Can you clean a gun too often?

[brybenn]

I only clean my rifles bores when accuracy starts to degrade. Smaller bores are more prone than larger bores.

For my 1911 im having a bit of an experiment as its a hard chrome norinco 9mm. I stopped cleaning it. Other than a shot of g96 on the rails. Its now gone thru 3500 rounds. After 1500 rounds it started to jam with cheaper dirtier ammo but if fed american eagle it still functions fine.
The only ammo it couldnt use was that usa forged crap. I figure if it ever stops shooting ae ill clean it. Im hoping to get to 5000 rounds. My just right carbine can easily hit 4000 rounds. It gets a complete tear down when it becomes hard to #### the bolt but the out side is oiled and wiped down after each use
My shotguns are cleaned after each use

 

[wasrupzuk]

I only clean my rifles bores when accuracy starts to degrade. Smaller bores are more prone than larger bores.

For my 1911 im having a bit of an experiment as its a hard chrome norinco 9mm. I stopped cleaning it. Other than a shot of g96 on the rails. Its now gone thru 3500 rounds. After 1500 rounds it started to jam with cheaper dirtier ammo but if fed american eagle it still functions fine.
The only ammo it couldnt use was that usa forged crap. I figure if it ever stops shooting ae ill clean it. Im hoping to get to 5000 rounds.

In my experience following this plan will create stoppages immediately after the beep.
Ive seen 1911’s that don’t go into battery, have hammer follow, fail to extract and stove pipe when dirty.
Personally I clean (field-strip) and oil pistols before every match, depending weather or dust sometimes immediately after (not both) and I fully clean them once a year.

So excessive cleaning without a rod guide can ruin a barrel.

Gold right there.

If you shoot corrosive, clean the entire gun as soon as possible after shooting. But y'all knew that.

More gold; cleaning after shooting that stuff needs to be OCD...

Everything gets a quick surface wipe before it goes back in the safe.
Shotguns: get a snake on the dry days, complete tear down if it was rainy.
Rifles: usually just the surface wipe. If it was rainy, then patch the bore to get the moisture out, might strip the bolt depending on how rainy.
YMMV

Yup, alway wipe it down before storage to keep finger prints off them, the rest is bang on too.

I always shoot my rifles with clean bores.. shot guns and rifles
Your rifles will thank you after a rainy hunt. I didnt notice any difference in accuracy when it comes to my shotguns.

Research cold bore mapping ..
Cold clean, oiled bore is how a shoot my hunting rifles, not target guns..
My first shot is always the most important.. I dont want to leave my barrel wet and fouled , inorder to maintain accuracy.

Funny, I do the exact opposite. After I clean at least the first two down the pipe are thrown away to foul the bore, then confirm zero and leave it alone. If at all possible I don’t clean the bore until the hunt is over (weather dependent).
I’ve observed on most guns POI is never the same from a clean oiled bore to a fouled bore.

Just curious if any if you pros out there had any insight on how often to clean a gun. Is it too often to clean after every hunt if the gun gets shot or maybe sees the weather a little bit. Im more looking at shotguns when being used for duck hunting or skeet shooting.

Thanks

Yes, you can definitely over clean but I’d think more damage is created from no cleaning.
Can you over oil; definitely, I’ve seen damaged wood stocks from over oiling then long term storage placed muzzle up.
I’ll bet more than a few got taken apart for cleaning only to be left in that state because they can’t figure out how to reassemble it (or damage it by doing it wrong), strip screws or screw heads, lose parts while procrastinating and/or they wind up having to send them to some gunsmith in a box of pieces...
Rifle barrels can be subject to damage from rods, dirty pull throughs (or broken ones) or excessive brushing.
I can’t say I’ve personally come across over cleaning on a synthetic shotgun.
But as Guntech said, it’s all about the weather.

 

[emerson]

Range shooting is different; not much need to clean non precision rifles often. I like stainless synthetic but it’s not always what I use. Hunting I often am drenched with rain/snow. If it’s multi-day I try to dry it out and use plenty of lubricant. I prefer over lubed in the safe rather than dry. Overseas in sand and heat is different. Dry rules, especially with a little 556 without heavy recoil springs and lots of recoil to move the action.

 

[MD]

I bought a Remington Model 700 ADL 243 new in 1976.

Out of the box accuracy was superb with iron sights and 23-year-old eyes. I even shot a blacktail deer right down the middle of the nose with it one time. But I figured I needed a scope for longer shots and eventually got one. Hunted hard with it on northern Vancouver island in a lot of rain and so I thought I should vigorously clean it after every outing. And the longer I owned it, the worse it shot.

I eventually gave up on it and got other guns. I have never got a 'smith to give it a good look, but I suspect I damaged at least the crown if not the throat with too much cleaning using a cheap sectioned aluminum rod and brass brush.

 

[Jaylegger]

Is it wrong to think the barrel gets cleaned every time you shoot it. lol.

 

[bearhunter]

There is a gunsmith near Bisley that target rifle shooters use to install new barrels. He has a bunch of barrels tubs for us to look at, while waiting for the install. They are barrels ruined by the cleaning rod rubbing on the chamber side. You can see a groove worn into the side of the chamber throat from the rod.

So excessive cleaning without a rod guide can ruin a barrel.

You just posted something very obvious to many but not most, even on this site.

I use a rod guide religiously. Depending on the rifle, a muzzle guide is also employed.

 

[bearhunter]

Guns get oiled regularly, bolts, slides, action bars. I wipe the exteriors down after they dry off and before they get put away. I’m more concerned with things the move being lubed than I am with bore and barrel being shiny all the time, accuracy seems to be better with a bit of fouling. My guns do more hunting at the moment than target shooting so round count is low, shotguns see more volume but they’re smooth bores.

I fully clean pistols around the 500-1000 round mark, hunting rifles get cleaned after the season is over. Shotguns pretty much the same, I will pull a dirt snake through them periodically to remove plastic wad fouling when needed. .22 gets cleaned when accuracy suffers or it starts failing to extract regularly. Any rifle that shoot surplus ammo get detail cleaned after shooting, clean them when they absolutely need it otherwise it’s just regular lube and wipe down the exterior.

BB, I agree that 99.999% of rifles shoot better with a slightly fouled bore.

However, there is the very rare barrel that will shoot best from a freshly cleaned barrel. I had a Win Mod 70, chambered in 257 Roberts, that I used exclusively for hunting Coyotes. It would shoot the first half dozen bullets into a half moa at 100 and out to 400. You could guarantee the 6th shot would open the group to 3/4 moa. After ten shots, the groups doubled to 1.5 moa.

I seldom exceeded the six round sweet spot and the rifle was just so handy and reliable. After a screw up with bad powder the bore was ruined. When the barrel was replaced, it acted like a normal rifle. Needed at least two fouling shots and the groups stayed consistently in the 3/4 moa range for the next 20+ rounds. That rifle was used all year round. I still have the little book that I kept track of shots fired after cleaning.