Defence & Space

Poland’s WB Group Unveils Optionally Unmanned Ground Vehicle Prototype

During a presentation at the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade in Warsaw-Wesoła, WB Group unveiled a technology demonstrator of a manned-unmanned ground platform. This…

2025-04-30 | Jakub Link-Lenczowski | 2 minutes

Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall to join forces on centre of excellence for European Security

American company Lockheed Martin have agreed to expand their existing cooperation with German-based Rheinmetall AG. An extension of an already existing…

2025-04-30 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Run-flat inserts – an essential component of modern military wheeled vehicles

For many years, it has been observed that wheeled chassis purchased and operated by the armed forces require additional equipment to enable…

2025-03-07 | Radosław Niesobski | 4 minutes

When Trump Plays with Putin – Europe Must Arm Itself

Donald Trump makes it clear that Europe must defend itself and take care of its own security. It has taken…

2025-02-21 | Sławek Zagórski | 4 minutes

Russia Unveils New Cruise Missile

During a visit by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, to the Kapustin Yar missile test range,…

2025-04-28 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Polish Ministry of National Defence: There Will Be No Secure Poland Without a Drone Force

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz met with Polish manufacturers of unmanned weapons systems. The meeting…

2025-04-25 | Redakcja | 6 minutes

Rohde & Schwarz enhances military spectrum monitoring capabilities

Rohde & Schwarz advances their military spectrum monitoring portfolio by launching easily deployable monitoring systems, designed to help armed forces optimize their spectrum management,…

2025-04-21 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Rohde & Schwarz unveiled postprocessing platform RAMON IQzoom

RAMON IQzoom from Rohde & Schwarz is redefining the boundaries of signal analysis, by empowering armed forces to delve deeper into the…

2025-04-20 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

Office of the Polish Armaments Group in Brussels Officially Opened

During the Competitiveness & Security Business Summit 2025, held under the auspices of the Polish Presidency of the Council of…

2025-03-24 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Bambi Bucket Firefighting Baskets at Verticon 2025

During the Verticon 2025 air show in Dallas, the Canadian company SEI Industries showcased its Bambi Bucket firefighting baskets.

2025-03-17 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

Poland’s WB Group Unveils Optionally Unmanned Ground Vehicle Prototype

During a presentation at the 1st Warsaw Armored Brigade in Warsaw-Wesoła, WB Group unveiled a technology demonstrator of a manned-unmanned ground platform. This…

2025-04-30 | Jakub Link-Lenczowski | 2 minutes

Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall to join forces on centre of excellence for European Security

American company Lockheed Martin have agreed to expand their existing cooperation with German-based Rheinmetall AG. An extension of an already existing…

2025-04-30 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Galvion’s European Production Hub in Poland is declared Fully Operational

Canadian-based Galvion company has announced that their European Production Hub in Poland is now fully operational.

2025-04-04 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Ukraine: Fort-230A Submachine Guns to Replace AKS-74U Carbines

A photograph has appeared on social media showing soldiers of the Ukrainian National Guard equipped with new 9mm Fort-230A submachine guns,…

2025-03-26 | Rafał Muczyński | 2 minutes

Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall to join forces on centre of excellence for European Security

American company Lockheed Martin have agreed to expand their existing cooperation with German-based Rheinmetall AG. An extension of an already existing…

2025-04-30 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Russia Unveils New Cruise Missile

During a visit by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, to the Kapustin Yar missile test range,…

2025-04-28 | Rafał Muczyński | 3 minutes

CV90 Among Topics in Swedish-Lithuanian Defense Talks

Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas paid a visit to Stockholm, where he held talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on defense…

2025-04-23 | Rafał Muczyński | 4 minutes

Media: Australian Abrams Tanks for Ukraine Delayed

As reported by the Australian public broadcaster ABC, the delivery of 49 M1A1SA Abrams tanks promised last year to the Armed Forces…

2025-03-25 | Rafał Muczyński | 4 minutes

Creotech Instruments to Build the National Satellite Constellation CAMILA

The Polish company Creotech Instruments has signed a contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) to build a national constellation of at least…

2025-04-15 | Redakcja | 4 minutes

Thorium Space and Creotech Instruments Partner for Polish National Telecommunications Satellite

Two Polish space sector companies, Thorium Space and Creotech Instruments, have signed a strategic agreement outlining the framework for joint efforts…

2025-04-10 | Redakcja | 4 minutes
Shooting

Direct Action Curtiss — chest rig for a heavier caliber

Direct Action offers a variety of chest rigs, each optimized for specific tasks. The Curtiss model is designed to carry three HK…

2025-04-23 | Michał Ihnatów | 2 minutes

New logo of Belgian arms manufacturer FN

The Belgian company FN (part of the FN Browning Group) has presented a new company logo and brand tagline.

2025-04-18 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Michael F. Dineen Promoted to President of Streamlight

Streamlight, Inc. announced that it has promoted Michael F. Dineen to President. Formerly Chief Revenue Officer, Dineen succeeds Raymond L. Sharrah.

2025-04-10 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

Streamlight introduces the TLR-8 HL-X and TLR-8 HL-X sub

Streamlight introduces the TLR-8 HL-X flashlight with an integrated laser sight, producing a beam with up to 1,000 lumens of power, offering…

2025-03-18 | Michał Ihnatów | 3 minutes

Direct Action Curtiss — chest rig for a heavier caliber

Direct Action offers a variety of chest rigs, each optimized for specific tasks. The Curtiss model is designed to carry three HK…

2025-04-23 | Michał Ihnatów | 2 minutes

Enforce Tac 2025: Source Tactical with Ballistic Protection for Women

At the Source Tactical booth, not only popular hydration systems were showcased, but also personal ballistic protection—including armor specifically designed…

2025-02-26 | Michał Ihnatów | 2 minutes

Enforce Tac 2025 starts on February 24th

Enforce Tac is an international trade fair aimed at law enforcement officers, experts from government agencies, and representatives of the…

2025-01-30 | Michał Ihnatów | 4 minutes

POLSECURE: Holsters HPE Poland offer for uniformed services

At the 3rd International Police and Public Security Fair POLSECURE 2024 in Kielce, Holsters HPE Poland presented its offer for…

2024-05-01 | Redakcja | 2 minutes

New logo of Belgian arms manufacturer FN

The Belgian company FN (part of the FN Browning Group) has presented a new company logo and brand tagline.

2025-04-18 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Semi-automatic designated marksman rifle MSBS Grot .308 S20 for civilian shooters

Fabryka Broni Łucznik-Radom, a member of the Polish Armaments Group, has introduced the semi-automatic designated marksman rifle MSBS Grot .308 S20…

2025-03-11 | Redakcja | 3 minutes

Setting Up a Shooting Belt: An Example with Clawgear

To assist with shooting training and beyond, various belts and gear configurations have been developed and customized to suit individual needs. It’s…

2024-11-28 | Łukasz Kołodziejski | 14 minutes

Weapon light: a practical tool for everyday service. How to choose?

In the world of armed forces, where every second can determine the outcome of an operation, precision and effectiveness are…

2024-08-29 | Redakcja | 7 minutes

Over 100% increase in gun permits in Poland in 2024

The Polish Police have released statistical data on firearm permits issued in 2024. An increasing number of Poles now hold…

2025-02-20 | Michał Ihnatów | 5 minutes

Firearms In Poland 2023: Number of permits continues to grow

The National Police Headquarters has released statistics regarding the number of firearm permits and firearms themselves in the hands of…

2024-02-17 | Michał Ihnatów | 5 minutes

5 Best Value ATN Rifle Scopes Under €1500

ATN is a leading manufacturer of daytime optics, smart night vision, and thermal vision technology. The innovative features and ergonomic designs…

2022-11-11 | Redakcja | 8 minutes

MILMAG Visits Grand Power

Grand Power is a Slovak manufacturer of the acknowledged good quality firearms. Take part in our guided tour with English subtitles.

2022-05-23 | Redakcja | 1 minutes

TEST: Direct Action Vanguard Uniform

The Vanguard is a uniform set from the Polish brand Direct Action, designed in collaboration with special forces soldiers. There are…

2025-01-19 | Michał Gaweł | 18 minutes

EOTECH Holographic Sight – History, Technology, Practice

The holographic sight is a device known for nearly 30 years and used by professionals around the world. A favorite sight of many…

2024-09-02 | Michał Gaweł | 12 minutes

EOTECH Holographic Sight – History, Technology, Practice

The holographic sight is a device known for nearly 30 years and used by professionals around the world. A favorite sight of many…

2024-09-02 | Michał Gaweł | 12 minutes

Weapon cleaning for dummies

Why do we clean firearms? The answer is simple: so they function correctly and do not explode in the user’s face.

When propellant burns it leaves some residue in the firearm. This residue is a contaminant, and consists partly of very strong acids (mainly nitric and sulfuric), which not only affects the mechanism but also causes corrosion. Residue embeds in all parts that have contact with propellant gases. It would be very hard to give a definite list of these parts here as it is dependent on the firearm design but we can say that it’s mainly the barrel, the bolt and the gas tube. Copper is another type of contaminant to be found in the barrel. Rifling not only rotates the projectile but also scores it. This creates friction and very high temperature which leave particles of the projectile jacket (copper) baked on the of inside the barrel.

With firearms the working parts as well as the barrel are made with certain tolerances. These tolerances allow the firearm to function despite the contaminations being present. For some firearms these tolerances are minute (precision sniper rifles), for others are rather larger (AK-47). Despite these tolerances, at some point the contaminations will affect the weapon. Initially, this will result in stoppages and eventually may even stop the projectile in the barrel.

Methods of cleaning

How often should we clean the firearm? It depends, ideally every time after the weapon has been used. There are four methods of cleaning available: 1) mechanical, 2) electrolytic, 3) ultrasound and 4) chemical.

1) Mechanical cleaning removes dirt and debris by use of brush or other tool. It’s conducted dry and is not really efficient. Moreover, frequent mechanical cleaning can result in a shorter life of the barrel (rifling gets worn).

2) When electrolytic cleaning is employed the dirty elements are immersed in an alkaline solution and a direct current (D/C) is applied. It’s a very effective method but requires a lot of knowledge and is not recommended for the beginner. If not conducted properly it can damage the parts being cleaned.

3) The ultrasound method involves the use of ultrasound for the cleaning process. This technique is often used for cleaning bullet cases for handloading. The dirty parts are placed in a vessel containing cleaning solution, the effects of the ultrasound then cause the contaminants to separate from the parts. It’s the most firearm-friendly method but requires complete disassembly of the firearm but one has to have access to an ultrasound cleaner.

4) The most popular (and cheapest in comparison to the ultrasound technique) method is chemical cleaning. To be precise, it’s more like chemical-mechanical cleaning, and requires use of special cleaning solutions followed by the use of cleaning accessories. This process will be the focus of this article.

Tools

To clean a firearm we will need:

– a cleaning mat, so we don’t dirty our work area

– protective (nitrile) gloves as the cleaning solutions are usually quite harmful to skin

– a cleaning rod

– barrel brushes

– a pull through rod attachment

– cotton rags

– q-tips

– pull through patches

– paper towel

– a brush

– barrel cleaning foam

– gun oil

– grease

– corrosion protection treatment

– some containers for small parts and for used patches/rags

– tools specific to a particular weapon model

Cotton tips for cleaning rod, for .12 and 7.62mm caliber barrels. First one fits nicely the gas chamber of AK

Copper tips for various calibers – up to down .12, 7.62 mm and 5.56 mm

Cleaning rods: uniform and folding, more convenient to use when cleaning a weapon with a shorter barrel

Let's get to it

To start with, check the firearm is in a safe condition (unloaded and cleared), then disassemble it. Small parts go into a container, so we don’t lose them. After the parts are arranged on the mat and the gloves are on we can start the cleaning process. Try to keep all the necessary cleaning kit handy so we don’t dirty our working area. Keep some paper towels laid flat, it’s useful when waiting for cleaning solutions to do its magic. Wiping the gloves from time to time is also a good habit as this will prevent the contamination of already cleaned parts.

AK catching bolt lock before cleaning, after firing about 50 cartridges

Start with removing dirt with a cotton cloth. Some of the dirt will be quite loose and we will save on cleaning time by removing this, so the chemicals don’t have to dissolve it. Q-tips also come in handy now (flatten the tip with a multi-tool to reach those hard-to-reach places).

Just wiping with a cotton cloth before using chemistry, removes a lot of carbon residue

After these preparations, the chemical solution is used. Squirt the cleaning foam into the barrel (it will dissolve the baked on contaminants, copper and lead). Read the instructions, but it usually takes between 15 to 30 minutes for the foam to do its job. Use a copper or bronze brush attached to the cleaning rod. When making the first pass it’s good to blank off the barrel end so all the foam will get onto the brush. It usually takes about a minute or two of energetic work to clean the barrel. If the weapon has not been cleaned for a long time some more work may be necessary.

Rifle with foam injected into the barrel and set aside until the chemical softens the residue

When the brush has done its job, it is removed from the rod and a pull through attachment is added for the cleaning patches. Use those patches to collect the remaining dirt and traces of the cleaning solution. Do it until the patch leaving the barrel is clean and dry. Look inside towards a light source to check that it’s clean. There should be no black spots nor marks or any damage inside the barrel. I would recommend using a brush or a cotton patch at the end of the cleaning process, this way the remains of felt from the patches will get removed.

Felt pushers arranged in order of passing through the barrel (from left) – you can see how with each subsequent decreases the amount of dirt in the barrel

The foam works great not only at cleaning the barrel, but also the gas pipe

When cleaning hard to reach places it’s worth to help yourself with specialized instruments

The same bolt after cleaning

Instead of foam gun cleaning oil can be used. It’s squirted into a plugged barrel and takes about 15 minutes to react with the contaminants. The rest of the process is the same as described previously. Despite the foam being more expensive, I can say from experience that it’s also more efficient and I highly recommend using it instead of cleaning oil.

The next step is to remove the previously applied lubricant from the working parts as we want the parts to be dry. Then the working parts are sprayed with the cleaning oil which gets applied with a brush (a stiff toothbrush works good). When finished wipe the parts with a clean cotton rag and a q-tip as required.

Anticorrosion chemicals are applied in small quantities and only on the parts that are prone to corrosion (like metal springs). If you plan to clean the firearm regularly, there is no need to do this every time. If the weapon will be stored for a long time, apply the anti-corrosion chemicals. Remember that cleaning oil also has some anticorrosion qualities.

Polymer parts get the same treatment minus the rust protection.

Glock 17 after firing about 200 cartridges. On the close-up you can clearly see burns on metal elements and on a composite gun skeleton (including the magazine slot) as well

The barrel and the cartridge chamber and the Glock lock were treated respectively with foam and cleaning agent

Glock after cleaning

Lubrication

cleaning, working parts have to be re-lubricated. It is important for the durability of these parts, as a lubricant helps to prevent friction. Apply lube in small quantities only to the bearing surfaces of the working parts. Use a finger or a q-tip to spread the lubricant evenly – don’t go overboard with the lubrication as a thin layer is more than enough (relevant environmental conditions apply). Remember that lubrication (oil) is sticky and will attract sand, dirt and other contaminants, too much of it will cause stoppages. In fact, this is another reason for lubricant removal when cleaning as we remove contaminants with the lubricant.

Before storing the weapon, carry out all the usual functionality checks to see the firearm is operating correctly. This will save some unpleasant surprises at the range.

The above article is not a detailed how to. It’s just an introduction to a series of texts about firearm care, chemicals, looking after wooden stocks etc.

 

This article was originally published on MILMAG 01/2018

X