I field strip and clean my M&P9 every time that come back from the range and clean everything that is accessible, but I was wondering how ofter i should pound out the pins and remove the locking block, trigger assm, and sear block and do a full cleaning (all the nooks and crannies)?

I'll be interested to hear the responses to this great question...

I would suspect you wouldn't need to do this for ten thousand rounds or more.


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Kirk / Spock 2020

How much do you shoot?

Usually once every few years if you carry it and shoot on a regular basis. If you carry iwb lint and fuzzies get inside everything eventually. If you shoot a lot of dirty ammo like Wolf/Tula this too creates more crud. I would say every 3-5 years adjusted for how often you carry and shoot

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As many times as you want to. Personally I just wipe the accessible parts off. I might throw the whole lower into the ultrasonic cleaner if I ever think it needs cleaning but I haven't felt that way yet (and I shoot it at least 4 times a week).

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Minimize the variables

I guess I should have mentioned how much I shoot. Probably between 100-200 rounds a week, and it is not a carry weapon so lint isn't my problem, just use at the range.

Every few years sounds good to me, I was just wondering if some guys do it every couple of months or so.

I think it would depend on how well you clean it between range times. I use Hornady One Shot dry lube, and this stuff cleans very well and dries completely leaving a thin film of dry lube on the parts. I have thouroughly cleaned a gun, and then followed up with the dry lube only to find that alot of dirty residue was left behind. This stuff gets into areas that you would not be able to get to unless you did a total strip down. And because it is a dry lube it does not attract dirt, but still lubes the weapon. I belive it has Teflon in it to coat the moving parts. But I still use a couple of drops of gun oil on the slide rails. It has also not effected the tampon on the trigger spring.

I'm a bit overzealous, but I disassemble everything I am comfortable taking apart EVERY TIME I clean the gun. Which now includes the striker pin assembly. Once I get comfortable taking the trigger group and sear block assembly apart, I'll be doing them too.

BTW, my 9c doesn't have the "tampon" in the trigger spring, so I can use high pressure water to rinse out the frame and it's parts.

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Don

I would say NEVER.* The owner's manual does not suggest this for the ordinary end user, and I don't see why it is necessary.

*If you drop it in the ocean or into a mud hole, MAYBE, but even then the high pressure spray gun scrubber cleaners can get stuff out of the nooks and crannies pretty well without having to do a detail strip.

Thanks for all of the advice guys. This forum is a great tool for combining decades of experience into a few sentences.

I wipe down the gun inside and out after each shoot and field strip it every 100-200 rounds. That's about it. There aren't many spots you can't get to with a brush and spray cleaner.

I bet a lot more harm comes from over cleaning than under cleaning.

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Kirk / Spock 2020

I detail strip my handguns as much as possible without pounding out pins when they are new. The areas like the trigger assembly gets hosed down with a solvent and compressed air.

What people forget is that every time you take a gun down to parts you are causing wear in places the gun was never designed to have wear. This can and will cause looseness where it would not have occurred otherwise, which may affect accuracy or longevity. These aren't clocks; they run fine with quite a bit of crud built up.

Although I have had a longtime love affair with S&W handguns, my primary interest is high power rifle competition. You will rarely find a top level competitor that does more than a quick barrel cleaning, and then only when they start having unexpected fliers. Complete removal of copper fouling causes point of aim shifts until it builds back up.

It's virtually unheard of to have anybody pull the barreled action until the season is over because of the potential damage that can be done to bedding. Even if no damage is done, it will take a number of shots for the gun to settle back in.