User Panel
Posted: 3/18/2015 7:36:12 PM EDT
When does this mantra become excessive? I'm anal and generally abide by this practice, but I went last Friday and I plan on going this Friday again. Shot 40 rounds out of my AR and 30 out of my pistol (with someone new - more coaching than shooting).
Cleaning in-between just feels like a waste of time & resources. If I'd dumped 1K+ rounds, that'd be another story. |
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I clean between shots. After all, I may have to depend on this rifle. Better safe than sorry.
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I feel the same way. If it's under a 100 rounds I won't clean it.
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My Larue was last cleaned about 6 months and 3000 rounds ago
I might run a bore snake through it before class next week, first class of the year and all. |
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I barely clean my guns. When I do clean them I just do a quick clean up not a detail clean.
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I think that when you have one or two ARs, you clean them reguarly.
When you get five or six, you clean them after a few hundred rounds. After you get 10+, you spray paint them, throw them in the back of the truck, and forget to clean them until your optic is covered in oil. |
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My guns get a detail strip and cleaning when I first buy them. After that, until I get a change in ejection pattern or some glitch, it pretty much stays dirty.
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Quoted:
I think that when you have one or two ARs, you clean them reguarly. When you get five or six, you clean them after a few hundred rounds. After you get 10+, you spray paint them, throw them in the back of the truck, and forget to clean them until your optic is covered in oil. View Quote Yeah, I think this is a part of it, the rest being familiarity with the platform. Your first one is a delicate snowflake and your pride and joy. Eventually you realize that these things aren't that complicated. Clean it when it needs cleaning. |
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It depends on when I plan on shooting them again. For fun, I ran my G21 3,500 rounds - over a 1 year period with no cleaning....still working great. I could not stand it anymore and cleaned it.....Right now I have an AR, G21, .41 Magnum and Beretta 90-2 all dirtied up..........I will be shooting them on a regular basis - so no cleaning this month!
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I think of my rifle just like any machine. The cleaner it is, and the less junk and carbon it has on the moving parts....the better. The amount of time it takes to clean a rifle is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
If you are going to pay a ton of money for a nice RELIABLE optic, strong RELIABLE parts, and a RELIABLE rifle.............why not make sure your entire setup is as RELIABLE as it ca be by keeping it lean and lubed? |
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I deep clean mine every time I touch it. I heard anodizing shits out carbon every time your skin touches it. Carbon attracts bears. The anodizing can smell the menstration.
When I go shooting I clean the weapon after every time a round is chambered, after every time a round is extracted, and after every time that a round isn't chambered. I guess you could say I let it get pretty fouled. Gotsta avoid dem malfunchins |
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I used go by the rule of never let the sun set on a dirty firearm.
Got to where I was not going shooting because I knew I would not have time to clean them that day. Finally said to hell with it and got over it. I clean when I have to. I do make sure all unfinished metal has some anti corrosion product on it. I hate rust. |
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I clean carbon off the bolt and add a few drops of lube as needed. Shooting suppressed increases this need but there's no defined schedule.
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Your gun, your rules.
I run a boresnake down the barrel and clean the BCG real good and call it a day. Maybe throw some Geissele grease on the triggers. I've never ran a cleaning rod down any of my barrels, just the BS. Maybe I should try that. |
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Depends on what the gun is used for. If it's a precision rifle and I'm looking for accuracy I rarely clean it. Cleaning a barrel can give varying results. It's kind of like copper, at some point it builds an equilibrium and starts to blow out as much as it's putting down, for a while at least. Ask a competition shooter if they ever shoot on a clean barrel, the good ones will always tell you no, that's a bad idea. I do clean the bolt and bcg after every other range trip.
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Quoted:
Your gun, your rules. I run a boresnake down the barrel and clean the BCG real good and call it a day. Maybe throw some Geissele grease on the triggers. I've never ran a cleaning rod down any of my barrels, just the BS. Maybe I should try that. View Quote From now on, at least with one particular barrel I have, a boresnake is the most I will use. I tried cleaning it well with patches and solvent. You know how it thanked me?? By not grouping worth shit. It does great when it's fouled some. So no more thorough barrel cleaning for me. YMMV |
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Cleaned inside and wiped down on outside after every range trip. I've seen many firearms rust in a safe that were not properly cared for. Just a good habit to get into and only takes a minute or two and a couple patches and a drop of oil.
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Haven't cleaned any of the ARs in about a year now. I wipe off the cylinders, slides and other places were my hand or cheek has touched then put them away.
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I was raised to believe that you take care of your tools so they will be less likely to fail when you need them.
My M37 Ithaca shines like a new penny and my dad bought it for me in 1969. I hunted with it (a lot) till 1988. Rain, snow, dust, etc. People look at my M1A (got it in 1978) and they can't believe its that old. It was my range gun, my deer hunting gun and my, oh shit we're heading down to a road block in case those bank robbers come this direction gun for many years. Many of my guns have wear on them. Finish wear, internal wear, but none of them have rust on them and all of them (in the house) are ready to be loaded up and carried out the door (back door) in a hurry if I had to. A good piston gun really shortens up the cleaning time and effort. |
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It used to be as soon as I got home from the range I'd strip whatever guns I took to the range and clean them. Now I clean after every range trip but not immediately. Sometimes they'll sit in the safe for weeks before I clean them.
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Serious version:
Quoted:
I think of my rifle just like any machine. The cleaner it is, and the less junk and carbon it has on the moving parts....the better. The amount of time it takes to clean a rifle is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. If you are going to pay a ton of money for a nice RELIABLE optic, strong RELIABLE parts, and a RELIABLE rifle.............why not make sure your entire setup is as RELIABLE as it ca be by keeping it lean and lubed? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
I think of my rifle just like any machine. The cleaner it is, and the less junk and carbon it has on the moving parts....the better. The amount of time it takes to clean a rifle is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. If you are going to pay a ton of money for a nice RELIABLE optic, strong RELIABLE parts, and a RELIABLE rifle.............why not make sure your entire setup is as RELIABLE as it ca be by keeping it lean and lubed? Joke version: Quoted:
I clean between shots. After all, I may have to depend on this rifle. Better safe than sorry. Lol |
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I haven't cleaned my Glock 19 in a couple range trips, I usually clean it after about 1000 rounds or so and maybe after 500 for the AR, just because I shoot the Glcok most because it is cheaper to shoot.
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wait a second......you guys shoot these things? i used to clean my guns often but pretty much just keep them lubed and maybe a snake except my 10 ba. i would need to take a day off work to clean 17 ars
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Eh... Hard to say any more. I used to clean them after every trip to the range. But I wouldn't typical go very often. So I'd shoot a shit load of ammo, go home and deep clean them for inspection and put them up for months at a time.
The more often I started shooting it became more of shoot, hit action and barrel with oil/clp and prop on wall barrel down on a rag, wipe off excess before shooting again. I got to "dirty" AR's in the safe barrel down right now and I'm way too lazy to do much else with them. If I were competing with them then they'd get cleaned and oiled well the night before the match. I'm just waiting for my kids to get old enough to start cleaning these things... |
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Quoted:
I think of my rifle just like any machine. The cleaner it is, and the less junk and carbon it has on the moving parts....the better. The amount of time it takes to clean a rifle is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. If you are going to pay a ton of money for a nice RELIABLE optic, strong RELIABLE parts, and a RELIABLE rifle.............why not make sure your entire setup is as RELIABLE as it ca be by keeping it lean and lubed? View Quote How long does it take to detail strip your cars engine for an oil change every time you drive it anywhere? Over cleaning is the biggest reason military guns don't run well. |
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When I fisrt started shooting I did clean after every trip. Now I do it on an "as needed" basis and just make sure to keep oiled
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Quoted:
How long does it take to detail strip your cars engine for an oil change every time you drive it anywhere? Over cleaning improper cleaning is the biggest reason military guns don't run well. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
Quoted:
I think of my rifle just like any machine. The cleaner it is, and the less junk and carbon it has on the moving parts....the better. The amount of time it takes to clean a rifle is really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. If you are going to pay a ton of money for a nice RELIABLE optic, strong RELIABLE parts, and a RELIABLE rifle.............why not make sure your entire setup is as RELIABLE as it ca be by keeping it lean and lubed? How long does it take to detail strip your cars engine for an oil change every time you drive it anywhere? Over cleaning improper cleaning is the biggest reason military guns don't run well. |
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Typically I will just give my guns a light oiling and wipe down after the range. Nothing to serious. On my carry pistol I'll detail it every two months or so just so I can have piece of mind. It's getting pretty dirty from pocket carrying.
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i sometime run a bore-snake down my rifle.
mostly i add lube to the BCG,.. the next time i break down and really scrub them down.. idk,, whens the next leap year? i clean my CCW fairly often, only because i dont want my shirts or clothes or hands to get dirty while im handling and carrying. but my home defense M&P and Glock i haven't cleaned in a while. |
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Cleaned inside and wiped down on outside after every range trip. I've seen many firearms rust in a safe that were not properly cared for. Just a good habit to get into and only takes a minute or two and a couple patches and a drop of oil. View Quote I agree but a lot depends on your climate and your storage room's climate. If you have dry and dry then you can get away with not cleaning for a long while. The dirt attracts moisture and then rust sets in. On the other side of the argument, overcleaning and doing disassembly more leads to wear, especially to the finish. So I would say it depends. I'm not as anal as I used to be. For a gun in regular rotation I may just wipe it down. For a gun that goes to the back of a safe for long time, it's going to get cleaned and oiled or even greased if it's going to be a real long time before it's used again. |
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after every trip for me. Easy and fast to do a field strip and clean on nearly everything nowadays. Why bother not doing it? I can do three pistols in under 10 minutes.
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It takes like five minutes to field strip it, wipe it off with a rag, punch a couple patches down the bore, lube, and reassemble. It took you longer to log in and post the question. You don't need to do a deep cleaning everytime you shoot, but a quick clean is not something time consuming or difficult.
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I know, right? Like I don't have anything better to do than feel guilty for not cleaning my "dirty" weapon...goddamn Infantry... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I clean every time I use it, thanks Army. I know, right? Like I don't have anything better to do than feel guilty for not cleaning my "dirty" weapon...goddamn Infantry... It's a curse really. When at the range and talking to someone about their AR and seeing that it is just a filthy, 1000 round deep carbon coated mess makes this NCO rage boil up out of nowhere and it takes a conscious effort to to not scream at them "CLEAN THAT F*****G WEAPON!!!". That being said, it's your rifle do with it what you want. |
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I shoot at often as I can, and clean as needed. The only exceptions are my CCW and my go-to rifle/shotgun for home security.
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Just boresnake it with a little cleaner and oil if nothing else
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Quoted:
I think that when you have one or two ARs, you clean them reguarly. When you get five or six, you clean them after a few hundred rounds. After you get 10+, you spray paint them, throw them in the back of the truck, and forget to clean them until your optic is covered in oil. View Quote I don't know about this. I have 2. Both were cleaned last summer, if I recall. |
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I do at least a quick clean on all my firearms, usually just a few drops of CLP here & there and wipe out any excess carbon, then hit the chamber with a brush. A little carbon buildup shouldn't affect the operation of a properly maintained firearm but I don't like to store them that way long term. I treat my firearms like my tools, when I'm done I wipe em down and store em clean for next time, that's just how I was raised.
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Carry and duty weapons get cleaned once a month or each time they are shot, whichever comes first. The amount of funk a handgun collects just riding in a holster is incredible.
Of course my cleaning is pretty basic. On a rifle it's wipe down the metal surfaces inside and out with a lightly oiled rag, pull a bore snake through the bore, brush the bolt clean, re lube and off I go. I couldn't tell you the last time I ran a rod down a barrel, rifle or pistol. Bore snakes are awesome. I've got guns that I shoot regularly that don't get cleaned all the time. Most of them only see time on a square range though. |
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Just boresnake it with a little cleaner and oil if nothing else View Quote After range trip, for my rifles I will use a RipCord with some CLP on it before I pack up to leave the range. If I have been shooting my EDC, and its more than just a handful of rounds, then that will get a full detail strip cleaning at home because I depend on it daily. I will generally bring two EDC hand guns with me to the range. One to shoot and the other to carry on way home. I generally don't like putting the just used one back in my holster for immediate carry duty. Although there are two schools of thought about carrying a dirty gun vs not. One being never carry a dirty gun if you can avoid it. Another being that a just field stripped and cleaned gun should be test fired several shots to be sure it was reassembled correctly. I just use a new pencil with an eraser and insert the pencil eraser end down the muzzle to sit and pull trigger. Gun should launch pencil about 4 to 6 feet depending on gun type. This way you know it will fire at least the first round. |
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Carry and duty weapons get cleaned once a month or each time they are shot, whichever comes first. The amount of funk a handgun collects just riding in a holster is incredible. View Quote That reminded me of something I saw back in the early 80's. We'd taken a guy to the hospital and two city cops were standing on the corner smoking/talking. My partner knew them and wanted to stop and see what was going on. They told us there was a women and her daughter in the hospital that had been beaten badly by the husband. He'd threatened to come to town and kill the woman in the hospital. They were waiting in case he showed up. While we were talking, one of them decided to check his S&W M10. He pulled it from the holster and tried to open the cylinder and couldn't get it open. He walked over to the corner of the brick wall and smacked it a couple times against the bricks and it popped open. He forced the ejector rod to the rear and the rounds were covered with green shit (corrosion from sweat). He jammed the rounds back in the cylinder, forced the cylinder closed and said, "Yeah, it's loaded, I'm ready." I was speechless. Ranks right up there with the LEOs I knew who never practiced with their handguns. Extremes both ways. No time spent cleaning all the way to too much time spent cleaning/lubing. Which one will get you killed? |
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I change my oil and completely rebuild my engine after ever trip to the corner store.... you never know when it will be important to have a working car, right?
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I have detail stripped and replaced broken parts in 5 shotguns in the last 3 weeks.....none of them mine. I have 3 dirty handguns on the floor....been there for a week.....clean them? Yah, that is the plan.......
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I clean my carry weapon after every use. And that's really so I don't get crap on my clothes and to keep the smell down. And I only use grease on my Carry too. Everything rarely gets cleaned. I just yank a boresnake through them, add oil and grease, wipe down the outside and call it a day
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I last cleaned by bolt gun 400+ rounds ago and shoot exclusively suppressed. I dont expect to clean it for another 1.6k rounds at least...so maybe in a year or two.
My ARs when shot suppressed will get extra oil and i will pull the BCG and wipe it down between range trips. Otherwise I probably clean it once every 1k rounds. My carry gun get cleaned after every shooting. Normal fun handguns just get oil. I clean them when something stop working correctly. My G19 is at around 3k rounds/2 years at this point |
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Boresnake or rob and patch, toothbrush BCG, oil and put away.
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