To Clean or Not to Clean, that is the Question

Guns & Gear
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And the Answer is Yes!

As a retired law enforcement officer and newly certified USCCA Instructor, I’ve always believed in passing along practical knowledge and safety principles to my children. Recently, I invited my 10-year-old to join me in learning more about loading magazines, cleaning firearms, and restocking the range bag. He’s helped me before, but now that he’s getting older, I felt it was the right time to go beyond the basics.

That experience got me thinking, how often do you clean your firearms, and what does “clean” mean to you? Do you have any tips or tricks that you’ve picked up over the years that could help both new and seasoned shooters?

Personally, I clean my firearms based on usage. During CCW classes, we typically end the day by breaking down and cleaning our firearms together. This not only builds familiarity with one’s equipment but also reinforces the fundamentals of maintenance and safety. It still surprises me how many people have carried the same firearm for years yet aren’t familiar with features like trigger reset or basic field stripping, but that’s part of the joy of teaching.

I’d love to hear your thoughts:

  • Do you clean your firearm after every range trip, or only as needed?
  • Does your routine change if you shoot multiple days in a row?
  • How “clean” is clean enough for you?
  • How often do you perform a full breakdown and deep clean?
  • Any tried-and-true tips or maintenance tricks you’d like to share?
  • I clean after every range session
  • I clean after a few trips to the range
  • I schedule regular cleanings (weekly/monthly etc)
  • Quick wipe-down and deep clean as needed
  • I only clean before classes, training, inspections, or competition days
  • I should probably clean my firearms more often
  • Other (share below)
0 voters
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There are already so many existing threads on this. Maybe move it there?

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It varies with me. If my gun looks dirty I clean it if I have the time. If not the first chance I get. If something is not functioning properly I make time to fix it right away. If I have 5-600 rounds through it I make time to clean it.

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I thought about that, but most of them were several years old.

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I clean after each range day and once a year a full breakdown and deep clean

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It really depends on your circumstances. If you are shooting once or twice a week, maybe a bi-weekly. If not at the range that frequently, then after every range session. Rifles, definitely after each session unless a competition piece, same with shotguns.

When I was competing IPSC years ago, I cleaned that particular weapon the day after our match and didn’t clean it again until after the next match. In between, I was practicing about 200 rounds a day, 5 days of the week and 75 on match days.
My reasoning on that schedule is malfunctions usually happened in the first magazine or two, but once it was running, it was flawless.

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Thanks for sharing! I can definitely relate; many of my responses tend to fall into the “it depends” category as well. If I’m doing a lot of shooting, I usually clean my firearms at the end of the final day. For example, if I’m out on Saturday and Sunday, I’ll clean them on Sunday.

When I’m just testing optics or sighting in (typically under 100 rounds), I generally don’t clean them unless I know I won’t be shooting again for a few months.

After a heavy range session, though, I like to do a full breakdown and clean everything thoroughly, inside and out.

Interestingly, I once spoke with a police chief who made it a habit to clean his firearms every weekend, whether he used them or not. I’m not that dedicated, but perhaps it is something to aspire to?

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USCCA Official USCCA Moderator

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Jan 2019

Welcome to all of you responsibly armed Americans who are looking to learn and share with like-minded individuals! You’ve all got something special to bring to this group that will help others no matter what spot you’re at on your self-defense journey.

Gun-shy about talking about yourself? Here are some questions to help you get started!

  • Who are you?

  • What got you interested in carrying and self-defense?

  • How long have you been training for your self-defense?

  • What formal training have you had?

  • What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten regarding your self-defense?

  • What’s your favorite gun?

  • How often do you train?

  • How have you gotten your friends and family involved?

  • What do you hope to learn from others in the USCCA Community?

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If you use the mindset that dirt wears down your gun faster, then the idea of keeping your guns maintained will make them last longer and work better will be a comforting thought when you are cleaning them. Having them malfunction when you really need them is a really bad situation that no one needs to have to face. A clean gun is a happy gun and a happy gun works when you want it to.

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Welcome to the community!

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I’d say I fall into the “it depends” group.

I have my Grandfather’s 100+ year old rifle I rarely shoot. I also have a 1958 Browning A5 shotgun I’ve owned since I was a teenager that I have not shot in many years. I try to pull both of these out annually for a field strip and anti-rust treatment. I’ll admit I don’t make it some years.

I have four I consider primary self-defense; 2 carry pistols, 2 home defense pistols. These get the most routine maintenance. Each gets a field strip clean and lube at least monthly.

All of them get cleaned after every time they are fired – one shot or 200 shots in a session – makes no difference.

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Well, I usually clean them after range trips, and those I don’t take, about 2-3 times per year. If I did not shoot a lot in that gun on the range trip, I might not do a thorough clean, just swab the barrel, chamber, wipe the mag and exterior, etc., and lube where needed.

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Most guns 200 rounds or so. However, my EDC is always “clean” when carried, no exceptions. Call me paranoid, but if something goes down and it comes to anyone’s attention, I don’t want it to come to “this guns been fired” unless I actually did fire it. I’m not going to be someone’s scapegoat or some anti-gun “whoevers” target unless it’s actually a result of my response during the incident. Besides the above, I like knowing that my EDC is ready, clean, and impeccably ready to go.

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I know that I am one that cleans more often than I NEED to. But I recall in my CCW class the instructor made a point that if you are carrying in a situation where shots are fired but you do NOT shoot, having a clean gun could be your best defense to prove that you didn’t shoot. It is possible that LEO would look for anyone with a gun at the scene as a potential suspect. And if your gun shows signs of having been fired. it could cause you some unnecessary grief.

Obviously, the chances of this whole scenario is rare. But it certainly isn’t zero. So I always do my best to make sure my EDC of the day is clean before going out.

If not for that, I would clean far less often. But I usually give any firearm a plan on carrying a pretty thorough cleaning right after being used for most anything.

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That’s a very interesting point, and I appreciate you bringing it up as it is something I hadn’t fully considered before.

In my experience investigating numerous shootings, one of our standard procedures has always been the use of Gun Shot Residue (GSR) kits. These are typically administered on the individual involved, their vehicle (if relevant), and other pertinent surfaces. When there is sufficient evidence to identify someone as a suspect, we would also collect their clothing for evidentiary purposes. If we had a strong reason to believe we have identified the suspect, an arrest would often follow.

I also agree with the idea of maintaining a clean firearm, particularly in the scenario you described. You’re absolutely right, every detail matters, and anything that strengthens the integrity of your case is 100% beneficial.

Unfortunately, it also brings to mind cases like Rittenhouse, where even if you act within the law, public perception can still work against you in significant ways.

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Every time a human touches something, they risk introducing a problem. Cleaning them when they aren’t dirty makes little to no sense to me. Like waxing your car every week…

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That is definately the flip side of the coin. :+1:

I have snap-caps for every caliber semi-auto I own. A full functionality test with snap-caps is the final part of the cleaning process for me.

  1. I lock the slide (or bolt) back and verify the snap-cap chambers properly when the slide or bolt is released.
  2. I then pull and hold the trigger to verify it fires.
  3. While holding the trigger I cycle the slide or bolt ejecting the chambered (and dry-fired) snap-cap and chambering the next snap-cap in the magazine.
  4. Once the 2nd snap-cap is chambered I release the trigger listening and feeling the trigger reset. This confirms the disconnector is functioning.
  5. I pull the trigger again and repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 until the magazine is empty.
  6. This last step is verifying slide or bolt lock-back on an empty magazine.

I’ve told this story on my buddy before … he had a brand new pistol he shot at the range, took it home, field striped, cleaned, and reassembled. First shot after that the whole slide assembly flew off leaving the frame in his hands. After retrieving the slide from down range he went straight to a gun store and traded it in for half of what he paid for it because he thought it was defective. It was in fact his unfamiliarity with field striping the new pistol, and a functional test prior to shooting it again would have revealed this.

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It depends.

I’ll only run a cleaning rod—down the bore of a .22 when I notice accuracy degradation, however on my .22 chamber fouling, and powder fouling accumulates quickly enough to warrant a teardown after every range day. I just leave that beautiful bore alone.

With my stainless steel revolver cleaning consists of a bore snake and wipe down, hitting the extractor rod and star with an old tooth brush to assure no accumulations to cause mischief. After an extended range day she’ll get a bore brushing, solvent and patches but that’s seldom—-1-7/8” snubbies just aren’t contusive to high round counts a the range.

1911s OTOH love the spa treatment. I find the type of oil not as important as the frequency. I’ve been working my way through a large bottle of Wahl Electric Clipper Oil for the past couple of years. Finding a supply of GI issue patches is a holy grail experience. These aren’t Glocks!:face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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I think the cleaning helps their performance. I guess there is a sweet spot in terms of how often, but depending on the firearm, usage, ammo most recenlty used, and condition where it’s kept.

If it’s for EDC, personally, I must have it cleaned before it’s in ready holster mode.

I only know one clean, in and out, or ain’t a cleaning. At the end of a range session, external wipe of smudges is just for beautification, once home, it’s time for its bathing.

My long guns are only single shot. On my revolvers and long guns, the fouling will cause some of the casings to get stuck. If ever needed in self defense or hunting, I don’t wanna risk precious seconds or losing my eye off said surroundings.

Guessing a cleaning could be good for better feeding, cycling on semi autos.

Also noticed when going in storage for quite some time, moisture can accumulate, leading to residue build up, then to rust. On my external parts, I sometimes use a special wax I heard is good for firearms. Once I noticed the wax caught the residue, preventing (protected) it from sticking to the gun, where I only needed to wipe off the pre rust build up.

Seemed good for long term storage, ie - summer hunting long guns.

Occasional light oiling.

I don’t obsesses over it, and forgive myself if I forget once in a while. I only regret they are the cleanest things in my home.

Always “eyes and ears”. Sometimes cleaning or oil left over will shoot 500 degrees Fahrenheit of spit at your eyes or arms. That’s just affection - to remind you.

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I had my teeth cleaned at the dentist this week. They must really know me because they gave me another brand new gun cleaning brush as I left :+1:

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