Brewster

After each outing I spend roughly 45 minutes to an hour on each handgun and at least an hour and a half on the rifle. I make sure every nook and cranny is clean and a lite layer of oil is applied where need be. I polish the barrels with a wadding cloth inside(handguns only) and outside. To me it's therapeutic and I love having my firearms looking brand new. When I sent my sr9c in for repair to Ruger the 2000+ rnd sucker was spotless and when I got it back on two areas of the notes it mentioned "clean firearm" which I was proud of.

How passionate are the rest of you in maintaining your firearms?

303lithgow

I don't overly clean them but do wipe them down removing any acid from my hands and applying a thin layer of oil. I do have some old mil-surps and shoot corrosive ammo in them and I make sure they are spotless before putting them away.

Lee D

im not near as obsessive as i once was. all centerfires still get tore down and cleaned, (minus one guinea pig Glock) oiled/greased and put away.
as ive got older and learned a bit more, i can now deal with the thought of a .22 pistol/rifle wiped down and put away. they dont get cleaned until they become unreliable.

tglazie

daily range sessions with the handguns warrant a few passes with the boresnake through the barrel (each cylinder also in the case of a revolver), a quick wipe of all visible soot and maybe a wipedown with a silicone cloth.

on the weekends the handguns get a full feildstrip and cleaning.

for rifles, most likely they will be used more sparingly so they get a full cleaning after each range session (.22 being the exception, that is treated the same as handguns)

arg0naut22

being somewhat new to this still, i'd say i'm still in the obsessive phase. cleaned after each use (not like taking apart trigger assemblies or anything, but the basics). i, too, find it fun and meditative, and keeps my hands on them until the next time they leave the house.

jlh820

I'm still pretty obsessive about cleaning my guns. However since becoming an old fart, sometimes I don't tear there down and clean and lube them when I come home from the range but I always do in the next day or two.

For me it's often about the weather. It's so hot all the time here and I don't clean my guns inside. That may change since I'm considering a small AC unit for my garage work space.

bwinters

I clean each firearm from 30-60 minutes depending on the style. i can clean and lube a marlin lever action in 15-20 minutes I take about 45 minutes to an hour to clean an ar or similar rifle. I tend to put 5-700 rounds thru an ar between cleaning.

JK55

I would say I am on the obsessive side as well. I believe this is because I want them to be around a while and in good order. I really don't have the money to replace them later if I don't take care of them now. My rationale anyway...

moakes58

once i get the cleaning area set up(5 min.) it takes me about 15-20 min. per gun. I try to clean the .380's & 9mm's together & then the .22 for efficiently.

Yiogo

One round or 100, the firearm gets cleaned. Center fire pistols get stripped and cleaned. Mark III and 10/22 gets the bore snake and q tips. I'd say 20 minutes for each. Yiogo

shootist

After every outing I clean them as clean as they were new, you take good care of your tools they take good care of you. Like your cool new picture, Brewster rides off into the sunset, says your in northern Utah now did you move?

tglazie

This is a good opportunity for me (and maybe the OP and others) to learn here. I have no military/leo training, or any gunsmithing background so I dont pretend to be an expert. Is the way I treat my firearms good/acceptable, or should I be breaking down my guns every time I go to the range? I certainly hope this isnt the case- I generally shoot before and after work daily (generally 40-50 rounds/day, 5-6 days a week).

Is it "bad" to shoot quality ammo daily (my own midrange reloads using HP38 or VV N320 powder), then using a boresnake after each session and fully cleaning once a week? The guns in question are a P89 and SP101 (stainless) and my EDC Bersa Model 83 .380 (blued)

scooter89

I wouldnt call it obsessive, i will oil the tail of a boresnake and run it through the barrel after a short shooting. I use grease instead of oil on my rails though, so i know its still there when im done and its not going to get rusty. After a range trip (100-200 rounds per pistol) the get a good field strip and cleaning, after every 2nd or 3rd trip, i take it all apart and put it in the ultrasonic cleaner at work.

frazierdave

I find it theraputic to clean my guns, I clean the ones I use immediately when I get back from the range, actually I clean all of my guns regularly...

Catman

I rarely ever clean a gun. I want to torture test them to the point of failure. I want to KNOW when a gun will fail. What good does it do to clean a gun every 50rd just to find out when the SHTF that it will fail at 60rd? When they reach 'failure' they are cleaned and it starts over again. I do keep records of ammo and rounds fired so I know what I'm looking at. IMO guns are tools ...they are useless unless they are there every time you need one. I won't trust my life with a weapon until I have found the 'failure' point at least 3 times (and then it has to be fairly consistent) They are not 'babied' and I don't cry over a scratch or a nick ...even on the 'high priced' ones.


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