Do you clean your guns? How often / how long does it take?
- Thread starter TXAZ
- Start date
When I was stationed in NC she didn't have a job, and once the house is clean... you can only watch reruns of criminal minds so many times[emoji1787]A wife that will clean your guns...
You are one lucky guy.
But really I'm the luckiest guy alive. When I get back from the range, she'll say " which ones can we clean?". She likes to spend time doing that kind of thing together!
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If it's corrosive ammo, I clean my firearm as soon as I return home.
If I'm shooting test loads with regular smokeless powder, maybe every third time I go to the range. And If I do clean it, it's the night before I go to the range.
I own a .45 that I rarely shot at first. Twelve years past until I finally decided to clean it, just out of curiosity.
If I'm shooting test loads with regular smokeless powder, maybe every third time I go to the range. And If I do clean it, it's the night before I go to the range.
I own a .45 that I rarely shot at first. Twelve years past until I finally decided to clean it, just out of curiosity.
Pistols and AR’s - every 200-600 rounds. Probably overkill. Maybe annually clean to spotless.
Bolt rifles- I wipe the outsides every time. I clean out the action before any season. I clean the bore, but generally after 100’s of shots. These are generally good barrels that stay clean and accurate without cleaning. Cleaning creates initial shots, and other wasted shots down the bore. I have a borescope. I look!
Bolt rifles- I wipe the outsides every time. I clean out the action before any season. I clean the bore, but generally after 100’s of shots. These are generally good barrels that stay clean and accurate without cleaning. Cleaning creates initial shots, and other wasted shots down the bore. I have a borescope. I look!
Onward Allusion
New member
That's kinda what I do with my carry guns. I clean 'em at the range and fire off a couple of mags right after.
Carl the Floor Walker
Moderator
After each and every use. Every 10 shooting sessions, it gets a UltraSonic clean and lube.
I clean my guns after every time I shoot them. It doesn't matter if I fired 1 round, 100, or a thousand. I take good care of my firearms and learned to do so at my later father's knee. Dad was a soldier, a WWII vet; I was, I am, and I will always be a soldier. My guns are ALWAYS CLEAN.
Ignition Override
New member
After using approx. 150-200 rds. in a handgun, or approx. 100-200 rds. in a rifle (the VZ-58 or any of three AKMs), the receiver, and bolts plus bolt carriers and all tracks are cleaned:
Ballistol on patches plus Q-Tips in grooves, then a few drops of Mobil One grease (reddish/pink) in lug tacks and rails.
Rifle time for internals plus exterior wipe: about 20 min.
Handgun time " " " " ": about 10 min. This time can increase if any good classic rock/jazz fusion (i.e. "Deep Purple"/ "Jeff Beck") is on music channels of Direct TV.
Any Single club visit means a good bit less ammo is used, therefore I simply wipe (i.e. 5 min.) all external metal with Ballistol within 1-4 days, to be quite frank.
* It looks proper to say that all external areas are wiped down the same night, but sometimes that would not be honest---in my case.
Ballistol on patches plus Q-Tips in grooves, then a few drops of Mobil One grease (reddish/pink) in lug tacks and rails.
Rifle time for internals plus exterior wipe: about 20 min.
Handgun time " " " " ": about 10 min. This time can increase if any good classic rock/jazz fusion (i.e. "Deep Purple"/ "Jeff Beck"
) is on music channels of Direct TV.Any Single club visit means a good bit less ammo is used, therefore I simply wipe (i.e. 5 min.) all external metal with Ballistol within 1-4 days, to be quite frank.
* It looks proper to say that all external areas are wiped down the same night, but sometimes that would not be honest---in my case.
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There was a guy on THR YEARS ago who refused to carry a gun that had been cleaned until he'd fired a few rounds through it to verify function.
The guy's user name was SM and there was some code of silence amongst the THR Cognicenti as to who he was but he was apparently Jason Bourne Jr. The mods used to edit anything that could possibly be identifying information out of his posts.
Apparently he used to post here to but he hasn't for the last 5 years
The guy's user name was SM and there was some code of silence amongst the THR Cognicenti as to who he was but he was apparently Jason Bourne Jr. The mods used to edit anything that could possibly be identifying information out of his posts.
Apparently he used to post here to but he hasn't for the last 5 years
stinkeypete
New member
In general I feel most people clean their guns too much.
.22's get a good cleaning every brick and a detail strip and clean and lubricate every couple of years. But that depends on how much they are being shot.
At one time my skeet shotgun cost about as much as the rest of my entire collection and I kept that thing mirror bright, running patches every couple rounds of skeet while at the range while the barrels were warm. So much crud just wipes out a warm barrel that stiffens up when the barrels cool.
When I was shooting competition pistol I was shooting at least 100 rounds three times a week and my .45 got wiped down and a quick brush about once a week but a detail strip and clean every couple of months. It was dirty a lot of the time but still shot great.
Hunting shotgun... cleaned about every half box which is sometimes months.. or more often if game is plenty and I am missing a lot. Or when it gets rained or snowed on.
So.. when you guys are fussing with brushing out your barrels, are you also getting in there and cleaning your firing pins and extractor springs and trigger assemblies often too?
.22's get a good cleaning every brick and a detail strip and clean and lubricate every couple of years. But that depends on how much they are being shot.
At one time my skeet shotgun cost about as much as the rest of my entire collection and I kept that thing mirror bright, running patches every couple rounds of skeet while at the range while the barrels were warm. So much crud just wipes out a warm barrel that stiffens up when the barrels cool.
When I was shooting competition pistol I was shooting at least 100 rounds three times a week and my .45 got wiped down and a quick brush about once a week but a detail strip and clean every couple of months. It was dirty a lot of the time but still shot great.
Hunting shotgun... cleaned about every half box which is sometimes months.. or more often if game is plenty and I am missing a lot. Or when it gets rained or snowed on.
So.. when you guys are fussing with brushing out your barrels, are you also getting in there and cleaning your firing pins and extractor springs and trigger assemblies often too?
Ignition Override
New member
Either five or fifteen minutes duration.
Wiping the handgun/rifle exteriors within about three days after use (five min.).
Cleaning the receiver, rails etc after about 40-100 rds (fifteen min.). Note: these guns never get very dirty.
I use a soft toothbrush with Ballistol when wiping/cleaning the interior areas. Perfect for bolt carriers and bolts on my VZ-58 and AKMs, and the recessed areas in the handgun slides and frames.
!! If you clean your chambers a bit, residue will never have a chance of accumulating in chambers Around the rigid steel cases of Russian-made ammo. Imagine that! Zero issues with the "dreaded" steel-cased ammo (3,000 rds. of this used in one of my AKMs).
>> Your extractor is Not weak (made of higher-grade steel than ammo cases)...but they are designed to pull cases from fairly Clean chambers <<
Wiping the handgun/rifle exteriors within about three days after use (five min.).
Cleaning the receiver, rails etc after about 40-100 rds (fifteen min.). Note: these guns never get very dirty.
I use a soft toothbrush with Ballistol when wiping/cleaning the interior areas. Perfect for bolt carriers and bolts on my VZ-58 and AKMs, and the recessed areas in the handgun slides and frames.
!! If you clean your chambers a bit, residue will never have a chance of accumulating in chambers Around the rigid steel cases of Russian-made ammo. Imagine that!
Zero issues with the "dreaded" steel-cased ammo (3,000 rds. of this used in one of my AKMs). >> Your extractor is Not weak (made of higher-grade steel than ammo cases)...but they are designed to pull cases from fairly Clean chambers <<
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My carry guns all have at least one identical "range twin"
I break in the carry, clean & lube, then rarely ever touch them again
The range twin will get shot until it stops working
My K9 range twin has now logged over 10k
My current 380EZ range twin is up around 5k IIRC
My current L9A1 range twin is over double the Kahr's round count
Zero cleaning EVER and only a couple drops of MPro7 every few sessions
When something does need cleaning it gets tossed in an ultra sonic cleaner for a few minutes
Doing it this way saves time
It also saves money on cleaning supplies
And it gives me an idea of the reliability and durability
TIP:
Tear off ammo box ends and toss them in case with pistol
That way you can keep track of both round counts and type
Every once in a while Ill just count up the box ends and then jot down the new total on one then put it back in case
Stupid easy and takes just seconds.
I break in the carry, clean & lube, then rarely ever touch them again
The range twin will get shot until it stops working
My K9 range twin has now logged over 10k
My current 380EZ range twin is up around 5k IIRC
My current L9A1 range twin is over double the Kahr's round count
Zero cleaning EVER and only a couple drops of MPro7 every few sessions
When something does need cleaning it gets tossed in an ultra sonic cleaner for a few minutes
Doing it this way saves time
It also saves money on cleaning supplies
And it gives me an idea of the reliability and durability
TIP:
Tear off ammo box ends and toss them in case with pistol
That way you can keep track of both round counts and type
Every once in a while Ill just count up the box ends and then jot down the new total on one then put it back in case
Stupid easy and takes just seconds.
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It depends on the gun. I tend to just pull a bore snake though the barrel and wipe the outside down with an oily rag after a day of hunting in nice weather. After the seasons over i will do a full disassembly and cleaning. I will do a good cleaning after a hunt in foul weather or i notice the action dosnt feel or act right.
So master class competitiors cleaning their 22 rimfire rifles after each 40 or 60 shot match are doing it too much?
stinkeypete
New member
No, Bart. Those guys know what they are doing, they are not posting here, asking.
My mentor was a High Master pistol shooter, and for .22 pistols it’s clean once a brick or when your accuracy degrades.
Most fellas that don’t shoot competitively don’t have match grade barrels, won’t pay for match grade ammo, and a bucket of bulk ammo will never notice if you don’t bother to clean but at the end of the season.
For every master class competitor in America I bet we can find at least 100 guys that dinged a muzzle or did other damage by bubba cleaning with rubbish tools.
My mentor was a High Master pistol shooter, and for .22 pistols it’s clean once a brick or when your accuracy degrades.
Most fellas that don’t shoot competitively don’t have match grade barrels, won’t pay for match grade ammo, and a bucket of bulk ammo will never notice if you don’t bother to clean but at the end of the season.
For every master class competitor in America I bet we can find at least 100 guys that dinged a muzzle or did other damage by bubba cleaning with rubbish tools.