It’s time to catch up on what has been going on at Hatcher’s. Daniel Maughan taught a Pistol Cleaning class that was well attended and he has mentioned he is interested in having more cleaning classes.
Nick received $170 in matching funds from the board to buy cleaning equipment for Hatcher’s to use in classes. We need to setup some classes sooner rather than later.
I tried the RCBS automatic powder measure last night to load 100 rounds of .308 ammunition. It wasn’t as fast as I would like but I have a couple of ideas on how to speed it up. After getting my procedure setup I loaded 45 rounds in 34 minutes which is about an hour and 15 minutes which is about what it takes on my balance beam scale.
I’ll be around most of the evening if you have trouble making the meeting. I am interested in any ideas you might have.
I’ll submit the order to a purchasing agent for the supplies. I’m going to hold off on the lubricant for now as @DanielMaughan and I haven’t come to an agreement on what to get yet. Daniel’s is suggesting a lower cost alternative to the gun grease I like, but was doing more research on over application and sticking issues.
Thanks for putting up the meeting, I’ll see you all Thursday.
I’m guessing the process is submerge the gun in the cleaner and then submerge the gun in the oil? Sounds promising, any members interested in sonic cleaning please pop by the meeting.
I’ve been looking at M-Pro7 as an option as well. it isn’t water based, but can be diluted in water. Also, is said to work amazing in ultrasonic.
I’m wondering if we filled the sonic cleaner with water and put our gun parts in a plastic bag with the cleaner, we might be able to use much less cleaner and get the same results.
Searching for lubricant alternatives has been quite eye-opening. Multipurpose grease, while adequate, is less than ideal due to its tendency to attract dirt and fouling.
I found a DuPont dry film Teflon lubricant that is rated from -100 to +480 degrees, vs Tetra’s -100 to +750. Like Tetra, it’s dry-film Teflon, so reduced fouling. Unlike tetra, it is $5 for a 4oz bottle which makes it incredibly much cheaper.
I think it is possible that additional temp resistance would be useful, I don’t think that justifies the extra expense given that plenty of folks use ordinary lithium grease and gun oil without ruinous damage occurring. Getting to 750 is something I’d only expect to see directly in the gas system.
On the sonicator stuff, you found it. I don’t know if their cleaning solution is any more or less expensive than Hornady’s. If it’s cheaper let’s do that, since I doubt there’s much difference given that they’re just low-foam detergents with a couple additives. I want to do more research on the oil’s composition, though, since I have a sneaking suspicion it may just basically be Dexron with some added thinner.
I have actually looked at those quite intently; unfortunately, while they exhibit excellent tenacity and even better lubricity than the best gun lubes, they do so at the expense of temperature tolerance. Most have a temp range well below 300 degrees, which is the absolute minimum I would consider adequate.
Slide-Glide. Only gun grease I’ve used for years, and still working on the original tub. It stays put, has a wide temp range, and just works. Can’t go wrong. Sells itself!
I looked into that, but it only works at a minimum temp of 30 degrees according to the manufacturer. We do live in Texas, but it gets cold enough here occasionally to cause problems with a lube that doesn’t work below freezing.
Well, if you put together the info, I’m definitely willing to put the poster together. I can even do it in InDesign if you like it better than Illustrator.
