Pistol Care, overcare?

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RDevigne

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Hi all,

I'm pretty much new to the pistol scene. I now own several pistols which i take to the range one or twice a week ( Sat-Sun ) in which i'd say no more then 50 rounds go through each of my 9mm and probably 150-200 rounds go through my Kimber .22 Conversion. I only fire factory ammuntion and im just gonna start my first batch of reloads which will be only starting powder loads. I find myself cleaning every gun meticulously after every trip to the range, cleaning one gun a night during the week. For example i just finished spending just over an hour cleaning my Browning HP which had only scene 50 rounds since the last cleaning. It seems no matter how many Q-tips I use to clean the slide rails, bolt face, extrator area, all reachable mechanical areas accesible from a normal field strip, there's always going to be some left!! This is driving me nuts lol. Am I being overly fanatical with my cleaning habits? I'm constitantly trying to get it to look like new inside and out after every trip to the range. Do you guys clean your guns this often? If not, after how many rounds or trips to the range do you field strip and give it a once over? And what areas do you pay closer attention too? It says that it's only required to disasemble the gun as far as a normal field strip but to ensure the best care for my pistols, should i be looking into knowing how to completely taking it apart to clean inside the mainspring housing, inside the firing pin housing, extractor so on so forth?
I'm not asking for help in how to properly take them apart or anything, just wondering what the avid shooters do to keep their babies running smoothly:)

And last question....:redface: with factory rounds and strickly only starting loads, should i be installing recoil buffers in them or are they only neccesary for people using medium to hot loads?

I've read so many different instructions on gun care over the internet but apart from the obvious care needed, alot of the advice seems to contradict from one another. I would feel much better in following the advice from fellow CGN'ers.

Thanks for reading and I am really looking forward in reading about your care rituals :)

:popCorn:
 
Do what makes you feel comfortable. There are guys who strip and clean thier guns after every range trip, and some who don't bother until the muck starts to mess with the mechanism.
At least wipe it down with oil and spray some oil into the barrel if you get home and don't feel like cleaning.
Oil is easier to clean off than rust.
 
I shoot regularily once a week, anywhere from 150-250 rounds. These are exclusively reloads... I do try and clean my handguns after each range session but, I will admit sometimes things come up when I get home and the gun(s) may sit for a few days without cleaning, or even a couple of range sessions without a real cleaning. On the times when I don't clean it right after shooting I do put some CLP on the gun(s) for future cleaning, works well. As far as field stripping vs. complete dissasembly cleaning. I only field strip when cleaning. Never had an issue yet. You may consider a full take down when you have several thousand rounds through to clean and inspect parts wear. (some may suggest more or less). I have always considered my guns to be tools, therefore I take care of them but do not baby them. And lastly, I have never used recoil buffers so I can't give an opinion one way or another.

Have fun reloading, it can be addictive:D
 
I use to be a clean after every shoot kind of owner. Lately, I've been cleaning every few hundred rounds, more with my .22's. I don't even bother wiping them down or oiling them unless I've been shooting in the rain. I bring 3-4 guns to the range every time I go and was spending more time than I liked keeping them 'super' clean. Guns are tougher than some people give them credit for. ;) This may sound contradictory but I discoverred that you don't have to clean them after every shoot as long as you don't neglect them. :redface: YMMV....
 
its much easier to clean after every range trip. but most shooters that have been active for a long time seem to clean less. The guns probably would function fine if you cleaned them once a year...
 
I have this terrible habit I developed when I was in the Army. I fire it, I clean it. I leave it be for a more than a week, I clean it. I only field strip mine. But I will do a detail strip and parts check after about a year.
 
Maple Leaf Pilgrim said:
I have this terrible habit I developed when I was in the Army. I fire it, I clean it. I leave it be for a more than a week, I clean it. I only field strip mine. But I will do a detail strip and parts check after about a year.
Click to expand...

I'll go out on a limb and guess you've had very few problems with FTF, FTE or anything else. Clean guns function better.
 
I'm a 'field strip and clean after every use', kind of guy.
I've got it down to where I can strip, clean and lube 5 or 6 guns in about an hour.
I've converted to using some of the less toxic (smelling) cleaners...Hoppes Elite cleaner and one of the foaming bore cleaners, finishing with Militec oil/grease.
Doing this has reduced my malfunctions, other than part failure/wear or ammo related issues to as close to zero as you can get.
I got into the habit while roadracing motorcycles...prep and service issues cost you time and money...and put your 'tender bits' in peril!
I'm never likely going to have to bet my life on a firearm, but I wouldn't want
to have a servicing related issue crop up at a critical time!:eek:

Don't want to start a flaming session, but I'm not a fan of recoil/shock buffs..
The guns were designed to run without them, and I've seen more than a few
'terminal' jams at the range/IPSC/IDPA directly related to the use of buffs.
Just my $0.02 worth....
 
I field strip my .22 autos after every use.

I try to do the same with my other calibers, but I don't think it's necessary, I think that cleaning it after x amount of rounds, or before storage for a long period of time is more important.

I'm a lot like you in a sense that I am very 'obsessive compulsive' when it comes to cleaning my guns. I do agree that they are designed to take some abuse and neglect, and they’d operate fine (most of them) with being cleaned once a year.

But like everything else, you get out of it what you put into it. I also clean my guns BEFORE I take any newbies to the range to ensure everything is nice and smooth for their first experience :D
 
Having been the guy who does the meticulous cleaning after each range session... I've now found that the wipe down with oil in addition to the barrel is good enough and the best way to go.

The funny thing is that the pistols will stay newer longer doing it this way instead of tearing it down to each individual part once a week.

Obviously if you've dropped whatever you are shooting in a puddle of mud or water then a tear-down would be warranted :D

Otherwise I do a hardcore cleaning when I first get my firearm (I want to know it inside and out and ensure all is weel) - then it's shoot and wipe down after each use.

Note: I also do a wipe down if they've been sitting for awhile (again making sure the barrels get a nice coat of oil inside and out).
 
I have lots of handguns. After shooting at the range I take them home and put them in the safe. I only clean them when they look real bad, sometimes. If for some reason I have guns that are leaded up I will run a brush though it and some bore cleaner. I try not to get into a situation where I get leading. It only leads to cleaning. :(

I shoot cowboy action from spring until fall. Probably no more than about 500 rounds per gun per year. I think I cleaned them a bit after three years of use. Not a real cleaning but just so the cases can extract out of the cylinders a little easier. I have not yet cleaned the shotgun or the rifle. This year I may.

I do oil the guns when needed.
 
It's funny how everybody has a different ritual with their firearms. This was definately a good read. Thanks alot for taking the time and sharing. :D Since we're on the topic, what's the best stuff to use for cleaning. At the moment i got quite a few products. For getting the grime out, i'm using 3 different solvents.
1. Birchwood-Casey Gun Scrubber which comes in a spray can
2.Hoppe's 9 Blast & Clean which is also a spray can
3. Hoppe's Powder Solvent, which is in liquid form.

Very rarely will i actually go ahead and Spray directly into the pistol, unless its really hard to get to like trying to clean inside the mag well area where the mainspring, mag release and trigger mechs are exposed. I'll usually just spray onto a Q-Tip or bore patch etc.. I also use Outers and Gunslick solvents that come with the cleaning rod kits.

As far as oils and lubrication, I use those Outer and Gunslick Gun oils that again come with those Barrel Rod cleaning kits. Also use Hoppe's 9 Lubrcation oil as well as their oil that comes in a spray can that is a much lighter oil that i try and apply mostly in the trigger, mag release, firing pin areas. I use the thicker type lubricants to apply on the slide rail areas and also use it for both the inside and outside of the barrel.

I am very leary on the spray can types of cleaners because of what it may do to the finish of the guns. Is there a spray type product that is 100% safe to use to blast away all the residue? The products that i've seen mentioned in this thread, i've never heard or seen them anywhere before. I've been to Wallymart, CrappyTire and SIR and they only seem to carry the products that i currently use. Should i be looking at doing some online purchaces for cleaners and oils? I have read on Armco's site that they have an in house lubircant that they make which works really well, but it's a little pricey. However, if it's a product that is far superior then what i have access to locally, I would definately consider making the pricier purchaces.

Cheerz:popCorn:
 
G37 said:
Having been the guy who does the meticulous cleaning after each range session... I've now found that the wipe down with oil in addition to the barrel is good enough and the best way to go.

The funny thing is that the pistols will stay newer longer doing it this way instead of tearing it down to each individual part once a week.

Obviously if you've dropped whatever you are shooting in a puddle of mud or water then a tear-down would be warranted :D

Otherwise I do a hardcore cleaning when I first get my firearm (I want to know it inside and out and ensure all is weel) - then it's shoot and wipe down after each use.

Note: I also do a wipe down if they've been sitting for awhile (again making sure the barrels get a nice coat of oil inside and out).
Click to expand...

This is more my style. When I'm shooting most weekends during the 'on' season, I may go 500+ rounds (2-6 range visits) before stripping. I do run a few patches (patch worm) through the barrel and use q-tips in through the ejection port etc. pretty well after each session, however. Then an oiling and wipe down.

Long term storage gets a full strip and clean prior, and the odd wipe down and clp through the barrel (once a month). This is for my CZ SP01.

My 686 is not used regularly, and it always gets a good cleaning after every session.
 
If you are unsure about proper cleaning and maintenance of your firearm, there are some good videos that you can buy. Have a look on ebay, or your local gunshop might even have some.

A few years ago, when I started really getting into pistol shooting, I picked up one of those videos from Bill Wilson (the Wilson Combat guy). He has a series of different videos which show how to field strip, clean, maintain, and lubricate different guns: 1911, High Power, Glock, Beretta, SIG and S&W auto. It also has some pretty cool stuff about shooting and some demos from Bill.

On the maintenance side, I think these videos are pretty good for alleviating the kind of concerns discussed in this thread. I am not a fan of "the gun can take it" school of thought. Your car can probably "take it" - for awhile - if you never do any servicing or even change the oil. Granted, your gun is a lot simpler and tougher machine than your car, but it still needs proper maintenance to live out its useful life.

Powder residue, little chips of copper from the jackets, black gunk from the powder residue mixing with the lubricant - I think you need to get all that stuff out of there after every 150-250 rounds. I think it's best to just paper towel all of the field-stripped components and try and get everything you can off of the gun. Scrub the breechface with a brush, make sure the extractor is clear of gunk, and of course you need to clean the bore if accuracy is important to you. I find "Wipeout" to be an awesome product that I recommend to every shooter. It's not as if your accuracy is going to be affected if you don't clean out the bore after a few trips to the range, but over time - when you start getting layers of copper fouling and black gunk sitting in the grooves, yah it's going to have an effect.

Running Q-tips or paper towels through the grooves in the slide where the rails go is probably not that big a deal to the functioning of the gun. I do it, but getting all the black out of there is going to have negligible effect on the functoning of the gun.

Extensive disassembly of guns, particularly on a regular basis for cleaning purposes, is probably a really, really bad idea for most shooters. Stay away from this unless you really know what you are doing and why you are doing it.

The amount of cleaning required depends a lot on the gun you are shooting. There is going to be a big difference in the amount of cleaning you need to do on a Glock-style gun using factory copper jacketed 9mm rounds vs. a 1911-style gun using lead re-loads. Wilson talks about this in his videos. He mentions soaking a 1911 barrel in solvent in some cases.

I find that .22LR pistols require more cleaning as well. This is all to do with the ammo. 22LR ammo is dirty as sin, and most of it is lead as well. The copper plated Mini-mag style ammo is better, but the ammo is still pretty dirty. I find that I shoot more rounds with .22LR pistols as well - sometimes as much as 400 rounds on one trip to the range - so that compounds the problem.

My 2 cents worth.
 
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