Cleaning and lubing on the range

[Sunday]

I put 3,750 rounds of 5.6 gn. of Winchester 231 and 180 gn hard cast Missouri bullets through my 40 S@W Tactical with only lubing without problems. After the 3,750 rounds I started to get failures to feed. I scraped out the chamber at the range with a screwdriver and continued to shoot for the day. When at home I put a brass brush on the end of an electric drill and with solvent brushed the chamber out. after the cleaning the pistol ran perfect. With my 22/46 Ruger that I have had since 2000 and the round count is really high because the extracter wore out and I put a Volquartson unit in it then some other parts that were worn out. I only cleaned it when it quit operating reliably. I would get my clothes dirty.

[FalconLair]

maybe a wipe down, run a bore snake through the barrel

that should be enough unless you're using some really dirty stuff, even then 500 rounds should run through your firearm fine without any real problems

you can always break it down and inspect it before you decide too

as far as lube, im more inclined to do that before i go to the range not necessarily after

[sd joe]

I rarely clean my guns and never have any problems. Been shooting for over 30 years.

[jaysantosauxiliarypolice]

Do you have to have fired thousands of rounds to experience rifling wear?
Oiling help or is it inevitable.

[81turbota]

Do you have to have fired thousands of rounds to experience rifling wear?
Oiling help or is it inevitable.

Oil will be burnt out of the barrel within a round or two. Pressures and temperatures from firing will vaporize any "coatings" you'd apply, this is why some barrels are chrome lined, nitrided, melonited etc.

What kills barrels is heat and improper/overzealous cleaning. Rapid fire will wear a barrel much faster. A great indicator of this is worn throats.

Maxim MG barrel for instance. The rifling and crown is excellent but the throat has moderate wear in the first inch or two. Keep in mind this barrel probably saw combat during the winter war/ww2 and thousands of rounds in full auto.

Mosin Nagants that have crap crowns or counterbores (to fix the crap crown)- this was caused by overzealous cleaning without a bore guide. The cleaning rods these rifles were equipped with were made from the same steel the barrel was. Hard cleaning rod + side loading down the muzzle = worn crown.

Every CL original AK barrel I have seen are pristine, they've probably seen hundreds or thousands of rounds FA fire before they ended up here as parts kits.

I have never worn down a barrel personally.

[audiophil2]

firearm safety rule number 1 is all firearms are loaded.

all firearm owners manuals specifically state never clean a loaded firearm.

therefore never clean a firearm

[Jimi Jah]

I will do a clean and shoot for barrel break ins. Otherwise I don't. If it gets sticky or accuracy drops I'll run a bore snake.

Last outing I ran a bunch of 5.56, 7.62x39 and .22LR and every round fired perfectly. Love that Slip 2000 EWL!

[GreggieBoy]

For my .22 rimfires I carry a patch worm I made from line trimmer line. Carry that with a small bottle of Hoppe's and several patches. After couple hundred rounds pull a patch through with a little Hoppe's on it. Think a lot of what comes out is from the chamber and about the first 1/2" -1" down the bore where you'll find a lot of oiled up grime. Seems to help keep the semi-autos running reliably. When I get home a give everything a good cleaning since it might be a while before the next range trip.

[FeuerFrei]

I've never shot more than 100 - 120 rounds at one time on the range since ammo is expensive. However I may go to a range soon and shoot more than 100 rounds for sure.

How many rounds should an AR or a 10 22 be cleaned? Also the barrel. Is the lubing of the barrel mainly to prevent rust, or like a car's engine, oil prevents wear and tear.

Nowhere near a gun expert so be patient to this grasshopper.

Nothing wrong in giving your rifles/pistols a whore's bath when you get home from a range session.
Out here in the hinterland we usually do a clean or lube after experiencing some sort of stoppage. Simple.
The only guys that I know that are an-al about cleaning rituals are match/bench shooters.
They tend to stick with their own formulas and venerated methods.
Carry on.

Sent using a long string and 2 Dixie cups

[Tere_Hanges]

Since you are new, it will be hard for you not to want to clean after every range trip. After a year or so you will realize how silly and unnecessary it is to clean most of the time. Eventually you will develop a more realistic cleaning schedule.

My cleaning routine is to run CLP through after every few range sessions. Then maybe once every year or couple years I'll do a thorough cleaning with solvent and or copper cleaner. It really depends on how often I shoot a gun, what kind of ammo I use, and how expensive the gun was.

[1911su16b870]

I do a basic wipedown every 3,000 or so rounds.
Normal pre-flight inspection before the range and i usually just squirt some mpro7 in through the chamber with the bolt held halfway back, release, and cycle the bolt a bunch and call it good

Mpro7 gun oil and not the cleaner


I assume the LPX product? Why not the Slip 2000 EWL or Otis O85 products?

[CaliforniaCowboy]

I have heard 2 experts (barrel makers) speaking on the break-in of a barrel. One said he does not think it is necessary, the other said that a new barrel has micro scratches/burrs etc from the cutting/pulling process and says that the first box of ammo or so will (I forget his exact wording) smooth out the imperfections and such, said he would fire a single round, bore snake, fire a couple more rounds, bore snake, fire a couple sets of 5 rounds snaking each set, then 20 rds and final clean. Something like that.

[jcourson]

Cleaning at the range is a waste of time and often prohibited by range rules.

If you are going to be shooting repeatedly during the week, then cleaning can wait until you are taking a break from shooting for a while.

If it is going back into storage, then you need to at least run a bore snake through it and wipe down external metal parts with a light coat of oil. Some of those factory rounds are corrosive as hell.

[NorCalFocus]

You don't clean a .22 until your accuracy falls off or you have malfunctions. .22 target ammo is pure lead bullets, but its also lubed. Most .22 rounds have copper jackets which acts as a type of lube.

If your cleaning every 100 or so rounds your wasting your time. I'll put 200+ rounds through my precision rifle with out cleaning. On my AR's, I clean em about twice a year. I keep the BCG lubed, as well as the trigger assembly.

[Brush Guard]

You want cleaning info…?

Hang out at sniper 101.

Many of life’s important questions are answered here.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJUaiRIEduNXoal2_PkBZi0vDCIcEPxUn

Check out vid 42 and 44 for cleaning.

You are welcome.