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Lock Maintainance

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jamesthomas

70 Cal.
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
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How often should you take your lock completely apart to clean it? IE, Take the main spring and other stuff off and apart to clean it? I usually just give mine a good spray with wd40 then spray it with 91% alcohol then put a couple of drops of Rem Oil to the moving parts.
 
Go to your local auto parts store and pick up a can of spray brake cleaner. After every time you take your gun out shooting, you should include a thorough cleaning of your lock as a standard part of cleaning your gun. Simply remove it from the stock and take it out on the driveway and thoroughly spray it out with the brake spray. If you have an air compressor, you can use it to blow your lock dry. The brake cleaner will not only thoroughly clean your lock, it will remove all traces of lubrication. So, lightly oil all of the working parts of your lock with a good gun oil. Do not use too much oil and never use any kind of grease. Heavy oil and grease just give crud a place to stick. After lightly oiling your lock, you can replace it in your stock. It will be at least as clean and maybe cleaner than the day it was new. This is a very effective, simple and quick way to completely clean your lock and makes cleaning it every time you clean your gun a very small part of properly taking care of your gun.
 
2 maybe 3 times a year.
Gotta start the season with a full break down then depends on weather during the season,,
Then again after hunting for storage.
 
I clean my guns locks every time I clean the gun.

That said, I never disassemble the lock to do this.

Disassembling the lock by removing the mainspring and driving the hammer or cock off of the tumbler to totally clean the lock is just asking for trouble. Don't do it. :(
 
I agree. Those screws have never impressed me. Fairly soft and poor threads into a hardened lock plate. I leave them be. Auto Zone puts their brand bake and carb cleaned on sale pretty often and I stock up. Geo. T.
 
Billnpatti said:
Go to your local auto parts store and pick up a can of spray brake cleaner. After every time you take your gun out shooting, you should include a thorough cleaning of your lock as a standard part of cleaning your gun. Simply remove it from the stock and take it out on the driveway and thoroughly spray it out with the brake spray. If you have an air compressor, you can use it to blow your lock dry. The brake cleaner will not only thoroughly clean your lock, it will remove all traces of lubrication. So, lightly oil all of the working parts of your lock with a good gun oil. Do not use too much oil and never use any kind of grease. Heavy oil and grease just give crud a place to stick. After lightly oiling your lock, you can replace it in your stock. It will be at least as clean and maybe cleaner than the day it was new. This is a very effective, simple and quick way to completely clean your lock and makes cleaning it every time you clean your gun a very small part of properly taking care of your gun.


That's exactly what I do, except I use carburetor cleaner instead of brake cleaner, and I check the tightness of the internal screws.
 
bpd303 said:
I too agree, only take the lock apart if something is broken or out of order. Clean it well and oil it will outlast you. :thumbsup:


works for me! if it ain't broke, don't tinker with it!
 
Yep, that's what I thought. I've never taken mine apart in the 8 or so years I've had it. I've used the brake or carb cleaner also. So far everything has been go to go!. I was just looking at it the other day and the thought of taking it apart just kinda wondered in my brain.
 
In my humble opinion, taking your lock apart is sort of like having surgery....you only do it when it is absolutely necessary. Routine disassembly is not all that good of an idea when you can get it perfectly clean with brake or carburetor cleaner. If it ain't broke, don't go messin' it up by tryin' to fix it. A lot of otherwise perfectly good springs and screws get broken that way. Not to mention lost parts such as the fly in the tumbler. Oh the words that come out of the mouths of those who decide to take their lock apart. :redface: :shocked2:
 
armakiller said:
How often should you take your lock completely apart to clean it? IE, Take the main spring and other stuff off and apart to clean it? I usually just give mine a good spray with wd40 then spray it with 91% alcohol then put a couple of drops of Rem Oil to the moving parts.

Almost never. I seldom clean the internals. Just renew the lube. If I get water on the internals while cleaning the pan and exterior I wipe or blow it off and relube as needed. I use grease on the high pressure points of springs (old school mainspring and frizzens with no roller) and synthetic oil elsewhere.
Unless the firearm is improperly assembled the locks internals don't get dirty.


Dan
 
I have taken my lock apart several times when the tumbler notches chipped off. When I bought the rifle the lock was also incorrectlyreassembled and didn't work right.

Otherwise - never disassembled one for cleaning.
 
I initially disassemble to fit and polish bearing surfaces, then reassemble. After the initial disassembly, it's never necessary to disassemble again, until something wears out or breaks. Just check screw tightness on a regular basis. Carb cleaner evaporates slower than Brake Kleen, so old residue gets flushed out before the solvent can evaporate & redeposit it.

I clean & flush after every trip to the range. I've tried several different lubes & oils. The disadvantage of any oil or grease is that it attracts & holds dirt & grit. I use a spray silicone lube on all my rifle & pistol magazines - it leaves a dry film that doesn't attract or hold crud - I'll try it next cleaning session & see how it performs compared to all my other stuff.
 
Every time I clean the rifle I remove the lock, clean it with a toothbrush in water, work it over with a paper towel and Q-tips & pipe cleaners. I dry it then super dry it with a hair dryer. Next it is lightly oiled. Never have I disassembled a lock beyond removing the frizzen.
 
Like Dan, I only rarely take a lock out of the rifle, and oil as necessary. I tend to now use a small amount of Burrsthreo (sperm wale oil) which is no longer available or even just olive oil. These oils I feel don't damage the inside of the lock mortice.

Cheers

heelerau
 
Your question has no right, or wrong answer how you asked it IMHO.

If you are shooting like 100-250 Rounds, than I would think removing the lock, placing it in a pot, and soaking it in something like M-Pro 7, Hoppies 9, or some other firearms cleaner that will neutralize the black powder residue would work great. Heck you can even use a stream of Hot Water from the Kitchen sink.

Them put the lock in a warm oven on warm, or out in the Sun after you blow off the excess moisture. If you have nothing to blow it with like Air-In-A- Can, or the Reverse function of a household vacuum cleaner to blow air.

Tie the thing to a strong string, and play cowboy, like you are roping a cow, and the centrical force will remove the moisture.

Last Lube the Lock, and Replace and go shooting. Remember in the old day people live only to their 30's, and 40's so Locks, Rifles, etc. did not stay in an owner hands long. Also they got by cleaning stuff with Water, Oiler Oil, and Animal Fats.
 
Usually after shooting I just swish the lock around in a bucket of hot soapy water, blow it dry and reoil. However a couple of times a year I go ahead and do a detail strip of the locks so I can clean and oil all those little nooks and crannies that just never seem to get clean.

After coming back from a weeklong shoot with camping, all the locks need to be completely cleaned.

Many Klatch
 
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