How often should I clean my G17?

[Man With A Gun]

I am lazy so I wipe the weapon down, oil it as needed and once a year I drop it into a bucket of cleaner made specifically to clean poly guns, let it soak and blow it dry with high pressure air, oil it again and keep shooting.

The Marines learned NOT to over clean their weapons since oil products attract grit. New powders burn well and do not leave residue as once they did and no where nearly as much as black powder where, if memory serves, the "clean it every time you shoot it" saga began.

 

[deltacharlie]

While I don't doubt the truth of the statement, I can't see how it would be physically possible to add any wear at all to a firearm when using mild cleaners (such as CLP) and nylon brushes.

I don't think he meant the cleaning solutions, I think he might have been referring to the wear on pins, pieces and parts from breaking down the gun.

For example, I didn't actually clean my new G17 until I'd put about 1500 rounds through it. And I didn't detail stripped it until about the 3000 round mark. The first time I punched out the block & trigger pins, they were quite tight. They have become looser in successive detail cleanings, hence, wear on the pins and polymer. Seems that tolerances become a bit looser with more cleanings, which I am sure these things were taken into consideration on the engineers drawing board.

Btw, my G17, bought new, use it in competition, clean it on a semi-regular basis, not a single malfunction to be had, ever. The one caveat I'll add: I never let the bore sit dirty...I will (at minimum) run a snake through it.

 

[Tin Gizel]

I generally clean all my guns as soon as I get back from shooting them. However, with my 2 glocks, cleaning is VERY quick and easy. Usally just a bore snake, wipe away any carbon buildup and a touch of lube for the slide. It's all the other guns that take a long time to clean.

 

[Two Cold Soakers]

It's a glock.
glocks aren't meant to be cleaned.

i enjoy cleaning pistols, and don't own a glock.

 

[Storm]

I look at it this way. That a gun can be abused and remain reliable shouldn't be taken to be an invitation to do so. That the gun can go hundreds if not thousands of rounds without being cleaned is an attribute of the gun that, and this is just my opinion, is meant to be a benefit to someone out in the field who may not be able to clean his gun on a regular basis.

I clean a gun after every time I shoot it. If a gun hasn't been shot it is inspected once a month, or thereabout. If I'm buying a used gun I'd like to think that the previous owner provided the same care rather than seeing what he could get away with.

 

[shark3-1]

I give mine a good bi-annual cleaning. The way that they are designed leaves all the parts and lockups plenty of clearance to be run dirty. The metal parts won't rust or corrode. A tiny little drop of oil on the frame rails every 2,000 rounds will help as well as an occasional boresnake.

Really the pistol actually wears faster (pins egging out) when you clean the damn thing all the time. All of my other pistols I clean after every outing. The Glock is the exeption to the rule, even when running a dirty suppressor.

 

[Zach S]

I clean after every range session. Mind you, I don't clean my guns to death. I just boresnake the barrels, use a nylon brush to get the crud off in various spots, and then gently lube.

I generally clean in the same fashoin, and it generally takes me the same amount of time.

However I do it every 500 rounds or so, if not more. They do stay lubed, and IMO being lubed is more important than being clean. They may actually get a thorough cleaning around the 1k mark, and that goes for all of my autoloaders. My 1911s get detail stripped when cleaned, but most of my 1911s are Mimbers and I mainly take them apart to look for broken parts. Haven't found any yet though.

I do think its time to have some triggerwork done on my Kimber Polymer though. At over 10k, the trigger group has worn into a very clean, ~2lb break...

 

[SniperStraz]

Glocks have been proven to stand up pretty well to dirt and grime, but why take the chance? I'm not saying you should scrub it with a steel brush everytime you take it off your belt either. If its a range gun I'd say every couple of range trips or every 400 rounds whichever comes first. If its a CCW I'd say clean it every range trip or every 4 weeks whichever comes first.