Your Gun Cleaning Schedule: How Often?

Every time I shoot them. It's how I was raised.

The overwhelming majority of "defects" I see with guns are due to a lack of even basic maintenance.
 
I clean all handguns and shotguns after each use.

For rifles:

For rimfires:
Except for the original new barrel cleaning - I don't ever clean a rimfire barrel until accuracy drops. But will clean rest of rifle after each use.

For CR rifles:
I clean any shot with corosive ammo immediately at the range.
I clean all iron sight rifles after each use.
I clean all scoped rifles after each range session except when sighting-in for a hunting trip.
For hunting, I will clean the gun but leave barrel dirty and clean it only after the season ends unless something in accuracy tells me different.
 
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If my guns are fired, I clean them. It is as simple as that and I don't believe that cleaning a gun is more harmful than leaving one dirty.
 
The 10/22 hasn't ever been cleaned, or the Mossberg L. The Wingmaster gets oiled quite a bit because of water from Pheasant, rabbit, goose hunting etc. But the bore once a year, the slug barrel never. The 1891 gets the bore oiled every time I shoot it, which is rare. The HK93 gets taken down and fully cleaned every time I get back from the range. The 1911 .45 is the same way, everytime I shoot it I swab the barrel.
 
Reading this thread got me thinking...

None of my 10/22s have ever been cleaned aside from the initial clean and lube after being purchased.

I have an AR that's had tens of thousands of rounds through it without an actual cleaning - just CPL squirted into the bolt and bolt face before every range trip. Still functioning.

I have a couple of 1911 pistols that haven't seen a cleaning in thousands of rounds... my EDC 1911 hasn't seen any cleaning in almost 1500. Just fired them this afternoon and they function flawlessly.

I have a Mossberg 500 that was cleaned and lubed when it came home from the LGS but hasn't seen any cleaning since aside from a few drops of oil in the action every other trip to the range. I use that gun every year for everything from rabbit to squirrel to ducks to pheasant.

I also have a Ruger Single Six .22lr revolver that has killed more game (squirrels and rabbits primarily along), varmints and feral critters as well as targets than any gun I own and it hasn't seen a cleaning ever since I brought it home used and cleaned/lubed it about 20 years ago... :eek:

Not saying that guns don't need to be cleaned... just that I forgot about mine. ;)

I just remembered - my father had a Mossberg 500 20ga. knockoff by another company that he purchased used back in the 80's. He never cleaned or lubed it... and it finally shot its last shot just last year after constant use as a hunting and trap shooting rifle since he bought it. I couldn't even fathom how many tens of thousands of rounds I put through that gun as a kid and teenager... and add that to my dad's use too.
 
I'm a creature of habit. My dad always insisted in having me clean my guns anytime they were fired. I've always followed the same practice and clean 'em avery time I use them. May not be necessary, but it's ingrained in me to do it that way.
 
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