clean weapon vs fired

[Redlg155]

When you absolutely must make a shot count, do you trust a freshly cleaned weapon?

I generally shoot my rifle to foul the bore and leave it that way the rest of the season. The only cleaning I do is a general wipedown and only run a dry patch through the bore on an occasion.

With handguns I'm not so picky, but I always shoot a couple of rounds through it just to make sure it functions correctly with live ammo. I then only clean on a quarterly basis.

This is a drastic departure from my former military training where you clean weapons to the point where it sometimes harms the weapon. I remember our armorer using a chamber brush on the end of a drill to clean the muzzle area beneath the flash supressor.

Anyone prefer a freshly oiled bore or clean religiously after shooting?

 

[CDW4ME]

I always clean my pistols after shooting, even if it's just one magazine.

 

[Firemedic56]

I always clean, even the Glock.

 

[forindooruseonly]

I always clean my gun, and I don't run a fouling shot through. I can test the function without actually firing and I'm not shooting super long distance on a first shot.

I always keep my carry weapon clean. I don't want there any confusion as to whether it's been shot or not.

 

[Strykervet]

You see some stupid stuff in the army when it comes to cleaning gear in some units, huh? How about armor-all your pro masks for an inspection? I've seen that before (but did not participate). Pressure washing machineguns with super hot water (it works if all you desire is clean). I could go on and on, the army is good for daily doses of ridiculous! But I'll stop here.

I still clean my weapons like I did in the army (and before come to think of it) to a point, but I didn't have to do the silly stuff for very long. I still clean them with qtips, pipe cleaners, Hoppes9, CLP, Sweets rarely, and dental picks, but I use a Dewey rod and sometimes a bore guide for barrels. I have a cable with a Dewey adapter JB welded on for the range and such. I clean them any time I shoot them and put them away, or between so many rounds depending on the weapon. If I didn't fire much though, I wouldn't be bothered putting the weapon up that way and depending on it for a while until I could get to it or shoot more and then get to it. I don't mind it being dirty as long as it is lubed where it should be and it isn't dirty to the point where it affects the operation in any way.

But really, how long does it take to do a wipedown and run a brush and patch down the barrel? That'll take care of 80% of it.

 

[llwsgn]

i keep them clean.

 

[rcmodel]

do you trust a freshly cleaned weapon

Depends.

Long range rifle?
Heck NO!
I want a fouling shot or two before the long range shot that has to count.

SD or CCW handgun or shotgun, HECK YES!
I want it clean & properly lubed before the first shot.
Definately don't want no belly-button lint and dried oil in it!

rc

 

[Pacsd]

I give em a good cleaning after hunting season and then when early fall rolls around I'll I'll check for zero and leave alone til after the season.

 

[Redlg155]

Stryker...pressure washing machine guns-yep.
55 gallon drum cut in half with unknown solvent barehanded dip...yep
Punching the fire control pins for a thorough cleaning..yep
High air pressure hose..yep
The dreaded "tornado" stainless steel brush on a cleaning rod attached to a drill..yep.
Our weapons were undoubtedly "squeaky" cleaned.

I don't even want to go into pulling the pack on our guns so we can clean the engine well.

 

[W.E.G.]

cold clean bore shot is typically low relative to a fouled bore

 

[Mainsail]

I carry my handgun clean, always. I want there to be no doubt whatsoever in the mind of an overly zealous cop that I wasn't the guy doing the shooting (unless I was the guy doing the shooting).

It may sound kinda silly, but I'd prefer to play it safe.

 

[RightCoastBiased]

I run em dry and dirty. At least I know the last time I shot em they worked.

If I have been shooting a lot, not for a while, I'll wait till they get real dirty and clean them before i go shot a couple hundred rounds.

 

[Mac's Precision]

I always clean my guns with exception of my .22's.

My carry guns, which are Glocks, are cleaned and then lubed VERY sparingly since wet guns collect dirt and dust something terrible. I simply wipe them down with Eezox to a very dull sheen and let dry. They get a very thin application of TW25 on the rails, inside the slide where the locking block rides and a drop of Breakfree on the connector/trigger bar connection. That's it. I am 100% comfortable carrying after such a treatment.

The 22 guns....I run till they stop or clean once a year which ever comes first.

All my long center fire hunting guns get cleaned and lubed with a slightly heavy application of Eezox down the bore and chamber. I push a Hoppies patch thru them before shooting them

My ARs and defense shotguns are lubed in a "ready for use" manner.

In my shop when working on customer guns, I see both extremes. Either they are cleaned a LOT and WAY over lubed to the point of soaking gun rugs / cases. OR they are neglected and filthy / dry, with surface rust. Most the time I don't find customers that on first contact know how to clean / oil. I educate many of them on what is ENOUGH lube and that a bottle of Break Free or Eezox is darn near a life time supply.

We're oiling guns, not lubing tractors. Some of the guns I have had in for repair I have had to clean fully to remove excess oil before I test fire. I personally don't care for the taste of break free and it is hard to get off your glasses. Getting a drooling 1911 out to fire...and subsequently taking a gun oil bath is annoying.

I have had peoples carry guns and cops service guns come in so filthy it was shameful. I'd rather they maintained their gun as their life depended on it than to ignore them. I had one Glock carry gun come in after a trip to the range to qualify with a complaint of fail to fire or miss fires occasionally. It had so much oil and powder / brass residue in the striker channel that it wouldn't fire. The customer thought the hole under the slide was an oil hole....so fill er up!

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I haven't gotten around to cleaning my defensive piece after two range trips. Still trust it to my life. If those two trips were enough to make this gun unreliable, I won't use it for self defense.

 

[Robert]

Brake cleaner will work wonders on carbon fouling from firing thousands of blanks through a M249...

My competition AR gets cleaned at the end of the season, some thousand rounds later.

 

[northark147]

I clean mine when they start getting less accurate.. Unless I am really really bored.I am even a little ashamed of how nasty one of my ARs is getting, but it still shoots good.

 

[sm]

I carry a dirty gun.
Especially a concealed carry firearm or on that might be used for "serious situations".

How raised, what you do...

 

[mgmorden]

Most guns I'll shoot a while between cleanings. For pistols I'll shoot them 200-300 rounds (sometimes more) before cleaning, which may be several range sessions.

Hunting rifles? If they get wet and rust I'll wipe them down, but other than that they get cleaned every few years.

I don't know if it's just a media or TV thing (or just left over mindsets from the days of black powder), but people seem to think that a gun stops working if it's not cleaned constantly. For the most part, they work just fine for quite a while. Heck until I started occasionally cleaning them my father flat out didn't clean his guns - at all. He has guns that have went more than 25 years with no cleaning and still worked fine. I don't recommend that level of neglect, but they certainly don't need as much cleaning as some do.

 

[9mmepiphany]

When you absolutely must make a shot count, do you trust a freshly cleaned weapon?

I carry a dirty gun.

Me too...I've been doing it so long, I don't even remember when I learned it

If you really need that first shot to go where you are aiming it...where all your practice shots have been hitting...you should be loading that round into the chamber by firing the prior shot and having it fed from the magazine by the slide recoiling and running forward.

I've been shooting long enough to have noted that a round fed into the chamber by hand will usually have a different POI than the following rounds...whether you can take advantage of that is a different point

 

[ChCx2744]

I clean all my guns after shooting. Even if a gun hasn't been shot since it's last cleaning, if it's been more than 2 months since it's last cleaning, I clean it again.

 

[FIVETWOSEVEN]

I don't know if it's just a media or TV thing (or just left over mindsets from the days of black powder), but people seem to think that a gun stops working if it's not cleaned constantly. For the most part, they work just fine for quite a while. Heck until I started occasionally cleaning them my father flat out didn't clean his guns - at all. He has guns that have went more than 25 years with no cleaning and still worked fine. I don't recommend that level of neglect, but they certainly don't need as much cleaning as some do.

You should see all of the Call of Duty gun experts, the AK 47 can't hit a target at 200 yards and the M16 starts jamming all the time.

 

[sm]

9mmepiphany wrote;

Me too...I've been doing it so long, I don't even remember when I learned it

I learned early.
As some know, I come up with a "bulls-eye" on my back, in a high risk work and spent some time doing said work...
I may or may not still some of this, and rumor is I assist others that are in harms way,,,

While I don't "clean guns" I was raised to 'maintain' them. They gotta work, first time.
Every time.

Mentors also shared, "Always let Lady Luck into your life"

There is a difference in outgoing and incoming rounds. Cleaning and perhaps being anal retentive/ obsessive compulsive and over cleaning a firearm is one reason ( on more than more occasion) I have survived and lived this long.

Along with with my guns being dirty...

Aside-
As a competitive shooter, I had a rep for using the mental game, I was raised and mentored well...

The rule was, "never show up with a clean gun" which I and mine did not.
But, me and mine beat many a person because we planted a seed, and bugged folks to death about "if their guns were clean" and provided cleaning kits and everything else to "clean a gun".

How mentored:
Ninety percent of "shooting" is mental, ten percent is physical.

Cut to the chase:
One might be better off shooting, dry firing, practicing draw strokes, etc, than cleaning a gun.

s

 

[W.E.G.]

If there is any chance of rust, cleaning should be done promptly.

 

[Hardtarget]

I clean but not to the "manic" level. I use compressed air on my carry to blow the dust out. Other guns are clean with a light oil patch through the bore. Dry patch before a range trip. I handle most everything and oil wipe regularly.

I just like fooling with my guns.

Mark

 

[Furncliff]

I shoot mostly .22 target rifles. I don't clean the barrels but a few times a year. There is a definite shift of impact point after they are cleaned. Depending on ammo it might take 20 shots to get back to zero. I clean the chambers frequently and keep the bolt lubed.