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View Poll Results: How often do you clean your unused guns?

Voters
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  • Monthly

    3 3.19%
  • Every 6 Months

    6 6.38%
  • Anually

    14 14.89%
  • Only when I shoot them

    53 56.38%
  • They haven't seen a brush since Eisenhower was in office

    18 19.15%
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Results 21 to 40 of 44

Thread: How often do you clean your guns?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
    rl69's Avatar
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    Your supposed to clean them ?
    when the dust settles and the smoke clears all that matters is I hear the words " well done my good and faithfully servant "

    <(*)(()><

  2. #22
    Boolit Buddy sparkyv's Avatar
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    I clean after shooting them, except for my CZ P-09 which just gets three passes with a dry bore snake...doing a "torture test", and it's holding up well after some 550 rounds.

  3. #23
    DOR RED BEAR's Avatar
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    keep mine in safe with dehumidifier and well oiled. i can't say i never clean them but there cleanings are few and far between. definitely not annually but they are never rusted or dusty for that matter. i will clean them when they are shot but i hate to admit that i have a few that haven't been shot in over 30 years.

  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy
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    Don't really own any safe queens ,I'd rather be shooting than cleaning. Defensive stuff gets cleaned after every range session. I shoot often enough I don't worry about a schedule. Everything else gets cleaned as needed.

  5. #25
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I was just thinking about this as I just installed a new safe. I generally take them out and re-lube ever 6mths or so with Ballistol or whatever. I generally buy what I shoot but at some point you take an interest in something else and some just sit for some time without being shot.
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

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  6. #26
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    Colorado is dry so with a little care they don't rust like high humidity areas. I clean after shooting or hunting unless I am working on loads. The finger prints get wiped off with a silicone rag before going in the safe. Even then if they are going to be sitting for more then a month then they get cleaned. Mine are in safes with golden rod dehumidifiers. BP get cleaned every time right after I get home from the range.

  7. #27
    Boolit Master Hannibal's Avatar
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    I used to not worry too much about cleaning barrels.

    Then I got a bore scope and could see the corrosion damage in those bores that looked mirror smooth with the naked eye.

    Gee, I wonder why I've had problems getting firearms to shoot consistently . . . . (?). It ain't the outside that matters.

    I know now my previous activities were inadequate. You all are, of course, free to do as you see fit.

  8. #28
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    they get wiped down after each use. Guns like my ar15s and glocks ect get hosed out with electrical or brake cleaner when they get pretty grungy. Might even clean the barrel of an AR that has 3 or 4k though it. I kind of chuckle at guys that clean there barrels everytime they shoot. Heck ive got one buddy who wipes down his 550 and star after each use. Even puts a coat of car wax on his dies so they don't rust.

  9. #29
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd Smale View Post
    they get wiped down after each use. Guns like my ar15s and glocks ect get hosed out with electrical or brake cleaner when they get pretty grungy. Might even clean the barrel of an AR that has 3 or 4k though it. I kind of chuckle at guys that clean there barrels everytime they shoot. Heck ive got one buddy who wipes down his 550 and star after each use. Even puts a coat of car wax on his dies so they don't rust.
    I clean mine after every use although the AR's might take a week or two to get at but for me it's just a way to take a look at them, see if something is wrong, smell Hoppes or Ballitstol and generally fiddle with them. Doesn't hurt anything.
    I Am Descended From Men Who Would Not Be Ruled

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  10. #30
    Boolit Grand Master

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    I clean the ones that get shot after I get home with them or soon after. If I don't have time to clean them right then, they get wiped off and put away until I do have time. The safe queens get wiped down once a year and I update my list of serial numbers at that time. I usually do this on New Years Day. I have a soft cloth, saturated with oil, that I keep in a ziplock bag in my safe and I wipe everything off that gets touched. The concealed carry guns het some attention monthly or close to it.

  11. #31
    Boolit Master
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    I rarely clean them like most here mention.
    My .22's get cleaned when they start to malfunction. My carry gun gets cleaned and lubed after a range trip, and wiped down with an oily cloth from time to time between. I have some in the safe that have not been cleaned for 20 or more years. They do get a oily cloth every 4-5 years. I live in a dry climate where rust is not (usually) a problem unless it is a car driven on salty roads in the winter.

  12. #32
    Boolit Master MyFlatline's Avatar
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    I got cornfused in the poll,,,you asked about cleaning UNused guns but had , you clean after using..

    I have guns in my safe that haven't seen a rag in eons. Also have some in the front of one of those safes that gets wiped down after each outing, not so much the barrel tho. Maybe once a year there. Powder Coating has been a blessing. I shoot 98% cast.

  13. #33
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by therealhitman View Post
    I did abscond with my Dad's .243 Model 70 a while back, it is a well proven 1/2 moa tack driver. His advice for success was to run 70 gr Match Kings over 4350 and to not ever clean the bore. He swears the groups opened right up each time he did and cost himself a couple of matches way back when. So the bore hasn't seen a brush since the mid 90's!
    I have a Marlin 30-06 that shoots 3/4 MOA or better any day...unless it's been cleaned. Then with the exact same loads it shoots 3-4 MOA groups until you get 20 rounds through it. Drives me nuts but I'm tempted to take your Dad's advice on that one.

  14. #34
    Boolit Master
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    When I shoot any of my firearms I clean it (them) as soon as it is cooled and time allows. As for those in storage, they were clean when put in storage. They get a yearly wipe-down, but not a complete cleaning. Cleaning is a firearm's reward for giving me the fun of exercising it.

  15. #35
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    many guns are like that. John Linebaugh allways recommended you test loads for group size with at least 50 rounds down the pipe.
    Quote Originally Posted by SeabeeMan View Post
    I have a Marlin 30-06 that shoots 3/4 MOA or better any day...unless it's been cleaned. Then with the exact same loads it shoots 3-4 MOA groups until you get 20 rounds through it. Drives me nuts but I'm tempted to take your Dad's advice on that one.

  16. #36
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    almost embarrassed (almost) to admit theres a 9mm ar15 out in the truck that ive been shooting for a couple weeks about every day. Its got AT LEAST 2000 rounds through it since its seen even a wipe down and like the energizer bunny it just keeps going and going. Mix of coated and lube sized lead bullets with 3 or 4 different powders. I do keep a chamber brush in the shooting box for when I get anal. When it has its first miss feed ill probably run it through the chamber a couple times and procede to shoot a couple more thousand. By the way I oiled it when I took it out the first day and it hasn't even seen more oil since then. bores as shinny and clean as a new babys bottom. Pc coating does give me a lot more latitude. Used to have to pull the bolt out about every 1000 rounds to clean the bullet lube deposits. Now its no more dirty then if I was shooting factory jacketed ammo. Personaly Id think some of you would want to know how TRUELY reliable your gun is. My test for new 1911s (cant afford to buy them anymore) used to be 500 cast bullets then without cleaning and just oiling it 500 more. If it didn't pass id give it a second try and if it failed twice it went on the used gun rack at the local gun shop. Surprisingly most do pass. I do usually clean the barrel on my bolt guns at the end of crop damage deer season. Those are about the only barrels that EVER see a brush. I don't think ive brushed out a revolver barrel in 20 years. I do once in a great while mop out the barrels on semi auto guns to at least clean the chamber. Ive got handguns that probably have over 10k of rounds down the barrel that ive never brushed out. Why would I? never seen the inside of a barrel rust (other then a black powder gun) and if they still shoot as well or better then they did clean it seems kind of silly to put something abrasive in the barrel.

  17. #37
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    How often do you clean your guns?
    I'm not talking about the gun you just shot. I'm talking about the few you inevitably have in your safe that rarely get shot. How often do you clean them?
    I clean those as needed.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
    ― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001

  18. #38
    Boolit Master

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    There's nothing like cracking a beer and cleaning the guns I shot that day -- add listening to 'old time radio' too, and now that's living!!!

  19. #39
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    Before and after shooting...and some times after a few years the safe queens get oiled when I feel guilty or paranoid that mr. Rust is comming to town.

  20. #40
    Boolit Buddy
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    Once a year whether I have shot it or not.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check