Do you clean your carry gun or do you not bother?

Do you clean your carry gun? If so, how often?

  • No.

    Votes: 7 2.4%

  • Only if I've shot it.

    Votes: 81 27.9%

  • Every now and then.

    Votes: 192 66.2%

  • Daily.

    Votes: 10 3.4%
  • Total voters
    290
  • Poll closed .
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OP

Either/or/both, especially if the lint has an electric build up in the holster.
It's a revolver (most of the time). What's to clean ? Dirty revolvers are fantastic !:D
 
5. Release the trigger. If it resets, your pistol functions.
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If the firing pin block isn't being disengaged due to damage or being assembled incorrectly it'll go click just fine but it wont go bang
 
mavracer said:
If the firing pin block isn't being disengaged due to damage or being assembled incorrectly it'll go click just fine but it wont go bang ��
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This is why guns like Glocks are so awesome. Nobody cleans a Glock after a range trip and then has to worry about whether or not they correctly assembled the firing pin block.
 
I clean my carry gun after it's been fired, every range trip. Every Friday evening I field strip it and blow it out with compressed air. I also empty the mags, take them apart, and wipe them and every round down with a dry cloth to remove lint. It's amazing to me how much crap ends up inside the magazine that's in the pistol when carrying IWB. I could probably carry my XD for six months without blowing the dust bunnies out and it'd work fine... but the mags would jam with a month's worth of accumulated crap.
 
Man.

I've gone through stages of being really busy or just haing a waning interest in actively shooting in the past, and carried my EDC IWB concealed pistol for months and months on end without probably even taking it out of the holster with no ill effects whatsoever.
 
I voted 'Every now and then', but you really could use a category for 'Almost never' as that is closer to the truth.

I carry a little snub .38 Special about 95% of the time, and those guns see ball ammo about 95% of the time. Not a lot of rounds through them, maybe 100 per year.

I honestly can't remember the last time I saw some soft lead round nose .38 Special ammo, although I am sure it is around. I ran into it a lot more 20 years ago. Everything I buy for non-serious use nowadays is FMJ and I don't reload.



I love that I can leave the gun loaded and it is ready to go at anytime. I used to shoot up my carry ammo every year or so but the last few years I have not even bothered to do that. I have had zero problems of any kind with my carry guns as far as function (so far).
 
I typically carry revolvers. Two of them both blued. One in a shoulder holster and the other in the pocket, they both get wiped down but the pocket one will get a dust and lint cleanse. I clean mine after every shoot but not a whole strip down just the essentials.
 
I wipe it down every couple of days of carrying and clean it every other week or so if I've been carrying.

If I shoot it, it gets cleaned and the cycle starts over.
 
I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that someone felt compelled to ask the question.

Why would one not clean his (or her) carry gun? Do some of you not even look at your handguns after you've been carrying them for more than a few days? (Or is that that many simply don't carry much at all?)

As for the folks who've indicated they don't much, or at all, even shoot their carry guns, well ... words fail me.
 
I voted every now and then. Sometimes I get quite enthusiastic about checking and cleaning all my guns, not just the 2 or 3 that I rotate carrying.

Other times I get a bit lethargic and slack off. A reminder to clean my Glock 36 tomorrow.
 
Old Dog said:
I still can't wrap my brain around the fact that someone felt compelled to ask the question.

Why would one not clean his (or her) carry gun? Do some of you not even look at your handguns after you've been carrying them for more than a few days? (Or is that that many simply don't carry much at all?)

As for the folks who've indicated they don't much, or at all, even shoot their carry guns, well ... words fail me.
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One may not clean their carry gun because it isn't necessary. I think something not being necessary is reason enough not to do it.

Why does a person have to shoot their carry gun very often? I have two Glock 26's. If I shoot one and carry the other, why would I have to shoot the other much?



(again, these days I generally field strip and quick clean my carry gun after shooting it, often as soon as I get home, but I didn't used to, don't notice a difference, and can absolutely understand why people don't clean theirs as often)
 
Your carry weapon could be a life saver....yours and you don`t care about it`s condition.......... I can`t tell if folks are lazy or what. J s/n.
 
One may not clean their carry gun because it isn't necessary.
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You guys must have some cushy indoor jobs in climate controlled spaces, not have to move around much or perhaps don't keep the handgun on you all day long ... Or maybe your carry piece is wrapped in Saran Wrap? After a few days, I have to at least clean off the dust, dirt, lint, sometimes body oils or sweat that gets in the cracks, crevices and under the hammer ... And that's even during good weeks. 'Course, I'm outdoors mostly, and live in a somewhat wet environment, complete with the attendant mud, dirt, wet leaves and pine needles ...
If I shoot one and carry the other, why would I have to shoot the other much?
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You don't have to ... But some of us like to get in touch with the varying triggers and accuracy from pistol to pistol, even those exact same models. And every now and then, you notice little things that might need tweaking or replacing (springs come to mind) that just could lead to an ill-timed malfunction; once when I was issued the Beretta, I carried it for a month after a post-range cleaning, then when I went to shoot it again (at the range), found it wouldn't fire due to a broken part ... Just piece of mind, maybe, for some of us.
 
Old Dog said:
You guys must have some cushy indoor jobs in climate controlled spaces, not have to move around much or perhaps don't keep the handgun on you all day long ... Or maybe your carry piece is wrapped in Saran Wrap? After a few days, I have to at least clean off the dust, dirt, lint, sometimes body oils or sweat that gets in the cracks, crevices and under the hammer ... And that's even during good weeks. 'Course, I'm outdoors mostly, and live in a somewhat wet environment, complete with the attendant mud, dirt, wet leaves and pine needles ...
You don't have to ... But some of us like to get in touch with the varying triggers and accuracy from pistol to pistol, even those exact same models. And every now and then, you notice little things that might need tweaking or replacing (springs come to mind) that just could lead to an ill-timed malfunction; once when I was issued the Beretta, I carried it for a month after a post-range cleaning, then when I went to shoot it again (at the range), found it wouldn't fire due to a broken part ... Just piece of mind, maybe, for some of us.
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It's winter. I don't sweat much. And I don't expose my IWB concealed carry pistol to mud on a regular basis. You may revoke my man card if you like.

Or maybe my choice in carry gun is just that much more reliable, that I don't need to constantly inspect it to make sure the springs didn't go bad sitting idle in the last month.

Also...did you just say that you cleaned and inspected your gun after a range trip and didn't know there was a broken part that prevented the gun from functioning until you went to the range again? How does that support this "must regularly clean and inspect" thing? :confused:
 
At regular intervals since shooting a few bullseyes with it at the range doesn't always warrant a cleaning afterward.
 
Gosh, Warp, wasn't questioning your manliness. Just answering the OP's question -- my experience is that my carry handguns need some degree of regular cleaning, whether or not they've been fired much. And no, the springs on my handguns don't go bad while sitting idle; I simply like to keep up on the maintenance and check in periodically to see how my guns actually shoot. And yes, on some modern semi-auto pistols, they will pass a post-cleaning function check (sans firing live ammo) yet for one reason or another, not reliably ignite a primer. Small things break, alas, fortunately not frequently.
 
I have an evening teleconf every Wed night. I use that time to clean my carry and listen to the meeting. Just wipe out the lint and apply fresh oil.
 
I mean that springs weaken under loa d over time--or so I have heard so changing to different magazines loaded with JHP ammo seems to make sense to me. I change magazines every 4-6 months JMHO
 
boatdoc173 said:
I mean that springs weaken under loa d over time--or so I have heard so changing to different magazines loaded with JHP ammo seems to make sense to me. I change magazines every 4-6 months JMHO
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Really, what weakens magazine springs is cycling. Loading and unloading. For most people, this means using them.

What do you do every 4-6 months, exactly? Buy new magazines and not carry with any that have been loaded for 4-6 months in the past?
 
I don't break my cz-82 all the way down to clean very often. I only do that when I accidentally go swimming while fishing. That has happened often enough that it stays relatively clean. I occasionally remove the slide and grips to de-lint the thing.

Matt
 
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