[chevyforlife21]

i have always cleaned the bore after firing 1 shot or more. never goes without being cleaned.

[ArmedBear]

For a field gun, it's situational. If the thing gets buried in wet snow, I clean it. If I only shoot a couple rounds, and don't dirty it any other way I just wipe the outside with a silicone rag or CLP, depending on whether I've sweated on it, gotten a few drops of water on the outisde, etc. I'm fortunate to be able to hunt a few times a week during the season, so I don't want to spend all my time deep-cleaning guns that aren't dirty, just so I can take them out again.

For a range gun, I use my judgment. I clean it when it's dirty. I wipe the outside with a silicone rag every time I put it away (CLP if I sweat all over it).

(An O/U is a great range gun, since a complete cleaning can be done very quickly with a bore snake and a rag.)

[Big Bull]

It depends on the gun. My o/u I use for registered targets gets cleaned about every 1000 to 2000 rounds. My semi-auto will get cleaned after 100 or 200. and of course if I got caught in the rain they will be cleaned as soon as I get home and dry.

[xcgates]

Well, I got my 870 for trap shooting, and eventually, some type of hunting.

I can only say that I cleaned it after 101 shots, as thats how many shells I fired (1 for patterning).

I ran a boresnake, and hit up the internal pieces with a light coat of oil, and put some anti-seize on the threads of the choke, on the advice of several people. (Its not like I have enough anti-seize to last the rest of my life or anything... :scrutiny:)

I will do that after every day of shooting.

[zhyla]

When the voices tell me to.

[md7]

not too picky bout my pump guns. they typically get broken down and thoroughly cleaned after around 100 shells or so.

i do use Breakfree CLP to rub the exterior down after any time they have been used.

[ArmedBear]

not too picky bout my pump guns.

In general for me, the frequency of cleaning is proportional to what I paid for the gun, unless I drop it in a puddle or a snowbank.:D

[Milkmaster]

I used to clean more than I do now. Probably cause I had less guns and wanted to rub on them a lot to make more. I do whatever it takes to properly protect prevent any degradation and paying special attention to the older guns I own. I will at least pull a bore snake after any outing and wipe the gun down with Break Free or gun oil.

Full disassembly about once per year just to check everything out and familiarity. On a slow rainy day I may open the safes and run a damp oily rag over my guns for something to do. Sometimes that opportunity happens when someone asks about a gun or wants to look at them. Handling guns is sometimes like handling a women. You got to pay some attention at least once in a while or they become strange to you. :)

[MCgunner]

Cleanliness is Godliness. Can't hurt it by cleaning it. If it gets fired, it at least gets a bore mop. If it gets carried afield, it gets a wipe down with Corrosion X. An occasional paste waxing don't hurt, either.

[Mr. T]

I think that this is a less than intelligent question based on the fact that you should clean your guns every time you use them if you want them to operate and last; I don't care if it's a shotgun, a rifle, or a pistol --they should be cleaned everytime they're used...regardless of their even being fired. Guns that aren't fired at the bare minimum should be wiped down in detail. If the guns are fired then they should be fully broken down and cleaned.:banghead:

[ArmedBear]

I think that this is a less than intelligent question based on the fact that you should clean your guns every time you use them

LOL

That's "less than intelligent". If you shoot a few rounds through a clean pheasant gun, and you're going to head out tomorrow and shoot a few more, there's no reason to clean it. (Wiping off the sweat and dust is not "cleaning".)

The gun has NO IDEA whether you fired 5 rounds on Thursday evening and 5 more Friday morning, or if you fired all 10 on Friday.

Also, I keep an eye on carry guns, and wipe off dust, I don't CLEAN them every time I carry them for a couple of hours and come home.

Keeping a gun clean is not the same as cleaning it. I strive to keep my guns clean and lubricated. When doing so actually requires cleaning, that's what I do.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Wipe out the chambers, because they can rust, wipe the fingerprints off. On my double guns, I usually pop the forend off and wipe down underneath it.

Like AB says, I only clean them if the are dirty or have been wet, which isn't very often.

[ArmedBear]

Also, if I shoot a shotgun 'til it's warm, and it's cold outside, I open it and let it dry, then swab the barrel with a bit of CLP. I've had chambers that were completely wet, from condensation.

"Wet" doesn't necessarily mean "rained on."

But again, what I do depends on my assessment of what the gun needs. Sometimes, it needs to be cleaned after zero shots through it, like on a windy day with blowing fine sand. Sometimes, I can put a case through it, and it doesn't need cleaning to be used for another range session.

[19-3Ben]

Right before I sell 'em!!!!

[ArmedBear]

Right before I sell 'em!!!!

That's more than most people seem to do. I just bought a used pistol the other day. I haven't seen so much fouling in one place before. Works like a champ now, though, and the price was great.:D

[md7]

Keeping a gun clean is not the same as cleaning it. I strive to keep my guns clean and lubricated. When doing so actually requires cleaning, that's what I do.


thats pretty much it in a nut shell for me. keep it lubed, keep it oiled, and clean em when they need it. some of my shotguns are for hunting, and if they get shot or carried, they get wiped down, and put up for the next hunt unless they just really need to be broken down and cleaned. i hunt alot, so i usually just wait until season is over and clean them (disassembled, cleaned, and lubed) at that point.

now, my HD shotgun IS kept clean, lubed, and oiled in every sense of the word. hunting shotguns are kept in "good" working order (imho).

thats just me though.

[PJR]

It depends what you mean by "cleaning." Rarely are the guns put back in the safe without some attention. The grease on o/u hinges is cleaned and replaced, guns wiped down to remove any exterior dirt, fingerprints or condensation. The bores might or not get a pass with a boresnake depending on how they look.

However, they are not detail stripped and scrubbed after a just few rounds. Depending on use and/or conditions it might be months between detailed cleaning and whether to do it is based on my appraisal of whether the gun needs it or not. YMMV.

[19-3Ben]

I had joking posted above that I clean right before sale.
To give a SERIOUS answer, I keep them pretty clean. I don't hunt, so the guns never go out in rain, never get muddy, or dirty or anything like that.

I only have two shotguns that see any use. Both are pumps (500, and 870). If I put 25 rounds through either of them, they'll get a bore-snake, little drop of remoil here and there, and put away. If they get 100 rounds, I'll remove the barrel and clean out the firing-pin assembly and receiver with a toothbrush. Anything in between and it really depends on my mood.

They are both so reliable that I see no reason that such a low round count would actually mess up their function at all.

[MCgunner]

Don't forget to grease those choke tube threads occasionally. My SIL bought a used 835 Ultimag at a local pawn shop and I was afraid I wouldn't get the choke out of it for him. It was beginning to rust in place.

Environment is another thing. If all I did was hunt scaled quail in west Texas, I wouldn't worry so much about rust. Hunting ducks in the salt marsh is a little different environment for metal things.

[AKElroy]

I run a bore snake through it on the tailgate before heading into the dove field. That's it during the season, and that might be 4 to 6 hunts, 30-50 rounds each. When season's over, I strip it down & do it right, oil it & put it up.

[f4t9r]

100 rounds sounds like a good time to clean. I am past that and have been thinking about cleaning up the guns. I keep them wiped down but have backed off of cleaning everytime I take them out.

[Tim the student]

It depends on how much I'm shooting I guess.

Usually, every couple hundred rounds if I'm in nice weather. If its damp at all, then as soon as I get home. If I'm prepping them for winter, then I strip em down, and just use a tiny bit of CLP on them. Lastly, sometimes I just feel like cleaning them if I need to chill out for a while. It relaxes me to a certain extent.

I always at least take a boresnake to them when I get home - but I don't consider that to be a substitute for actually cleaning. It just gets the "easy to get out" stuff out.

[xcgates]

MCgunner, what do you use on the threads?

Out of everything the guys at the range told me to do, one constant that they all made sure to tell me three or four times was to lube the threads regularly. I use (on a couple recomendations) the same antiseize I use everywhere on my bike and car, though one guy had a specific grease he like. Think it was named white something.

[lost river rat]

If it is a Browning (jananese Miroku), you have to clean and lube the chamber everytime you use it. The old joke at the club is "I have to get my gun cleaned before it rusts shut" These non-nickel steel marvels are why they make all of the little chamber fillers to store in the chambers.

I have bought several new jap Brownings and they all rust virtually instantly. Never a problem on a Rem, Beretta, Ruger, Perrozi.

All guns, I wipe down the exterior ever after every use.

Break opens get high pressure grease at least every 200 rounds

Autos need the mag tube cleaned every 200-500 rounds depending on the powder/load used. Every 500-1000, I clean the bolt lock up if I remember. I usually do it when it is slow to close and looses that snap. That is when I remember.

My low pressure loads require the trigger to be pulled and cleaned every 300-400 on my old Super-X. Good loads, never.

Choke tubes get greased every change or every season which ever comes first.

I always carry a gas seal for the autos. I only replace every 10 years or so. Usually when I find it about shot when cleaning.

[MCgunner]

MCgunner, what do you use on the threads?


I just have a tube of gun grease I got at wallyworld. Actually, I have a couple. I've about used up some Outters brand. I think any gun specific grease will do. "Never seize" like I used to use on pipe threads in the plant would probably work, but it's some messy stuff, silver, gets in your clothes and won't come out. I'll stick to gun specific greases. The Outters is about used up. What I am liking right now, it's thicker than the Outters, is Hoppe's brand gun grease. As I say, I think any gun specific grease is fine.

I grease liberally and after re-installation, run a bore mop down it several times to get any excess grease out of the bore. I do the grease the threads thing anytime I pull a tube to change or a couple times a season or if I drop the gun in the water which sometimes has happened.

[chevyforlife21]

never seize is essentially birch wood casey choke lube but the never seize is wayyyyyyy cheaper

[GRIZ22]

For pumps or semi autos, swab bore and chamber after every shooting and wipe off bolt face and whatever I can get to in the interior. I usually shoot no more than 30-40 rounds a session.

Every couple of months at least I field strip and clean all components. No need to ever detail strip unless its broken.

For singles and doubles after cleaning the barrels there's not much more to do. Action never gets touched unless it's broken.

[frontgate1]

Once in a blue moon
and it shoots perfectly

[xcgates]

Oh, yeah, I know it gets everywhere. Though after coloring quite a few jeans, t-shirts, and a grungy jumpsuit with it,:uhoh: I've become quite adept at keeping it where it belongs. Wipe down everything when you use it, including the bottle before touching ANYTHING. AKA, I always have a couple general purpose shop rags in my car, in the apartment, or on the bike somewhere.

Though having a grease that fits in my box, and that I don't have to remember when going shooting would be very nice. *adds to Wally World list* (I live in an apartment, keep guns locked up elsewhere, so everything has to be done at the range, and if I forget something, I won't get to use it until the next range trip.)

[jakemccoy]

All guns in my safe are clean, and every gun is in my safe at least some of the time. So, if a gun gets fired, the gun gets cleaned. The extent of the cleaning is variable.

[shotgunsrfun]

who put never???????????

I clean all guns after shooting no buts

[twofifty]

Do you guys ever run a swab up the magazine tube?

[ArmedBear]

Do you guys ever run a swab up the magazine tube?

Absolutely. If think it's gotten wet or dirty, I will clean it thoroughly. If not, I won't touch it for a good long while.

[Youngster]

Do you guys ever run a swab up the magazine tube?

Yup, also like to hit it with a lube that leaves a nice dry film behind after it dries, like G96. Makes it easier to clean up the next time and reduces loading effort noticably.