How often do you clean your guns?

[Zach S]

A thread in the autoloaders forum got me to wondering how many of us clean our guns on a regular basis. Gary P said, in bold red letters, "We do clean our weapons regularly don't we?"

Well, I dont. As I said in that thread, I'll clean most of mine every 1500 to 2000 rounds, well, 400-500 rounds for my 4" Kimber. To be more specific, I detail strip them and clean them when I change the recoil spring, which is why my primary carry gun gets cleaned more often (the spring wears out quicker). I dont do it to clean them, I do it mainly to look for cracked or worn parts. Otherwise, I just wipe them down, oil them and run a boresnake though the barrel. Occasionally, I pull the slide off and wipe the rails down.

I've had the upper off of my thompson once, maybe twice. I'll lock the bolt back, pour some oil in it, run a boresnake though it, cycle the bolt a few times, do a function check (three times), then I'll put a mag in it and put it back in the safe. In case your wondering, yes, the stock does smell like break-free. So does that corner of the safe. It gets wiped down on a regular basis since its the pretty blue and wood gun of my collection.

Unfortunatly, I dont get to shoot my Mossberg very often. Its never been cleaned.

At the moment, my Kahr PM9 is clean. Money was tight a few months back and I tried to pawn it, I wont pawn a dirty gun, they dont get as much money (didn't get enough money for it anyway, so I pawned something else). I dont think I've fired it since. Well, I've dry-fired it a lot. Its not that I dont like it, I do, I just always seem to forget it when I'm headed to the range.

My AR-15 is about the only thing I clean often. If I had a dedicated .22LR upper, I probably wouldnt. The Ciener kits leave an awful mess...

 

[Tijeras_Slim]

I'm one of those strange people who really enjoys cleaning guns. I felt cheated the first time I cleaned a Glock. Probably explains why I have so many revolvers and shoot lead bullets.

 

[MikeIsaj]

Every time I shoot. I clean them when I return from the range and again the next day. I know that sounds a little obsesive to some but, most of those "products of combustion" left on the weapons are acidic. I can't imagine them being good for the metal.

Other than that, everything gets a wipe down and a patch through the bore once a month.

 

[dakotasin]

i clean handguns regularly.
i clean rifles once in a great while - i thoroughly believe more damage is done by aggressive cleaning than just leaving it alone (re: accuracy). in handguns, this doesn't really show up, but in rifles, it is obvious...

 

[Technosavant]

If I shoot it, I clean it. I have no reason not to; any of my guns might be the one I need to save my life (or life of another), even the .22 pistol, and I don't want it to jam up on me. Even if it was only 50 rounds, it gets a cleaning.

Like daddy always said- take care of the equipment, and it will take care of you.

 

[DSRUPTV]

I try to clean mine after every time I shoot them. I don't mind doing it and with them money I have in them it's worth the effort to protect them.

 

[No_Brakes23]

I seems wrong to me to not clean it after shooting, but people I know that are Anal Rententive about other stuff tell me that with non-corrosive ammo it isn't necessary to do every time. I hate having a dirty pistol, so I will usually at least wipe stuff down. If I don't get to the range after a while I will go ahead and clean. And obviously the C&Rs that don;t have good ammo need good full cleaning each time.

As for over-cleaning hurting accuracy, I have seen this in the M16A2. To get a straight shootin rifle you have to strike a fine line between over and under cleaning. In my expierence, (YMMV) the A2 is good for about 200-300 rounds. If I cleaned it before the end of of qual week, I suffered on qual day, but if we shot extra strings each day, and I didn't clean it, I suffered then too.

Perhaps someone with a more in-depth knowledge can chime in on the beneficial/harmful effects of carbon deposits, etc.

 

[jobu07]

Shoot it and clean it. Dems is the rules.

 

[Guns_and_Labs]

Every time I shoot them, and once every six months for the safe queens. I LIKE to clean them. I become more familiar with each one, examining them to make sure I spot emerging problems or potential improvements.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Everytime I shoot one it gets the treatment. The ones setting in the safe get a wipe down yearly if I haven`t shot them by then.

 

[patent]

Otherwise, I just wipe them down, oil them and run a boresnake though the barrel. Occasionally, I pull the slide off and wipe the rails down.​

LOL. I thought that was cleaning them.

patent

 

[Firethorn]

Patent, I'm with you on this one. I clean the barrel & slide and call it good.

I do that each time I shoot.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I also think you should clean your handgun, rifle or shotgun after you get back from the range. If it's late then the next day should be spent cleaning. One time I put a dirty rifle back in the safe because I didn't have time to clean it and it took me four days before I had enough time to do the cleaning. It bugged me that I hadn't cleaned it yet. Hummmm, now that I mention it, I seem to remember apologizing to the rifle for waiting so long to clean it.

Oh geez, I need help.

 

[charby]

I always keep my handguns super clean, if I shoot it even a magazine full it gets cleaned.

Same for most of my rifles except my 10/22 which is stainless and the only semi auto I have. I find it to be a POA to clean as well as I like too.

My shotguns, only if they get range time, during hunting season they only get cleaned a few times, I wipe them off after being outside but that is about it. They get a good scrubbing after season.

Charby

 

[cookiemonster]

Single shots are so nice...

My two new (to me) bolt guns haven't been shot enough yet...but I DO run a few jags through the bore before casing the rifles...the contender barrels get a bore-snake, a shot and rub of CLP and goes back into its case.

After being in the Army...I am always observant of what I shoot and will quickly take down a rifle or pistol if I am even mildly suspicious. Then it gets the GI treatment.

That is why I have a "fish-eye" light mounted on my reloading/'smithing bench.

Darrell

 

[Abby]

Everything gets cleaned after a day at the range. Since moving to Florida, I keep finding surface rust in the strangest places, so I'm spending a lot of time patrolling for and dealing with that.

Stupid humid climate. My elderly .45 was set on the nightstand about ten days ago, holstered, cleaned. I picked it up last night and it was starting to look like the trailer hitch on my Dad's tractor. Good God. I was forced to stop cleaning the house and engage in emergency pistol scrubbing.

 

[Bear Gulch]

each time they are shot.

 

[mbs357]

I'm another who loves cleaning guns. Uncle said "I might get you to clean my 1911 for me..." I said: WOO.
Unfortunatly, I have the memory of a gold fish. I try to oil them down every couple of weeks though. None of them have been fired in a while, sadly.

 

[hightech]

When??

I clean them when they are dirty. Why clean them when they are clean?

 

[mbs357]

Because it's fun!! =p

 

[kfranz]

I usually clean them if they are dirty, but sometimes I don't. I'm not obsessed about it, since I've never had a dirt related malfunction. Honestly, I'd rather build them than clean them...

 

[Wags]

I thourghly field strip and clean all my handguns (auto/rev) and magazine fed rifles first chance I have after firing them. Bolt guns pretty much the same.

Since I mainly only hunt these days with shotguns, I usually just wipe them down and run a bore snake through the barrel. At the end of the hunting season (late March) I'll do a detailed stripping if I think need be. My shotguns are definately abused by the elements during waterfowl season, but just wiping them down and punching the bore works just fine.

I know some people that only clean their firearms once a year if they are lucky.

 

[Randall53]

I clean my guns right after purchase.....then after every trip to the range.

 

[30Cal]

I mop out the barrel and wipe down at the end of the shooting day (I never ever clean .22LR bores though). Safe queens get the same treatment every 6-12 months. Auto handguns get field stripped after firing. Semi-auto rifles get stripped once a year if they are fired (or if I get rained on).

Ty

 

[Tankcommander]

I clean them everytime I shoot them. I will also check them in the safe. If dusty they get CLP. If I'm busy I'll run a few patches through the barrels but they get a detailed tear down and cleaning when time allows before they go out again.

TC