# Cleaning supplies for my Px4 full size



## numbertwo (May 28, 2012)

I just bought my first pistol. I can't pick it up till 2 weeks from now so I figured I'd just start attaining stuff like more mags, snap caps, ammo, etc.

What would I need for cleaning supplies and where will I be able to find the best tutorial/instructional on cleaning my new gun other than the manual. Unless the manual has everything I'll need?


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I can't answer about whether the manual contains all of the information that you'll need...but I bet that it does.

All guns require the exact same cleaning and maintenance supplies. Brand-name is not important, as long as the stuff has a good reputation. I have always had good service from KG-brand chemicals, Hoppe's #9, Birchwood-Casey, and, currently, Ballistol. Others are just as good. This is not something to obsess over.

You will need either a really good cleaning rod, or a BoreSnake, or both. (I use both.) Maybe a rod will come with your gun. I suggest that a steel cleaning rod is better than an aluminum one.
You will need some sort of patch-holding tip for your cleaning rod, and at least one bronze-bristle bore brush.
You will need an old toothbrush. Also, a brass-bristled, toothbrush-looking brush is another good thing to have.
You will need hundreds-nay, thousands-of cotton patches of the correct size.
You will need a spray-can of "gun scrubber," a small tube of high-quality gun-lubricating (not preserving) grease, and a lot of high-quality gun oil.

The very first thing you must do to a brand-new gun is to remove all traces of the sticky preservative grease with which it was coated at the factory.
This is a very useful job in more ways than you think: You will learn to detail-strip your gun, while you're cleaning the grease off of it. Then you will learn how to put it back together again. Follow the manual's instructions _to the letter_. If something goes wrong, read the manual again, this time more carefully.
Places where there are sliding or rotating metal-to-metal contacts get at least a little oil. Many people prefer lubricating grease here. I go either way, depending upon my mood that day.
Everything else that's metal gets a light coating of oil, which is almost immediately wiped off. Your gun should not feel oily, nor should any part drip oil. (Your kit should now include a soft cotton cloth that feels a little oily. Use this cloth to wipe the gun down, after every time you've handled it.)

Get those snap caps. Use them for dry-fire practice. Daily. (Ten minutes a day is enough.)
When you dry-fire practice, take every bit of ammunition out of the gun. Check the chamber and the magazine well. Check the chamber again. Now take _all_ of the ammunition out of the room in which you'll be practicing.
Come back and check the gun's chamber once again.
Now you can load-up with snap caps for practice.

Dry-fire practice is supposed to help you learn how to press (not squeeze) the trigger, while maintaining a proper sight picture and complete concentration.
Use a blank portion of interior wall to do this. Do not use a photo of your mother-in-law, or the TV.
Even aiming at a blank wall, you will see whether or not your sights waver excessively, as you press the trigger. Work toward eliminating most of the waver. (You can't get rid of all of it, so don't try.)

Now you are well on your way toward mastery of the pistol.
Let us know how you're doing.


----------



## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

Steve is way on of course, it ain't his first rodeo. The PX4 has a chrome lined barrel and should come w/ a plastic/ soft synthetic bore brush which I use exclusively, even on my other pistols. No matter how dirty it is you will only need a few strokes w/ beretta's bore brush and some hoppes, then run a couple of bore patches until the patches come out clean, then run the last one w/ some oil and you're good to go. The frame is super easy to clean as well. just sayin.


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

*denner*, if you have specific experience, it will always be more useful than my very general instructions.


----------



## denner (Jun 3, 2011)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> *denner*, your specific experience will always be more useful than my very general instructions.


Noop, i just happen to own a couple, just adding a little specific info on a particular model.


----------



## SteveC (Apr 27, 2012)

Steve you ought to save that in Word or something so you can paste it into replies to new guys. It's good stuff and maybe should be a sticky on the basics of gun care. Really cool that you take the time to provide that much.


----------



## numbertwo (May 28, 2012)

SteveC said:


> Steve you ought to save that in Word or something so you can paste it into replies to new guys. It's good stuff and maybe should be a sticky on the basics of gun care. *Really cool that you take the time to provide that much.*


Yes, thank you, that's a lot of information and it'll help me a lot!

Time to go shopping!

Also, thanks to everyone else trying to help!


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

*numbertwo*;
Number Six reminds you that, when your pistol is finally yours, you will need at least two extra magazines for it (for a total of at least three).
These serve as backups for when your most-used magazine finally dies, and as reloads for serious social occasions. (When you are armed, you should carry at least one reload magazine.)

Soon, you will also need a good holster, an excellent belt, and a reload-magazine pouch. (The Fobus is _not_ "a good holster." Sorry, Fobus.)
Someone else observed, recently, that the quality of the belt is more important than the quality of the holster. He was correct.
You should expect to spend almost half of the cost of your pistol-at the very least one third of it-on a belt/holster/magazine-pouch set.
Then, to break in the new, tight holster properly, you should make about 100 presentations ("draws") from it, each one including a good sight picture and a very good trigger press.

*SteveC* wonders, I am sure, why I spend so much time writing this stuff.
It's because I suffer from arthritis, so my days of finding pleasure from actually shooting are now few and far between.
Instead, I try to pass-on as much of the experiential information I have gained from years and years of practical shooting to all of the newer, perplexed beginners here. If I can't do it any more, at least I can teach it.

*P.S.:* If anyone wonders what that "Number Six" stuff is about, it is occasioned by the OP's use of the name "numbertwo." If I am correct, we are both referring to the British TV series called _The Prisoner_, written by, occasionally directed by, and starring Patrick McGoohan, which was set in one of the most interesting visual locations on Earth: Portmeirion, North Wales.


----------



## numbertwo (May 28, 2012)

I found this video to help me along with the tips you all have provided. What do you think of it?





Unless SHTF then I'll only be wearing my belt and holster around the house. It's illegal to carry here, they do have a "may carry with request" but no one gets approved.
I will still look into a quality belt and holster though.

And sorry, I was actually referring to the movie Austin Powers  lol


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

numbertwo said:


> ...And sorry, I was actually referring to the movie Austin Powers  lol


Gawd, I am _old_!

Mr. Huntington's cleaning instructions are very good. He's been there and done that, so he knows what he's talking about.
I let the job go a little longer than he does, so I have to work a little harder than he did. That's the only difference.

When I was competing, lo those many years ago, I would detail-strip and deep-clean just before every match.
But that would have been after having shot thousands of practice rounds, in preparation.


----------



## Younguy (Jun 26, 2012)

What, if anything, is the difference in Ballistol line of cleaning stuff between the green "Multi-purpose Sportsmans" oil and the white can "Ballistol LUBE" ?

http://www.ballistol.com/picsideL.jpg
http://www.ballistol.com/picsideR.jpg

Thanks.


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I dunno—on my can it merely says "Ballistol."

I bet that they're the same, each label trying to attract a different set of users.


----------



## Coyotemoon (Jun 19, 2012)

Younguy said:


> What, if anything, is the difference in Ballistol line of cleaning stuff between the green "Multi-purpose Sportsmans" oil and the white can "Ballistol LUBE" ?
> 
> http://www.ballistol.com/picsideL.jpg
> http://www.ballistol.com/picsideR.jpg
> ...


They just changed the label, still the same good stuff. I still have some from 1995 white label with the LOV LUBE on it. Only thing that is needed for complete maintaing of firearms or anything else.

www.firehawktech.com/Ballistol.index.htm click on Ballistol information as see all the good stuff you can use it for.


----------

