Am I the only person who cleans his guns?

I used to clean my gun's after every range visit, now with 3 kid's and wife I'm lucky to even make it out to the range. I'm now at a point I make sure to clean them once a year, except for carry pieces that I maintain much more often. It is always a good idea to at least wipe down a gun with a oily rag and store in a safe with a goldenrod dehumidifier. Generally when the wife and kids visit the mother-in law is my gun cleaning weekend.
 
I may have a disorder...

I clean my guns very thoroughly every time I shoot them. I also clean/lubricate my 1911s and ARs every few months if they've been in storage. I even clean my Glocks and AKs every time I shoot them; even if I only fire on mag through them...

I'm always talking to my girl about how Glocks and AKs will run in pretty much any condition (obviously I know this isn't entirely true), dirty or clean. She usually quickly retorts "why do you clean them then?" I just look at her like she's crazy :eek:!

Maybe she's just upset that I may treat my guns better that her ;)
 
The op states he bought them filthy and cleaned them up like new, I buy and sell a lot of guns as a hobby/side job. 85% of the guns I buy are filthy and they all clean up like new. I have bought guns that sat dirty for 20 years and they aren't rusted or pitted. Improper cleaning is a real problem, you can wear barrels and crowns out faster than shooting a dirty gun. I still keep my guns clean, I spray out the barrel with brake cleaner or run a bore snake thru it with some oil even if I shoot it only once, probably dont need to but I am obsessive just like everyone else here. Really, most folks dont clean their guns much.
 
Art said:
BigShep, the way some folks talk around here, it seems as though they're more likely to wear them out from cleaning, rather than from shooting.
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This ^

Also every most of the weapons i own excluding my sako 85 were built and intended to run in harsh conditions. I used to overly clean everything. And now i'm telling myself "hey there is a reason i bought what i bought" so i'm going to let them run. My MK12 is absolutely covered in sand right now, dirty as hell, and i've just been dropping some Slip EWL in there. As is my 700 you can feel the slight abrasion of sand in the action. Got all this from shooting on some sandy ground at a friends range with 20-25mph wind. My rifles don't worry me near as much as my optics. I hate dust/sand all over my lens.
 
Am I the only person who cleans their guns at all? I enjoy cleaning my guns but don't clean them after every range trip or sometimes even after a few range trips
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I hate cleaning my guns, but I clean them after every range trip, no matter the round count.
 
I know I have passed on a few nice guns at shows because of this. A matching numbers K98 and a M1A come to mind.

I think some folks think cleaning guns means wiping off the outside.
 
There's gun cleaning and there's barrel cleaning.

I used to clean my barrels every time I shot, every time, no matter what. Then I started reading about it and am now convinced that cleaning the bore constantly does (or can do) more harm than good. Modern powder and primers are not corrosive and do not attract water. It hurts nothing, NOTHING, to leave the stuff in the bore. Eventually, accuracy may begin to degrade. That's when the bore gets cleaned. I've put over 100 rounds through my Ruger M77 MkII in 204 without cleaning the bore and the last time I shot it I got a .35 inch group at 100 yards.

"Gun" cleaning, as in the rest of the gun that's not inside the barrel, I still do regularly and religiously. I can't imagine being OK with sand in the action and grit everywhere. I use Eezox, clean off the crud, leave a light layer for corrosion protection and call it good.
 
I'm also one of those guys that has to clean my guns after every outing of shooting. Call me crazy, but it absolutely drives me nuts to let them sit even over night without a good cleaning. The way I see it, if your gonna make an investment in a firearm, why not take care of it. Jmo though
 
Nah. My LGS loves when I come in to trade. Told me last time that he never has to do anything with my trade-ins except put 'em in the display case.:D
 
When I met my wife years ago she had (still has actually) a Sig P225, sweet gun, we went to the range and it malfunctioned a good bit. I asked her when was the last time it was cleaned and she gave me that blank stare, kinda like when I ask her about cleaning the kitchin! :D

Anywho, I gave it a good cleaning and it has run like a champ ever since. I clean all my guns after a range trip and if something has been sitting for a while I'll clean/lube it again. It seems like CLP dries up after a while, or the lube is going away somehow, weird.
 
The first time I saw this chat, my thought was that I clean all my rifles and pistols pretty well. During the deer season however there'll be one or two that I leave lightly fouled after they are sighted in. Well, based on new info I have, thanks to this forum, I found that my rifles are not anywhere near as clean as I had thought. My bores, to my mind, were shiny and clean, but when I used some of that new water based copper cleaner (thanks to info from Unclenick), I found that I had plenty of copper still in the barrel. I really was shocked. After cleaning my Ruger Hawkeye 223, which is a good shooter, I went to my range and put 7 out of 8 into the same ragged and enlarged hole (about 1/2 inch center to center, counting the one flyer in the measurement). It wasn't shooting that good prior to cleaning, but maybe I'm shooting better than I was a few days ago. I can't say that taking the copper out really made it shoot better. All I can really say is that there was still plenty of copper in what I thought was a clean barrel.
 
My carry Glock gets detail stripped and cleaned about once a year. During the year it may be fired 100 rounds or several thousand.

I learned a long time ago it does not need constant cleaning to keep it reliable. It has never had a malfunction of any kind even with Wolf ammo since I took it out of the box in 1998.

Also I have to laugh when I hear all the BS that an AR needs constant cleaning before it is reliable.

All they need is a good lube and the best lube you can put on an AR to keep them going for the long haul is synthetic motor oil.

My Garand gets taken out of the stock once a year after the match season and cleaned.

My NM AR gets a total cleaning once a year after the season. The AR I use for self defence and general shooting gets cleaned about every six months.

Personally I will never again own any weapon they requires constant attention to make it reliable.
 
I recently bought a used DW PM7 that ran great... dirty. I mean really dirty. I think the most cleaning this thing had seen was a bore snake...maybe. I took it home, detail stripped it and ran it through the ultrasonic cleaner. Everything was pretty when it went back together. Now it's giving me hell with hammer following and the odd double fire. Maybe I should have left it dirty.

As a rule, I will err on the side of clean over dirty every time.
 
I generally only clean them if there is a reason to. One range trip is not really a reason in my book.

Unless I am shooting corrosive ammo, of course, but even then I don't do a full cleaning every time, just a quick clean-up to neutralize the corrosive salts.
 
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