It won't hurt it.

Stop cleaning it, and certainly don't detail strip it.

Then shoot it.

When it fails in a manor you didn't induce, note how many rounds.

Should you keep your carry piece mint? Surely. But do your own test of what reliability is. The results will surprise you.

Having spent time running a rental range, I can tell you you can run all kinds of guns WAAAAAAY harder than you think.

Let's take a step back, and admit that cleaning guns is fetishised. Do you enjoy it? We all do. Is it really necessary? No, and that's a good thing.

Agreed, Arc.

When threads pop up about gun cleaning, you always have a few dudes that when asked "how often do you clean your guns" they reply, "Only when I want them to work". Over several really high round count guns, my primary shooters in particular, they get cleaned, when they get cleaned. I am far more worried about the gun being properly lubed than I am clean. I used to be the guy that obsessed about keeping a clean, lubed gun with a minty clean bore. My carry guns these days get bore snaked every so often, and get the bore punched with a brush after I start noticing a drop in accuracy.

What you describe is spot on with what I think. The modern service type pistol just doesn't care.

You're not supposed to agree with me yet, dammit.

This was going to be all controversial, and you've ruined it. I hope you're happy.

I can't remember the last time I cleaned my duty gun or carry guns.

How about, “I wash my bath towels only when I can’t bend them any more”?

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:


I can't remember the last time I cleaned my duty gun or carry guns.

Ooohh you're in trou-BBlle.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
How about, “I wash my bath towels only when I can’t bend them any more”?

A floormate in college set the benchmark at sentience.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
This was going to be all controversial, and you've ruined it. I hope you're happy.

I'm actually not very happy. My mom married this doctor recently, and we moved into his house with his son. All was going ok, until I touched the son's drum set. And he freaked out. He said he would STAB ME IN THE NECK WITH A KNIFE. We fought, and I thought he was going to rape me. And then they took the TV away during shark week. Planet Bullshit.

I'm never going to call him dad, even if there's a fire.

Twice a year when we do quals, I’m the guy that inspects duty guns at the range. If they are dirty, they don’t get so much as a second look beyond a function check. If they are not properly lubed (as in at all) I might make a comment.

Sage advice.

Then one day your gun will stop ejecting because of that gunk under extractor, making you to zero a stage and costing you a placement in a match for which you took a couple days off and traveled several hundred miles. But since nobody has died, it is all good.

I'm guilty of not being a clean freak. I do make sure my guns are lubed well, but some are allowed to get a bit rough. I tend to buy quality arms that are known for running well dirty and aren't too finicky with muck or ammo, so that partially explains why I never have many problems. If I were a professional gunfighter I might change my habits. I guess the older I get the more "practical" I get, about a lot of things.

Is knowing how much gunk it takes to stop the extractor from working a useful piece of information? You'll never know, until you know.

I haven't worn any guns out by cleaning them yet so I'll stick to my cleaning schedule.

I do usually go for a thousand rounds or so with every new gun before cleaning, just to see if they can do it. No SIG has ever failed the test.

Some guns, like Glocks, come lubed with an abrasive, and should not be cleaned NIB.

By all means, clean your guns. You're cleaning too much, and that's OK.

Agreed, though I like cleaning..messing with them.

The one thing I can say with absolute certainty is I am not cleaning them too much.

My SR22 usually does just fine without cleaning for about 4,000 rounds, then it starts having extraction problems.

G19 gets cleaned 2-3 times a year, I imagine it could go 5-7k rounds if not more without any issues.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
It won't hurt it.

Stop cleaning it, and certainly don't detail strip it.

Then shoot it.

When it fails in a manor you didn't induce, note how many rounds.

Should you keep your carry piece mint? Surely. But do your own test of what reliability is. The results will surprise you.

Having spent time running a rental range, I can tell you you can run all kinds of guns WAAAAAAY harder than you think.

Let's take a step back, and admit that cleaning guns is fetishised. Do you enjoy it? We all do. Is it really necessary? No, and that's a good thing.

I outlined this a while back when i posted photos of my DW guardian 9mm, dw pm7, and HK USP 40 all shooting lead ammo. The guardian and pm7 all had over 1k through them, and the usp 40 also. Shooting nasty alox lead bullets. I did the test 10 years or so ago. 1000 plus rounds of reliability seemed sufficient for my needs. I shot the piss out of them mag after mag after mag, I shot them till they were hot, range session after range session. When i finally gave up funding the local reloader and had a failure in the pm7, i called the test. I am sure the USP and guardian could have gone longer.

I don’t like cleaning my guns. So I sold all my Sigs and bought Glocks

True, they may not actually need it as they will function pretty dirty. And that's why we buy / count on them because they do work under harsh conditions. But as I tell my young officers....No one has ever died because their gun was too clean.