How often do you clean your guns. Really!

My regular shooters go 1000-1500+ between cleanings or they stop being regulars. I generally wipe them off when done and put them back in the safe until next time. I take them down for cleaning usually only after a problem or when the crud build up can't be ignored.

--wally.

When they quit working or have gotten wet (assuming non corrosive ammo)

I'll generally give a semi-auto a light clean and lube after each range session. Nothing serious, just a field strip and wipe down with solvent, then light lube and reassemble. Revolvers get the same treatment, but without any disassembly. Bores usually get a quick pass with a Bore Snake, unless they are badly fouled, in which case they get some attention with the brushes and solvents -- and the loads get a close look to determine why they're messing up the gun.

Competition shooters often develop a bit of a lazy streak when it comes to cleaning. Many will not bother until the gun starts to act up, or the point -- learned through experience -- just before. When I was shooting Bianchi Cup I was spending so much time at the range and the reloading bench that cleaning after every session was silly and exhausting. So like a lot of Bianchi Cup shooters, you couldn't even walk by my gun without getting some of it on you.

every time I get down at the range whatever I was shooting gets cleaned.

If I cleaned my firearms after every time I shot them, I'd always be cleaning.

For my IPSC gun, I clean it when it stops working, or before a large match.

For bullseye, I'd clean my.22 maybe two or three times a year.

I only own and shoot revolvers (at least so far). I almost always clean them after use at the range. There is just something beautiful to me about cleaned, oiled, blued revolvers.

I clean after every use it keeps me from doing thing around the house. And besides after spending all the moula on them Why not keep'em looking like they cost.....

Every time I fire them. I get home from the range I set up a cleaning station and get to work. I thoroughly clean each one, lightly oil it, and put it away. Been doing that for more than forty years and it's always worked well, don't see where I'll be changing my routine any time soon.

I also clean them if they are exposed to a lot of dust and/or moisture.

I've seen guys who think that "over cleaning" is bad. They wait until the weapons start to jam from crud build up. That could really suck when your life depends on the thing firing first time every time.

I disassemble and clean every part of every gun after every time it goes to the range. I like cleaning. It's very meditative for me. I really enjoy it quite a bit, so I wouldn't pass on an opportunity to clean one of my guns.

When I go to the range my pistols and rifles same routine bore foam,solvent,and oil.If its been 2 to 3 months of just sitting a feild strip and and a quick layer of oil.

If you looked at all of my firearms you would think they have never been fired

Gee, I just inspected and maintained them back in Aug, Sept, and October of 2008.
Don't tell me it is time to inspect and maintain them again...

After every shooting session I clean my guns with solvent and cotton patches. Most of mine are stainless so oil isn't something I use very often.

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I hate cleaning my guns. LOL


I clean my hunting guns every time I go out. I wonder if that's too much.

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every time I shoot them, pistol & revolver, usually the same day

I clean hunting guns every time they are used.

I clean my carry gun fairly often.

I clean the others when the gunk starts to make too much mess of my clothes at the range.

And My PTR-91 well, I just don't clean that thing. Was I supposed to?

I normally detail strip and clean my 1911s every 1500 to 2000 rounds. Sometime around the halfway mark I might pull the slide off and do a 5 minute wipedown.

My mossberg is a pain due to the side saddle, so I've only cleaned it a few times. Boresnake, and that's about it.

My 9mm AR is filthy. Lube it and shoot it. Same for my Glock.

My 22 AR gets cleaned when it doesn't want to eat any ammo, and most of the time I just clean the bolt.

I wipe down/oil the outside about every two weeks to keep the rust away. Carry gun obviously more.

"When they're dirty" and "when you have time".

For me, these two factors rarely coincide, because I don't have enough time to go make them dirty in the first place.

If you looked at all of my firearms you would think they have never been fired

Click to expand...

You should have put them on a higher shelf. If you could reach them you could shoot them

Immediately after every use, with very few exceptions.

Pragmatic Approach

I clean when I have to. Glocks go 500+ between cleanings, unless used for self defense or competition. My Walther P-22 behaves better when a little 'wet' so it gets cleaned every couple of hundred rounds. The little Kel-Tec P-32 starts getting finicky after less than a hundred rounds between cleanings.

-Paul

After every trip to the range, which usually ends up being about 200-400 rounds. The thing I notice getting the most dirty is the feed ramp, but I'm not sure how many more rounds I could put through it before I'd get a FTF or some sort of jam/malfunction.

My dad taught me to clean after every outing. I'm mostly a rifle guy, so the bolts are scrubbed, and bores are #9'ed followed by oil. The 10/22 gets stripped completely down, and barrel and action, and magazine are scrubbed, and anything that human hands touch is oiled. Wood stocks are oiled. No metal is touched between final oiling and putting in the safe.
Pistols are usually bore scrubbed every time, and magazines are oiled and cleaned.

Cleaning takes about 20-30 for bolts, 45-hr for the 10/22. I burn through alot of patches and oil.

I picked up a bore snake the other day, and I'm going to try it for field cleaning and see if it shortens my time cleaning at home.

The only gun I clean regularly nowadays is my carry gun. I clean it at home, bring it to the range, test fire a mag through it, and leave it at that until next cleaning.