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This is the cleaning unit currently being
used at the Marine I& I Staff at CBC Port
Hueneme.
It contains a vat large
enough to accommodate any size weapon in the
NCF arsenal.
Additionally, the vendor
can tailor the size and shape of the
apparatus to accommodate our requirements.
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The audience for this demonstration
consisted of personnel from the 31st NCR and
NFESC. The Marines
and Mr. Wantz (vendor) demonstrated the unit
and supplied answers to questions.
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One of three M16 rifles brought to the
Marine I&I staff building for demonstration
purposes.
The upper receiver and
bolt carrier groups were broken down to
parade rest for this demonstration.
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This affords a view of the bolt assembly
broken down to parade rest.
The usual problem and time
consuming situation is the cleaning of the
firing pin and the bolt (especially around
the compression rings) |
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Sgt Broc gives the CSO and GMC Wilkins a
brief as to the inherent problems when
cleaning of the weapon is required.
Questions asked by the CSO
and GMC were the amount and type of
wastestream produced; effects of the cleaner
on the resin/plastic parts of the weapon.
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Pictured here is the three filter (in
parallel) filtration system.
There is a recommended
frequency for filter cleaning. According to
the vendor there is very little if any waste
generated when cleaned.
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After a short lecture on the machine, Sgt
Broc demonstrated procedures in using the
machine.
On lookers would get a
chance to practice. |
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Here, Sgt Broc shows how to use the brush
(equipped with the machine).
Hardly any pressure is used
and after a few minutes the carbon just
comes off. |
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The CSO went right to work on the upper
receiver group.
Nothing more than the flow
of cleaner through the brush/hose unit, as
well as the cleaning action with the brush
was used in cleaning the barrel.
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Sgt Broc cleans the bolt, CSO is cleaning
the barrel and the GMC can’t believe how
easy and fast all this is going.
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Sgt Broc fine tunes his cleaning on the
bolt.
Nothing more than a brush,
the bolt, the solution and just a few
minutes time. |
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The CSO uses the brush and flow of cleaner
to clean the interior of the barrel.
Only a couple of minutes of
application was necessary to clean the
inside of the barrel to everyone’s
satisfaction. |
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Sgt Broc pays special attention to the bolt,
especially around the compression rings
which historically proves to be one of the
most difficult items to clean properly.
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Cleaning the upper receiver group proves to
be extremely easy, fast and most of all
complete. Very little effort was placed on a
part of the M16 which continually requires a
lot of time and energy to remove the carbon.
Time spent here was probably about 3-6
minutes. |
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This picture shows no great detail but this
bolt is completely cleaned, especially
around the compression rings, grooves and
all very hard to access areas. |
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To show the effectiveness of this machine, I
took the firing pin of the M16 and attempted
to clean a notoriously difficult part, that
of the flange of the firing pin.
The blue arrow shows the
residual deposits of carbon around the
flange. |
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The finished product shows a 99.97%
reduction of carbon around the flange
portion of the firing pin.
This took two sessions of
about 90 seconds of swirling in the solution
and about 30 seconds of brush application.
The machine facilitates and expedites the
cleaning process. |
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The CSO and GMC had concerns about whether
this solution for cleaning would affect the
resin components of the M16.
The vendor stated they
were still accumulating data on this
question. Sgt Broc has been using the two
parts shown in the picture. These parts were
exposed to the solution approximately 40
times for a period of 15 minutes each time.
To date no negative effect has taken place.
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