How often do you clean your guns?

[Hunterbirk]

Largely, only when I take them out, or when I get a new one I clean them every other day for a few weeks to break them in or to soak the metal in protective oil to get them to a "museum quality condition".

That's mostly only with my surplus guns that usually come rusty or bone dry, giving TLC is imperative for me personally.

 

[BanjO0o]

I'm so excited to pick up my Smith & Wesson M&P Shield Plus on Saturday! So how often do you clean your guns? After every time you shoot? Once a week or once a month? And do you clean it even if you go a while without shooting it? I understand everybody probably has a different opinion. But I would love to hear what you guys do with yours. Thank you so much!

I mostly shoot .22s and my carry/home defense guns at the range so I clean them after every range trip. The rimfire guns get super dirty if you let cleaning slide, and I need to trust the carry/defense weapons to function flawlessly if I need one.

My inherited/hunting rifles get cleaned once a year or so, or after I shoot them. I actually enjoy cleaning guns though, and it is satisfying to know that everything in the safe is ready to go if I want to use them.

 

[CLT65]

Like a few others here, when they need it.

I just cleaned a couple that needed it, because I shot corrosive ammo in them today: 1939 Turkish 8mm in the Yugo 24/47, and some grungy old 1950's Spanish 8mm rounds through the FN49.

I know some will balk at shooting dirty old corrosive surplus in an FN49, but this is what's left of some that I bought from Paragon about 30 years ago, and I've been shooting it occasionally in this same rifle ever since. I don't shoot the Turkish ammo in it though, not taking the chance.

By the way, berdan and boxer are just two types of primer system, and either one can be corrosive or non-corrosive. Boxer primed USGI ammo before the 1950's was generally corrosive, and many other countries around the world used corrosive primed ammo for much longer than the US. If you clean properly, corrosive ammo is nothing to worry about, but most surplus has dried up and is no longer available, and modern commercial ammo, boxer or berdan, is never corrosive, as far as I know.

 

[Old Dog]

For about 30 years or so I was pretty much OCD about cleaning my guns, every three months if they hadn't been fired, but 100% of the time immediately after they'd been fired. But, long years of experience have shown me that what Gunny Wilkins and SGT Bell taught me back in the day about immediately cleaning guns after shooting them simply isn't required with a lot of our modern firearms.

These days, I've got always got a handful of handguns or rifles that've been to the range and I haven't cleaned 'em yet. I've even carried some pistols that I didn't clean after their last range session.

I wait for a rainy Sunday afternoon, put in the Blu-Ray of Seasons 1 and 2 of Miami Vice, and stink up the family room with the smell of Hoppes #9 and Breakfree. The wife comes home, sniffs once and say, "You finally cleaned your guns today, eh?"

 

[duldej]

My common edcs: Sig & glock are terrifically reliable such that I try to gauge when they're performing sub optimally, like unexplainable problems with consistency hitting the target, where I will strip the gun down, clean & oil it, then rub it & the oiled parts down with a microfiber cloth.

except on a whim, I seldom clean the firing pin assembly area and parts, unless there are veritable problems. For example, on a glock, always reliable, it finally started jamming, maybe after 2k rounds. I took out the firing pin assembly, and cleaned it on that occasion. Did not have the jamming problem after that.

The easy field strip (getting the barrel out, etc) on guns such as your Shield, or the Sig or Glock is so simple that there is no good reason not to get that done.

 

[Tony617]

I couldn't wait. And I saved money. Hope this will do.

View attachment 1942303

Get a spray bottle and get some denatured alcohol to clean off your gun cleaning tools off when you are done cleaning your firearms. I just spray my gun clean tools off and dry them with a paper towel.

 

[CLT65]

But, long years of experience have shown me that what Gunny Wilkins and SGT Bell taught me back in the day about immediately cleaning guns after shooting them simply isn't required with a lot of our modern firearms.

There are many reasons for doing things certain ways in the military, that don't apply to civilian life.

Though I'm lax about cleaning, I have learned a few things the hard way. One is that especially with rifles, if I shoot them and then stick them in the safe for a long time, I need to at least run an oil patch through the bore. I've had minor rust sneaks up on me under those circumstances, even without corrosive ammo.

I also learned my lesson a long time ago about corrosive surplus ammo and not sharing it with friends. Most people just won't clean properly. More than once I told someone that with corrosive rounds, you HAVE TO clean them right away, and more than once I saw a rusty bore, and heard "I don't know what happened!"

 

[Old Dog]

Though I'm lax about cleaning, I have learned a few things the hard way. One is that especially with rifles, if I shoot them and then stick them in the safe for a long time, I need to at least run an oil patch through the bore. I've had minor rust sneaks up on me under those circumstances, even without corrosive ammo.

Yes, absolutely - very good point.

 

[nammac]

For about 30 years or so I was pretty much OCD about cleaning my guns, every three months if they hadn't been fired, but 100% of the time immediately after they'd been fired. But, long years of experience have shown me that what Gunny Wilkins and SGT Bell taught me back in the day about immediately cleaning guns after shooting them simply isn't required with a lot of our modern firearms.

These days, I've got always got a handful of handguns or rifles that've been to the range and I haven't cleaned 'em yet. I've even carried some pistols that I didn't clean after their last range session.

I wait for a rainy Sunday afternoon, put in the Blu-Ray of Seasons 1 and 2 of Miami Vice, and stink up the family room with the smell of Hoppes #9 and Breakfree. The wife comes home, sniffs once and say, "You finally cleaned your guns today, eh?"

Seasons 1 & 2 were the best seasons of Miami Vice.

 

[Flopsweat]

Ha! Amazingly enough, yes! Unlike so many shelves or TV stands that I've put together that are super wobbly for some reason.

Had to take the PF9 apart and clean all of the lint out of it yesterday. Mikej would have gotten a laugh out of me struggling to get the locking pin back in, until I remembered, "THE TRICK".

The Remington Model 10 is the company's first pump action shotgun. It was introduced in 1908. It loads and ejects shells from the bottom of the receiver. It has a very unique action that is a little involved. I needed to fully disassemble the gun in order to clean it thoroughly. I watched a half hour video on it, and then spent about half an hour reassembling it after cleaning everything meticulously and lubricating it carefully. As it was a rather involved process with some finicky parts, I thought it might be a good idea to do it again right away, so I might better remember how. This time it took me 45 minutes!

 

[Capn Jack]

And in the manual it says:

Don't force it together, or the thingy will get bent and the whatsit will never work right.
Also don't try to bend any of the cast brass parts, as they will break. (Bubblegum!)

Oh, and watch out for that left-handed thread on the bullet tube.
It takes over a month to get a new one from Turkey.

 

[sphynxdude]

As I am still breaking mine in, I clean it every time I go to the range. Bul Armory released a statement regarding plated ammo + issues with their ported guns. I am probably being paranoid, but keep it clean just to ensure all is right in the world

 

[Jade Terfin]

I guess I'm just so new that I'm afraid I'll mess something up or never get it back together. I did successfully put it back together after my last range trip. But now I'm a little skeptical about whether or not it will work next time…lol. And there was no solvent in my cleaning kit. So it just got wiped and very lightly oiled. Gonna get some solvent today.

 

[Mikej]

I guess I'm just so new that I'm afraid I'll mess something up or never get it back together. I did successfully put it back together after my last range trip. But now I'm a little skeptical about whether or not it will work next time…lol. And there was no solvent in my cleaning kit. So it just got wiped and very lightly oiled. Gonna get some solvent today.

Just sayin'.....

 

[Jade Terfin]

View attachment 1945544

View attachment 1945545

Just sayin'.....

LOL! I'd say your firearms are well taken care of.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

I guess I'm just so new that I'm afraid I'll mess something up or never get it back together. I did successfully put it back together after my last range trip. But now I'm a little skeptical about whether or not it will work next time…lol. And there was no solvent in my cleaning kit. So it just got wiped and very lightly oiled. Gonna get some solvent today.

A good CLP (cleaner lubricant protectant) will do most everything. Ballistol if you can stand the smell or Eezox if you can stand the smell (use outdoors) are excellent. Let soak a bit to remove carbon etc. don't leave it wet cuz both leave a dry slippery film (dry lube). Personally I use Eezox and add a drop of liqui moly ceratec (boron nitride in nanoparticle size in a carrier oil) on surfaces that are shiny (ie wear surfaces).

Ballistol is an organic ester (anise oil) that adsorbs to the metal. Eezox is a synthetic ester that adsorbs to the metal. Both those dry lubes will resist buildup of gunk and carbon (wet oil will attract it). Also resists acid to some extent such as fingerprints which can contribute to rust. Drylubes that adsorb to the metal or ceramic coatings will also make it easier to clean next time.

A good video on handgun cleaning fyi

View: https://youtu.be/DZf4mUM10Vc?si=23kWVEJ-BN7Dv7wl

 

[Mikej]

I should really clarify that those aerosols aren't ALL for guns. But most of them are used on occasion for something on the guns.

 

[Mikej]

LOL! I'd say your firearms are well taken care of.

I don't know about that. I treat them like I treat my tools. Never run them short of lube. I like to keep the wood/metal wiped with a shop rag that has some residual oils. Sometimes I let them get a little dirtier than one should I feel.

 

[Jade Terfin]

A good CLP (cleaner lubricant protectant) will do most everything. Ballistol if you can stand the smell or Eezox if you can stand the smell (use outdoors) are excellent. Let soak a bit to remove carbon etc. don't leave it wet cuz both leave a dry slippery film (dry lube). Personally I use Eezox and add a drop of liqui moly ceratec on surfaces that are shiny (ie wear surfaces).

I looked for Ballistol when I was in Sportsman's Warehouse and then in Bi-Mart. But no luck. I already left and just went with some Hoppe's Bore Cleaner. I suppose that's a "solvent". And should work to clean it when necessary again. But I will keep Eezox in the memory for next time. What I have now should last me quite a while with only having one firearm right now.

 

[Indy62]

Seasons 1 & 2 were the best seasons of Miami Vice.

True fact. The Ferrari Testarossa was actually a Corvette with a body kit.