Handgun Cleaning: The Absolute Minimum?

[Skorzeny]

What is the absolute minimum that one ought to do after each shooting session to keep a handgun in a usable and serviceable condition (defined by complete reliability, meaning, equal reliability to a completely clean and lubricated gun as well as reasonable "combat" accuracy)?

And how long should such a cleaning job take (per gun, obviously)? 10 minutes? Half an hour? An hour?

Skorzeny

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For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the supreme excellence. Sun Tzu

 

[James K]

Lots of variables.

If corrosive ammunition, field strip gun, clean with a good solvent, clean barrel with hot water, using a bronze brush. Then use bore cleaner. Repeat for 3 days. Clean all revolver chambers same way. Apply coat of good oil.

If non-corrosive, clean barrel with patches, brush and bore cleaner until patches come out clean. Clean revolver chambers same way. Wipe black off slide and frame. Oil with good oil. Field strip every two or three shooting sessions and clean more thoroughly.

If shooting lead bullets in revolver, clean inside of top strap, and gas shield at front of cylinder. Clean lead out of barrel with Lewis Lead Remover or similar cleaner. Clean front of cylinder and rear of barrel.

Hope this helps.

Jim

 

[DWM]

I'm probably more uptight about cleaning my guns than most. I typically shoot 100 rounds every time I go to the range, usually once a month. After every trip, I field strip the gun as detailed in the handgun's manual and do a VERY thorough cleaning.

I clean the barrel with BreakFree Bore Cleaner, remove ALL visible powder residue from the slide/frame with BreakFree CLP and lubricate with gun grease. I am a perfectionist and want my guns in showroom condition at all times, so detailed cleaning usually takes me 3-4 hours. I'm sure I am much more retentive than most and will probably be dead by the age of 35 from excessive exposure to cleaning chemicals.

DWM

 

[Jim V]

Light session at the range, 100 rounds or so fired? With 1911, magazine out of pistol, lock slide back, then use a good bore brush and solvent to swab out the barrel, a few patches on a jag and that is done, next using an old cut down tooth brush I scrub the breech face of the slide. Spray everything with SunScrubber (tm) or the like, a fewdrops of oild along the rails and down the sides of the hammer, I'm done. 15 minutes tops.

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
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