how often do you deep clean your?

[45Guy]

I picked 200-500, but it depends on the weapon. AR gets cleaned every time; 870's depend, but usually every time; .22 gets cleaned almost every time or every other, but very rarely gets a deep clean because it's a Marlin Model 60 and the recoil spring is a BEAST to get back in afterwards. I usually bend a recoil spring every other time I break it down.

 

[Nitram68]

I clean them every single time they get dirty... one round or even handling them is dirty to me. Should I show a family member something in the safe, it gets a wiping with a gun/reel cloth before going back in. Additionally, every arm gets a bore snake and wiping about every 4 months and deep clean (tear down), regardless. I don't need to know if they can handle being dirty and still function (as if they were in a war or something) as I buy quality the first time and already know through others experience they'll work dirty if need be. It's just the way I treat my property... my house, cars, bikes are the same way, clean after use before putting away.

ETA: Well, the car can go 2 weeks dirty over the winter before getting a wash:>

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I do a simple action and bore cleaning after every range session. When I get to 200 rounds, I do field strip and clean the gun completely, then lube.

 

[ArmedBear]

I hate waste. I don't want to see any of my stuff get ruined out of my short-sightedness or laziness.

However, I don't care to be owned by my stuff. I own my stuff; it doesn't own me.

Guns don't have to be deep-cleaned every time I shoot them. If I do it, it's because I want to. I have caused rust with sweat, though, so I oil-wipe whatever I handle significantly.

Either way, I'll clean 'em if that's what's required to keep them in good condition, but not otherwise. Some oil and a boresnake isn't "cleaning."

 

[skeeter1]

My dad taught me to clean my guns after every use. Perhaps because of that instruction, I've got a couple of guns in the 30-40+ Y/O category that I'd say are still near 100%. The oldest one (1962 High Standard DM-101 derringer) went to the range a couple of months ago. She still works like new, and looks like it, too.

 

[Taurus 66]

Any time they are exposed to moisture, any time they are shot, anytime they sit for more than two or three months, any gun.

Now are you talking about cleaning a gun that has been unused for a period of 2 or 3 months or every time the humidity rises or when the air gets too damp and dreary, overcast and rainy? I would believe chemists over the many years have developed solvents and oils that can sit unattended for the long duration. Guns and everything associated with these instruments are tough stuff and can endure a good share of abuse/neglect. This is not stale graham crackers we're talking about.

 

[swingset]

I clean them when they need it, never before.

 

[LadySmith]

I clean them after each trip to the range.
I know how a clean gun will shoot. I don't want to have to guess how a dirty one will perform.

 

[Molon Labe]

I am anal about keeping my guns clean.

After every session, whether 1 or 1000 shots were fired, I thoroughly clean the gun. This includes removing every last atom of copper from the barrel.

Call me obsessive. But I hate to pick up a dirty gun.

 

[Xigris]

it depends on the gun, but...

I always field-strip and clean at the range (with Gun Scrubber spray, old toothbrush, patches & bore brush, then follow up with Snake Oil) at the end of each shooting session. Especially when shooting pistols & revolvers. I tend to clean shotguns & centerfire rifles every time I shoot them. Sometimes I'll shoot rimfire rifles multiple times before cleaning them. When I do clean guns at the range, I double check them under a good light when I get home to see if I missed anything. Guns in my collection that I seldom or never shoot get a good going over every six to nine months.

 

[JohnBT]

Deep clean? You mean like take it completely apart?

Almost never.

I finally stripped the lower on my Kimber Stainless Gold Match after 5,000 rounds. Every 1,000 or so I'd take the grips off and hose it out with Gunscrubber and spritz it with Sheath, but deep clean? Nah. It probably would have gone 10k, even with the cheap range ammo I was shooting.

My '85 Ruger Police-Service Six wasn't fully disassembled for 17 or 18 years. After about ten years or so I filled it full of CLP for a few days and blew it out with compressed air. The only reason I took it apart was to put a spring kit in it - - - - and it made the trigger pull heavier. Go figure.

My '72 Single-Six has never been detail stripped. It's never been rained on either.

Q-tips, patches, dental picks and Gunscrubber will get most of the grime out of the guts.

OTOH, my duck guns get detail stripped after every trip. Saltwater is corrosive.

John

 

[Mark-P14]

Gun Cleaning

I used to clean my guns after every trip to the range. I found that I was spending as much time cleaning as shooting. I would also limit the number of guns I would shoot since I didn't want to have to clean them all when I came home. The last few years I have simply cleaned them every 800 rounds or so. I do keep careful records of my range sessions, round count, cleaning, repairs, and spring replacement, so I know exactly where I stand with each gun. I honestly have not noticed a difference in performance compared to when I cleaned them after each range session. Of course, if a hunting gun is in the rain or a match gun is out in sandy conditions they get a full cleaning. In addition my defense gun is kept perfectly clean. I think people should look at gun cleaning in a reasonable manner. Keep your defense guns clean all of the time for an extra measure of performance. Your "fun guns" can manage without constant attention. With modern firearms and ammo guns will be fine as long as you wipe down the outside and keep them from getting wet.

 

[springmom]

every single time

If it gets dirty, which it does when it is shot, then it gets cleaned.

Springmom

 

[10-Ring]

Every time I shoot my guns, I shoot at least 100 rounds through each & I clean after each range session...so I answer (A) & (C)

 

[ronto]

Depends....my little 22LR semiauto I use for plinking = when it starts screwing-up...my primary home defense and CCW weapons = after each use...my old 12 Guage pump = when I have nothing else to do and I want to feel I accomplished something that day.

 

[UnintendedConsequences]

My answer

I fully detail strip a brand new firearm to remove any excess packing preservative (grease, oil, etc.) and to examine the interal works. I do the same with any used firearm though I also add a detailed examination of all parts to make sure it is safe to fire.

I am OCD about safe firearms being a gunsmith and it really bothers me that some of my customers will shoot their firearms for years, perhaps a couple decades, without cleaning or any other basic maintenance. I have had hunting rifles of all action types come in with barrels that looked like a smoothbore shotgun barrel because they hadn't been cleaned for so long that the lands filled up. I have had others where the entire action and trigger assembly was stuffed full of gunk that it took several hours to fully clean the internals.

What I do know for certain is, I can go over 2,000 rounds of the cheapest, dirtiest .22 Long Rifle ammunition in my Marlin Model 60 and it still fires, though the accuracy is rather poor by then. However, as I generally shoot higher quality ammunition out of all my firearms I know that I can shoot quite a bit before most of them, generally mil-surp arms, have to be cleaned for actual functional reasons. I clean the barrels of my arms for accuracy reasons right before hunting season and fire one fouling shot before going afield.

Unless I am shooting hundreds of rounds in a session,I don't detail clean my collection, but I do check on their condition on a regular basis and I control the humidity in my homestead to reduce damage from that route. With self-defense arms I function check and spot check them on a monthly basis if I haven't used them for awhile.

I use common sense when it comes to cleaning, not too much and not too little. My standard is to remove or empty the magazine, quadruple check the chamber and remove the bolt (if bolt action), leave the action open and look down the bore to see what its condition looks like. Unless it is a precision or target rifle I don't worry about barrel fouling excessively. but if it looks like it needs a little TLC, it gets it.

 

[dfaugh]

I do a basic clean and lube after I shot 'em.

But, I now have 3 that have over 5000 rounds through them (and 2 of those were acquired used), and have never been dissasembled for "Deep Cleaning. Trying to decide whether to just do it, of do a "torture test" and see how long they'll go before they malfunction. (One is my Marlin Model 60, which is scary accurate for an inexpensive gun. I'm kinda afraid to strip it down for fear it won't shot as well after I put it back together!)

 

[xiphur]

I clean my beretta 92FS every time I shoot it. I clean my 10/22 every 1000 rounds or so. I field strip my beretta and clean the barrel, the chamber, the nooks and crannies on the frame, oil all moving parts and metal-metal surfaces. I'd like to clean the the area where the firing pin rests but i dont know how nor do i have the tools to take it apart. Also, there is some crud built up at the front of the barrel in he grooves that i cant get rid of. I soaked it with hoppe's #9 for a day and scrubbed it with a brass brush and it still wont come off.:banghead: Also Do i need to detail strip my beretta and "deep clean" clean it? I'm scared that I'd probably screw something up or loose a spring if i do.

 

[mljdeckard]

As an armorer in Germany, that was the single biggest problem I had with Berettas, was soldiers taking the grips off, playing with the springs, and then putting them back in wrong, the DA was messed up, and I would have to hand them over to support level maintenence to straighten them out.

 

[dragongoddess]

You know I hated cleaning weapons when I was in the military. Just hated it. Yet now with my own weapons I clean them after every use. I found that the cleaning just extends the pleasure I experience after a day at the range. Its weird but my blood pressure drops when I'm cleaning my weapons. Its just so darn theraputic and relaxing.

 

[Trip20]

I clean after every shooting session. Sometimes I skip a bit with the .22lr rifles, but even they at least get wiped down inside with some Hoppes #9 where ever I can reach without disassembly.

One advantage to cleaning after every session, is that the job never becomes a project. If I didn't clean a particular firearm until it had 500-1000rnds through it, that would be a chore -- there's a lot of crud built up in that sucker.

Besides, there's nothing better than cleaning your guns while watching a hunting show or some such thing.

 

[gbell]

As others have said it depends on the type. Shotguns get a light cleaning everytime i shoot and a deep cleanig before and after the hunting season. Rifles oiled after every trip hunting and cleaned after every range session. handguns- glocks well every know and then others cleaned after most sessions. Guns i do not fire on a regular basis get oiled every month or two depending on need.

 

[ddj8052]

Every time my guns get shot they get cleaned. It drives me nuts if I cannot get to them imediatley after a trip to the range. The only exception to that rule is my 10/22. It sometimes, every once in a while will be cleaned.

 

[OpFlash]

I voted #1 (every time) because that is the closest to the truth but in actuality I may let a gun sit for a few days or a week before I clean it. I usually take several guns to the range when I go (3 pistols and 3 rifles, for example) and cleaning them all the night I get back is not typically feasible. Modern non-corrosive ammo is not going to hurt your guns if you let them sit dirty a little while. Also I don't clean my rimfires every time, they shoot better if you don't.

 

[10-Ring]

I field strip & clean my guns after very shooting session. I detail strip my guns after every 1000 rounds or so.