LEO and weapon cleaning

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OnTheFly

New member
My father-in-law was the police chief in a small Nebraska town until he passed away. My sister-in-law recently became a police officer in the same town. She asked the new chief if the department had any cleaning kits that might have come with their S&W semi-auto handguns. He said that the former chief (our mutual father-in-law) was big into cleaning the firearms, but the police department just doesn't do that any more. ***?!?! :eek:

Furthermore, my sister-in-law says that the other officers take their firearms to the firing range, and, after countless rounds, start having issues with the firearm. They then start to complain about the firearm and talk the city into spending more $ on new ones.

I would think that anyone who expects a gun to work in a life threatening situation would take great care in maintaining their firearm. Am I wrong?

Fly
 
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VUPDblue

New member
To lots of guys it is just a tool, nothing more, and they expect it to work every time with minimal maintenance. Unless you get a really gung-ho firearms enthusiast as your Brass, they are not likely to suggest otherwise. **this statement only applies IMO to small departments, most large departments have SOP's that are enforced by armorers and shift commanders**
 
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Destructo6

New member
After firearms qualifications, you clean your weapons. Qualifications are quarterly. For some, that's the only time they clean their weapons. Others clean them whenever they get unreasonably dirty.
 
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OnTheFly

New member
In my book, if I am trusting a weapon to work for me when I REALLY need it, unreasonably dirty would be every time after I fired it.

Fly
 
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Csspecs

New member
Seems stupid, but then again how many boats go down every year and the people on board don't have working life jackets or flares (happens all the time).

The stuff that is there to save your life is often the stuff people never look at.
 
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Silvanus

New member
I'm glad our policemen are still carrying S&W 686s:D I can't understand how you could not take care of the firearm you use to protect your life. Especially when you are a cop.
 
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OnTheFly

New member
The stuff that is there to save your life is often the stuff people never look at.
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I agree that many people, left to their own procrastination, would put off the cleaning. But I wonder why this chief, even though it is a small force, wouldn't make it mandatory that the LEOs clean their weapons after each use.

This chief was hired because he was from a larger city in Colorado. Surely they had such SOPs in place. I guess, because there may never have been a LEO that used their firearm in the history of the town (except for shooting the occasional wild dog), they don't think it is likely. Hope no one finds out otherwise. At least I'm glad my sister-in-law is doing the right thing.

Fly
 
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Destructo6

New member
unreasonably dirty would be every time after I fired it.
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Well, that's an easy one, but how much dust is unreasonable? Clean your gun, walk through the brush and it's dusty. Is a wipe down okay or do you need to detail strip it? A little less clear now.
 
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OnTheFly

New member
Is a wipe down okay or do you need to detail strip it? A little less clear now.
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Can you clean it too much? If it's dirty/dusty for whatever reason...clean it. Sounds like a small price to pay for reliability.

Fly
 
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Jart

New member
I'm of the belief there is such a thing as "overcleaning". Whether this has to do with my finding the Gale McMillon rifle threads or just marking up my 1911s due to clumsiness is unclear.

I've gone from cleaning after every trip to the range to "after a couple - three hundred rounds if it looks like it wants it."

Thus far, I've noticed no difference in reliability and I feel my OCD gradually sloughing off. :D

BTW, anybody that's ever paid 150.00 for Dawson's enhancement package is requested to chime in - the fact that the best handgun I ever bought showed up filthy from somebody else "breaking it in" makes me wonder how often these things should be cleaned, or if anybody knows. Clearly, it had a long way to go before lack of cleaning would have been an issue.
 
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ConfuseUs

New member
Scrubbing the barrel out every day is overcleaning, but regular field stripping and giving the moving parts a wipe down isn't. I would say that if you carry a gun every working day where it can get coffee/pop/whatever spilled on it or coated in dust/other crud it's a good idea to strip it, check the barrel for obstruction, wipe off internal moving parts, etc every few days. Of course, I don't carry a gun as part of my job, so my $.02 may not mean much.

The department may be ignoring maintenance issues with guns so that they get more money to buy newer (and cooler?) guns.
 
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BlueTrain

New member
It is more likely a handgun will be over lubricated rather than over cleaned. Remember how they are when they were new, just dripping oil? On the other hand, there are those that spray cleaners on the gun and wipe it down, which sooner or later will surely kill a primer, especially on revolvers. With automatics, there can be issues with magazines that are not cleaned as well.
 
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Powderman

New member
I carry a 1911 as a service weapon. Here's what I do to maintain it...

Weekly

Wipe down the pistol and magazines, test mags for function, patch barrel once with dry patch and once with oil patch.

Monthly/after extensive shooting

Field Strip, clean all accessible parts.

Quarterly:

Complete disassemble and inspection; lube properly and shoot for accuracy from 50 yards.
 
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OnTheFly

New member
Wow Powderman...sounds like a SOP. I wish my sister-in-law's boss would adopt such a practical policy. At least her weapon will work if she needs to use it. If something happened to one of the other LEOs in that town, they would just blame it on the firearm/manufacturer and up their budget for new weapons.
 
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Powderman

New member
Unfortunately, it's not. And I wish that more cops would take better care of their firearms--and practice with them a lot more, too!

It's sad to say, but in some departments, the cop who shoots a lot catches flak for being a "Rambo". I know that I sure did!
 
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