Rant: Gun cleaning

[Lotsdragon]

I got a good deal on a marlin 336 cs remington .35 yesterday, already have one but am just a sucker for good deals specially on lever guns. I checked it out and thought man he didnt waste a lot of money on cleaning supplies. Bought it got it home threw a couple of rounds through it to make sure it wasnt bent, broken etc.
Got it back in the house and got my cleaning kit out and started cleaning it. Man I should have charged him for taking this dirty thing off his hands. It was filthy and I mean really bad, wonder it shot at all. Just wondering if I am one of the few that believe that keeping a gun clean is what keeps them functioning as the are supposed. I have a good friend that has several firearms that he has never cleaned in the 17 years I have known him. I dunno. Still think I got a good deal, but man my father would have kicked yer bum for leaving a weapon as dirty as this one was.

[woolleyworm]

No, you're not the only one! When i got my first gun, I got to bring it home along with the cleaning kit that was purchased and I got to inspect and clean it!! Ya think I woulda been able to go shoot it, but nope....... something about learning I suppose. Didn't get to fire it until a couple days later; when i had Earned the right to shoot it.

I always clean my guns after firing; at least to a field stripped level. Mags get cleaned every 50 - 60 rounds and gas tubes at least once a year, more if fired excessively ( for me that means 1000+ rounds in 6 months ) If I'm shooting corrosive ammo, the entire works get a complete bath and cleaning.

My routine cleaning job does not have to be spit-shined and perfect, but certainly not a half witted job either. Not cleaning a firearm may not be a problem for today, but it certainly will be at some point in the future, just hope for your friends sake that its not at a moment when his life depends upon it.

[Suwannee Tim]

I was at the range one day and a guy was shooting a Sears "Ted Williams" 243 bolt action rifle I recognised as a Husqvarna. It was shooting about 1-1/2 at 100, 1-1/2 feet. I asked the guy when he had last cleaned it, he had never cleaned it and had I forget how many shots through it, a lot. I told him to clean it. Next weekend, same guy, same gun, same problem. I asked him if he cleaned it. No. He swore he would sell it for $50 and I whipped out the cash and held it under his nose before he could change his mind. I took the gun home, gave it a good cleaning, next weekend, took it back to the range. Guess who was there? My first group was five shots under an inch. He demanded the gun back and I refused. He got so angry I left.

[Lotsdragon]

I know Tim, it makes me so angry to think these guys will invest a small fortune in a gun and NOT clean it. I mean come on you want it to function right you have to function right and part of that function is cleaning.

[Marlin]

I meticulously clean each weapon upon each use.

I bought a Marlin 336, .30-30, at a gun show back in the early eighties. It was filthy as you mentioned and also had some surface rust, hidden on the barrel where it didn't show next to the stock. I used 6-0 supre fine steel wool on the rust and cleaned it up inside and out. Today, it looks as though it weren't used much during its life. The truth of the matter is I have shot the devil out of it, including at least one deer a year for many years.....

[Slowrid-Der]

Originally Posted by Marlin

I meticulously clean each weapon upon each use.

Me too. Every gun I fire I clean unless I am going shooting again in the next few days then it depends how much I shot each firearm whether it gets cleaned or not. If it is going to be a few weeks or longer they all get cleaned meticulously.

My son will inherit some fine guns. He is the same way and will take care of them as I have.

[Suicide*Ride]

My Brother talked me out of a Colt 1911 45 back in '02. When I handed it over, it looked & worked like it just came from the factory. I bought it back from him a couple of weeks ago. He said "I took it (a S.S. Combat Commander) out & it jammed on the 1st rd so I gave up trying to shoot it again". He was trying to make like I sold him a faulty firearm!

I tried to chamber a rd.... the slide was so gummed up it wouldn't strip the rd from the magazine, & when I tried to eject the un-fired rd, I couldn't pull the slide back fast enough to get the rd to clear the slide...... yes, it was that dirty!!!

He tried to blame the problem on a rough feed ramp!! He said "You need to polish the feed ramp or sumpthin"..... (like he had a clue!!!)

Hey Bro!!! Would you ever try to drive one of your vehicles w/o engine oil?!! I could tell he'd not cleaned it since I sold it to him 7 yrs ago!! Just goes to show how well I oiled & lightly greased it, for him to be able to shoot hundreds of rds over the last 7 yrs, w/o so much as a wipe down, much less a proper cleaning!!

I brought it home, gave it a couple shots of G-96, & stripped it all the way down.... Gee, waddaya know...... re-assembled & works like a dream (feeding, chambering, ejecting) w/ a little lube.... now, I just need to go bust some caps!!!!

My opinion about people who refuse to clean firearms: they're either to lazy, or too scared to field strip for fear of screwing something up! (or both!!)

SR

[Sandman]

When my Dad first taught me how to shoot, part of the lesson was that you clean it when you are done with it for the day.

[dianalv]

I always clean all of mine after shooting. It's just routine. Kind of therapeutic. Turn on the telly and start cleaning. Can be quite the chore if you've shot a lot of firearms, but taking care of them is essential. My exhusband was of the no Clean No Care mentality. He never sighted in or cleaned his guns in all the years we were married. Always wondered if it's been done at all since we divorced.

[Czech]

Firearm maintenance is a part and parcel of shooting, end of story.IMHO.

Apart from the potential damage to the firearm, what about the potential damage that can be caused to the user by using unserviceable firearm?
Gives me goose bumps, thinking about it.

[sniper58]

I have walked away from dirty rifles (used) in gun shops and at gun shows.
I figure that if someone doesn't care enough about a rifle to clean it before they plan on selling it..................I'm not interested.
I've probably missed out on some good deals on good firearms, but, oh well!

[Big ugly]

My ole mouser was the dirtiest thing I have ever seen when I aquired it. I dont mind purchasing a dirty gun if it is a good deal. I am a firm believer in cleaning my guns, except the barrel, Especially on my .22's. It seems that every time I give it a good cleaning the it throws the damn things off. I try to keep my guns sighted in perfect, Every one gets sighted in with a vise and once I get a barrel seasoned I leave em alone. Now when it comes to the action and the exterior it has to be clean and well oiled. I dont want no missfiring or jams cuz the bloody thing is dirty.

[LDBennett]

Sometimes cleaning guns is not too bad but yesterday was not all that good.

I had shot 25 shots (extent of my ammo for that gun) out of my Ruger 77 that I re-barreled to a varmint configuration of 6 mm BR. I try to keep my guns really clean and do it after every shooting session. But that newish barrel (maybe 500 rounds through it) sure was tough. I tried four different bore chemicals and the patches never came out spotless (??).

I often wonder just how clean you have to get the barrel to assure continuous good accuracy. I once shot 100 consecutive 22-250 rounds out of a Remington 700 varmint and the last groups were the best ones. What's with that? I knew a guy years ago that shot in the Navy Reserves matches regularly with his M1 Garand. He NEVER cleaned it or so he said. He said it would ruin the accuracy if he cleaned it until the residue built back up in the bore (???). I have no idea how good he was but he was good enough to make the team.

LDBennett

[woolleyworm]

Interesting article just out about barrel cleaning and effects on accuracy, believe its in the latest Rifleman. Have to pull through this months stack of mags and double check that. I'll come back and edit this afternoon after I check.

[gdmoody]

woolley, I just read that article a couple of days ago. The writer was telling how some people are obsessive about cleaning the barrel after every shot and how some people very seldom clean. It was a very good article. I personally clean only after a shooting session and I usually don't completely disassemble a gun to clean it. The only exception to that is when I shoot my Garand, because I do take it completely down and clean everything.

[LDBennett]

I was trained in the junior ROTC in high school on assembly/dis-assembly of the M1 Garand and it is like falling off a log for me even though that training was 50 years ago. It probably helps that we had to do it blind folded on occasion. I always completely tear down my Garands, too. My son-in-law, who tears bolts apart on military weapons that perplex me, is confounded by the Garand... too many pieces I think.

LDBennett

[LDBennett]

I don't get the Rifleman. What was the conclusion?

Is there anything to be gained by deep cleaning the bore after every shooting session?

Is there such a thing a a fouling requirement of the bore to get to accuracy back after cleaning the bore?

Are you better off not cleaning the bore at all? Or at certain intervals?

What gets me is that no one chemical works perfectly, and believe me I have tried many different ones. All seem to take agitation from a brass brush, take many patches, and the bore is never perfectly clean.

I have tried the reverse plating process but it is so time consuming, messy, and requires cleaning many times to remove the fouling between the layers of copper. I tried the foaming barrel stuff and it too was messy and seemed to do a no better job and no quicker. All the time I keep thinking "Is this really necessary?"

LDBennett

[Sandman]

After one shot it is no longer clean. A dirty barrel shoots differently than a clean barrel. After cleaning, the first shot or two may be a little off since you can't site in with a clean barrel (unless you are able to site in your rifle with one shot, or clean it after each shot!). I clean my barrels after every 10 - 20 rounds, so generally after a trip to the range and at the end of hunting season before storing for the summer. Not after every trip. Most of the time I just clean the action and the exterior.

[GMFWoodchuck]

I think some people get a little carried away with the cleaning. Look at the examples that LDBennett pointed out. I never saw any real difference in a dirty barrel and a clean one. If I think a gun is shooting poorly, of course, I clean it. But I don't think that a barrel that has had a few rounds through it is any statistically less accurate than a "clean" one. I have a .22LR that had many hundreds of rounds through it without cleaning to one day me deciding to clean it and it not being any more accurate. I've never noticed any thing with my savage 22-250.

I'll only go through a major cleaning process if I'm bored and I have nothing better to do. I doubt an absolutely clean barrel is any more accurate (to our abilities anyway) than one that had a couple patches pushed through and called good.

I just make sure there is no gunk in the action. And I run an oiled patch through the barrel and wipe the outside down for rust protection.

I wouldn't be too totally surprised if a somewhat dirty barrel is better than a minty fresh one only because it would make a tighter fit between the bullet and bore and the "crud" would fill in any bad spots or pitting thereby protecting the bullet's integrity.

[ski9393]

I clean my firearms. I don't generally take them all the way down, but you can bet if it is something I have shot corrosive ammo through that I don't play with cleaning the bore. The parts that get the most jacked up from not cleaning are the (1)bore,(2)bolt/ carrier group (3) reciever or the inside of it atleast. I clean and lube the bore to help prevent corrosion and I also think it makes it easier to clean after the next time I shoot. If it's a bolt rifle, I pull the bolt out hit with some rem oil or whatever I have available, scrub it up with a tootbrush, wipe it down and lube her again. I also wipe down the outside and oil that.
After hunting if I haven't shot at anything, I will simply unload the rifle and give it a good going over to remove any salts and oils from my hand sweat, or whatever moisture from the weather. If I have shot it is generally not more than 3, so the bore and action clean up with minimal effort.

[ski9393]

Speaking of cleaning, I usually run a brush and patches through the bore of my winchester '94, scrub as much of the inside of the reciever with an ap brush and hose it down with penetrating lube. I would like to do a better job on the old rifle but I really don't know how to take it all the way down. It's a winchester '94 chambered for .30-30,according to the serno it was made in 1974, anyone know how to strip one of these?

[cakes]

Sometimes I clean my guns, sometimes I don't. I usually just wipe off any mud or serious dirt from the exterior. If I shoot corrosive ammo or black powder I always clean them before storing them.

The thing that I have a hard time understanding is why some people get upset about the way I take care of my own property. I bought the gun. If I abuse it or let it get dirty, well, that's none of your business. I have 'truck' guns.

My two cents, that's all.

[medalguy]

I guess I'm like cakes. I usually wipe the outside of my guns with oil after a shooting session, but I shoot a number of guns pretty regularly so I don't do a thorough cleaning on most of them unless they have gotten dirt blown in them or something similar. I usually run a brush down the bore followed by a few oily patches and that's about it. I use Q-tips to clean around the outside of the chamber and the bolt, but that's about it. I always wipe off the outside to remove acid from my fingers but then back in the vault.