My carry gun , not enough. Try to field strip at least once a month. Gets a full clean if it get used at all. My shotguns get a full strip and clean each time they get used. Once a year I like to give all the guns in the safe a thorough cleaning .
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I use CLP, that’s what they gave us in the Army. Couple of years ago at the ISRA range day, the Remington guy had their new 1911. Gun kept jamming. He took it apart and found it was coated in cosmoline . He cleaned it up and was asking people for oil. They were asking him why he didnt open one of the bottles of rem oil he had on display. His response : I wouldn’t use that crap on any gun
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That’s why I stopped using rem… but I do really like the Lucas… but I’ll give it more time to see how it really works out
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I never thought about cleaning the magazines. Do you actually disassemble them? Sounds like checking them is a good idea.
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I’ll be disassembling mine in the not too distant future. Spent a lot of time dropping them in the gravel/sand this last weekend during training. Last thing I want is a dirty mag preventing me from defending myself as best I can.
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@Robert8 @Jerzees I did it! I pulled out my Rock Island Armory M1911 this morning and decided to try again. This time I found an appropriate Youtube video in advance. I started the process and then looked at the Youtube to make sure I was doing it right. To make a long story short, I thoroughly cleaned my 1911 and reassembled ON MY OWN!!! I hit a few hard spots but just kept at it until the pistol was back together and in working order! I can’t believe I did it! Now I have the rest of the collection of 1911s to deal with, but I’m feeling much more confident that I’ll be able to do it now without running next door for help! Thank you guys! Your encouragement helped tremendously!
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@Dawn I’ve never taken my magazines apart to clean them. Do they get dirty if we don’t drop them in the gravel/sand?
@Sidecarr9, what is cosmoline? I’ve been using CLP, Hoppes 9 gun oil, and Hoppes 9 bore cleaner on my guns. I’m thinking of switching to Lucas gun oil based on what @Timothy3 says. Any suggestions – anybody?
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YAY!! and by the time you get through the rest, you’ll have it nailed. 
Kicking’ butt and takin’ (1911) names 
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Congratulations all it takes sometimes in life is persistence and repetition. Horray! for you 
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@Nancy 
I’m proud !!! You haven’t given up ! And I think Rock Island is not the easiest 1911 to reassemble.
Good job !
My suggestion for clean and lube… test few and find what works best for you. All of us have their own favorite stuff. But definitely I’ll recommend synthetic oil (so Lucas is good choice) and “non toxic” cleaner (MPro7 may be a good choice).
In my case I’ve been testing few manufacturers for 6 months…
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Think of it as an industrial-strength extra-gummy vaseline designed to protect and preserve metal parts from water for a minimum of 15,000 years 
I’ve cleaned a few firearms that were packed in it. It is a LOT of work.
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When I was in the Army every part or supply that was metal came with a coating of thick sticky partially hardened smelly grease like substance. They called cosmiline . Whenever I’ve gotten a new gun and it has that coating on it reminds me of cosmiline, I’m not sure if it’s the same stuff the military used or not
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Cosmoline is a sticky chemical gun makers and companies that sold metal component parts for consumption. Gun makers don’t use cosmoline anymore to my knowledge. It’s a very heavy sticky compound that new guns were wrapped up in years ago but like everything else nowadays companies try to cut corners where they can. I don’t even know if it’s available to buy anymore. Well looks like it is available. I haven’t seen it in many years.
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I never took one apart. YouTube here I come
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You have all made my week! Thank you so much for being awesomely supportive of each other!
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That all depends, @Nancy (I know that seems to be my standard response 
)
Do you shoot ammo that tends to be dirtier? Where do you keep your magazines - do they get dusty or thrown into a dirty range bag?
Here are a Community topics with related blog post that may shed some additional light on this for you: Magazine Maintenance
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And that is why S&W has the sear deactivation lever to flip (on many of their striker fired pistols) so you do not have the pull the trigger to field strip
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I’m still in my testing stage of Lucas but me and my buddy both like it so far…will never go back to rem…tim
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Nancy I do clean my mags just not as often as my pistol…tim
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