Competitive Gun Cleaning...

[Cjblackmon]

I was at an IPSC Match last night and I stumbled onto a conversation about gun cleaning. One guy had mentioned that he cleaned his weapon every 1000 to maybe 2000 rounds at a time. I'm talking about not doing anything, not even a boresnake!

After hearing this I asked a few other people about it and they pretty much all said the same thing, "as much as I shoot, I can't keep up with cleaning the gun after every match and the 1911 can go without cleaning for a 1000 to 2000 rounds". A few guys I spoke with said they wouldn't even clean their guns before a match if they were around 500 rounds into the last cleaning.

I've been shooting competitively for about six months now, I find this odd. I'm asking this question at the expense of my sounding ignorant either way, but I want to know if any other competitors practice the same thing.

[Sixgun]

I'll do a full, take the gun totally apart and clean everything, one match before going "on the road". That way I'll have about 200 rounds downrange before leaving, thus proving that everything is in working order. It also allows me some lead time if I find a problem with a part.

Other than that, I follow Will Schuemanns advice about not cleaning your barrel. Then, basically, I just do a quick field strip and wipe off the rails and relube before each match.

That's my cleaning plan. YMMV.

Ray

[MikeFoley]

Every 1000-1500 rounds, but I often spot clean or add oil to the slide. I like to clean the gun then shoot 50-100 rounds before a major. There is no reason or ritual, just what makes me feel comfortable.

[Carl Provan]

I clean my 2011 at about 500 rounds. My pistol has rails from Acc-u-rail. This make the slide to frame fit very tight. The barrel lockup is also tight. I can feel the slide slow down after about 500 rounds.

I have a 1911 in 45 that might get cleaned after about 1000 rounds. My carry guns are usually spotless.

[awleland]

I'll do a full, take the gun totally apart and clean everything, one match before going "on the road". That way I'll have about 200 rounds downrange before leaving, thus proving that everything is in working order. It also allows me some lead time if I find a problem with a part.

Other than that, I follow Will Schuemanns advice about not cleaning your barrel. Then, basically, I just do a quick field strip and wipe off the rails and relube before each match.

That's my cleaning plan. YMMV.

Ray

What is Schuemanns advice about not cleaning your barrel? Just curious. I clean mine after every match I shoot. I figure a clean gun is always better than a dirty gun when it comes to the pistol running as good as it possibly can.

[uscbigdawg]

I clean my Viper after about 2-3k rounds. And it'll shoot about a .5" at 50 yards all day. If the gun runs, don't change a thing. The night before a major and the nights in between, I completely clean the upper and wipe down the lower.

As for the innerds, I send the pistol back to Rusty 1-2 times per year to take the gun completely apart, check dimensions, fit, angles, etc. on the pistol to keep it running at its best. While it's away, I replace all the springs in the mags (this gets done 2-4 times per year), tear down the RL1050, clean & lube it and just get everything right (and switch to Limited ).

As for a general rule, go with what works. Most guns run better with a little gunk on it like Sixgun said. I just like to clean it before and each night during majors, as part of my mental prep. Let's me know the gun is right, ammo's right, gear is right and so it's all on me.

SPC Richard A. White, Senior Medic

249th MP Detachment (EACF)

Camp Humphreys, ROK

[Sixgun]

awleland,

Check here schuemann look to the left side of the page under "Information" then "Barrel Cleaning". Very informative and it saves me time cleaning the bore of my barrel!

Ray

[Matt Cheely]

I clean my open STI before every match, and usually around 1000 rounds.

However, my Glock 34 was only cleaned before major matches.

[Cjblackmon]

awleland,

Check here schuemann look to the left side of the page under "Information" then "Barrel Cleaning". Very informative and it saves me time cleaning the bore of my barrel!

Ray

Wow! You scroll down to the bottom of that page and that guy doesn't even clean his barrel at all! I dunno if I can follow that. I'm not saying he's wrong, he did list some valid points, it's just that it goes against so many years of shooting and cleaning practices. That just seems weird to never clean your barrel.

They say when something new comes along it's Strongly Ridiculed, then Violently Opposed, then accepted as always being true. Maybe he's on to something...

I'd like to see what Brian Enos and Matt Burkett think and practice about their cleaning rituals. If they see this thread, either that or I'll call them on Monday.

[Middle Man]

About halfway through 2005 I began to run a lighter recoil spring (15#) with the factory loads I shoot. I saw improvement in my shooting (less muzzle flip), however I now must ensure that there is not too great of a buildup of carbon residue on the bearing and locking surfaces of my 1911. I discovered during a match (of course) that the lighter recoil spring would not lock the slide closed with too much gunk in the works. This had not been a problem with a standard 18.5# recoil spring and I basically stripped and cleaned whenever I felt like it and never paid attention to the number of rounds. Now I need to be a bit more diligent.

On a side note, I have observed that my 1911 officers model is much less tolerant of being dirty and if I shoot a hundred rounds (give or take) it needs to be cleaned up to continue to run 100%. While various polymer DA autos I've had don't seem to care if they've ever been cleaned or not.

[Loves2Shoot]

Do a search and BE has posted it before. Off the top of my head I think BE's ritual is like my cleaning ritual. Just add lube when the slide slows down and break it down a couple of times a year. There really is no need to clean the bore.

[TriggerT]

I do a full, down to the springs cleaning every 5000 rounds. I wipe the gun down, add lube, and check things over before every match. Gotta love Slide Glide as long as it is warm enough.

[Paladin]

I would flush the barrel with a light lubricant to remove debris and run a bore snake twice through it..that's it

[Vlad]

I clean my gun before matches I care about, but it is less about cleaning it and more about inspecting it. But I can't get a good look at thing unless I clean it so there it goes. Otherwise I clean my gun when I cant stand the look of it anymore, which is about 1000 rounds. I take it down and wipe it down with a CLP mositened cloth and use a few Q-tips to get in some of the nooks where residue builds up. I run a bore snake once or twice throught the barrel but only if it looks like it needs it, mostly it doesnt. Lube (CLP or FP10 during winter, Slideglide and FP10 during summer) and reassemble and then forget about it again until my hands get dirty while firing it, about 1000 rounds later. I may apply some extra lube every now and then to the barrel hood or slide rails if it looks dry before a match, but I dont bother to even take the gun apart for that.

[Jim Norman]

I think a couple of bits of history may have colored our thinking about cleaning guns.

In the BEGINNING there was darkenss and Black Powder and it gummed up everything. Then we moved into early smokeless which wasn't as gummy, but the powders and primers were highly corrosive, shoot it, clean it or shoot it and watch your gun coorode.

Now we have non-coorosive powders and primers, wipe it down, lube the moving parts and keep shooting.

One other item and this is second-hand info. In the service you clean all the time, why? You need 110% familiarity with every tiny little part of your weapon system so that you can clear it, clean it after swimming through a sewer and put it back together in the dark. How do you accomplish that? You take it apart and clean it everytine you use it.

Also remember, in training you get a weapon that is recycled through the training corp over and over so if you wear it out cleaning it, so what, it isn't a weapon you'll be carrying in the real world.

Or I could be full of it.

I do know that more guns have probably been ruined by bad cleaning than by any other reason (at least since the advent of non-corrosive propellents)

Jim Norman

Edited January 7, 2006 by Jim Norman

[n2ipsc]

...I follow Will Schuemanns advice about not cleaning your barrel...

{snip}

Edited January 7, 2006 by n2ipsc

[Clyde]

After each match

[Jake Di Vita]

I clean the top end as necessary and before every major totally strip down the bottom and clean it good. Probably doesn't matter too much, but I like the feeling of the trigger and the action on a freshly cleaned gun.

[bufit323]

I clean the top end as necessary and before every major totally strip down the bottom and clean it good. Probably doesn't matter too much, but I like the feeling of the trigger and the action on a freshly cleaned gun.

I agree, I like the feeling of a nice clean action. That being said, the question of not cleaning the bore interests me. I shoot a 9mm 147 LRN over N320, this is a pretty quick burn and causes some leading. I check the bore after a match or a practice session and I see a bunch of build up. I generally feel it necessary to get all of that leading OUT, are there those that say this is not a good practice?

[Chills1994]

The next time I clean my gun(s), I think I'm just gonna take the grips off and the fiber optic front sight off and hang all the major pieces from a shelving rack out in the garage.

Them I'm gonna spray 'em with some automotive brake cleaner, and let 'em drip dry with some pan underneath to catch all the liquid.

One time I field stripped my 1911 and let it set in a pan of gasoline for a few days. Several times a day I'd go slosh the pan around. Worked real good for the innards I didn't want to take apart. Lots of gritty sooty stuff left in the gas.

And ya know, the gunk never did hurt the mower when I put the gas back.

Just joking.

I've used carb cleaner too...Both pistolas are all metal, SS frame and slide on the 1911 and SS slide with AL frame on the M9 clone.

Don't know if it'd be alright to hose down a plastic gun with all that stuff.

Oh yeah, being in the military and having lots of veterans in the shooting sports I think there is a tendency to overclean (read wear out) guns. It's just what the range instructors told us to do....and that carried over to civilian life.

Chills

[shred]

Lazy shooter cleaning tip- Chopsticks.

Go to a decent Chinese restaurant that has chopsticks made of bamboo instead of leftover 2x4's. Eat the food (optional), save the chopsticks (not optional)

[Ron Popeil mode]

It slices, it dices, it's a cleaning rod, it's a disassembly tool, it's a floor wax, it's a dessert topping..

Pop out the slide stop with the small end. Wrap a patch around the big end and swab out the chamber. Push that patch down the bore if it makes you feel better.

Take another patch on the small end and swab out the locking lugs in the slide and the frame and slide rails. Wipe down everything else, oil, slide-glide and reassemble.

Now how much would you pay?

[/Ron Popeil mode]

I do this every 500-1K rounds and my main Open gun has 70K rounds on it and still works perfectly-- as the day it was made.

A week or so before a big match I'll detail-strip it and make sure everything still looks good, but that's about it.

[awleland]

I read the info on Schuemann's site and it was pretty informative. I think I will chuck my brass cleaning brushes and just use a light lubricant with a bore snake. I can't come to grips with never cleaning the bore. That amount of change I can't handle all at once. It goes against things that were taught to me by shooters that have since gone to a better place. Interesting nonetheless and something to think about.

[sandankenpo]

I felt the same way about cleaning the barrel, but I have since quit cleaning the barrel and I will check it out every now and then and it seems to be cleaner every time I check

[JFD]

I clean my wife's L-10 Kimber every 500 rounds or so (800 rounds max). The cast bullets leave it too dirty for me to ignore. My Limited Para (shooting jacketed bullets) can go a heck of a lot longer, but I tend to clean it when I take care of the Kimber.

I detail clean the frames only about once a year, but if I break them down to replace a part, I go ahead and detail clean them then too.

At every cleaning the slides get detailed and "re-glided".

[XRe]

I think I will chuck my brass cleaning brushes and just use a light lubricant with a bore snake.

Ummm... don't bore snakes have brushes built in??

I knew a shooter who only cleaned his Schuemann barrel with a bore snake in this fashion. He wore the barrel out in something like 25K rounds - ie, no rifling in the first inch and a half or so of the barrel. He also tended to shoot lots of ammo in short sessions in a hot climate, leading to prolonged heating of the barrel.

On the flip side, with the exact same starting setup, I put over 35K through a barrel, cleaning it w/ a bronze brush and Hoppes Benchrest copper solvent every 500-1000 rounds. When I sold the pistol, the bore looked pristine to the naked eye, and still drove tacks. I tend to shoot fewer rounds in the same length session as the above shooter, and was in a cooler climate. We were shooting basically the same load....

Take that for what it's worth - there are no absolutes....