how often to clean guns?

[bbigjohn]

Hi, new to cal guns. I am just getting back into shooting and was wondering how often to clean my guns? I have two .45,1 .357, 1 10/22,1 22 marlin, and a 870 express. any help or opinions welcomed.

thanks bbigjohn

[Jimmybacon43]

This is one of those questions that will yield many different answers based on personal preference.

Some will say after every range trip, others will say after "x" number of rounds....

I just say whenever they get dirty and you have time to clean them.

[FX-05 Xiuhcoatl]

Every time you use them, if you are using piston driven rifle just clean it when you take a bath/shower and oil after you are done cleaning it.

[buzzardbait]

After every use.
Also, once a year every firearm gets a detail cleaning and wipe down, whether it has been fired in the last year or not.

[toby]

Went shooting two weeks ago, everything still sitting with exception of my black powder Hawken. No more than a few rounds shot in any except the 22's.

[357magnum]

After every use.
Also, once a year every firearm gets a detail cleaning and wipe down, whether it has been fired in the last year or not.

I agree 100%

[bigbearbear]

Wife and I shoot trap with our shotguns almost every weekend and I try to clean them after each visit to the range. If we shoot both Sat and Sun however, I'll usually do the cleaning after the Sun shoot.

Our shotguns (Benelli semi-autos) are also our primary home defense firearms so I like to keep them as clean as possible. Cleaning also lets you inspect your firearms for potential problems that might have developed, such as cracks and corrosion etc. If you can spot these problems early, they'll be easier and cheaper to fix.

For my semi-auto pistol, which I hardly shoot, if it has been sitting around for a few months in the safe and I want to take it out, I'll field strip and clean it too before the shoot.

[Peter.Steele]

Mosins & Mausers get cleaned religiously after every use because most of my surplus ammo is corrosive.

.22's and AR basically get cleaned when they stop working or if I get a lot of grit in them or something. Mostly I just oil them up thoroughly.

Carry gun gets cleaned after every use, and every so often in between to get the lint and stuff out, and make sure that the slide's still slippery.

[LCU1670]

after every use, inspected, lubed before each use.

[sl0re10]

This is one of those questions that will yield many different answers based on personal preference.

and the materials the gun is made of or coated with.

Blued steel; everytime as soon as your home. Might want to spray some rem oil on it before leaving the range...

Stainless? No so much. Maybe whenever you feel like it.

AK with paint over the metal? Twice a year. But; it doesn't really need it that much. Keeping the wood in good shape is actually more work (shellac su*ks). I ended up stripping and refinishing with something tougher.

[purer00r]

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[MrElectric03]

Everyone has their own way. I clean them after every trip.

[SkyHawk]

+1 to what others have said about a good annual cleaning if they have been sitting, regular inspections etc. I clean all my guns after every shoot and at least once a year if they have not been shot. If you shoot unjacketed lead ammo, you might want to clean the bore after every shoot. Especially in a .22 where you can put a lot of rounds downrange for little $$, you may find your bullets are putting egg shapes in the paper target instead of holes after only 100 rounds or so (depending on the firearm) which means they are tumbling or otherwise unstabilized because the rifling is no longer effective. You eventually start shooting a smooth bore when lead fouls the grooves. A long day at the range may require several cleanings of the bore of a .22 unless you are using jacketed or coated ammo of some sort, if accuracy is your goal.

[ElDub1950]

For the ones I shoot frequently I'll do a light clean and lube about every trip and thorough cleaning every 4000-5000 rnds. I have one that might sit idle for 6 months at a time and I clean it after each use.

[Peter.Steele]

+1 Same here, run em till they hicup too much. AR usually around 800-900 of Russian steel over 3-4 trips. .22s go for thousands of rounds. YMMV of course.

My AR is up to about 1500 rounds right now since the last cleaning. Mostly XM193, but there's been a good bunch of Remington green & white .223, WWB 5.56, some Wolf, some Silver Bear ... all sorts of stuff.