Spent my entire working life as an auto technician. I change my oil a lot. One thing is for sure: oil is cheap and engines (and transmissions) are expensive. On a lesser level (at least financially) this can be true of firearms too. Probably more so if a fail-to-fire costs you valuable seconds in a critical situation. For this reason I clean after every time at the range.
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Does this same logic apply to Handguns?
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My $.02 is that this is highly suspect (no offense intended). Following this sort of approach, we’d replace light bulbs…just in case, tires on every drive, etc. Oil is engineered to work within certain tolerances. Changing it early solves nothing; it just uses up more oil and introduces extra risk.
From the research I’ve read, this is much the same for firearms (or nearly anything mechanical (and many non-mechanical things). I don’t believe that firearms require this sort of care to function flawlessly. I read more than one article where Mark II Rugers were run 100k rounds without more than basic cleaning/oil (no disassembly) and worked just fine.
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@Scott52 I don’t have imperial evidence to support accuracy claims for hand guns. My contention with them is in a purely mechanical sense. In order for me to trust a hand gun to operate in all environments I must evaluate it to operate in the worst conditions that I can control. Given the dirtiest powders that I can use I expect it to operate to the point that I can physically feel it begin to slow down. The worst I have experienced was shooting “Bullseye” for the better part of 2K rounds in an Officers Model 1911. The slide physically slowed down to the point that I was faster than the pistol on 2nd shots.
I experienced a similar slow down with the M-16 in the dust and sand of Saudi Arabia prior to the jump off of the first gulf war. I went into the breach with a totally DRY weapon and given the contact was inclined to “pick up” an Egyptian HK-G3 to use for the duration. Of course the paper work I had to fill out for the “loss” of the non functional M-16A2 took more time than the prosecution of the entire war 
I have not had reason since that early time to evaluate powder residue or other consideration in hand guns. Essentially I run my hand guns until they slow down or it just seems like a good idea to clean them (somewhere on the order of 3 - 5 years). My standing exception being revolvers as described above. I equate it to “When was the last time you deliberately lubricated your 3/8” ratchet.?"
Cheers,
Craig6
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@Craig6 My go to competition gun is a 30-06 which raises a few eyebrow
I think the 30-06 is a great cartridge. I live in the northern part of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia and considering what our governor and legislators are trying to do I am looking for a M1 Garand which, if I’m reading the proposed legislation correctly, will remain legal in Virginia. The M1 is the rifle that won World War II and the original assault weapon. I’ve run into a gentlemen at the range who occasionally brings his M1 and is able to consistently get 1 MOA groups at 300 yards with iron sights. Not only is the M1 a good self defense firearm, it has significant historic value. The downside is that it cannot use modern 30-06 loads without modification to the gas system. This is not a big deal to me because I am a reloader and there are plenty of recipes for M1 compliant cartridges. As far as cleaning goes, I will guarantee that these rifles were rarely cleaned during combat in WW2 or Korea and went bang every time.
I am very interested in the communities thoughts are on this.
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Hey Brad, I did the same thing with a Hyundai I owned several years ago. At the time I was commuting 90+ highway miles five days a week. I found that, with conventional Pennzoil 5W-30, my oil was good to 7,500 miles. Out of caution I changed at 5,000 miles. For the record, I sold the car with 286,000 miles on it, original engine/transmission, still running like a Swiss watch.
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Nothing wrong with clean, done right.
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I break mine down and clean every time I shoot them regardless of how many rounds i put through them.
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Don’t Glocks float? 
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I really want want to run my G26 through the dishwasher. My wife won’t let me. 
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I was thinking everything but the slide and receiver would go in the silverware bins. And the 33 round mag could be a problem.
I think I’ll put ammo in the clothes washer in one of those mesh bags for delicates.
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PLEASE Tell my you are not seriously considering putting live ammo in the washing machine. Just send it down range and open a new box.
Cheers,
Craig6
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I’d be afraid of the agitator knocking the ammo around and a few rounds going off in the machine. They can go in with the silverware!
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@MikeBKY if necessary, you can pull the top rack out of a lot of dishwashers, then you could stand it up in the silverware bin 
y’all are entertaining me
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I got it figured out!
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Hmmm… What cycle?
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GLOCKs - They can handle heavy!
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Well when was the last time you cleaned them? How many rounds since then?
- If less than 250 rounds, it doesn’t need more than a quick duty cycle.
- If under 1000, regular cycle should do it.
- If the US had less than 50 states the last time they were cleaned, better use heavy-duty.
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