Cleaning after shooting or do it only Once or twice a year?

[Excaliber]

It may take a day or two but I generally try to clean my guns after every use.

This.

Same here.

[ELB]

I usually clean after every shooting session, but there are exceptions. If I am shooting daily, I might put it off for awhile except for my carry gun.

I once ran about 800 or so rounds through my carry gun (FN Hi Power 9mm) w/o cleaning to see what would happen. After 500 or so, occasionally the slide would stop short of full battery. I was shooting Blazer 9mm, the aluminum case stuff, which is not very powerful (compared to premium self defense ammo) and it does not cycle the slide as forcefully. I think with regular octane ammo, it would have kept on marching.

Back when the Glocks were still relatively new, one of the gun 'zine writers, Chuck Taylor I think, decided to see how long his Glock would go before jamming up. Last I remember reading (and this was probably 15 years ago or more) he was approaching 100K rounds. He had replaced some magazines for weak springs, and worn the original plastic sights off the gun, but as long has it had good mags, it kept shooting.

[bnc]

I usually clean after each range session if I don't plan to shoot again for a few days, but it is usually just a wipe down and lube. The Hoppes/CLP get used every few cleanings.

[5thGenTexan]

Normally after each shooting, got a junk JA380 that gets cleaned when I feel like it. Wife bought it at the gunshow one day when I wasn't looking. I hate it when she wanders off with a credit card. Surprisingly it has no rust my PT140 on the other hand began to rust on the mag release button after 1 summer of IWB carry even wiping it down and oiling nitely

That's got me to thinking about going all stainless for my carry guns.

[sugar land dave]

Something as important and potentially deadly as a firearm SHOULD be cleaned after each use.

[TxKimberMan]

1) After each shooting.

[speedsix]

...given only one option...I voted after each shooting... but I routinely check my guns every week or two...carrying under a shirt builds up lint in the area of hammer and trigger...that needs cleaning out so it doesn't form a wad and bind the action...like a pocketknife that gets so full of lint it won't lock open...a blowing out usually does the trick...

[USA1]

After every bullet fired.

[speedsix]

After every bullet fired.

...as you change the barrel and firing pin??? Just told your age, din'tcha!!!

[USA1]

After every bullet fired.

...as you change the barrel and firing pin??? Just told your age, din'tcha!!!

I'm just obsessively compulsive.

[speedsix]

...I was referring to Mike Hammer...the books...I'd give for a full set of them...he was the inspiration for Timex...

[rbrecount]

The next day after shooting.

[beardking]

I typically will clean mine after I get back from the range, maybe the next day. If it has been a while since I've been to the range, I'll clean them before I go to the range, just to make sure I didn't forget the last time I went. My daily carry is in that same schedule, but the more I think about it, the more I think I need to start cleaning it more often.

[gringop]

As with everything else, it depends.

My Glocks get shot once or twice a week at practice and matches. There's no way that I would clean them after every use and I know from experience that they don't need it to function reliably. I shoot FMJ through them so they don't get very gunked up. They get lubed once a month and may get a detailed cleaning every 6 months.

If I shoot my 1911s with lead reloads, I know that I can get around 200 rounds through them before they get too dirty to be reliable. I've done some training classes with 500 rounds of FMJ per day with no problems. But due to the design and how dirty they get, I don't want to let them sit dirty, let the lube turn into sludge, then rely on the gun to function perfectly as my carry gun. So I'll clean them after 200 rounds or each match or practice.

Also, anything besides Glock Tenifer rusts pretty fast from my sweat. So the non-Glocks get wiped down pretty often.

Everything gets a boresnake run through it while its still hot after practice. I'm not sure I know where my pistol rod is anymore.

Gringop

[bigred90gt]

When I bought my XD, I think I had owned it for 2 or 3 years before I ever cleaned it. That included many trips to the range.

Now that I have gotten more into firearms as a hobby, I try to clean them after each range session, but sometimes I just dont get around to it. If I dont get a chance to clean them after each session, I will do it after the 2nd for sure. I havent been to the range in a couple of months, so I havent cleaned them in that same amount of time. I do occasionally take the barrel out of my PF9 and blow the lint out of it.