More dvise from some gun friends, Leslie you should join this firearms list I'm on too :_)

Burtonsville Bob [Add to Address Book]
To: Firearms Discussion List
Cc: bobcul@locul.com
Subject: [FDL] Re: Cleaning Walther PPK/S and a 1911
Date: Apr 21, 2009 4:07 PM
I am not familiar with the PPK series of pistols, but the 1911 is
another matter.

This is so common a firearm that there is lots of info on it. Just
Google the phrase "1911 cleaning" and you will get most everything you
need. Here is a somewhat detailed by-the-numbers check list. We use
something like this in our "Care and Feeding of your Firearm" class
for Women On Target. This is from memory, but here goes...

1) Establish a clear and protected work area (towel and pad if you
do not want to ruin the dining room table). Remove ALL ammunition
from the area and make sure the firearm is unloaded; magazine out,
chamber empty.

2) Assemble your supplies; Rod, jags, brushed, patches, solvent,
lubricant, wipe rags, Q-tips, old tooth bush(s), good lighting,
magnifying lens, tweezers or small surgical clamp, and etc. You can
really do with only the first few items, but good lighting and the
others will come in handy.

3) Perform the basic field stripping down to the major components
of; frame assembly, barrel, slide, recoil spring and components. Look
at any of the field striping guides on the net. The steps are;

A) Cock hammer and lock slide safety on (it keeps the slide from
moving).
B) Stand the firearm on its back end (hammer spur down) and
carefully depress the recoil spring plunger (serrated surface in most
cases) at the front below the barrel muzzle. Use the end of your
thumb. Careful here, it's a nail breaker.
C) With that plunger depressed about 1/8 inch you will be able to
rotate the muzzle bushing tab (the tab with the half moon cut that
snaps over the plunger) to the right or the left. It will go only a
little bit in one direction (the wrong direction) and further in the
other to fully clear the plunger. It will go far enough to pivot the
half moon retaining lip totally out of the way of the plunger so it
can be removed forward off of the recoil spring. You may have to hold
the slide totally forward if the safety latch allows it to move
backward at all so that you can rotate the muzzle bushing. WARNING TO
FOLLOW.
D) Warning, there is a big spring behind that plunger ready to
launch parts into orbit. Rotate the bushing only far enough to get it
out of the way, but still holding the plunger, so you can get a better
purchase on the top of the plunger. With a better grip on the
plunger, your thumb holding it in and that hand wrapped around the
front of the firearm, carefully rotate the muzzle bushing out of the
way and SLOWLY allow the plunger to be pushed from the frame, using
you hand around the frame and then the plunger and then the spring
that follows to keep it all in line, not bending the spring and not
launching things.
E) You have now gotten beyond the tricky part. Extract the plunger
from the end of the spring, extract the spring from its recess (if it
is very tight, that's ok, it will come out later) rotate and extract
the barrel bushing from the front of the slide.
F) Move the safety catch to off and with the firearm in a normal grip
(do not squeeze the trigger to drop the hammer) move the slide
rearward about 80% of its travel. You may have to jiggle the slide
and/or frame to get things to move easily, the recoil spring is not
keeping things in line at this point.
G) With the slide moving to the rear look at the left side of the
frame at the slide release button and the bottom edge of the frame.
There is a rounded notch in the frame that will align with a tab of
the same shape on the top of the slide release button. When they are
aligned, you can press the assembly pin (the rounded bump) on the
right side of the frame. This is an extension of the slide release
button and pressing it out of the frame from right to left will allow
for further disassembly.
H) With this pin removed the slide will then move forward fully off
the frame. Invert the slide and look at the barrel. Lift the recoil
spring out of the way. Lift the chamber end of the barrel (press on
it through the ejection port) just a bit and then slide it out of the
front of the slide. The barrel link (the small pivoting chain link
with a hole for the assembly pin) should be forward or lying as close
as possible to the barrel so as to be able to clear the opening in the
slide going forward.
I) Carefully lower the hammer, do not let it snap down on the frame
without the slide in place. Control it with your thumb or heal of the
off hand while pressing the trigger. Do not attempt to put the safety
catch on as it can over travel and cause problems.
J) You are now ready to clean.

4) Carefully inspect all components and note where things are
dirty. Wipe them as clean as possible with a rag. Inspect things as
you go to look for signs of trouble (cracks or unusual wear). Make
note of the wear points, you will be lubricating them later.

5) Assemble the cleaning rod, jag and patch wet with solvent. Pass
it several time through the barrel. It should be a snug fit but not
to tight, you want to thoroughly wet the barrel, not scrub it yet.

6) Fold one patch or a small piece of rag twice to make a small
squarish pad and grip it by one corner with your tweezers or the
surgical clamp to make a small mop. This works well to get into
smaller than finger size areas. Moisten it (not too wet) with solvent
and get to work. As it becomes soiled, start with a clean mop. You
will quickly see where junk accumulates.

7) Next use a tooth brush or Q-tips or both, then the mop again to
get the last bit of junk out of smaller areas and crevices. You don't
have to brush or rub too hard, there are a few delicate parts inside
you do not want to damage. About as hard as you would brush your
teeth is OK.

8) Go back to the barrel and use a second moist patch through it.
Take a look at the patch to see how much gunk comes out. We want the
final patch to be nearly clean. Use the proper size brush, moistened
with solvent and clean the barrel bore from chamber to muzzle in a
full stroke, all the way out of the muzzle and then back all the way
out of the chamber, about 10 full strokes in all. You may want to
secure the barrel by gripping it firmly in your left fist (assuming
right handed) and resting this on a rag on your bench and moving the
rod with your right hand. Now apply one moist patch and inspect it,
it should be very gunky. The brush loosened up a lot of stuff. Each
time you switch from brush to patch and after each patch, wipe off the
cleaning rod to keep as much of the debris as possible out of the
barrel. Back to the brush and then patch until the last patch is
almost clean, then one dry patch. NOTE; Place a small amount of
your cleaning solvent directly onto the patch or brush, or into a
small bowel (bottle cap) for dipping, do not contaminate your whole
bottle by dipping a dirty brush into it.

9) Now it is time for inspection. Use the magnifying lens (I like a
jewelers lope) and look at the muzzle and the first 1/8 inch of the
barrel for signs of copper fouling. You have to get the light angle
just right to see the gold/yellow copper. Now look down the barrel
back lighted with a bright white flat light source (large area bulb or
light on a flat white surface). Slowly bring the barrel closer and
slowly rotate it looking for fouling deposits near were the lands and
groves meet. You may see very small islands of fouling that you may
or may not be able to get out, that is not serious. If you see lots
of islands of crud, keep cleaning. You may want to use a copper
solvent if you see obvious signs of copper in the barrel, or just to
check for copper fouling. Moisten a patch with copper solvent, and
swab the bore a few strokes, then let it sit. Don't be too anxious,
it takes a few minutes to work, you can clean other things while you
wait. Then swab with a clean patch. If you see blue/green stains on
the patch, that is the copper being dissolved. If you repeat this and
the stains are much lighter or practically none, that is clean
enough. Like the minor carbon fouling, a little copper can remain
without serious harm if you intend to shoot occasionally. You can
clean more if you are going to store the firearm for a long time, then
additional anti-rust measures are also required.

10 Inspect the barrel lugs above the chamber and the corresponding
lugs in the slide. Clean them. Clean the inside of the slide, the
side rails and groves (Q-tips work here) and all the nooks and
crannies around the breech face, near the extractor and the frame top
side. Clean the magazine well top end and the feed ramp area with a
moist (not wet) mop and then a dry mop. You will be surprised how
much crud blows back down the magazine well area. Inspect and clean
the magazines while you are at it. Inspect the extractor area to be
clean and the firing pin in the slide to move smoothly. Depress it
from the rear about 1/8 inch with a small pin punch and feel for free
travel with no grit. While depressed look at the tip exposed on the
breech face to make sure it is a smooth rounded half-ball point.

11) Lubricate everything, if it moves, hit it. You can use any good
quality high viscosity gun oil on most parts and grease on a few, like
the rails, if you prefer. On the barrel, lightly lubricate the barrel
link at its pivot point and inside of its hole (Q-tip here). Wipe the
locking lugs with that moist Q-tip. On the slide, wipe the lugs and
the top of the slide with a wet Q-tip. Look for wear areas and lube
them. On the slide put a drop of oil at each end of the slide groves
on each side and one drop (a small one please) in the detent notch at
the rear of the underside and spread the oil lightly along the length
of this surface (it will show wear marks). At the front of the slide
wipe the area inside the muzzle with a wet Q-tip in the area where the
barrel bushing locks in. On the frame place a small drop of oil at
the detent plunger in front of the hammer and on the hammer moving
links. You can place a very small amount of oil on the safety and
slide release plungers but do not move the safety lever yet. On the
slide release wipe the pin, the underside and the locking tab and its
grove with oil. NOTE; If you over lubricate things, the excess will
just drip out. If you under lubricate things, wear happens. I tend
to over lubricate and then spend a lot of time wiping things down.

12) Reassembly; hold the slide inverted and insert the barrel into
it from the front to the back with the barrel lugs down to mate up
with the slide lugs. You may have to position the link forward and
down. Slide the barrel in and out of the slide several times, about 2
inches or so, to distribute the lubricant to the lugs and top of the
slide. Inspect the recoil spring guide rod, you may want to put a
plastic recoil buffer on it at this time, it will save a bit of
battering on the slide and frame. If you do this make sure the
firearm still functions with your choice of ammo and look for problems
ejecting and feeding. Lay the recoil guide rod onto the bottom of the
barrel (facing up) with the moon notch straddling the barrel. Invert
the frame and slide it onto the slide from the back of the slide to
the front. Flip the firearm upright and continue to move the slide to
the rear of the frame about an inch past the muzzle. Look for the
hole in the barrel link to appear in the hole through the frame into
which the slide release pin fits. When aligned, slid this pin in and
through to the other side, raise the slide release button up until it
touches the frame lower edge and then complete final alignment to the
point that the release button can be raised into the notch in the side
of the slide and pressed the last fraction of an inch through the
frame. NOTE; The detent holding this button in place is quite stiff
and pressing it gently with a very small screwdriver blade or the tip
of a knife (or fingernail) can aid in getting the slide release button
into its final correct position. Now move the slide fully forward and
back to make sure every thing moves properly and the barrel is
captured by the takedown pin through the barrel link (the barrel
should move only slightly, drop down out of battery (free of the
locking lugs) and stay forward as the slide moves back until it is
stopped by the frame. Things will rattle around because the recoil
spring and barrel bushing it not in place yet.
Place the barrel bushing into the slide around the barrel, align the
locking tab to the bottom, slide it fully into the slide. Move the
recoil spring retaining lip fully to the side (one way will fully
clear the spring) and insert the recoil spring into its recess and
over the spring guide. Take a look at the spring before this and note
if one end is ground or wound flat and the other is slightly smaller,
tapered perhaps and also flat. The spring is in the right way if the
larger end is out and the smaller end slips with some friction over
the recoil spring guide. You will need to wiggle things about a bit
to get the spring started over the guide. Depress the spring until
you are satisfied it is seated on the guide and release it. It should
extend an inch or so past the muzzle. Place the recoil spring cap
over the extended end (just a bit of spring remains showing) and
prepare to press it into place. Reverse your disassembly procedure by
pressing with the thumb on top, guiding the plunger and spring with
your cupped hand and preparing to rotate the barrel bushing with your
free hand to capture the cap when it has been depressed slightly below
the bushing lip. AGAIN, it is useful to place the safety lock on to
keep the slide from moving during this procedure. Depress the plunger
far enough to get the barrel bushing rotated so that the spring cap is
caught firmly (but perhaps not yet fully) by it and then take a
breather and reposition your grip to depress the cap again and get the
retaining lip fully engaged around the spring cap. You are almost
done.

13) Inspection; Disengage the safety and cycle the slide several
times. Everything should be easy and smooth, only recoil spring
tension and a few minor clicks and ticks from things moving inside.
Grip the firearm normally and squeeze the trigger to drop the hammer.
You DID remember to NOT have any ammo around, right? You still
pointed it in a "safe" direction, right? The hammer should fall
normally. Wipe down all the excess oil that is starting to appear at
the bottom and the back of the slide. Cycle the slide several more
times, note the added effort necessary to cock the hammer. Inspect
the hammer face for traces of oil, there needs to be a little as it is
sliding along the under slide of the slide to be cocked. Grip the
firearm WITHOUT depressing the rear grip safety lever and try to press
the trigger, use at least four times normal pressure. Nothing should
happen. Release your grip and then take a normal grip and press the
trigger to drop the hammer. Move the slide again several times, wipe
down excess oil and engage the frame thumb safety. Try the trigger
again to make sure the hammer does not fall. Finally, disengage the
safety and pull the slide about 1/8 to 1/4 inch to the rear out of
battery and press the trigger, the hammer should not fall. Return the
slide to closed position and press the trigger to drop the hammer.
Wipe off excess oil and store the firearm in a breathable case.

14) Easy, wasn't it.



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