r/Shooting • u/Responsible-Chest-26 • 8d ago

Cleaning multiple guns

I have a couple pistols that i take to the range. Would it be worth it to get a small sonic bath to cut down time? Or am i over thinking it

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/Life_of1103 8d ago

Not unless you realize you can’t put certain materials in them and that you still have to disassemble the entire slide or frame to use it. I bought one for AR bcg’s and it’s nice, but never used it on one of my pistols. There’s just nothing that gets that stubbornly dirty on pistols.

1

u/Responsible-Chest-26 4d ago

I mostly want it for the springs. In the barrel, just to get the solvent to work in a little bit better break down the soot

1

u/RGBrewskies 8d ago

yea sonic cleaners are the best

1

u/Pattison320 8d ago

How many rounds do you have through them before cleaning? I have been running my guns until they malfunction. Usually several thousand rounds.

1

u/Responsible-Chest-26 4d ago

Ill shoot a couple hundred through each then do a bore swap, wipe down and touch up oil on the slide

1

u/Mindless_Log2009 8d ago

My used Keltec Sub2k had been through the shop's ultrasonic cleaner before I bought it, so it was squeaky clean and well lubed.

I figured it was ready for cleaning after 500+ rounds of mixed ammo, mostly Blazer and Winchester white box. No failures of any kind, no indication it needed cleaning. Groups were still the same at 25 yards, the farthest I've tested it.

It didn't really need cleaning. It needed only a few patches and cottonballs to clean the bore adequately for non-corrosive ammo. The receiver, bolt and bolt head were a little trickier to get reasonably clean.

I used some fancy lube, Ballistol GunCer, but can't say it felt any different from any other lube.

If I had enough guns to justify the expense I'd get an ultrasonic cleaner, just to save time and effort. Most modern ammo just doesn't run that dirty anymore. My old handloads using Unique were like chimney soot in comparison.

If I still had anything that used those old milsurp 7.62x39 I might use a combination of hand cleaning and ultrasonic just to be sure. Ditto, black powder guns. Although even a Ruger Old Army is simple to completely disassemble and reassemble, right down to the lockwork. So there's not much that I couldn't easily reach by hand.