Another Friday

Well, Himmicane Irene (Trying to be PC, jus' like the gubmint!) is looking like a real threat for our neighbors to the North. I am happy for us in Florida but it looks grim for The Outer Banks of NC to New England.

The Spousal Unit was required at a Business Doo, last night so that meant I was unsupervised for the evening. After my first beer, I decided to open the gun safe and pull out my shootin' arrnes and do an inspection.

One never knows when there will be a local insurrection or flash mob, right?

Anyway; I spread an old beach towel on our nice cherry wood dining table, covered that with about four copies of the Wall Street Journal and brought out the cleaning kit. The cleaning kit was still in the original box and wrappings so that meant I would find out if I had all the makings for a cleaning session.

There was no solvent or oil. Dammit! Walked into the garage and found some lubricants (A plastic bottle of 5W-30 oil) and I found some break free type of solvent in a spray can.

This and some old t-shirts will suffice for now.

First weapon up was the Smith and Wesson. It is stainless steel and looked in good order. But I don't remember the last time I had cleaned it! Soooo,  the .357 was unloaded and opened up. No rust, no build ups, looked clean. I assembled the brush and handle, shot some solvent into the barrel and scrubbed away. Wiped clean I ran a few patches until they were coming out white. I lightly dipped a patch into a little oil and ran it back and forth. I used q-tips to get the remaining moving parts. Wiped all with clean t-shirt and reassembled with Magnum Hydroshok rounds.

No zombies gettin' by me, mmm-hmmm!

Next up was the Marlin 1895 .30-30. I have not fired this one at all, but it has been in the safe for the past two years. I unloaded the six rounds on the living room floor and returned to the table to pull  apart the weapon and verily, I cleaned the bolt assembly and barrel. Rinse and repeat.

My beer sat lonely as I was too focused on matters at hand. My only company was the XM Ratpack channel blaring from the TV Stereo. It's been a long time since I had a moment alone with firearms. Memories of cleaning M-16A1 and A2, .38 Cal snub nosed pistols, Beretta 9mm's, M-60 (we used those ancient things on the H-60, way back when) and my participation on various weapon load teams throughout the past 32 years.

"...Note acknowledged, Continue".

Gotta stay focused on the job at hand... Beer will be there when we finish.

The messy rifle was the Marlin 60, which is a .22 semi rifle. It was acquired used, so no telling the condition, I had to go on the internet to learn how to strip it. Got it... Two screws on the bottom by the trigger housing and the stock lifted right off. The trigger assembly itself had four screws and I had it in pieces. In order, left to right.

Some routines can never be altered.

Talk about gunk! It was solid carbon everywhere and I had to soak it down in solvent and really apply the q-tips and rags. The barrel was rubbed with scotchbrite and solvent from stem to stern and I dried everything carefully. Applied oil very reluctently, and wiped it away. Next thing was to see if it would all go back together.

Those who know me do not trust my mechanical acumen. Neither do I...

It all went back together as if someone else was doing the work. About midway through I got a phone call from She Who Will Be Obeyed, she was on her way home... "Please heat some pizza, ok?"

I reloaded the Marlin with 16 rounds of 22 Longs, cleaned my mess just as she drove up. The action of the weapon was smooth as silk. I'm starting to sound like a Kessler Commercial!

"Why is there a paint smell? Are you painting?"

"No, just solvent for cleaning guns," I replied quickly, grabbing my PBR and getting rid of it before she noticed.

The unasked question of course, was if I had been mixing alcohol with firearms.

"That was my second beer." I confessed, grabbing a fresh one out of the beer fridge.

I heard about the evening with work, and how Corinne Brown (Radical Congress Critter from Jacksonville/Gainsville/parts of Orlando) had been 25 minutes late for the doo and was dressed in a weird looking pajama outfit. Blah, blah, Yes, very interesting Dear...

SWWBO did have a productive night, she met a couple of influential people in her line of work and will be able to work more closely with said folks.

We sat and chatted for another twenty minutes over nightcaps and called it a day.
So endeth the evening. All weapons were in clean working (and Loaded) order and replaced in the gunsafe with the exception of the .357. I keep that one ready for immediate deployment, always within a quick reach...

Today; We stay dry, watch for any news and prepare for a quiet evening at home.