P7 piston cleaning

[stubbicatt]

What do you guys use and what techniques to get the piston clean on your P7's?

Thanks.

[benderx4]

Hoppes #9 and soft toothbrush

[faawrenchbndr]

USGI toothbrush and Kroil.
I lightly wet the piston and let the Kroil work on the carbon
while I clean the barrel. It just brushes away.

[G3Kurz]

What do you guys use and what techniques to get the piston clean on your P7's?

Thanks.

Stubbicatt:

Stay away from the piston rings with anything more than a soft nylon brush or rag and good solvent. It is important that the piston rings are clean and bright, NOT the spaces in between. If you get too aggressive on the rings (with a steel or brass brush) you can affect the braking ability of the gas system by wearing on the close piston/cylinder fit. If that occurs you may experience overfunction stoppages in the P7 (especially the P7/PSP and M8 models) wherein the last round or two will misfeed ("nose up" out of the ejection port) caused by excessive rearward slide movement (velocity) resulting from decreased gas braking caused by wear between the piston and cylinder. DO NOT OVERCLEAN THE PISTON! The black discoloration between the rings is okay and has no adverse affect on correct function. Clean the cylinder with the correct cylinder brush and tool as well.

G3Kurz

[AviatorDave]

Ditto what G3Kurtz said - I only spray the piston with solvent and lightly brush with the nylon toothbrush thingy in my cleaning kit just to knock off any loose stuff. The rings are always clean anyways, just a wipe with a paper towel or cleaning rag is all they need.

[Sobriquet]

+3. I spray it with Mpro7, let it soak, and use a toothbrush. I may look into getting a purpose-made nylon gun brush because the solvent seems to cause the toothbrushes to fall apart rather quickly.