For any firearm, regular maintenance is key to keeping your gun in firing shape and safe. It is the first thing to learn in gun ownership and it will help extend the longevity of your firearm and prevent many dangerous and easily avoidable mishaps. Most of what you’ll be brushing away are carbon deposits that build up in the pistol from firing it. Some basic tools and pieces you’ll need are as follows:
- Plastic or polymer picks
- Gun oil
- Break Free CLP(a cleaner, lubricant, and protectant. There are others but Break Free is a very popular option)
- Microfiber towel or pieces of an old t-shirt are a wildly popular option or you can purchase gun patches made specifically for cleaning and maintenance of your pistol
- 9mm cleaning brush and rod(one comes with your purchase?)
- Toothbrush
Cleaning a Canik Pistol
Canik handguns are as incredibly easy to maintain as they are to shoot. Disassembly is on the simpler side with the number of parts you’re breaking the gun down to being four. Cleaning processes for all Canik pistols are almost exactly the same. With a few rare exceptions. For instance, the threaded barrel of the TP9 Elite Combat will need to be unscrewed and cleaned as a separate piece from the barrel.
The vast majority of Canik handguns break down to four pieces when doing basic cleaning and maintenance:
- Recoil spring
- Frame
- Slide
- Barrel
The cleaning level just depends on how much the gun has been fired and how dirty it is. Firing a gun will create carbon deposits in multiple parts of your gun. That is the majority of what you’ll be cleaning out during regular maintenance of your gun.
Recoil Spring
While maintaining the recoil spring, be sure to use the pick to guide the cleaning cloth along the spring to make sure you’ve thoroughly wiped away any excess carbon and debris.
Frame
The frame of your handgun should be cleaned with the magazine ejected. Try not to get any oil down into the handle where the magazine will be. It’s not going to damage the gun but by no means is it going to help either. For beginners be careful when cleaning the back of the frame. You’ll notice a small spring back there and if that comes loose, and you are unable to place it back properly in the frame, it will cause some serious problems. Be mindful and a bit delicate when cleaning that area. By the way, you can make just one pass throughout these parts with your cleaning cloth. If you want to make multiple passes to the point where the cloth is coming out with practically no residue on it, that works great too. Once you’re done cleaning any excess carbon and gunk out, take some oil and put a small amount along the rails where the slide will be moving back and forth to ensure a smooth slide.
Slide
When cleaning the slide, be careful to hold the slide with the firing pin hole facing down so no oil will get into that spot. It won’t cause an issue the first couple of times firing after cleaning if oil does get in there but, eventually, you will have a problem on your hands. Just something to keep in mind.
Barrel
The barrel of the gun is a very simple process just like the rest. Naturally, it is where you will find most of the carbon deposits produced by firing the gun, so take your 9mm barrel cleaner and push it through the barrel a few times to break up any thicker deposits of carbon. Then use the cleaner and cleaning cloth. A cleaner and lubricant being Break Free CLP to help protect, lubricate, and clean
A good and easy step list for basic cleaning and maintenance: Wipe it down. Scrub. Lube
Cleaning the compensator will be very similar, but not the exact same process as cleaning the rest of the gun. Canik pistols are great for beginners both for shooting and for when they need to be cleaned because they are of a simple and effective design. Happy shooting!
