MC25 | Grey Arsenal

Well, I said I would get to this eventually so here goes. How to get a new shooter up and running with a basic cleaning kit. I’m not going to go into detail here on the cleaning process, that would best be covered in individual guides- but we’ll do a basic overview of the process and what bits and pieces you’ll want in your kit to let you do so.

So first off, basic break down of the process you should be following as soon as possible after shooting.

ALWAYS Verify firearms are unloaded and remove any ammunition from the workspace.
Field Strip (or as far down as you’re personally comfortable with and feel is necessary at the time, the deeper the better) firearms used one at a time.
Give all parts a brief wipe down with a clean and dry rag (or cloth patch if you like).
Spray parts and surfaces down with MC25 Solvent (my preference, plus it smells nice) and allow to set briefly, or, if you like, simply spray or wipe with a rag/patch soaked with CLP.
Spray chamber and inside of barrel liberally with solvent of choice.
Wipe Solvent / CLP soaked parts with clean rag / patch to remove initial fouling. Repeat above steps until rag / patches return clean results.
Use CLP soaked (followed by dry) Q-tips (seriously, click link, way better than the ones for your ears) to detail clean Chamber, Breechface, Lugs, and other detailed areas. Use pipe cleaners (the absorbent kind, not craft pipe cleaners) to get into harder to reach spots. Additionally, a toothpick or dental pick wrapped in one layer of thin cloth works pretty well for buildup in tight crevices. Use solvent-soaked toothbrush for very fouled areas, especially fouling on intricate areas.
Run caliber–correct Boresnake through barrel at least 3 times, ALWAYS from Chamber -> Muzzle. NEVER pull through from Muzzle end to Chamber. Wipe down the feed ramp with CLP soaked rag / patch again, just for good measure.
Wipe all parts down with dry rag / patches. At this point, there should be minimal to no fouling showing on any cleaning material after wipes.
Lubricate per needs of your firearm with oil and/or grease*
Reassemble firearm and wipe off excess oils. You may elect to SPARINGLY apply a bit of CLP to a rag and rub a protective coating on the exterior metal surfaces of the firearm. This will depend on storage and intended further use, but can be of benefit when the firearm is going back in a safe for a while.
Cycle the weapon’s action liberally to distribute lubricants.

*Opinions on lubricants is another hot-button issue. My personal theory here: If you have the money to spend, by all means, Mil-Comm makes great products, and my friends who’ve used their stuff where their life depended on it swear by it. BUT, on a budget, I figure any jackoff in their basement can slap a cool logo and guarantee on a bottle of mineral oil and come up with a story on how long they spent researching it, then charge an arm and leg for it. Know who does spend a ton of verified money on high-performance lubricants that need to hold up to a variety of environmental conditions for thousands of hours of intense use? Automotive lubricant companies, that’s who. Enter the cheapest-per-volume high-performance firearm lubricant you’ll find, and likely one purchase will keep you lubing for years:

That’s right. It’s good enough for moving parts in a metal box full of explosions driving a shaft to several thousand revolutions per minute for ~450,000 hours before you should replace it, in nearly any environment you’ll find on Earth. I think it’ll hold up just fine keeping a couple of surfaces and moving parts slick over the course of a few hundred cycles before it’s wiped off and reapplied. Similar logic applies to grease- Mil-Comm stuff is the shit, and recommended by SIG for their products. But Lucas Oil White Lithium Grease is hard to beat with it’s track record and price point.

Additional thoughts-

A brass brush, and traditional steel rod with brush attachments are still good to have on hand in case of heavy fouling.
A bottle of Windex (or generic ammonia based glass cleaner) is good to have if you’re planning on shooting corrosive surplus ammunition. Just be sure to clean properly afterwards. The ammonia doesn’t replace a step in the process, only adds one before you do the first round of solvent.
Seriously CLP is awesome. Have some. Have extra. This stuff works for all kinds of stuff, from sticky door locks, to bicycle maintenance.
A box of some sort is nice. I honestly can’t remember from where mine originally came into being. I believe it was a hard case for one of my father’s old electric grooming devices. Perfect size for the range bag though, so it just kind of stuck. Small tool or tackle boxes work pretty well though.
Medical exam gloves are awesome to use while cleaning. You will get fouling all over your hands. You will get solvent all over your hands. You will get lubricant all over your hands. The pleasant smelling MC25 isn’t too bad to get on yourself, but still best to avoid getting most of these chemicals all over yourself. Use protection my friends.
A Bore Light, such as the one mentioned in a previous post, is a great additional tool to have in the kit, so you can have a look in tight places, and check how spic & span your barrel interior is after running those boresnakes through.
As far as a toothbrush, a military-style one that has the large and small bristle area is awesome, but what do I always have around? Worn out former dental toothbrush, after good cleaning of course. They last about the same interval anyway.
Additionally, a small screwdriver set and punches (as needed by your particular firearms) are good to keep on hand in your kit.

Enjoy, and shoot clean.

Well, I intend to do a more in depth review and teardown guide on this handgun, but since an issue came up that required a quick fix, I thought I’d document and share.

First some background on this firearm. This little Colt is yet another marvel of turn-of-the-century design by John Moses Browning, predating the 1911 by a couple of years, but sharing some design features and having ergonomics very similar to the later Colt Government. Though mechanically different (striker vs. hammer), you can see the relation between this handgun and the FN 1910/22, a later model by the same legendary designer (which I’ll be featuring at a later time). This was basically the one of the first Concealed Carry autoloaders, with a very slim profile, “hammerless” (internal hammer) so as to not snag, low-profile rounded sights, and higher capacity and more firepower than an equal sized revolver. This role was well embraced by characters throughout history such as Al Capone who was said to always have one in his coat pocket, and Bonny used one to break Clyde out of jail by getting one in taped to her thigh. John dillinger was carrying one when he was shot by the FBI, and those very agents that shot him were likely carrying these as BUGs. This didn’t go unnoticed by the government either, and the OSS and later CIA used these as concealed carry guns all the way until the 1970s.

Anyhow, if there’s interest, I’ll go into more detail in a later post. As for this one, the S/N puts it’s production in 1920, making it a type III. It’s my significant other’s current favorite range gun, because it fits her tiny hands perfectly, is lightweight, firing a lightweight but still useable round (.32 ACP / 7.65, get the Fiocci, europeans load it hot), and it’s got that extra bit of history and panache that her Colt Government lacks. …part of which led to our problem.

I like to imagine this thing was carried by a gangster in the roaring 20’s, as it was ordered from Colt with custom mother-of-pearl grip panels. Unlike the wooden or hard rubber grip panels of the period, these were simply flat backed, and didn’t have a raised area that fit into the frame. This meant that simply screwing them in would not hold them in place, so they were glued in place. I’m not quite sure what kind of glue was used on firearms furniture in the 1920’s, but I do know that they clearly weren’t taking into consideration how disgusting and inconvenient it would be to future owners in 90 years. After this piece of history’s long slumber was awoke by the report of several hundred Fiocci 7.65 FMJ rounds, the glue decided to finally give out, forcing me to clean and reattach the grips.

Now… this may not be the BEST way to handle this as I was risking the finish under those grips, but this thing’s no museum piece so I wasn’t going to baby it, the main concern was getting the grips back on and still in one piece, and making sure they’d stay that way for a couple more decades.

After unscrewing and GENTLY rocking them back and forth, freeing from the remaining glue, both the grips and frame needed that ancient gunk removed. Enter my new best friend (which will be featured in the next post about proper cleaning supplies), Mil-Comm MC25, sprayed on the back of the grips and on the frame and allowed to soak for a bit.

A makeshift scraper out of a cloth-wrapped mini flathead and some (very careful) elbow grease later, and that evil crud has been removed. It didn’t bind very well to the pearl, and was very easy to remove (practically wiped off with cloth after the MC25 got to it). I’d have preferred to use a wooden or plastic scraper of some sort, but with the effort required to get some of this buildup off, it would’ve likely bent or cracked. I still managed to get this stuff off with minimal scratching to the finish, all in areas that will be covered by grips anyway. Just to be a bit anal and not want to leave unprotected scratches, even under the grips, I filled in the couple scratches I did make with a Birchwood Casey Presto Gun Blue Touch-Up Pen
(sorry, not pictured, stopped taking pictures at the point that I had funky old glue residue on my hands).

A fine bead of Locktite Super Control Gel and 2 screws later, and we’re back in business. I’ll be sure to update with how well this holds up, but I’d like to think that super glue technology has gotten better in the last century.

(Also, regarding this last picture, I never really noticed the difference in grip size on either side, odd. It does fit the hands really well though, and I’ve been told they’re at least period correct if not originals, so I’ll just chalk up another one to turn-of-the-century ergonomics)

Grey Arsenal

Tag Archives: MC25

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