small"
amounts however it is a dust collector, therefore if using grease
gun requires more cleaning. Most oil type products work over a short period the fp10 "seems" to remain on part.
I believe Eezox will mail a free sample give it a try.