Cleaning the feed ramp and throat on your semi-auto handgun

[Wizard]

I have 5 carry guns in various sizes that I use. I pick the weapon based upon how I'm dressed and where I'm going. I had taken my Walther PPK out of the rotation because it had started to jam. You don't rely on a carry gun with problems. I was going to send it to Walther but took a look with a magnifying glass to find the issue. A small burr had formed on the feed ramp.  I thought of ways to get rid of the burr but there wasn't enough room for normal tools. I thought some more and got out my Dremel tool. Using jeweler's rouge and the Dremel polisher, the burr was soon gone. I polished the throat also. It worked great at the range. Better than  at any time since purchase. I looked at the other carry weapons. Under the magnifying glass, they all had wear, tiny pitting and build up on the ramp and throat. I used the Dremel on all of them and went to the range. All of the weapons were smoother. My .45 Commander was much smoother in cycling. So, you might consider a little rouge and a Dremel tool to keep that area in great shape.

Wizard

[Lipripper]

Wizard glad you found the problem and took care of it yourself and now all your guns are reliable again.

[Smallie_Stalker]

I don't want to get off topic but I have never owned a hand gun and I have a question. How often do you clean your guns? And do you do regular inspections to find problems like this, or do you wait until they arise before you try and figure it out?

Thanks. Just curious as I hope to eventually move to a place where I can carry since MA makes it all but impossible for anyone to carry - concealed or otherwise. 

[Wizard]

Most handguns don't need cleaning very often. If you do clean them, every 500 rounds, field strip them, lube them and clean the barrel. Once a year, fully strip them, clean and lube. Revolvers need less cleaning than semi-auto. Periodically, run a brush thru the barrel.  Occasionally clean the cylinders. I used my weapons for my work and fired several hundred rounds through them weekly. I clean them every time I fire them. You do the extra effort if your life may depend on the weapon. As you fire and learn your weapon, you will know when it needs cleaning.  A St. Louis LEO fires an average of 70 practice rounds at the range/year.

Wizard

[Oldfart9999]

Wizard, when I went to gunsmith school in Denver they did repairs and customizing for the general public, we found most issues needed simple fixes and cleanup, a small set of machinist files and several fine small different shape stones would fix a multitude of sins along with a good cleaning.
Rodney

[Wizard]

I used a retired armorer from a federal agency to work my custom handguns. His tools were mostly simple tools and many were handmade. A good smith is hard to find. I have found a young smith near me who is very good and doesn't question the "custom" on my custom handguns. I hope you found a use for your training, Rodney. Sounds like a good retirement income for you.


Wizard

[SteelHorseCowboy]

I clean and inspect mine every single time they're fired. Even if it's only one shot to put down a copperhead in the backyard.
I also give my handguns a quick clean/wipedown/lookover about once a week or so, my rifles get the same treatment about once a month; a couple of my guns, including my regular concealed carry (Ruger LC9s Pro), are blued carbon steel or blued steel alloy. And I live in Louisiana. Blued steel WILL rust, blueing itself is an oxidation process. Any time you take a firearm apart is a perfect time to inspect it, even if it hasn't been used. You may find nooks and crannies that'll collect debris that you hadn't noticed before, or even some wear and minor damage that you'd overlooked the last time you inspected it. I do a detailed disassembly and clean after every range trip. Also to bear in mind, guns that have been used extensively will "bleed" carbon over time, even if they were previously cleaned thoroughly and hadn't been fired since. I just cleaned a small amount of carbon out of my 44 the night before last, and it hasn't been fired since around mid July.

In short; Smallie, no gun to my knowledge has ever been cleaned or inspected to death when done properly, so just do it often. Daily if you'd like. Especially when new to you, it'll help build familiarity with your new firearm. Also bear in mind there's not a lubricant on the market that doesn't eventually get gummy.

Like Rodney mentioned, the vast majority of "repairs" I do are a simple clean and lube, although that's likely more the case for me than it is for him. And the vast majority of the cleanings I do is to remove old dried up lubricants rather than fouling and carbon buildup. It's gotten to where I can almost tell exactly what sort of work I'm going to perform just by looking at the owner. Seems the young bucks have more likely done something stupid (.380 ACP or 9mm Mak through a 9X19), and a surprising number of older, avid hunters seem to think "cleaning" means "wipe it down, scrub the bore, and pour about half a quart of motor oil where that thingy slides back and forth".
I can tell by the smell whether it's motor oil or gun oil, and with some gun oils I can even tell the brand and type by the smell.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

As far as Dremels go, they don't even belong in the same room with firearms in my opinion, UNLESS they're used ONLY as Wizard did; buffing wheel and rouge.
I personally prefer to remove nicks, gouges or burrs with some of my fine stones, or fine emory cloth wrapped onto a wooden dowel or glued onto a wooden coffee stirrer. I used to use a Dremel to polish the results, until my youngest son burned it up while trying to carve a machete from an 1/8" steel blank. Now I use the same small wooden implements or small pieces of leather, each respectively coated in a polishing compound, and polish by hand. I choose the emory grit and polish based on the damage and what sort of material I'm working with.

[Oldfart9999]

I used a retired armorer from a federal agency to work my custom handguns. His tools were mostly simple tools and many were handmade. A good smith is hard to find. I have found a young smith near me who is very good and doesn't question the "custom" on my custom handguns. I hope you found a use for your training, Rodney. Sounds like a good retirement income for you.
Wizard

In this state Wizard trying to be come a Smith is very difficult and it's been more years than I care to remember since I did anything with it.
When I came back from school my Dad took me to Ithaca Gun Company, I was told they would hire me but I would start sweeping floors, in about 20 years I might wind up at a bench, union shop. They are gone now the plat has been empty for years. I had a Smith tell me he wanted me but had no need for anther Smith, he was a graduate of the school I went to. I was tossed out of a shop by the owner when he showed me an 03A3 Springfield they did a complete custom job on, after looking it over I told him the truth, I would not have graduated turning out the work he/they did, when he asked me what I meant I asked for a straight edge and showed him how the there were no straight lines on the stock, the checkering had more overruns than a government contract, the polish job on the receiver and barrel was splotchy so the blueing was also. Honesty is not always the best policy!
I don't own anything now, I was out of work but had a family to feed and house so I sold everything I had for the money to do it, took it in the shorts but the wife and kids meant more, don't regret it either.
I'm old school, if I were to buy anything now it would be a 12 gauge pump, Remington 870, a 22 and bolt action 30-06, that's all I need for hunting in this state and really The 06 isn't needed, 50 yards is a long shot for deer here, in the ADK 25 would be normal and that ounce of lead doesn't deflect much in heavy brush.
For protection here in the house, again a 12 gauge, no choke, legal length, #4 shot, won't penetrate the walls  and go into the neighbor's home and gives me a larger margin of error.
The other problem I have is unintentional tremors in the hands, the reel guys here would have a good chuckle watching me go through my reels but I can get them done, a gun, different story, one slip could be costly.
I admire what are able to do with your 1911s, I wasn't much for handgun or rifle target work, didn't care for punching holes in paper but I carried over all average for the schools Trap Team at a league at Winchester Denver, class B team first year, class A second year, I liked moving targets. We had folks that with a handgun or rifle were extremely good, most retired military.
Rodney   

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Rodney, if you'd like a good short-mid range deer rifle, man I'm loving my CZ527 Carbine. Bolt action, topped off with an older Leupold Vari-X III, 7.62X39. Plenty of "oomph" to take down a deer with a well placed shot but not so much "oomph" that it hurts my jacked up shoulder. Short, light and handy in thick brush, nice checkered walnut stock, and sub-moa accuracy from mine with me behind the set trigger. Ragged holes at 100 yards.

Only two downsides, one is purely aesthetic. The 5 round removable single stack box mag sticking out of the bottom is kinda ugly in some people's opinions (not mine though).
The other downside is, it's most accurate with cheap russian surplus ammo. The chamber is cut to C.I.P. specs. Sounds great, having a rifle that's so accurate with cheap ammo, but if I recall correctly, doesn't NY have a ban on hunting with non-expanding surplus ammo?
Still, at 100 yards, the worst group I've gotten from brass cased SAAMI ammo was around 3".

It's not too pricey for a good rifle either. I got lucky though, picked mine up, with the scope, for $400 out the door. A local gun collector was clearing some space by selling off his most rarely used guns on consignment at one of the gun stores I visit. I saw the scope, knew the rifle shoots the same ammo I already stock in spades for my AK, and snatched it up on the spot. I'd have bought a crappy rifle with that scope at that price, just to turn around and sell the rifle and use the scope on another one.

It's also the only firearm I own that I've done NO work to at all. It doesn't need anything done to it. Only thing I'd change, the safety feels backwards. It's a rotating safety, flip up/forward for fire, down/rear for safe. I'd prefer to have the safety so that it's similar to cocking a hammer fired gun.

Not my rifle, but it's similar. Mine has a straighter grained stock and the scope is a bit bigger. Even have a similar style sling, except the one in the pic is only half a sling. I have the M1907 sling and it's actually set up correctly. A lot of (non-vet) folks these days don't even know what the hell a loop sling is and end up tossing the "extra" strap.

[Oldfart9999]

SHC, nice looking rifle!! If I should bite the bullet and buy something it would be used. I know what to look for and very few guns traded in are even close to be worn, might need a good cleaning, maybe a blueing. I'm quite able to do a complete tear down and cleaning and blueing isn't a big deal.
Rodney

[SteelHorseCowboy]

This 'un here is actually mine. Missing the rear sight, because I guess the previous owner was part giraffe and had the scope almost all the way forward and the scope bell wouldn't have been able to clear the sight blade. I assume they lost it before putting it up on consignment.
You can tell I'm very much not related to any giraffes at all, I have it pulled back as far as it will go! Luckily I don't need it pulled back any further.
I didn't put those scratches all over the scope. Previous owner probably would have crushed the scope tube if they hadn't stripped out a couple of screw heads, that would have been about $450 down the drain. The rings were screwed down all the way on one side and as far as he/she could get them on the other until the slots tore apart. I got all that corrected, new screws, remounted, etc.
It's funny to me how many people don't know how to mount a scope, especially with google at their fingertips. My BIL wanted me to check his rifle out, figure out why he couldn't get a good zero.
I picked it up, looked downrange through the scope, leaned to the left and started making airplane noises.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"BANKING!"
That scope was canted so far to the left it made me dizzy. My eyes and mind couldn't reconcile what I was seeing.

[Oldfart9999]

Yep, some folks should be allowed to own a weapon but never, under no circumstances should they be allowed tools or to work on said weapon!!
Rodney