Time to clean!

[Rastoff]

If you carry a gun for self-defense, it needs to be ready at all times. It won't be if it's not clean.

Your carry gun should be cleaned at least every other week. Why? Because oil attracts dust and dirt. Even if you don't use that gun, the dirt will collect. That's detrimental to the functionality of your gun.

So, take a moment and clean it. It will only take a few minutes. Seriously, it takes me less than 2 minutes to break down my gun, wipe off all the accumulated dirt, add a couple of drops of oil and put it all back together. Just a little insurance that costs almost nothing.

 

[Univibe]

Depends. My full size M&P9 gets carried under a suit coat, or in the winter, a jacket or sweatshirt, in a standard belt holster. It doesn't get very dirty, and a strip and clean every few months suffices. It gets shot more often than that, so it gets cleaned.

The pocket nine is a different story. It gets carried in summer when I can't hide the big gun. It gets cleaned every 3 weeks or so.

But I agree. I know people who never clean their carry gun. Dry as a bone and full of lint and dust.

 

[jbtrucker]

He doesn't have it anymore my brother carried a SP101 in his pocket never cleaned it and full of grime and lint. I field strip and inspect my 9mm Shield every week or so , it keeps well in a padded nylon holster.

 

[Truckin]

Your carry weapon should never be carried clean, it should have at least one round of dirt in it. ;-)

 

[R*E]

I pocket carry a P3AT. I shot it a year after cleaning it and a cloud of lint hung in the air following the first shot.

 

[bigwheelzip]

I carry IWB in the warm and humid southeast US, and added a wipe-down of the carried ammo, when I found moisture would oxidize the copper-jacketed projectiles, turning it green.

There is noticeably less dust to clean on my all-metal carries than my plastic Shield carry. I'm guessing the plastic framed carry has a static charge that attracts dust that is absent on the metal frames.

 

[wingriderz]

Good advice for sure. I tend to clean my carry at least once a month sometimes twice. Being in Florida dust sand you name it Iwb

 

[Rastoff]

Two guys worked at the same place and became friends. They both carried. The older of the two carried a Colt Commander and the younger always admired it. They worked together for about 20 years. When the older guy retired, he gave the Colt to the younger guy, still in the holster.

Excited, the younger guy took it to the range that weekend. Since the gun was already loaded, he just pulled it out of the holster and went to take the first shot. He pulled the trigger and.....nothing.

Apparently, the older guy had loaded the gun over 20 years earlier and after, never even took the gun out of the holster. It was so dirty that the hammer couldn't move easily and didn't have enough energy to activate the firing pin. God only knows how long he had been carrying a gun that didn't work, thinking he could protect himself.

So, clean your gun.

 

[bigggbbruce]

I picked up a '51 Colt Commander 9mm, it came from a LGS that carried it on his hip for as long as anyone could guess.

He passed away and it became mine. It took awhile to get it unstuck and apart to clean the old crud out..

 

[blues7]

Thanks for the reminder, Rastoff. I just did my 642-1 and my Glock 26 following my workout.

Both had a very minimal amount of detritus, (from AIWB carry), to be removed but it's good verifying that they are clean, functional and ready to serve.

Thanks for looking out.

 

[WR Moore]

Apparently, the older guy had loaded the gun over 20 years earlier and after, never even took the gun out of the holster. It was so dirty that the hammer couldn't move easily and didn't have enough energy to activate the firing pin. God only knows how long he had been carrying a gun that didn't work, thinking he could protect himself.

So, clean your gun.

Decades ago while trying to get a gun smithing business started I gave LEOs a discount to drum up business. I quickly learned to keep a bucket of kerosene handy. When a retirees gun came in to get prettied up, I'd take the stocks off and drop it in the kerosene for a week or so. That would allow me to unload it and take it apart without resorting to hammers and drifts.

At one point I wondered how they qualified with petrified guns and then learned the largest local department (and possibly the local academy) didn't require that qualification be done with what one carried every day.

 

[Protected One]

I pocket carry a P3AT. I shot it a year after cleaning it and a cloud of lint hung in the air following the first shot.

…..but it fired.

 

[Protected One]

Two guys worked at the same place and became friends. They both carried. The older of the two carried a Colt Commander and the younger always admired it. They worked together for about 20 years. When the older guy retired, he gave the Colt to the younger guy, still in the holster.

Excited, the younger guy took it to the range that weekend. Since the gun was already loaded, he just pulled it out of the holster and went to take the first shot. He pulled the trigger and.....nothing.

Apparently, the older guy had loaded the gun over 20 years earlier and after, never even took the gun out of the holster. It was so dirty that the hammer couldn't move easily and didn't have enough energy to activate the firing pin. God only knows how long he had been carrying a gun that didn't work, thinking he could protect himself.

So, clean your gun.

That's an extreme example of lack of proper care.

The opposite extreme is the need to clean a gun every week. Granted, it won't hurt, but it's hardly "necessary".

 

[blues7]

That's an extreme example of lack of proper care.

The opposite extreme is the need to clean a gun every week. Granted, it won't hurt, but it's hardly "necessary".

I can't fire my guns without cleaning them afterward. Got ingrained several decades ago when I first got into LE and it's a rare day that I don't get to 'em when I get home from the range.

On the other hand, I've been around one or two LEOs who couldn't reassemble their firearms after being stripped and had to do it for them while driving enroute to serve a warrant.

Such is the world we live in.

 

[Rastoff]

The opposite extreme is the need to clean a gun every week. Granted, it won't hurt, but it's hardly "necessary".

Indeed my story is extreme, but as you can see from other posts, it's not unique.

No, I don't think you need to clean a gun that hasn't been fired every week. However, all of us need to set some time frame. A week, two weeks, a month, whatever, just pick a schedule and stick with it. If we don't, the cleaning frequency becomes, "I'll get to it soon," and soon never comes. That leads to the stories above.

The whole point of this thread is just to spark the idea. Guns sometimes need to be cleaned even if they haven't been fired. Whenever you choose to do it is up to you, but do it. Owning a gun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I transitioned from S&W revolvers to Glock twice in my career, both times as a firearms instructor for the respective agencies. Both times, Glock came in for a two week instructor school and stayed for the next six to ten weeks of officer changeover instruction. These transitions were about ten years apart. Had the same main Glock instructor each time since it was his territory, and the same trunk of pistols. The only, and I mean only, maintenance was a drop of oil where the trigger bar met the connector. According to the instructor, most of the pistols we used in 2002 were the same pistols we used in 1992 . . .

If you carry a gun for self-defense, it needs to be ready at all times. It won't be if it's not clean.

Your carry gun should be cleaned at least every other week. Why? Because oil attracts dust and dirt. Even if you don't use that gun, the dirt will collect. That's detrimental to the functionality of your gun.

So, take a moment and clean it. It will only take a few minutes. Seriously, it takes me less than 2 minutes to break down my gun, wipe off all the accumulated dirt, add a couple of drops of oil and put it all back together. Just a little insurance that costs almost nothing.

 

[blues7]

The only, and I mean only, maintenance was a drop of oil where the trigger met the connector. According to the instructor, most of the pistols we used in 2002 were the same pistols we used in 1992 . . .

That's all mine got today when I cleaned it off. One drop of EWL.

 

[rubiranch]

then it must be time to clean mine.

 

[Ole Joe Clark]

Cleaned the wife's Shield and mine. Both had been shot several hundred rounds between cleaning. Both fired with no hiccups the last time, about 2 weeks ago. Both were disgustingly nasty, but a not so quick scrubbing made them ready for this weeks trip.

Thanks Rastoff for the kick in the pants, I must set a regular cleaning schedule.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

 

[Bozz10mm]

I clean my carry gun, a Shield 45, once a month. That's usually as soon as I get home from the range. If I miss a range trip that month, I'll field strip it anyway and give it a good cleaning and lubing. It always works first time, every time at the range, so I must be doing it right.