Tips on Cleaning the C-7

[gun plumber]

Hot water will work well at dissolving those carbon deposits.Just remember to dry the weapon and apply a high quality oil to all those nooks and crannies afterward.The C-7 is amazingly rust resistant.This is in part to the fact that 95% of it is made of aluminium.The bore and chamber are chromed(which will still rust if neglected,but is resistant),but the outside is not.One thing I should mention here.When looking from muzzle to breech,you will notice a small,circular surface at the bottom of the flash suppressor.Countless people will tell you to scrape this surface silver.DON'T! This surface is called the crown.It is the last part of the barrel that the bullet touches as it leaves the barrel,therefore,is very important at maintaining accuracy of the projectile.If you scrape this surface and raise burrs or damage the end of the rifling,you could be causing yourself more hassle than good.Also,don't be in a hurry to disassemble that trigger mech.If we find out,you can be in a pile of sh!t.
Any type of bore solvent will do a good job(use as directed),and stay away from "cleaner in a can",it eats bluing and nobody wants a silver weapon during cam and concealment lectures.
Any questions,feel free to PM me.

 

[bluesnoser85]

Always remember to clean the hell out of it after the obstacle course..

 

[Hoover]

Just put a condom over the barrel.. smile.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Hoover,

 

[SemperFidelis]

: Holy crap...why is it so hard to take care of your weapon?? One day it might take care of you. So put some ******* effort into it.  I cleaned my weapon the night before inspection, and if you haven't noticed by now...they check the chamber for residue and the barrel for "visitors"...they will sometimes check other parts but those are the main ones GENERALLY. So like I was saying...clean your weapon the night before inspection, and in the morning just grab one of those white squares and few mins before inspection dab it in the chamber until it comes clean and run one with the cleaning rods through the barrel ,because more than half the time, if you put on a lot of CLP your weapon will sweat and you will have "friends". 

As far as Farnham goes...we still had inspection, bolt included...best advice for the bolt cleaning is get a Gerber/swiss knife...use it to get the carbon off, dont be afraid to coat it with CLP especially in winter time.  Don't be afraid to clean your weapon, you're instructors are reasonable people, they will tell you to do something and give you a reasonable amount of time to do it in.  Whatever timings they give you, they can be met....they're not out to get you.  It may seem that way at first, but its about using your noggin and you'll realize that the moment you start to use it.  When we had our first weapon cleaning...we did a mediocre job, and our Mcpl told us we needed more work on it, and there was a bit of downtime when we could clean it,and that day we had more than enough time to clean our weapon.  We (in my section) did a pretty shitty job...one guy even had a pube in his barrel. :tsktsk: Everyone in my section got their weapon thrown into the ground barrel first...the WHOLE section.  The next day for inspection...we did a MUCH better job.  Moral of the story ....do it once do it right.  You'll be saving yourself grief and your instructors frustration.  Trust me...shit rolls downhill.

P.S. A tip for basic...just do what your instructors tell you to do, LISTEN to them. Thats really ALL the advice you need. You'll get what you put into it. 

 

[zipperhead_cop]

 Don't be afraid to clean your weapon, you're instructors are reasonable people, they will tell you to do something and give you a reasonable amount of time to do it in.  Whatever timings they give you, they can be met....they're not out to get you. 

What fluffy country club basic did you go on???  Did it include sailing, horseback riding and making those nifty macrame bracelets with the beads?  OOOOHHH, I love beads!!

 

[SemperFidelis]

and a puppy too....EHEH  *flips the hair

 

[Kat Stevens]

Back at the shacks after FTX on CLC (or whatever it is this week):
- dig out  your can of green SWARFEGA type hand cleaner,
- strip the weapon, place all gas effected parts on a garbage bag,
- grab a handful of hand cleaner, and LIBERALLY coat all the parts in the stuff,
- stuff a big blob into the breach,
- allow to sit for 20 mins, clean the furniture, buffer, etc,
- take the parts to the laundry sink, and pour the HOT as you can stand water to the parts, you'll be astounded at the colour of the poo that comes out,
- dry all parts thoroughly, and lightly oil,
- wipe again in a few hours, CLP will leach poo out of a rifle forever.
  Failing this, carburetor or brake cleaner will get carbon off anything, remember to oil after, as they remove any traces of lubricants....Oh, and WIZARD PISS (WD40) is your friend.

 

[Blackhorse7]

Heres a tip, do it the way you were taught to.  Period.

If they don't nail you for a dirty weapon, it will be your rack.  If not your rack, your boots.  If not your boots, your uniform.  They will find something.  And it's just a way to re-inforce that you have to take care of your tools.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Well, geez, thanks for that whizzbang tip.  I think the point here is that there are better ways than "oil, wipe, repeat...oil, wipe, repeat".  If you stuck to doing things the way you were taught on basic, you'd be one sorry-assed, inflexible little droid, wouldn't you?  It's not about teaching you take care of your boots, it's about making sure that the one object that will keep you from the War Graves Registry is properly and effectively maintained...

 

[Fusaki]

This is what I do with my C9:

1) Cover the weapon in CLP at the range, after you fire. Just take a bottle of CLP and hose the sucker down. The idea is to get this done when the gun is still hot, and waste as much CLP as possible in one big sloppy mess. A paintbrush (around 1" wide) helps here too.

2) Wait a little bit.

3) When you get back to wherever you're going to clean the weapon, detail strip it and run the parts under hot water. The idea is to wash off the CLP and the gunk that comes along with it. I don't know whether or not this is legal, but don't get caught with a rusty weapon (see step 4).

4) Dry off every part as good as possible.

5) Give everything a light coat of CLP, and do all the regular cleaning stuff (pull throughs, bore brushes, pipe cleaners, etc). Make the weapon clean.

6) If you have an inspection the next morning, wipe off as much of the CLP as possible and assemble the weapon.*

7) Just before inspection, give everything a "once over" with a clean rag, then a light coat of CLP. This way when your course staff goes over your weapon, he'll see it's nicely lubricated, but the CLP will not have had time to sweat out more carbon.

*If you don't have an inspection, give a light coat of CLP and return the weapon to your CQ.

Voila!! Clean boomstick!!

 

[Blackhorse7]

Kat,

So am I to understand from your post that the current way of cleaning the C-7 THAT IS TAUGHT, is just a half-assed way of doing it, and once you graduate, that there are better ways?!?  That's just stupid.  If there was a better and PROPER way of cleaning the weapon, I'm sure the CF and the manufacturer would recommend it.

Sure, you can take a weapon and dump it into varsol.  You can spray it down with WD-40.  You can take it into the shower, as others have suggested.  And all of these suggested tricks may get the weapon cleaner.  But the weapon is taught to be maintained a certain way for a reason.  If you want to risk the proper operation of the weapon down the road, be my guest.  But if your weapon fails at a critical moment, like for instance while on patrol in Afghanistan, then don't bitch about it if you haven't maintained it the way you were taught.  That is if you are alive to bitch about it.

 

[SemperFidelis]

well said blackhorse

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Blackhorse,

You have a point....somewhat. When on course, yada yada. However, anyone that's been in past coffebreak knows there are easier and more time efficient ways to accomplish the same end, without jeopardizing the integrity of the equipment. As to your varsol, WD-40 and shower, I've used all three throughout my 35 someodd with it being standard practice. Motor oil and varsol mix are the standard fare of tank crews. Never received a chit using it, while every CLP weapon got tagged. Some here are young and impressionable, some of us are pretty long in the tooth and have been caring and cleaning long before some were out of diapers. We don't require podium type lectures. Let's try keep it civil.....like it was.

 

[Blackhorse7]

I have to disagree recceguy, read Kat's last post.  It was civil up until then.  I'm simply pointing out that if you are taught to maintain a weapon a certain way, then do it that way.  That being said, I don't use CLP on my service pistol, I use a cleaning product made by Kleen-Bore.  But it IS made specifically for cleaning/lubricating firearms.  Unlike Varsol or WD-40.  And I don't stray from HOW I was trained to clean my weapons.

I don't want to be confrontational.  But if you read the tone of the initial post, it seems like the originator wanted an easier way to clean his weapon so as to not take heat for it on inspection.  Read my first post in this topic.  I'm pointing out to the troop that if he isn't gonged for his weapon, he will no doubt be gonged for something else.

My bad if I came off as a hothead. 

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Cheers

 

[Gunnerlove]

Quote from Armalite (remember they developed the weapon we call the C7)


"CLEANING SOLVENTS AND LUBRICANTS
The military Services generally use a multipurpose chemical called CLP (cleaner,
lubricant, and preservative) sold commercially as “Break Free.” Although it is useful if
nothing else is available, armament engineers prefer individual, specialized products. A
combination of military RBC (rifle bore cleaner) and LSA (lubricant, semifluid,
automatic weapons) is superior. High quality cleaning solvent like Hoppes no. 9 removes
metal fouling from the bore excellently, and Teflon bearing lubricants, such as Bore Cote,
are outstanding lubricants.
Under NO conditions should any lubricant containing graphite be used with your
rifle. Graphite can encourage rapid corrosion to the aircraft-grade aluminum used in your
rifle.
In addition to cleaning solvents and lubricants, the basic cleaning equipment you
will need includes a cleaning rod, brass bore brush, chamber brush, toothbrush, patches,
pipe cleaners, and the most important item: a lint-free cloth. ArmaLite® recommends a
pull-through cleaning cable for efficient, breech-to-muzzle cleaning."

Perhaps the manufacturers are on to something.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Yes, half-assed, that's exactly what I said.  Maybe in my 23 years as a Sapper, the "there's a better way" mentality rubbed off a little.  There is a better way always, what you are taught on basic is A way, not THE ONLY WAY.  Kudos to the kid for not wanting to get his shyte jumped on for a cruddy gun.  Thanks for weighing in too, Semper, as your vast experience is invaluable in this instance.

 

[Infanteer]

Kat, this is the recruiting forum - keep the target audience in mind when passing on advice.  Blackhorse has a point.

I just lick mine it doesn't taste good anymore.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Then I'm wrong.  I give, do it the book way, all the time, no deviations.