Revolver cleaning intervals for low volume shooting

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peacebutready

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Hello,

I primarily shoot 9mm semi-auto but have a .38 revolver I also like to shoot. If a person shoots say 25 rounds from a revolver per range session, at how many round intervals should the revolver be cleaned?

Happy shooting.
 
I SHOOT SIX REVOLVERS every week, a box per gun or more. None have been so much as wiped of since last October. WHEN they quit working they will be cleaned. A waste of time before that.
And so it goes...
 
Personally, I like clean guns.
So I clean them everytime I shoot them.

Carbon fouling comes off much easier while it is still fresh & soft.

It seems to me after it stays in place for a time, it gets harder then woodpecker lips.

rc
 
With the right ammo, I go several hundred rounds and many range trips before I clean.
I brew my handloads with accuracy in mine first, and clean burning a close second.
If you don't like to clean every range trip, avoid lead bullets.
 
You mean you shoot those beautiful revolvers of yours and never clean them till they stop working? :what:

rc
 
Step by step....

1st, apply a light amt of CLP or lube before you go to the target/gun range to the firearm(s). That will protect the weapon & help it function smoothly.
It also helps speed up cleaning afterwards. ;)

I always clean my firearms after any shooting range. Dirt, crud, lead, carbon etc are not good. Top cleaning products like B-C Synthetic Cleaner, Hoppes #9 or Sweet's bore cleaner, Frog Lube, Eezox, Mpro7 LPX, Slip2000, Gunzillla, etc help too.


Rusty
www.brownell.com www.gunzilla.us www.natchezss.com www.gunvideo.com www.froglube.com www.seal1.net
 
I cleanup after each range session. Carbon fouling comes off easier in my experience.

The bare minimum I try to shoot is 50 rounds, but much more is better ;)

Cleanup time is the same.
 
A gun used like that I would wipe down with an oily rag after every use and maybe clean once or twice a year.
 
I clean every session since the gunk can trap moisture and cause rust. I may skip cleaning it if I plan to shoot within the next few days. I clean carry guns after every range session so they are ready for use.
 
If a blued gun, I'd do a wipe down after handling, and then clean whenever it got dirty enough that insertion/extraction became sticky or the ejector star started to collect enough crud that I was worried about proper operation.

If a stainless gun, I'd not bother with the wipe down after handling, and then clean whenever it got dirty enough that...see above.
 
Terry, whom I quoted above, has well over a million documented rounds through his guns. Ask him how many he's worn out.

I 'usually' wipe my guns off with a rag dampened with CLP after shooting and clean them when they need it. Not necessarily when they "stop" functioning but when function is impeded. Sometimes chambers need swabbing. Sometimes basepins need a little oil. Sometimes a 1911 needs a little grease. But as far as taking them apart and cleaning everything, few and far between. I post pics of my guns all the time, have any of them ever looked neglected?


The idea of shooting any firearm and not cleaning it till it's so dirty it quits functioning makes me grit my teeth.
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The idea of taking every firearm apart every time it is fired, scrubbing the bore and cleaning every nook & cranny makes me grit my teeth. Been there, done that, no good reason for it. It's an outdated practice perpetuated by the military.
 
And what have you got against the military?
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Ha ha! :D I'm going to guess, nothing. However, the military is well-known for instilling in their recruits weapons cleaning regimens that harken back to the days of blackpowder and/or are simply tools in a ritual/program with its real focus in building discipline, not in doing what's best for the wellbeing of a weapon.

"White-glove" inspections, carrying rifles into the showers, scrubbing bores until you can't see a mark on a patch (and until segmented steel cleaning rods have worn the rifling out of the first inch of barrel), and similar over-eager silliness is the sort of stereotypical stuff that has lead, it seems, to a few generations of shooters who believe you can't put a gun away "dirty."

As more shooters are tending to spend more time shooting, and less time standing at attention, these days, there is a tend toward a more reasonable, realistic approach.
 
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And what have you got against the military?
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Nothing, except that a great many shooters fired their first shot in the military and thus believe that the way the military trained them to clean thoroughly after every range session, to meticulously keep their weapon clean, is the only way. The military also indoctrinates people to never question authority. Hence the endless arguments about cleaning.
 
OK, they can go a little overboard in training, but that's part of it, training.
My service was a few years back. I started shooting when I was 5, that's over 65 years ago, so I have a few opinions of my own on the subject of cleaning.
 
for the op. unless you shoot black powder, all you need to do is remove the grip screw using a gunsmiths screw driver, remove the grips. Then take a spray cleaner like the one remington makes, and spray it into the action while working the action. Then lubricate as the can says.

or get a can of aerosol cleaner/lube/protector and spray into action while working the action.
 
That's what I liked about shooting guns the Navy. I shot them and the Gunner's Mates cleaned them.

Now I just need to find a retired GM in southern Minnesota so we can continue the tradition.
 
I know this is the revolver forum but.....a dirty gun is an accurate gun.rifles and my hand guns ever settle until the barrels are blown out by a couple of rounds.

Btw I purchased my 627 in February of 2011. I don't clean the action until Feb of 2014. 12000 rounds of Mbc lead and other randos. Just not reason to crack the sidesplate all the time.
 
US armed forces.....

I wonder why a group like the US military would want to keep small arms clean & ready to go? Hmmm....
Maybe because they get into life or death situations. :eek:
I guess the "spit & polish" mindset helps keep the firearms clean & in good working order.

Rusty
 
Heh, or bone dry and worn out.

I think the closer to life-and-death situations the troops are, the less they try to produce spit-and-polish clean weapons, and the more they concentrate on good lubrication and the less on passing white-glove inspections.
 
Essentially I clean a revolver after a trip to the range. Occasionally I may skip this and go two trips before a cleaning. I keep the guns clean as they may be sitting in the safe for a bit before their next trip, it helps preserve them some. I also do this as it's a good chance to examine the guns closely, it's part of a maintenance and inspection routine that keeps them in good shape.

The cleaning involves running some patches through the barrel and the chambers and a brush as needed. Wiping the gun down, cleaning the nooks and crannies with a oiled patch and applying oil. Now and then I clean under the grips. Simple, takes only a few minutes and I usually do it in front of the TV.

A full strip and clean is rare, every few years if I think they can use it.

I don't shoot a high volume through any particular revolver. If I did a full cleaning might be more often, once a year or so, depending on what the high volume is.

A gun that's 10 years old can run as well as one that's 100 provided you care for it properly. A regular clean, inspection and maintenance are part of that seems to me.

tipoc
 
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