The real issue is that we are at a crossroads in time; previously with black powder and corrosive primers cleaning was mandatory, but now, with improved cartridges and stainless, plated, or nitrided bores it's not only unnecessary it damages them when done improperly.
For those who note that barrel crowns are damaged, that tells a lot about the misinformation running around on cleaning. I was taught by professionals you NEVER insert a cleaning rod into the muzzle, EVER. It goes thru the chamber ONLY. That rule directly relates to the barrels the late McMillan saw screwed up - there are a lot of people who simply don't know how, and when, to clean a gun.
On the one hand the myth of cleaning it to operating room standards eventually sells another gun because the owner ruined, it, on the other never cleaning it does the same. There is a middle ground. Please don't look to the military as an example, because their tradition rests on the older generation of firearms, and First Line Leaders told to make them burn up time in the training day. And, in the military, dragging your weapon with you thru every step of your day in the field doing your job subjects it to a lot of debris. You need to clean it daily NOT because of powder residue, but because all the world's environment gets in the action.
It boils down to clean it if you are shooting primitive powders and ammo. If not, you forgo one reason. If you have an untreated carbon steel barrel, you still need to patch it oily to prevent long term rust. If the barrel is treated or stainless - you don't need to clean it after every shooting session, and in the case of target guns, it's not helpful.
It really depends on the gun, not what someone accepts as a mantra. Take for example Filthy 14, a carbine course instructors loaner AR15, After 60000 rounds it has been cleaned twice to the point a patch was run down the bore. Other than that, it was lubed and wiped down only. That rifle is service grade with a plated barrel and phosphate treated steel parts, and gets weekly attention.
An older C&R shooting corrosive ammo and left in storage for months at a time, no. Entirely wrong. It will corrode and become useless far sooner in round count than the loaner AR because of atmospheric humidity and neglect. It has to be cleaned and more often, usually after each use.
You don't institute a cleaning regimen by arbitrarily setting a blanket policy over all your guns. it will fail you if your inventory has diversity. You have to clean the gun depending on what it is and how you treat it.
No different than carpet - an expensive wool rug in a highly trafficked hotel lobby will need constant cleaning, and it will deteriorate rapidly. That same rug in a suite on the penthouse floor will only be cleaned because of cosmetic reasons, and certainly need far less of it, lasting years longer.
"I only clean my guns this way." is the real joke - because it doesn't take into considerations about what they are and how you use them. If you had a fleet of vehicles would you treat them all equally, servicing them with a one size fits all policy? I suspect the race car in the back of the Freightliner transporter isn't sharing the same oil, much less schedule of mileage.
In most fleets, they do it by oil analysis and it gets changed according to the strength left in the additive package to protect the motor. That varies widely - a HMMV sitting in a NG motor pool may not get it's oil changed for YEARS, literally. One in Iraq, something else entirely. One size fits most doesn't even cover it - clean the gun for what it is and how you use it, not what faith based system was handed down by past generations. It's not a tribal or self image prop - it's just common sense.
Uncommonly rare among gun owners in many cases.
