How often...

[dbla]

Do you clean your rifles (specifically AR's and 10/22's) after you shoot them? Do you always clean them each time after you shoot? Do you wait a couple range trips before you break it down and scrub it out? Just curious....

-a

[vujade]

I normally (99%) clean them after each range visit.

Often, I clean them pretty quick at the range. I just pack up maybe 15 minutes before everyone else does so by the time my party is ready to leave, i would have cleaned most if not all of my guns already. Granted it's not a DETAILED clean but it's mostly field stripped (for example, I'll take apart the AK (which isn't a lot) except for the gas tube area). I find that it's easier to clean them when they are still warm.

On my 10/22 though, I tend to clean the barrel and wipe it down after every range visit (about 200 rounds) and then do a full field strip every 2 range trips or 400 rounds. Nothing scientific..I just shoot the 22s a lot and sometimes I get lazy.

Main thing is to not rush it too much; I've seen folks ram the cleaning rod a good 6 inches past the muzzle and yank it back while the patch is still wobbling. I think you'd seriously wound a crown/muzzle that way. With that, I'd rather have a dirty gun than a damaged clean one. But i'd rather have a clean gun that was cleaned properly.

[UncleJak]

I don't always have time as soon as I am done shooting, but I always have them cleaned by the next day. It is def easier to clean them fresh. 22s are such a pain to clean for me anyways so I seem to put it off as long as I can stand. I forgot to clean my Glock 23 one time for 2 weeks but had no problems arise from it.

[peejman]

I clean my Mosin every time, but only because the ammo is corrosive. The other stuff (rifles and pistols)... I wipe the crud off the muzzle and bolt face/breech/chamber area. Then I wipe all the the finger prints off and that's it. I only clean the bore when it looks cruddy and/or accuracy is affected. That can be lots and lots of rounds down range.

I'm a firm believer that more guns get broken and/or prematurely worn out due to obsessive cleaning than by obsessive shooting.

[Caster]

I clean the BCG and receiver after every outing. I rarely clean the bore. The powder I use now is very clean and there's almost NO copper fouling...why bother? I've not cleaned the bore on my AR's in over 500 rounds. Can't see a difference in accuracy. I may never clean them [bore] again save for a patch on a jag once in a while. Most of guns I shoot cast in won't group well until they settle in so cleaning them is counter productive.

There's more damage done by cleaning then you'll ever do by shooting. That "Marine Corps spotless bore" is a waste of time in the world I live in. YMMV.

[reed1285]

To hear the guys over at ar15.com talk about it, most of them say every 1000 rnds or so. They say ar's can be troublesome if overcleaned. Idk how, thats just what i read over there. Personally i clean mine about every 200-300 rnds

[gregintenn]

I wipe off fingerprints, but rarely tear into one and give it a thorough cleaning. As others have stated, I've seen many more guns damaged by cleaning than by shooting.

[Guest bkelm18]

I clean any gun after I shoot it.

[DaveTN]

Within a couple of days of shooting.

[kwe45919]

Sometimes that night, sometimes life won't let me for a couple of days. With some of us, we could go a year without cleanning because we only run a few hundred to 1k rounds through it...others run 500 or more per outing. I don't think it'd hurt most of us to skip a few cleannings a year just cause we could.

[Superman]

you mean I am supposed to clean my guns?

[Garufa]

If shooting mil-surps with corrosive ammo I clean within a couple of hours.

Everything else is when I feel like it.

Cleaning guns sucks.

[bubbiesdad]

If shooting mil-surps with corrosive ammo I clean within a couple of hours.

Everything else is when I feel like it.

Cleaning guns sucks.

Gun cleaning is fun. Especially after shooting a Mosin M44. It helps take your mind off your shoulder

[graycrait]

I accuse some shooters of turning gun cleaning into some kind of quasi religious event. One guy I know I am pretty sure strips naked, puts on a head band, wears face paint, turns up the heat till sweat is rolling, sits on a purple velvet rug and then lights candles while kneeling before the "Blessed Virgin," and chants "Hoppes #9, Hoppes #9,........"

Fortunately for me Glocks require little formal cleaning. However 1911s, ARs and many .22s need something more than Glocks. I figure if you spend more than 5 minutes on a Glock you fall into the above category. If it takes me more than 15 minutes with my AR, the only 1911 I have left or any one of the .22s after a few hundred rounds I get irritated. Those 1911s require extraordinary care if you are going to use it for self-defense, but I love the triggers on them so maybe it is worth the trouble.

Gun cleaning tools:

1) Gun Scrubber or carb cleaner

2) Otis tooth brushes

3) Air compressor

4) Bore Snakes

5) Dental picks

6) Frog Lube

7) Copper and lead solvent (hardly ever use)

8) Bear Metal Q tips

9) Ream-N-Clean Bristle Pipe Cleaners

10) Bronze bristle "tooth brushes"

[Murgatroy]

It depends on how much and what I shoot.

I actually broke down and cleaned my Glock the other night. First time in a year/1000+ rounds.

Cleaned my AR too, I think it had 500 rounds through it.

I haven't cleaned my single action .22LRs in a while, maybe 1000 rounds combined.

I don't think I have cleaned my AK in a year or so.

When I shoot milsurp, I clean them, even if I know the ammo to be non corrosive, I still clean them. I don't let the sun set on them dirty.

I guess I get lazy about it, but as they all still function and have been proven to function dirty, I don't sit up and night and stress out over it.

However, as for the cleaning being a religious moment... I am not immune. It normally requires the right multimedia on. Normally Red Dawn or similar. Falling Skies has become a favorite as well. I normally shoot on Sundays, so I clean on Sunday night, which just happens to be the night Falling Skies is on...

[dats82]

I don't shoot my AR much, and when I do, it is never more than about 20-40 rds. It doesn't get cleaned everytime that happens. Maybe I clean it every 200 rds or so. I will usually run bore snake through it after shooting, but I don't really consider that cleaning.

My .22s, on the other hand, pretty much just get cleaned when they start having trouble with bulk ammo. Who knows when that is.

Any gun I carry or rely on for protection gets cleaned after shooting or every month or so if it is a carry gun. This is more so to keep the pocket fuzz and junk from potentially causing problems.

[RWF]

Yes, hopfully that day or the next. they just cost to much. the way i look at it no matter the gun, not cleaning it (to me) is about the same as cleaning it then throwing some grit in the action and blasting away.

to me you just shorten the life by increasing wear.

keep in mind i am not talk about your bolt deer gun were once a year you shoot 3-5 rounds to check zero then may not shot but 2 or 3 shots the rest of the year. unless caught in rain storm i will clean after season is over. and a quick go over before the zero range.

[Jonnin]

I clean the 10-22 nearly every go, but it soaks a good 200 rounds on a good day and .22 is nasty ammo generally.

my ar is cleaned rarely, about every 500 rounds.

Other rifles, which tend to see 10's of rounds in a session, 50 tops but usually 20 or less ... get cleaned rarely --- like once a year.

[DaveTN]

I use to build punches and dies for stamping and multi-slide presses. If you do maintenance; keep them sharp, clean and lubed, they will run many times longer than those that are set-up and run to failure.

Firearms are mechanical devices and the same applies. Sure you can run them dirty. You can run ammo that is dirty and not designed for the firearm you are using it in. You can run them to failure. But it’s cheaper and makes the gun more accurate if you don’t.

If you are damaging a weapon cleaning it, you need to do some research or ask for help.

[Guest nowheretobefound]

Never had a 10/22 but for all my sidearms and rifles I know how they group at various distances so when I see accuracy falling off I'll clean that pistol or rifle, that's all.

[Garufa]

If you are damaging a weapon cleaning it, you need to do some research or ask for help.

This. Unless you are using steel cleaning rods and brushes, there is no way cleaning a gun is going to cause any premature wear.

[gregintenn]

This. Unless you are using steel cleaning rods and brushes, there is no way cleaning a gun is going to cause any premature wear.

I disagree. The simple act of disassembling/reassembling will cause undue wear of most gun designs.

[Garufa]

I disagree. The simple act of disassembling/reassembling will cause undue wear of most gun designs.

More so than the sheer vlolence of a round going off?

[dbla]

[Dolomite_supafly]

Cleaning sucks so I do it as little as I can.

My main AR has been shot regularly for at least two years now without a cleaning. I have also went thousands of rounds between cleanings without issue using an AR. For my 10/22 I haven't cleaned it in quite a few years. As a matter of fact I only clean when reliability or accuracy drops off.

I recently had to clean my 22/45 because it started to have reliability issues. It is because shooting with a suppressor really makes a gun dirty in short order. My other Ruger 22's have went 10's of thousands of rounds without cleaning but the one that runs the suppressor makes it about 2K-3K rounds before it needs a cleaning.

If the gun functions and is as acceptably accurate I do not clean it.

And that goes for every single gun except the pistol I carry. I clean it pretty regularly and keep it lubed.

Dolomite