Quote:
Originally Posted by awdlaserbeam
One of the first questions beginners usually ask is, "How often should i clean my gun? Do i need to clean it after every time i shoot it?" The answer to that question is, "it depends."
If you are cleaning a range toy rather than a defensive gun, you can probably allow the crud to build up a little bit before cleaning it, even though it is usually somewhat easier to remove the crud when the cleaning is done immediately. Years ago, back when buffalo roamed the plains, everyone shot black-powder rifles which absolutely positively had to be cleaned immediately after shooting, because black power was (and is) such a corrosive substance that it would ruin the gun if the fouling were left in the barrel. Modern powder is not corrosive, and so it won't eat its way through the metal of your barrel if it gets in there for awhile.
The fouling can and often does affect reliability, however. Uncleaned guns are more apt to jam when you most need them. Because the crud can slow down the slide, dirty semi-automatic firearms are prone to failures to feed or failures to completely eject the spent cases. Uncleaned revolvers are prone to binding up, and the double-action trigger can become difficult or impossiible to pull if the cylinder isn't turning easily. Poorly-cleaned or uncleaned firearms are thus far less reliable than their well-cleaned and properly lubricated counterparts.
For this reason, i highly recommend that you clean your defensive handgun immediatley after every trip to the range, no matter how many or how few shots you fire. Since you will be betting your life on the function of your gun, it's a good idea to keep it as clean as you can, in order to avoid fouling-related problems.
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Overall I agree, but a decent self defense gun will not become dirty enough to affect reliability after shooting only a couple of rounds! I would NEVER own a self defense gun that I have to worry about not being reliable while having some dirt in it! Another "theory" that a lot of people have is that after they take their self defense gun to fire a few rounds, they do NOT want to strip the gun down! If they know that the gun works perfect at the range, there is no need to strip the gun and have the stars not align properly (speaking of paranoid). On the flip side, I know that a lot of LEO's have to clean their guns religiously simply because if something does happen such as an AD (which is extremely rare, as it's 99% of the time ND), and the gun is dirty, they will be responsible.