So I lve took to the Internet for the best ways to clean my mp9. I've read a lot of people say don't use any solvents on the frame, slide, or spring just use a clean tooth brush and brush away any gunk. The only place to use a cleaning solvent is inside the barrel. Is that wrong? Also when lubing the gun should the barrel also get a light coating of lube? Thanks for the tips!

I wipe the frame on my M&P's with a dry rag to remove the carbon. I use bore solvent on the slide and barrel. After they are wiped dry, I lube the guns in accordance to S&W's recommendations with a light wipe of oil on all the metal parts. The oil wipe is probably not needed, but is a carry over from the days I carried and shot blued revolvers.

After cleaning, I lube at the 7 points defined on page 23 in the M&P manual. I also use a natural bristle paint brush that has a little CLP on it, to put a very light coat of oil on all exterior metal surfaces. Isn't necessary, but I just like to keep a very light oil film on it.

I didn't find rags to be a very good way to put a light coat of CLP on metal surfaces. I switched to the paint brush approach mainly for the phosphate coatings, but really liked how well it worked.

Cotton swabs work well on the parts of the slide that you can't reach with an oily rag. They also work well for wiping off the carbon.

I also tend to mostly use paper towels for wiping instead of rags. They can be twisted into various size and shapes for those hard to reach spots.

The bottom line is the M&P series takes much less maintenance than the old blued steel and walnut guns. I used to spend hours cleaning and lubing. If I spend more than 10 minutes cleaning a M&P's, I'm wasting time.