Does Anyone Clean Firearms Anymore

[14daMoney]

you mean just spraying all my ammo with WD-40 and then firing doesn't work. who knew . . . . . .

 

[Autonomous]

Black powder guns had to be cleaned.
I run a box full of bullets through a gun. Doesn't take long, five or six years, then sell it. No need to wash it...

 

[Terry G]

Shoot it clean, it. Too much money invested to not clean them. Also waiting for the Drill Instructor to appear. Back in ancient times I was a squad leader and I was a tyrant about clean M-16's. Dirty rifle? First watch and the last one. My guy's were pretty smart though, very rare to find a dirty rifle. My .22's might go a session or two.

 

[Moose074]

Black powder guns had to be cleaned in the trenches of World War I 100% clean daily the jungles of Vietnam with the monsoon high humidity, clean daily the sands of the Middle East clean daily
My EDC I clean once a month I shoot a few times a year. I don’t have any problems my other guns I will shoot 500+ rounds if I’m lucky but they all get cleaned and lubed once or twice a year I live in a dry climate, I don’t buy the cheapest ammo , but I don’t buy the most expensive. My dear rifle it is cited in the last several years one shot one kill no need to clean every season. It’s like new cars. The gas is higher quality. The oil is higher quality engines have tighter tolerance. No need to change the oil every 3000 miles some go as high as every 10 times change Not always for the best

 

[HOGSTR]

There are a growing number of new shooters who do not know how to disassemble/clean their firearm, or at least how to do it properly. Smokeless powders also make it easier to put off cleaning. My grandfather taught me to never let the sun go down on a dirty gun...but he was a long-time black powder shooter and the threat of quick corrosion is real with those guns...so I have generally followed that advice although not always with polymer guns or bird guns in active use during the season.

I've had friends who have never taken apart the 1911 they thought they had to have, and the guns are just nasty inside. People have to learn it from somewhere and there just aren't as many teachers around anymore.

 

[Autonomous]

A good number of shooters are intimidated by the process of stripping their gun and it is understandable.
Without being able to be there to mentor them it is easy to tell them to watch a YouTube video. The danger there is the high percentage of bad videos made by ignorant and/or malicious people.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

I had just commented to my buddy a few days ago that I'd never bought a used S&W revolver that didn't turn out to be dirty (and frequently totally dry/devoid of lubrication) inside. I'd recently bought a 5-screw Cobat Masterpiece. 22 on another forum, and yep, it needed a deep cleaning job. I think a lot of people assume there's never a need to go inside a revolver (and many probably shouldn't) - just wipe it off, at best, and carry on.

 

[Baddadumzgunz]

I'm amazed at how often (besides internal filth) something in a dealer's showcase will exhibit unsightly external rust, thus displaying very poorly. Pawn shops seem to be the worst in this regard.

Years ago,I was at the department range with a supervisor for our quarterly qualification. On this occasion, we're shooting up our issued ammo pursuant to being given fresh stuff. As an aside, for whatever reason, his choice for a duty sidearm was an H&K P7. Anyway, on the firing line, he gets off his first shot, and that was it, no go after that initial round. Turned out he had been carrying the pistol in a plastic bag in the trunk of his vehicle, and this being in a marine environment, the slide had rusted to the frame.

SAWEET LAWD ABOVE! I’m long gone from my “road” days, but not from carrying, and certainly not from firearms care. For any of ya, looking back from those academy days when we were taught how to care for our firearms. Pictures were worth a thousand words then! The copper fouling on the duty belts (so I’m an old fart!), the same fouling in the cylinder, can cease a revolver up! How bout the “bad old days” when present popular stuffin’ gum wrappers & cig butts down the shotgun barrels! Letting our firearm (our tool) rust is, to me, just as neglectful as any of the above noted examples of reckless firearm care. For me, I go through all of my firearms, the ones I don’t use regularly, once a year.

 

[LensWork]

I cleaned my - and my wife’s (but that is another story for another time) - guns after each use, whether it was just a couple of magazines worth of rounds, or a couple of hundred. It may not be the same day, but as soon as time and energy allow.

 

[Frailer]

I was raised to clean a gun each time it was shot, but in my later years I’ve backed off a bit.

My revolvers get cleaned each time they’re shot, as do guns I shoot infrequently. The semiautos I shoot regularly get cleaned when they look dirty. My .22 rifles get cleaned when I feel like it, and my Ruger Mark II (because I hate putting it back together) just gets Ballistol sprayed into its guts every so often.

 

[SLT223]

When I was in college I worked the counter at a gun store where the owner had to be convinced we should clean the used guns before putting them on display. I guess some people think it doesn’t matter…..

 

[javbike]

Basic rule your shoot you clean period

 

[WildBillWJW]

I have read the rants about gun shows on the forum. All legitimate complaints. I have also read the complaints about buying online. Again, legitimate complaints. What I cannot understand is every firearm I buy used takes me a day (or longer) to clean the barrel after I get it. Doesn't anyone clean firearms anymore? I was taught to clean them after every use. Use has different meanings. It may mean after deer season or a couple days of range use, but they need cleaned soon after using them. So far, the barrels have been in excellent condition after cleaning them but what's up with this lack of care?

Yes, but I forget his name.

 

[Equipoise]

I am 73 and my brother is 77. We grew up cleaning our firearms after every use. The only exception was the old Winchester 52 we used in junior NRA club. We found that the groups were erratic after cleaning until the bore was fouled. Go figure. We therefore cleaned it a week before any match and put one or two boxes of .22’s thru it so it would be predictable. I suppose if it was kept clean at all times it would have been just as accurate. Even so I made Expert with it and my brother made Distinguished Expert with it.
In my old age I clean when they are dirty, like every 300 rounds for semi auto handguns. I have a dozen 1911’s and the ones that I use routinely get a complete strip down annually. I had one 1911 that actually shot better when it was gummed up with goo that acted like grease.
Revolvers I clean each time they are fired.

 

[rwsmith]

Shoot it clean, it. Too much money invested to not clean them. Also waiting for the Drill Instructor to appear. Back in ancient times I was a squad leader and I was a tyrant about clean M-16's. Dirty rifle? First watch and the last one. My guy's were pretty smart though, very rare to find a dirty rifle. My .22's might go a session or two.

Well, there was a VERY good reason for that. Slightly unclean M-16s were a good way to get yourself and others killed.

 

[rwsmith]

I love disassembling, cleaning and reassembling my guns, too. But when I do that it takes several evenings to clean the ones I've shot. And I give the ones I haven't a physical (inspection) and vaccinations (oiling). I'm pretty busy for a retired guy between work and hobbies (and going to doctors) so I have to budget my time where it does the most good.