Cleaning a Gun?

[Freq18Hz]

Clean after every time you shoot. The longer you wait, the harder they are to clean. If you get crud under the star of your 686, you won't be able to reload.

-Freq

[balmo]

I clean my guns every time after I go to the range. It may take a couple of days before I clean it but I make sure I do before the next range trip.

I haven't cleaned my shotgun though, and that regularly see the trap field.

[jben]

I clean my guns everytime I come back from a shoot because gunpowder is corrosive. You should too.

I hope you're not referring to modern gunpowder. If you are you may want to study up.

[ThortheDog]

Also may depend on the gun. Some are more sensitive to the buildup of powder residue. Say a highly tuned 1911, for example? Extractors and firing pins may cease to work reliably with enough crud built up.

That said, I try to clean mine after each range trip, but I don't always get to it. No problems yet.

[swifty]

To some extent, you need to judge for yourself where the line is drawn. is the gun exceptionally fouled, wet, too much lube etc. etc. etc..

Guns used for defensive purposes should be dirty, not freshly cleaned.
The revolver, I would hold the extractor to the rear and brush the crud out from underneath.

Guns need to be cleaned before they fail or before the crud can cause damage.

[Lumpia is sarap!®]

I clean after every range session.

Now if I go back to the range the next day, I don't. I have a pet peeve about dirty guns sitting in my safe for a long time.

[Barang]

Thanks everyone. Now I'm dumbfounded! just kidding
Wow! I did not realize how much goes into caring a gun.
Well, love the feel and really enjoy shooting at the range so cleaning is the right thing to do for my babies.

The only reason why I limit it to 200 rounds is because ammo are expensive. Otherwise, I would love to shoot between 300 to 500 rounds.

[Lumpia is sarap!®]

"If you take care of it, it will take care of you."

[uechikid]

I clean mine after every trip to the range. Regardless of round count.

[glock7]

when i get around to it. i shoot too much. that being said, today is that day i get around to it...

[CRQuarto]

My weapons are tools that I carry daily to possible save my life or another's. I keep it clean and lubed. I want it to function perfectly, so I take care of my tool. Is it necessary? Maybe not, but I also believe if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

[vp123]

About 30 years ago I was serving in an army for a couple years. We kept our AKM's on a rack in a storage room, and from time to time a gunsmith visited that room. We hated the guy. We never saw him in person, he usually sneaked in when the unit was either out or sleeping, and the only indication of the son of a b$#ch were little white cleaning patches sticking out of muzzles. Some were clean, but most of them having dirty spots. The guy was creative, he was able to find dirt in some really unusual places you would never think of cleaning such as rear sight pin holes. Of course poor soldiers whose guns din't pass the inspection had a lot of troubles from the sergeant later on. Why am I telling this story? Call it "muscle memory", I clean up my guns after each range visit

[Socalman]

The concept of cleaning after every use goes back to a time when primers and powders were corrosive. Today that is rare. True, a good deal of surplus military ammo has corrosive primers, especially that from the "eastern block" countries.

If I were to shoot my rifle with a corrosive ammo, be assured it would get cleaned immediately upon arriving back at home. Depending on how much I have shot a firearm, I may clean it soon, or may not. My Ruger 10/22 does not get cleaned often. For handguns that may be called upon for self defense, I will clean, but it gets a few test rounds down the pipe just to be sure it is back correctly. It is easy for you to make an error in assembly of a pistol and it would fail. I know, I once installed a spring backwards.

[thomashoward]

my 1911 has about 4000 rounds thru it and i still havent cleaned it... still functions flawlessly...

yep, like my brother-in-law. never cleaned until his gun quit.Was puzzled by that D'oh

[luckystrike]

Guns used for defensive purposes should be dirty, not freshly cleaned.
.