So new to shotguns that I have to ask..

Bentonville

New member
Is it necessary to take off the barrel, magazine tube, slide, carrier, etc..to just minimally strip the gun for cleaning purposes? Does the forend have to come off as well?
 
It depends on how thorough a job you want to do; for a "quick" clean, all you really need to do is pull a boresnake through the barrel, but if you want to make sure there's no crud in the locking recesses, on the bolt, etc., you should just pull the barrel and forearm off (which removes the bolt as well). It's a quick process, and nowhere near the PITA you make it sound like.
 
I did a full strip down on my Mossberg 500 and cleaned the whole thing and to be honest there wasnt much in there that needed cleaned maybe after a few hundred rounds instead of 150 or so.

For a quick clean just clean the bore and go on shooting. Maybe more complicated with a semi but I'm not sure.
 
I'd say strip it once a year, not because it will be dirty but so you'll remeber how to. I just run a rag down the barrel, wipe off the bolt face and what I can reach in the reciever. Dont oil the internals execpt once a year, you can oil the externals all you want. Good luck
 
Just pull the barrel so you can clean the bore and chamber with a rod from the breech end. That keeps you from depositing a bunch of crud into the internals of the reciever. On gas operated autoloaders you will also have to clean the gas ports.

Unless your shooting in a dusty dirty environment it is likely that the reciever will not need annual cleaning. I've torn down heavily used A5's that had gone 40 years or more with no dissasembly and they look like crap inside but they continue to cycle just fine.

Jeff
 
My experience mirrors Jseime's... internally, the gun stays clean even after an extended shooting session. You should still field strip it when you clean though... just a good habit. Never know when you might need to service the gun yourself (ie. if a cartridge stop bends or an action bar breaks).
 
I run a brush through the barrel every other time I use it or every 200 round (whichever comes first)

I take it apart to clean every 500 rounds or if its getting put away longer than a month. And I only take it down enough to get to the rails that the bolt rides in and remove the barrel.

Shotguns are very forgiving, and most will work fine a bit dirty.
 
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