Wild Bill was said to empty his gun in the morning and clean it then reload it everyday. Back then the last thing a gunfighter would want is a misfire dew to moisture. Get the pun, Dew? As for now a days, if you are going to store the gun away for a bit of time you would want to strip your weapon down and clean it to clean. Then I would put a heavier oil on it and even grease on some other parts. This will prevent it from rusting while being stored. It does not take much moisture to create rust. As for a EDC weapon, I will wipe it down weekly and do an expedient clean after shooting at the range if I shoot under 200 rounds. If I shoot more than that I break mine down and sonic clean then lubricate for operational use. I like your idea of changing the ammo yearly, nothing wrong with that! But, it is known that ammo properly stored will last at least 10 years. As long as there is no deuteriation to the brass casing.
I reload for the range and I mimic the rounds that I carry for my EDC, so, nothing changes and I remain accurate and consistent.
Even when I don’t shoot my firearms I field strip, clean and rotate the ammo every 3 months. Right now with ammo being hard to come by I can’t rotate them like I should.
@Todd30 Imagine having to restore that firearm in the pic as a final exam in your Gunsmithing course. 
I’ve never seen any expiration date on ammo and you’ll never hurt your firearm cleaning it, if done properly.
Field strip and clean? A couple of times a year.
Rotate defense ammo? Pre-shortage, it was every trip to the range. Now? I’m waiting.
My EDC is cleaned on the first of every month religiously and after returning from range. Every month, breakdown, wipe down, oiled, function checked, cleared and placed in condition one. Deep cleaned on a yearly basis. You would be surprised as to how much dust gets in, that includes the holster.
Usually ammo is rotated only when visiting the range.
That’s not to say that the FIFO (First in First out) rule does not apply every time I receive an order. Unlike loading a magazine (LIFO: last in, first out.)
I only order in bulk and that order goes to the bottom everything else shifts to the top.
On a “normal” basis 50% of my magazines are loaded with SD ammo those are not rotated. Since war was declared, all magazines for all firearms are loaded with SD ammo and on standby. As long as ammo is kept dry it can last for maybe 10 years. Rotation will now depend upon the stupid people!
I field strip and clean my edc after each use.
I reapply oil to the slide after a few sessions of dry fire practice.
I only rotate defensive rounds that have been chambered. Frequent chambering and unloading of the same cartridge causes the bullet to become seated deeper into the casing and can cause a dangerous over pressure situation inside the chamber.
i had a 30-30 that looked almost as bad., Sister n law threw it in the back of my brothers boat. The barrel was never the same. Major rust pits inside the barrel. So, when I say I lost my guns in a boating incident, I was serious!
Hi @John512! Check out these threads.
Cleaning:
https://community.usconcealedcarry.com/t/how-often-do-you-clean-your-firearm/379/138
Rotating Ammo:
https://community.usconcealedcarry.com/t/rotating-carry-ammo/11765/2
https://community.usconcealedcarry.com/t/home-defense-ammo-cycling/26839/7
Hmm, better be careful, looks like there might be a bit of dirt behind the trigger.
I field strip after every range run, sadly about 1/month right now, and at least one time during the month to keep in practice. Not that it’s complicated, but the APX takedown lever has a button on the left side to press, and it’s a serious button indeed, friends. I was watching a review on one channel, and kind of liked the presentation, and was about to subscribe, when he actually had to use a block and press the gun down on it! Sheesh! What a wimp. I have neuropathy in my hands and I can push the damn button.
No, I didn’t subscribe.
As for the ammo, it’s not old enough yet to be concerned with that, and the only place I can run HPs is over 80 miles from my home. Yeah, maybe see how it’s going after the first of Jan. Things are a bit too weird right now.
I do, however, have 4 mags full of HPs and I swap the current one out weekly, does that count?
Thanks for the links PDA3. I do think a lot of people overclean AND overclean their weapon. When I was a new shooter I cleaned after every session. UNLESS SHOOTING CORROSIVE AMMO like the 7.62x56, some .303 British and maybe certain brands of 7.62x39, I will clean a couple times a year with s=exceptions being shooting in rain or running courses where you are having to drop your mags to the ground or perhaps set your gun on the ground where oils might pick up debris.
I have a friend who is a new shooter who just isnt done for the day until we clean his guns. I would rather be getting that ice cold beer. I have another friend who is an experienced shooter who just runs a bore snake through his Les Baer 1911 one time after each session. After a couple years I asked if he ever field striped his gun and he said what? So I try and compromise. When I DO clean my gun I am very thorough which is one reason I dont mind waiting 6 months between cleaning.
Just an aside, the friend with the Les Baer 1911 did have the thing totally and completely jam up on him during a tactical class we were taking. He and an instructor had to leave the firing line and didnt come back for 30 minutes trying to get the stuck round (unfired) out of the chamber.Ultimately took a wooden dowell and hammer to get it unstuck. We field stripped the gun when we got home and cleaned it.
Ammo properly stored last a LONG time a short while back I had the pleasure of shooting 6 rounds of WW1 vintage 45ACP out of a 1918 moon clip colt revolver. My edc gets shot quite often typically to demo something in a class so I always have some extra hardball or defensive in the range bag after a mag or 2, boresnake reload and back in the holster, couple times a month while home unload, wipe down with a silicone gun cloth then a rag reload and good to go.
I agree. I was speaking specifically of ammo used in your daily carry. It is exposed to temperature, humidity , bumps and bangs etc stored ammo dosent endure.
I have shot THOUSANDS of old stored military ammo… probably in bunkers that got hot and cold but not exposed to humidity since in sealed containers and likely not jostled about and have never had an issue with it. 80 year old ammo shot great.
I have had issues with inherited shotgun shells, old paper type shell, stored in a box in Louisiana. Not jostled, but exposed to the humidity and heat/cold and had maybe a 20% failure rate. The ammo when I acquired it was about 45 years old.
I thoroughly clean the safe queens annually and field strip after every use. The EDC firearms are field stripped monthly, and after any exposure to harsh elements or a trip to the range.
I have at least twice as many mags as I carry at any given time and rotate mags monthly.
Duty ammo? I try to make sure it doesn’t sit around for more than 2 years in mags, but long-term storage stuff is just that. I store in milspec, sealed ammo cans, climate controlled, with corrosion inhibitors and desiccants.
Ammunition deterioration can be causes by excessive oil, excessive heat. Nickel plated cases will stand up better to body perspiration and Leather. Some amo has sealed primers also. I us an oil that evaporates leaving a protective film. I don’t have the spelling in front of me, the name of the oil is Ezogs. It’s a military cleaner and lubricator that Evaporates. I had primers that sat in a outside garage for over 15 years and they worked perfectly. Believe it or not I used primers today that were much older now that primers are Hard to get. Another thing I do is not fill my mag with one in the pipe because it’s a little more spring friendly. I have handgun and riffle amo that is more than 50 years old and they are as good as new, and I do bet my life on it. “ this my opinion “ based on facts.
I think : be careful of gun oil and don’t max out the mag. If the mag holds 8 , I put 7 in the mag. and number 8 in the pipe, thats a little more mag. spring friendly. Things others do might not work for you.
Agree. What I have tried to do in the past, once I have decided which firearm I believe I will be carrying most of the time, is buy a 500 round box of my choice of defense ammo so it is all of the same mfg. lot number. I take out what I plan to use, maybe 100 rounds, then vacuum seal the rest and store it in a nice cool location where it will sit unbothered until needed again the following year. At the end of the year I will use the ammo have carried for a year in my carry magazines for practice then reload the magazines with another 100 rounds out of the same batch/box. Probably negligible differences, but at least I have a good idea of how what I am carrying is going to perform.
I totally agree about the lubrication… go easy on it. Without going into much detail I use the mil-comm product so have a pretty dry setup.
all of my ammo is stored in the mil spec ammo cans. As to cleaning the hand guns, the carry gets cleaned maybe once a year.
Good show.
