Can storing a dirty gun damage it?

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TomJ

TomJ

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There's another thread running regarding how dirty WWB is, which prompted my question. I clean my guns after I shoot them, regardless of how few rounds I put through them. I'll always do that for my carry guns. For range guns, can leaving them dirty for an extended period of time damage them somehow? Does the powder leave anything corrosive behind? There are times where I bring a number of guns to the range and one of them may not have that many rounds put through it. When time is tight, I'd rather wait until the next time I shoot it to clean it assuming I can do so without damaging it.
 
In the 1960s, I ruined a .22-250 barrel by not cleaning it and leaving it in a moist spot near a drain vent stack one winter. We typically didn't clean varmint guns during woodchuck season because POI when shooting from a clean barrel was different than from a dirty bore. Learned my lesson and am more careful about cleaning and like stainless barrels for varmint rifles.
 
If you've got a decently dry place to store your guns, it generally doesn't harm them to store them dirty, if modern ammo was used.

There are always exceptions.

Many of us only clean competition and/or regular use guns every once in a while. I guesstimate that my pistols probably see 500-700 rounds between cleanings, for example.

High humidity means you should clean early and often, more to get everything oiled and protected from rust than to remove fouling.

Corrosive ammo (and black powder) means clean right away always, every time.

And "stuff happens." If you're going to put a fun away for a long while, it's always a good idea to get it oiled before you do.
 
I have a safe full of dirty guns. I rarely clean one unless it gives me problems or I get tired of soot getting on my clothes. I simply wipe them down with oil after use and store them in a climate controlled environment.

I have a Colt 1911 I bought new 2 or 3 years ago. I have put a few thousand rounds through it. I haven't taken it apart nor cleaned it.
 
I have been lightly cleaning the Ruger 10/22 for the last year. Just the barrel bore and wiping out the accessible part of the action without dis-assy. Seems to just keep shooting fine. I avoid the cheapest ammo on account of carbon build up. But no jamming after hundreds of rounds and still shoots accurate despite the inherent fouling of a blow-back action.

FWIW
 
I don't know, I've never stored a dirty gun. A lot of that was drilled into me in basic and a lot has to do with where I live now. It can get pretty humid at times here, and I don't like seeing rust forming anywhere on mine. For me, it's automatic to clean after shooting, and for the ones in storage, they at least get a close inspection and a little TLC once a month if I haven't taken them out.
 
they at least get a close inspection and a little TLC once a month if I haven't taken them out.
Click to expand...

Wait, you get out every gun you have stored away and wipe it down once a month?
 
Well, ok, I see your point, but it kind of leads to a further point: A gun that hasn't been shot or handled, resting in a gun case or safe by itself, needs exactly the same amount of cleaning, TLC, and inspection as one gun that hasn't been shot or handled, resting in a gun case next to 500 others.

If those of us with more than a couple firearms don't find it necessary to get every one of them out and clean it every month (or, heck, maybe even every YEAR) then it really can't be necessary to do so if you only own five or ten. (Or for that matter, just two!)
 
"...powder leave anything corrosive behind..." Not unless it's BP. Otherwise, it's moisture that causes rusting, not smokeless powder. Changes in temperatures will cause condensation.
In corrosive ammo(milsurp), it's the primers not the powder that gives the grief.
 
Sam1911 said:
Well, ok, I see your point, but it kind of leads to a further point: A gun that hasn't been shot or handled, resting in a gun case or safe by itself, needs exactly the same amount of cleaning, TLC, and inspection as one gun that hasn't been shot or handled, resting in a gun case next to 500 others.

If those of us with more than a couple firearms don't find it necessary to get every one of them out and clean it every month (or, heck, maybe even every YEAR) then it really can't be necessary to do so if you only own five or ten. (Or for that matter, just two!)
Click to expand...

I agree (to a point). My point was that taking all our guns out of the safe and wiping them down isn't the Herculean task for some of us that it is for others.

That said I think you should at least look at everything in your safe once a month or so. I became a fanatic about monitoring the humidity levels in my safe the day I pulled my RIA 1911 out of the safe another a few months and found it covered with surface rust.

I have less than 10 guns and I inspect each of them every couple weeks or so
 
I put my guns away wiped with a quality rust preventing oil and monitor the humidity where they are stored. I don't see a need to pull them out and inspect them on a regular maintenance schedule.
 
Sam1911 said:
Wait, you get out every gun you have stored away and wipe it down once a month?
Click to expand...
Yes I do. I only have a couple, so it's not that big a deal. I clean my PF9 once a week, whether I shoot it or not, to get rid of the sweat and fabric dust that accumulates on it.
 
Your sweaty palms leave behind far more corrosive salt than the gunpowder. Wipe the parts you touch if nothing else.
Click to expand...
Yup. Handling the guns is more likely to cause them to rust than leaving them alone--as long as they were wiped down before storage and they're not being stored near a source of moisture.
 
Cleaning a gun is part and parcel to owning and using a gun. I couldnt imagine a circumstance outside of riding out a storm in the Ocean that I didn't maintain my weapons, even if I didnt fire them.

Besides weather and cold that leads to condensation, salt air, ocean spray, peasoup fogs and use in every possible way outside, my weapons are always cleaned to the best of my ability, even whilst walk home...corrosive priming salts to boot, back when I shot milsurp...

Since the bullet is the weapon, and the rest is a delivery system, why have a crappy tool to make the final go???

Maintaining my weapon is only second to maintaining myself on the hunt.
 
While we're on the subject of storing guns even if dirty, I could add that it's a good idea to keep a log book on them. A three ring binder with a page for each gun will let you know for sure how long its been since a gun has been cleaned, or checked over, or fired, etc. I make it a habit to at least check every gun at least every 6 months and a quick check of the log book lets me know if a particular gun is due for a 6 month check. Some of my guns get very little use but at least they get inspected / checked over / wiped down etc. at least twice a year. Beginning of every month I make a list of whats due for a check during the upcoming month. I've seen too many guns get put away and neglected for years under less than ideal conditions and both the guns and their owners suffered because of it. Some locations may require several checks per year due to climate and humidity but the bottom line is; " keep an eye on 'em". Fired or unfired.
 
Caribou brings up an important point, in that making a realistic assessment of your situation does more to inform this kind of decision than anything we could say here.

In his case, as a subsistence hunter living in wild parts of the extreme north, and subjecting his Firearms to saltwater, extreme temperature swings, etc., It really would be pretty foolish not to maintain the weapons carefully after every exposure.

Those of us living in temperate climates and using our firearms for punching paper, clay birds, or steel every week or every month on dry, sunny shooting ranges may find that no harm at all befalls our firearms even after 10 or a dozen sessions out without cleaning.

Know yourself know your situation know what your guns need.

This is a pragmatic decision, not an ethical or religious one. :)
 
I only have five, three handguns, a rifle, and a shotgun, so the logbook makes no sense to me. Of the rest, only my EDC really gets a lot of love, simply because her home gets warm and humid daily daily.
And when I do, I always wear rubber gloves, as much to keep my hands clean as well to avoid leaving residue behind when I'm done. The black ones for mechanics can be reused over and over again for this.
 
I agree everyone's situation is different and you temper your actions to this metric. I live within sight of salt water/fog etc. Also I would take a couple hours just getting a couple of my safes empty and everything in them wiped down let alone cleaning anything thoroughly. I have corrosion resistant silicone impregnated sleeves (Bore Stores) that I slide my cleaned and oiled firearms in. I think those gun socks would work as well but I went a different route first. They seem to keep things clean and rust free so far as I have spot checked.
 
I didn't think about the humidity or rust, and they're exposed to humidity often enough. I'll keep cleaning them after each use.
 
I pretty much agree with the others. Rust is the enemy of guns. If you can go for a while without cleaning and not have rust, then you can let cleaning slide for a while.

I live in a moderate environment (Ohio) but my immediate area can get pretty humid sometimes. So I clean regularly after shooting. If a particular gun hasn't been shot in a while, I simply wipe it down and run a patch through the bore every six months or so. My carry guns (I rotate between two 1911's) get cleaned often. They're subjected to sweat, rain, whatever. Holster wear has removed much of their bluing so rust prevention is important.
 
I have inherited a number of guns that I'm certain the bore was not cleaned for decades and found the bores to be perfect. The exterior of some of them however is another story, almost certain much of the damage there was fingerprints. I won't handle a gun after eating anything salty without a hand wash. I won't put a blued gun away without a wipe down, sometimes I'll let stainless go for a while but even it will corrode from sweat specially under grip panels where it gets wicked in and stays. That's why I shoot less in the summer, I hate sweating all over my guns.
 
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