What initial steps do you do prior to shooting a brand new gun?

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O.K.

I may have to turn in my man card for saying this....

but if it's a type of firearm that I haven't owned before, I read the applicable portions of the manual, then field strip, lube and then hi-ho, it's off to the range I go.
 
On a new gun I usually strip it down, clean it with crud buster and re-lube. I like to lap the barrel with Iosso on a tight patch or 10. Swab it it good with Butch's or Hoppy's and then run a dry patch through it. The trigger gets adjusted, the action screws torqued and then the scope gets mounted with the threads cleaned with acetone, locktite added to screws and base mounts torqued. Bore sight it and then it is off to the range. Shoot a couple of rounds and clean. I do this a few times and then get serious. If my guns don't shoot sub-MOA they don't stay in my safe.
 
At an absolute minimum I put a patch with solvent on it through the barrel...followed by a few dry patches. Who knows what the manufacturer's processes are....they don't know if the gun they just made will be shot in two weeks or 5 years. So they might have put something in there in case of the latter.

Anything beyond that depends on my available time as well as my interest level in my new toy. LOL
 
Clean and lube. Fire 100 rounds for break-in. Then:

Clean, inspect and remove every trace of lube.

It must function flawlessly while completely dry for at least 250 rounds before I will trust it to go into my holster.
 
I do nothing. I make a point of shooting them raw and seeing what happens. My sig p320 choked and my glock didn't, for example.

Of course it did.:p


Page 26 of the Glock owners manual
https://us.glock.com/en/downloadable-materials

Lots of guns have machining oil on them. It is unwise to just go and shoot a New or used gun without checking it over first, But Glocks are special.
 
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Clean it as far as I am comfortable breaking it down. New, used, beat to hell doesn't matter. There has only been one firearm that wasn't cleaned, and it was sold the same day it was bought so it never made it back to my hobby bench.
 
I cleaned a new revolver cylinder once and got metal chips out of the the cylinders.
 
Clean (not too well) and lube. This is true for most anything. Flashlights, for example. Everything comes too dry, so I add proper lube to o-rings and so on, not just metal-on metal.

New guns — rare for me! — get a perfunctory clean and lots of lube. Used guns get a full complete strip down and inspect before first shot. At least look down the bore on all, to avoid blowing things up.

Everything gets a pretty brief shooting session, then back home for a deep clean and inspection when I have time. Make sure nothing broken, wearing oddly, mis-placed, etc. Stuff does fall apart, fall out, walk out, etc. Usually at this point I'll add accessories I may not have before, like buffers, accu-wedge.
 
New guns bought is 9mm Shield and 10/22. Took them home read the manual field strip , clean off the grease swab out the barrel lube lightly and reassemble. Return to LGS wih free range pass and be amazed by my lousy shooting.
 
I cleaned a new revolver cylinder once and got metal chips out of the the cylinders.

Found part of a tooth under a concealed hammer of a semi-auto. Human? Animal? The longer I thought about it, the less I wanted to. Maybe it would have influenced firing, maybe not.
 
The worst I heard of was south African fn fal rifle clones that had dried blood and bone chips in them.
 
I have a new Savage 220 Bolt-Action shotgun that I need to sight in. I was going to clean the outside with WD40 and then push a few patches down the bore to make sure no residual metal from the rifling process were left but later thought that the proof test firing would have already done that and that it is probably ok to skip that step now or am I wrong?

What initial steps do you do prior to shooting a brand new gun?
Keep WD-40 as far away from it as possible, is what I do.
Use Gun Scrubber or Brake cleaner (gun out of stock) to remove the corrosion inhibiting grease put on at the factory, followed by lubing with Break Free CLP where oil is indicated, and TW-25B where grease is indicated.

It must function flawlessly while completely dry for at least 250 rounds before I will trust it to go into my holster.

I don't think he's putting a Savage 220 in his holster....;)
 
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1st things 1st, make sure barrel is unobstructed, firearm is EMPTY.
2nd thing...make sure NO AMMO is around (oops you seasoned shooters missed that one! {we'll keep that as a secret between us;)} )

Read manual. Re-read assembly disassembly instructions i.e. ''field strip''

Carefully inspect exterior, interior of firearm, field strip, inspect separated components in same fashion during strip.

Carefully look at separated parts and make mental note, this looks like ...''...'' , the fat end of the recoil spring goes that way, etc

If firearm has multiple detachable magazines versus internal i.e. a cylinder or tube, number the external mags somehow. Most modern autos errors are magazine related, but, which one was it again?

Do a basic cleaning of the gun, lube as per specs in manual...then dry fire. Feel the trigger, where does it break over, etc. This is where you find things out like,Oh lookie, the firearm will not fire without a magazine inserted. Yes I remember that was on pg 8 of the manual...

Do whatever , shoot, store, collect..whatever


OK you carefully inspected the firearm(s), and, once at the shooting area something goes wrong. Or did it? There is now a discoloration on such-n-such, or is there? Other examples e.g. mag safety, nope, it's not broke hehe. Yes there is/is not...because you remember the basic condition of the firearm, while handling it administratively.

You have a comparison. After firing, field strip and reinspect for obvious damage that may indicate a manufacturing error, cracks, shaved spots, rub marks etc. Again, you have a comparison, before and after firing.

More times then no, someone at the range is stuck, their firearm isn't doing XX, did you read the manual, do you have it with you, do you know how to field strip, answers are no,no,huh,whaat? FORTUNATELY with the internet available there is a fix

Enjoy that firearm...that you KNOW how to utilize correctly, safely. Take a kid shooting, don't tell Mom about the coffee hehe:thumbup:
 
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I generally do a surficial check of function. I will not take the gun apart. I check to make sure the bore is clear, maybe lube a little and take it out to do some shooting if I intend to shoot it. I generally do trust the manufacturers to do their QA/QC checks. They have a lot to loose in that regard if something goes horribly wrong. On a used gun, I generally do a bit more inspecting overall.
 
All of the above and if it is a semi-auto, I load one round and shoot it to see if it functions. Then I load two rounds to see if it strips a new round and chambers it. Then I load three rounds and shoot the first to make sure I didn't buy a machine gun.
After that, shoot it for about 100 rounds to see if it fails in any way.
 
Clean the bore and make sure I know how the adjustments are done on the scope, boresight, and start shooting.
 
Just say NO to WD40. It is not and never has been intended for use in firearms.

New / New to me. I clean the bore with Shooters Choice. Depending on how blue the patches are (copper fouling) I may also use a brass brush. I usually use Shooters Choice to clean the action and internal parts also.

I lube everything that slides with Tetra Gun Grease and parts that
pivot (hammer, trigger pins and springs) with Mobil1 5 W 30 Synthetic Motor Oil. I change the oil in my vehicles myself so I drain the last few drops from the jug into plastic squeeze bottles. A little goes a long ways.

For rust protection inside the barrel I use a little Breakfree CLP.

For exterior protection and penetrating stuck parts and screws I use G-96. This stuff has a strong smell perfect for the mancave. The instructions says treat the parts three times. I inherited a Winchester Model 12 Takedown that the barrel was frozen solid to the receiver. It took myself and a friend to both beat and pound on it with our hands to finally free the barrel. Three G-96 treatments later and it comes apart easily.
 
For new semi-autos all I do is:
  1. Field strip, clean & lube with BreakFree CLP, reassemble, function check, wipe down with a silicone rag
  2. Head to the range and run a box each of FMJ and JHP
  3. Go home, repeat step 1 plus inspect for any unusual wear
  4. Repeat steps 2 & 3
If all is good, it gets added to the CCW/HD rotation (unless it's a collectible or dedicated range gun).
 
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