Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Wipe Out in an M1?

Wipe Out is my favorite bore cleaner with my bolt action rifles. But I am reluctant to use it in my M1 because the instructions I have seen say to position the rifle upside down (sights down) to prevent excess bore cleaner from entering the gas system. It seems to me the expanding foam of Wipe Out would get in there regardless of position. Any M1 experts here have advice?

There are similar agents that don't foam, but the upside-down advice likely still holds.

Patch Out is the same chemical, cheaper too.

Thanks, guys! I’m going to get another product for the M1.

With any gas operated semi auto, you need to keep any solvents out of the gas system.

Would not fret over it.

I’ve used it, and it’s not been an issue. If it’s a concern, lock your bolt back, take out your gas plug and patch it out of the cylinder. That way, you won’t disturb your bedding by taking the action out, or your front sight alignment by taking your gas tube off. But I’ve found the intrusion of wipe out to be minimal and non harmful in any way, while making the bore easy to clean.

Old70

I use Hoppes No9. If there was heavy copper fouling, I would tear the gun down. Probably time to clean it inside and out.

I used Hoppes too, until one day I had my little led light looking in the gun safe and noticed copper fouling in barrels that did not show up under other light conditions. The Wipeout does a better job of removing it than Hoppes can.

Same here. If and when you break the rifle down for a complete going over, have at it with the Wipeout to get back to ground zero on barrel steel. Not that it’s necessary.

I use Wipe Out on mine all the time. I just take the lock screw out remove the gas lock and slide the gas cylinder off and then clean the barrel. I use the Wipe Out to clean the inside of the gas cylinder with a nylon pistol brush then reassemble. Works great.

I was always under the impression that an M1 Garand was to be stripped and cleaned every time it was shot. I am not a fanatic about it any more. When I was young, I was in club where we got free ammo if we competed in the matches. They ordered in Garands from the DCM for a nominal cost or we could use the club rifles. After every match we all sat down and stripped the guns and cleaned them. Has that changed?

I use marine grease... and don't particularly care about a little copper fouling.

Still shoots inside of 3" at 100 yards w/ ball ammo.




GR

Four,
THe honest answer is, stripping is routine for UNBEDDED, UN SOUPED UP Garands. Bedded match Garands are another matter, because such bedding jobs are complex and finicky (the handguard etc is bedded separately) and normal teardown is no longer "normal." Bedded Garands usually shoot better than you can see the sights, as long as teardown doesn't mess up the bedding. So it's something to be "minimized" by really good barrel cleaning, where fouling is kept up with and not allowed to get nasty enough for a deep clean teardown.

Ah, Thank you. I missed that, it must have been posted in an earlier discussion. Or implied in the question. I was assuming, always a dangerous thing, Assuming that the OP did not know these guns were designed for easy dis assembly and back again. Kinda like the blind folded 1911 strip and and re assemble routine. I was aware of the new stocks and bedding option sometime provided and with new criterion barrels. The OP can still remove the trigger assembly and spray a little lube where possible.

Concur with Dave_Skinner, run-of-the-mill Garand was made for easy disassembly and cleaning in the field. Dustylongshot and Old70 have given sound strategy for cleaning without disturbing the action and bedding.
I’ve run WipeOut with mediocre results but since mine were stock shooters, always pulled the stock off. I will acknowledge I have returned to a regiment of Hoppes #9 and, if needed, CR-10 simply because I found that combination to work best for me.