Good example of why you should clean a new gun before firing.

[W L Johnson]

Just got home with a new PSL-54C, with some of the best wood I have ever seen on one. Upon breaking it down I look down the barrel and noticed something in there. Pushed it out with a cleaning rod and out came a broken off piece of a chamber flag about 2 or so inches long that was jammed in there.. Hmmmmm, one of the few times I didn't check a barrel before buying. On the good side, the barrel looks perfect.

Reason I bring this up is that I was at the range sunday and two people next to me walk out of the range shop with new guns, take them out of the box, put them on the table, loaded them up, then started firing without even doing a single thing to them before hand. No cleaning, no oil, no check, nothing. To make it worst one of them was an brand new AR without any sights, but that didn't stop him from firing it for the next 3 hours. But guess what, the AR didn't jam once, dry right out of the box.

 

[mbogo]

Quick question.

If it was a new rifle, why did it have a chamber flag down the bore?

mbogo

 

[W L Johnson]

Well new to me at least. They do test fire guns at the factory. Also remember this is a PSL-54C, no telling where it's been, but every thing inside and out looks new.

 

[Sav .250]

Even in hind-sight, inspection of any weapon before firing is a given. Good thing you know that.

 

[W L Johnson]

Yea, if it had been bought by one of those guys at the range it could have been Marvin's Earth shattering kaboom. But that's murphy's law for you, the one thing I forgot to check in the store is the one thing wrong. Maybe if I had caught it in the store I may have gotten something off the price.

 

[ironhead7544]

Theres always a lot of crud in a new barrel. Should be cleaned out.

 

[4thPointOfContact]

Even if someone gave me a free hour of range time for purchasing a firearm, they couldn't keep me from finger-frakking it for a few moments first with cleaner and manual in hand. I can't help it, I like seeing how things come apart. (going back together.... not so much sometimes )

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I don't know that you should necessarily clean a new gun before firing, but properly inspecting it before firing is a good idea.

 

[W L Johnson]

I don't know that you should necessarily clean a new gun before firing, but properly inspecting it before firing is a good idea.

One and the same to me, proper cleaning to me includes/is an inspection, I think it is common sense. But the problem with common sense is that it's not common.

 

[orionengnr]

Yep. I met a guy at the range last Sunday who had a NIB Kahr PM45 for sale. I wanted to put 25 rounds or so through it to find out if all the bad things I have read about PM45s were true.

Only thing I did was stick a cleaning rod down the bore, then loaded a mag and fired away.

Yes, I bought it .

Edited to add: Any gun I buy (away from the range) I disassemble and clean/lube before firing. This was a try it/buy it deal.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Clearing some gun preservatives out of the bore with a live round is running the risk of a pressure spike bulging the barrel or stressing the action.

I always presume preservative is not lubricant and clean any used or new gun before firing. A guy who inherited a shotgun but had no interest in hunting brought it by a gun shop to sell it; outside was nice, but sometime over the years mud daubers had built a nest in the barrel.

 

[krinko]

Twenty years ago, a couple came into Just Guns in Austin with a Chinese SKS they'd bought the day before.
It had been fired exactly one time----with storage grease still in the bore.
The action was frozen open, the piston stuck in the gas tube and the tube itself was sucked into the slots in the piston head, locking everything in place.
Some people should not mess with firearms.
-----krinko

 

[W L Johnson]

why did it have a chamber flag down the bore?

Another answer to this question is that a lot of firearms ship with chamber flags inserted and this one may have broken off during shipping.

Twenty years ago, a couple came into Just Guns in Austin with a Chinese SKS they'd bought the day before.
It had been fired exactly one time----with storage grease still in the bore.
The action was frozen open, the piston stuck in the gas tube and the tube itself was sucked into the slots in the piston head, locking everything in place.
Some people should not mess with firearms.
-----krinko

Hasn't there been SKS slam fires because of this? The firing pin would be jammed up with storage grease. Releasing the bolt would cause it to go into full auto while you had only one hand on the rifle (on the front hand guard) thus making the rifle uncontrollable.

 

[Hatterasguy]

I have shot a few NIB pistols, 92fs, HK MK23, Sig 239, no issues. They slightly over oil them at the factory.

 

[mokin]

I've always disassembled, cleaned and reassembled my firearms several times before I shoot them. I just like to get to know how they work before I shoot them.

Back in the mid 80's when my unit switched over to the M16A2 I was one of the "new guys" that was sent to the armory to clean them before they were issued. We were amazed at how dirty they were.

 

[writerinmo]

I haven't purchased a lot of actually "new" firearms, usually from a buddy here and there or from someone who came into my business needing a few bucks. It was only a couple years ago I bought the first one new and unfired and it came with a bonus of an hour free range time. Still have the card in my wallet... lol. I take everything apart, new, used, whatever just to look it over good and check it's functionality. Maybe all those years in the military just got me in the habit of it. The wife just picked up a used Armscor M1600 from a guy she works with because she knows I like the oddball .22's, and tearing it down I could tell he had shot it right out of the box, packing grease and all, and hadn't cleaned it after he was done. Spent probably two hours with qtips, pipe cleaners, bore brushes, brake cleaner and finally CLP before I put it back together. Went out and shot it yesterday, four different ammos and had a blast and it worked perfect except a couple of times on the Federal Lightning, which it said to use only High Velocity but I wanted to check and see if it made a difference. Yep...

I've put aside a whole day next Friday, am expecting a Mosin 91/30 from Classic Arms first of the week. lol.

 

[Joe Demko]

One and the same to me, proper cleaning to me includes/is an inspection, I think it is common sense. But the problem with common sense is that it's not common.

Funnily enough, I was just thinking the same thing about common courtesy.