Pistol Maintenance

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MartyK2500

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Hey, just tought i'd get some opinions on how frequent and how torough you guys clean up the pistols. Myself i got the feeling i am overdoing it. Been 3 months now that every friday i go to the range and shoot 300 rounds of 9mm in the 92FS. When i get home i always fully dissassemble, fully clean, relube a bit and reassemble. BTW all cleaning and lubing is done with G96. I got the feeling i am doing too much, or just ok?

I am starting to think i could do the barrel eack visit, and fully clean it up each 2 or 3 visits... What you guys think?
 
That's what I was like when I first started shooting. Anytime a gun was shot, it would be field stripped and cleaned. I stopped doing this a while back and just do cleaning at somewhat regular intervals.... which are kind of spread out. I've done a complete 180 and gone from cleaning everytime I shoot to cleaning "when they look like they need it." At this point, I'll do a field strip and clean, with the 1911 getting a detail strip every 3-4 cleaning cycles just because 1911s need love like that.

I have never let it get to the point where my guns are so dirty they stop functioning properly though lol
 
This is exactly the way i wish to go. Each time i go to the range i bring 300 rounds with me, and ALWAYS get thru them all. So barrel will be cleaned each time for accuracy, it's the rest that's got me wondering. I have heard many times that the 92FS likes to be run ''wet''. So running a wet gun could mean it would get debris sticking inside quicker...
I do currently run this firearm wet, not exessivly, but i do pass an oiled q-tip on all parts that slide metal to metal
 
The 92 loves to be ran wet at least mine does
Since I switched to frog lube i just wipe it off at the end of the range trip then its good to go for next time.
I re frog it every 3 trip and never had any issues except a awesome smelling gun and yes people have smelt my gun.
 
Trinimon said:
Is too much cleaning a bad thing? I find cleaning relaxing when done during commercial breaks on TV. :p
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Too much aggressive cleaning [wire brushes, pullthroughs etc.] can cause excessive wear to guns IMHO. OTOH, if you are using a powder that leaves a lot of residue, or you use lead bullets or jacketed ammo that 'leads' the barrel, more aggressive cleaning may be called for. In general, I wipe off powder residue with an oily cloth, run a patch through the bore and relube after every few hundred rounds, and I find that to be enough.

IMHO, the habit of intense detailed cleaning of firearms harks back to the days of soft lead bullets, corrosive primers and low-rust-resistant steel. These are all pretty rare with modern guns and ammo [milsurp is another story...].
 
I imagine that once i do get into reloading i will have access to more expensive powder that burns more efficietly with less residue?
So far i have switched from blazer brass to amrican eagle and do find american eagle ones to be a tad cleaner.
 
Are you carrying the gun? If not, you should easily be able to run through a couple thousand rounds between cleanings, provided the gun is well lubricated.
 
I always wipe down outside with oily rag. paranoid about rust forming. And run a boresnake down the barrel. Detail strip twice a year or if I feel it needs it. I do not shoot very much tho. Maybe 3000 rounds bw 10 handguns a year??? Sad I know.
 
It is holstered while at range. Once a week for 5 hours. Range is a sandpit, sand berms everywhere, so when it's windy i get sand on and in everything. In these cases i tend to clean down a bit more.
 
A CGN friend here who served in the military once told me he sees more damage/wear from over cleaning than under cleaning. If i shoot 50 rounds, I'll probably put my pistol back in the safe "dirty". If I shoot 200+ I'll give her a good cleaning.
 
Ditto on that. The gun I carry is spotless and well lubed, the guns that I own and use for practice and punching paper get a quick wipe down after a range session and only cleaned every thousand rounds or so.
 
every 4-5 months for me.... so every few thousand rounds. And by that i mean field strip clean, not detail strip clean, detail strips is maybe once a year
 
Since my gun is not being used to protect life and limb, or win huge cash purses at epic shooting comps:

Whenever it stops working. Or whenever I'm bored. Or whenever.
 
Depends on the weather. If i am shooting on a miserable wet day or cold day i will take them out when i get home and give em a good cleaning and oil coat. Other than that they get cleaned when my hands are dirty from handling them.
 
I personally will run a patch through after everytime I go to the range. But will do a complete field strip, clean and lube after about every third time at the range. Also, interesting comment by MartyK2500 regarding American Eagle, I was using PMC for a while in my 1911 45 and found it to be quite a dirty round but switched to American Eagle in both my 45 and in my 9mm and found it to be a much cleaner round.
 
mcpiper said:
Ditto on that. The gun I carry is spotless and well lubed, the guns that I own and use for practice and punching paper get a quick wipe down after a range session and only cleaned every thousand rounds or so.
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Same here for my work gun. Similar for the range guns with my GSG being the exception. That on gets cleaned every 300-400 rounds. But I'll be switching to Froglube later this week when my order arrives, so we'll see if it needs as much maintenance as it does now with Breakfree CLP.
 
As was already pointed out, depends on the ammunition and pistol. My Browning Medalist .22 starts to have feeding and ejection problems if you go over about 100-150 rounds without cleaning the chamber. So, of course you clean the bore too. When I shot lead out of my CZ75 9mm it would go further than the .22. With my Grand Power K100 I am using copper plated bullets and it will shoot them for a long time without issue. I usually clean it every 3 to 4 trips to the range, because I usually shoot about 100 .22 rounds and only about 50 9mm.
 
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