I've heard folks on here say that they never clean their guns until they malfunction; others who strip their guns down after every range session. The middle ground is probably something like run a bore snake or a few patches through, and wipe off the soot, saving the major cleaning for later.
Personally, I am towards the obsessive end, and get every surface as clean as I can, just about every time I use the gun. I like the activity of cleaning, and getting to know the mechanism. I find it relaxing and enjoyable- not as fun as shooting, but good gun time nonetheless. I used to be a bike mechanic, and there's a lot of similarity in cleaning a gun to doing a lot of bicycle repair tasks - disassemble something fiddly; lovingly clean each and every piece, noting areas of wear and clever design; reassemble; lubricate lightly; listen to the sound of a perfectly conditioned machine cycling through its functions.
Where do most other folks stand?
Personally, I am towards the obsessive end, and get every surface as clean as I can, just about every time I use the gun. I like the activity of cleaning, and getting to know the mechanism. I find it relaxing and enjoyable- not as fun as shooting, but good gun time nonetheless. I used to be a bike mechanic, and there's a lot of similarity in cleaning a gun to doing a lot of bicycle repair tasks - disassemble something fiddly; lovingly clean each and every piece, noting areas of wear and clever design; reassemble; lubricate lightly; listen to the sound of a perfectly conditioned machine cycling through its functions.
Where do most other folks stand?