I’ve scene videos and read that some people completely disassemble (beyond factory break down) and dump all of their parts in CLP to soak.
I am not comfortable doing this. I am really not comfortable having someone else do it either because I like to know everything that happens to my gun. I’ve also read this is totally unnecessary unless a malfunction is present. This type of cleaning clearly goes against my guns Manuel as well.
Probably not necessary with everyday concealed carry. If you are open carrying in a dusty and dirty environment then you may want to deep clean more often.
I deep clean my hand guns once a year just cuz. I break the gun down as usual and I use a foaming bore cleaner on the frame and the firing mechanism. I spray it and let it sit, spray it again and then use a small air compressor to blow it all out. I then lube and then spread the lube with another blast of air. I have been doing this for years and it works for me and saves a lot of time. 
I have gone farther than the manual recommends. I’m not sure it’s wise. Don’t feel like you need to do it if you’re uncomfortable.
I do complete disassembly once a year. I want to be sure the tool is in perfect shape.
I’m not sure if soaking is necessary, but each single part must be cleaned, lubed and wiped to dry.
Then what needs to be dry is assembled dry, what needs to be lubed is lubed…
Thanks to stay-at-home order I have done extra deep clean recently…
As @Ouade5 said - “Don’t feel like you need to do it if you’re uncomfortable”
Any advice for cleaning the firing pin channel?
Q-tip. Little or no lube, depends on the gun.
I second @Fred_G -> Q-Tips are the best.
This part will probably need more q-tip runs than patches through the barrel 
Once it’s clean, lube it and then dry it (do not let lube sits in the channel). The same with pin, spring and all other parts you may have, if it’s striker.
Without question. Disassemble till the last micro-spring has popped out, rub, scrub, de-bur, lap, polish, mill, drill, tap,… whatever it takes, hold my beer and watch this…
Once apart carb cleaner and brake clean along with a little compressed air are my best friend.
If I’m feeling lazy my (nearly) local gun shop will give whatever I’m carrying an ultrasonic bath while we drink coffee and tell stories. He’s got some really top shelf stuff and almost always makes me drool over what he pulls out of the back room.
Yes sir I have seen it done at an armorers house whom I know and sometimes I wonder how can he get it back together. I guess if you know what you are doing go for it.
Only if I’m getting ready to go out on a date.
I think I’m going to do this today. The striker channel scares me, because what I I’ve read is I could potentially do more harm than good.
I’ve read and seen videos that say if you push the striker block down and shake. If you here a rattle it doesn’t need to be cleaned. I’ve been cleaning by the manual (M&P manual does not advise break down any further than field stripping).
Most manufacturers recommend field striping only. My guess is they don’t want people to fully disassemble firearm and then call with warranty repair claims.
I cleaned out my striker channel today. I tried this on the carry gun I am not currently carrying in case I found a way to mess it up. This was also my first gun, and it’s been shot the most. The striker channel has never been cleaned (I’ve had this gun for a few years). I discovered 2 things.
It was not as dirty as I expected, and I think I will do this once or twice a year (or I get a gun cleaning itch 
). The reason I started this topic is I’ve seen fowling get in every nook and cranny of my guns. I was horrified at the idea of what my striker channel would look like. I think I could have gotten away easily with thousands of more rounds before this particular piece started to have issues.
It was dirty so cleaning it was a good idea. I just used a q-tip. I also discovered oil in the firing pin. This was either from the factory or from past cleanings where I may have been a little coo coo with the lube. I did find one small spec of brass.
The more I learn about these guns, the more I respect them for their durable-reliable design.
I think I may use this strategy. Thank you.
Exactly. Every piece of equipment comes with a guide to basic user maintenance- things that you need to keep doing to ensure your equipment continues to work. We used to call this “10 Level Maintenance” because our technical manuals prescribed basic maintenance in the “-10” section. These are everything from checking the oil in your vehicle to adding oil to your trumpet to cleaning the bore of your rifle. And these change occasionally, too. For example, they used to tell us to remove the extractor from the bolt, but then they decided too many knuckleheads were losing the extractor pin, so now that’s not considered basic user maintenance.
That’s where they usually tell you to stop, when you start requiring special tools or risk breaking things. You can go this far, obviously. YouTube is your friend and your enemy. But many a repairman, mechanic, and gunsmith can tell you stories about people who tried to “fix” something that wasn’t broken, and it cost them a good deal to their their fix repaired.
@Scoutbob 
Congrats on your first clean firing pin / striker channel
Cleaning this part is important and people should realize they have to do this from time to time. How often? Of course it depends on how many rounds we put over the firearm.
Yours wasn’t so bad. How many rounds, do you think it ran?
I’ve cleaned two handguns recently. These have been shot the most.
CZ - 7,000 rounds after last deep clean,
1911 - 5,000 rounds after last deep clean.
Both firing pin channels were dirty as hell. Nicely dry but dirty. I had to use about 10 q-tips per handgun to make them clean.
Additionally with 1911 it’s great idea to clean extractor channel the same time (once the slide is taken apart already). This one was even worse.
Regarding lube existence in the channel. If you never cleaned it before, this was probably factory lube. Check it in next 6 months…
I really don’t know, probable only a couple thousand rounds. I rarely shoot more than 100 rounds at the range. There was also a period of time where my gun sat in a safe for over a year without being touched much. My 2nd carry gun will probably catch up in use faster because before COVID 19 I was shooting it weekly (and I was enjoying it so much I was shooting double what I intended too…).
I agree, I think it was factory lube. I read somewhere that the factory lube in the channel is not bad. I wiped it all dry before reassembling though.
My range here does a deep clean for 20 bucks…
They use some machine and it comes out looking better than new. No lie, better looking than new…
Ultrasonic gun cleaner?
I’m not a fan of them. Some people say you can ruin polymer and aluminum parts… Hard to tell, never used one and still have fun doing deep clean by myself 
It’s very possible.
But I’m sure my guy would never do anything to harm my guns.