cleaning guns after every shoot?

Only if firing corrosive ammo. Then it is a must.

Otherwise, no. I wipe them down but don't do much with the bores.

As long as you aren't leaving oils from your hands or water on the gun, there's not much need.

There have been a lot more rifles worn out and or damaged from over cleaning than over shooting.

I clean them every time, just the way I am.

Me too.

I shoot it, I take it home and clean it.

Powder fouling & carbon is much easier to remove before it ages and sets up.

rc

It depends on the gun for me. My 10/22 might get a quick wipedown if it needs it, otherwise I will clean it after 1,000rds or so. If I take out something that I only shoot once every year or two, it will get cleaned and oiled for storage. Any of my gas guns will get a thorough cleaning after a trip to the range.

Wipe it down everytime

I leave the bore alone

A gun that mostly sits in the safe and is taken out rarely and shot, will be cleaned before going back in the safe.

The competition guns? Definitely not cleaned every time, unless something comes up. I shot a match a few weeks ago and we got rained on pretty good and there was water and mud everywhere. Cleaned thoroughly inside and out.

Center-fire rifles, pistols, and revolvers I clean after every use. Rimfires I clean every three or four uses. I still wipe them down to remove surface dirt, fingerprints, etc. I don't have a strong reason for doing things this way, I just do it! I'm certainly willing to hear arguments to the contrary.

"clean your rifles after every shoot?"

Yes, well, no.... sometimes.

Yes, if the weapon is not going to be used again for a few days or more.

No for the ones I use on a day to day basis.

I live out in the 'sticks' and seldom go more than a few days without shooting, something. The last couple of days I have not shot any, winds gusting to 30 plus MPH! and rain this morning. Oh my, I'm going into withdraw....

Black Powder - always just after shooting.
If for some reason (?) I were to have shot corrosive stuff, yes.
.22 RF, no.
Others, maybe but not always.

There have been a lot more rifles worn out and or damaged from over cleaning than over shooting.

Click to expand...

I've read that many times and I think there are instances where it has been true. Especially in the days of segmented cleaning rods, most especially when used on guns that have to be cleaned from the muzzle end (M1s, many lever actions, and so forth). That's where so much muzzle erosion comes from.
Also, in military units (especially in training) where a spotless rifle is part of the rite and ritual, leading to far more cleaning than shooting and some questionable practices in the pursuit of a rifle so devoid of residue that it won't smudge some beet-faced, wound-up DI or Gunny's white glove.

For modern rifles firing modern ammo and getting any sort of routine care from a regular shooter? There doesn't seem to be much need to scour them so aggressively. But I also don't really think many of us -- even those who clean after EVERY SINGLE OUTING (!) -- are wearing out our guns through over-cleaning.

Every time I take a gun out I normally shoot at least 100 rounds through it.

I normally clean annually or so, or every 500 to 1,000 rounds depending on a variety of factors. I can't possibly imagine a reason (short of corrosive ammo, getting the gun wet, or dropping it in the mud) why it would be a good idea to clean a long arm every time out. I sure don't wash my car and change the oil every time I drive it.

Due to the fact I live in one of the wettest places in the lower 48 I do normally push an oily patch down the bore within a week or two after putting a gun away, unless it is coming right back out for another shooting session.

I thought the military inspired nothing but lack of faith in their small arms by perpetuating nonsense about a weapon needed to be spotlessly clean to be reliable.... at least that was the culture in the units I was assigned to.

I used to...with all my range guns I still do.

My hunting rifles, I go to the range, verfy the zero and foul the barrel....and then don't clean them until after hunting season is over

I clean them after every range session.

Rimfires rarely get cleaned. When they get gritty I blast the action out with Gun Scrubber and then oil. (I'm rethinking this though. I've got a Marlin 60 that the safety is stuck on. It's in the fire position and won't go to safe. May be because its so freaking dirty. May have to start caring for them a little more often)

Handguns get cleaned about once a month. There's probably 2-3 range sessions by then.

Deer rifles get cleaned at the end of season.

I wouldn't dream of cleaning that often. It takes 10 or so shots for a rifle to reach optimum accuracy and return to zero after being cleaned. Most are good for 100-300 shots before accuracy starts to drop off.

I typically give mine a thorough cleaning in January after hunting season. Between January and June I try to get to the range and shoot a lot when the range is empty. Good chance to experiment with different loads. I will wipe down the exterior, and clean stuff from the action, but the barrel doesn't get touched until accuracy starts to suffer.

They usually get a good cleaning again in June or July. I'll get back to the range again in Septemer to double check zero and get the barrel fouled.

During hunting season I'll only clean a barrel if it gets wet. I'll hunt with a different rifle until I can recheck zero and foul the barrel again.

Some of my rifles are hitting so good right now that I wouldn't dare clean them.

I use to clean the bores after every trip to the range but eventually realized that was a waste of good ammo having to fire several fouling shots to get the bore seasoned again.

Sometimes I might wipe one of them down.

Always!

Always.

While at the range I usually run a wet pull thru the bore and apply a few drops of oil to the gas system. I can do that to pretty much anything I own w/o having to break the rifle down much.

I may get around to cleaning for few days or so but everything gets cleaned* after getting shot.

The rifles that get corrosive ammo get cleaned at the range and then checked and maybe re-cleaned the next day.

BSW

*Clean as in no loose dirt or debris, majority of carbon fouling removed, parts lightly oiled.

Depends on what I am shooting. Dirty russian steel cased stuff gets a cleaning every time.

Only if I've shot corrosive stuff, which is pretty rare.

My safe queens are cleaned well after use. The ones that I shoot the most, carry, use for HD, etc, I wipe them off and lube what needs lube, might run a boresnake through, but I rarely go through a real cleaning after a range trip. I detail clean guns every 8-10 months or so.

I grew up in an area which the air had lots of humidity and high salt content. Dirty things rusted quickly, clean things rusted slowly. I have this compulsion to clean firearms before they are put up.

Just shot a small bore prone match today, before the rifle was put up, I wiped all external metal surfaces with GI bore cleaner, wiped that off, cleaned the barrel, disassembled the bolt, oiled everything and regreased all cam surfaces. Probably did not need to do it, but that is what I do.

I only get serious about cleaning if I've shot some of the rare corrosive ammo I ever shoot in my guns. I shoot more pistols than anything so that's on a whenever it gets cruddy basis. If I've shot it, it has been wiped down on the outside no matter what. Everybody gets cleaned and disassembled once a year whether they've been out of the safe or not.