Do You Like To Clean..........

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Airedale1

Airedale1

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.........or do you hate it?

Went to the range today and took my two Kimbers with me. I let off about 250 round total with them, another 60 with my buddie's SW45, 50 with his Sig226 and 6 with his S&W Model 66.

We had a great time. As, we were leaving my buddy was bemoaning the fact that he had to go home and clean them. I said, "I actually enjoy cleaning mine." He looked at me like I had two heads and thought I was kidding. I told him no, I really do enjoy it. I find it relaxing and reassuring that everything is clean, well lubed and in proper operating condition.

Last week after going to the range, I laid out the cleaning equipment on the coffee table, put the Western Channel on and watched two episodes of Gunsmoke while I cleaned the two 1911s. Life is good.:D
 
Guess I ''grew out of'' the pleasure aspect!!:rolleyes: It has become a chore ..... made worse by taking way too many guns to range at a time . and shooting most of them!!

I now adopt a ''minimalist'' approach .. I do what needs done .... if after corrosive ammo tho - then the whole 9 yards ... no half-measures there.

Other stuff? .. if limited ammo throughput then ... just the basics. Bores will not get scrubbed every time .. unless a lot of lead used .... and actions will not be torn down for considerable periods. I do tho when that stage comes ... do an assiduous clean and relube with minimal quantities and what I consider the ''right stuff'' ... feeling then happy that I can continue for a further fairly protracted period.

I am one of those who considers ''over cleaning'' is a distinct possibility.
 
Guess I ''grew out of'' the pleasure aspect!! It has become a chore ..... made worse by taking way too many guns to range at a time . and shooting most of them!!
Click to expand...

Been doing it for a tad over 40 years now, so "growing out of it" doesn't seem likely.

BTW If you noticed, I only took two to the range and shot five. So, I'll only have to clean two.;)
 
I don't mind cleaning but my tolerance is for 2 guns. Trouble is that some of my friends either don't know squat or pretend they don't and I wind up cleaning theirs too. Yep, I'm pretty stupid.:(
 
I also find it soothing. However, it depends on the guns. My CETME for example, is a PITA to clean. I always long for the lost time later.
 
It's not bad when you only have a small number to do and you can do them in a convenient place. A warm livingroom with a newspaper covered coffee table and a TV works for me. Unfortunately, the smells of the solvents & oils aren't always compatible with everyone in the house. :-(

Any more, I tend to wipe them down, put some patches through the bore, and sometimes oil up the rails.
 
Do I like it? Nope, not really. Don't care for shoveling snow or giving the dog a bath either. Some things just have to be done.
 
I hate cleaning my guns. Matter of fact I am so lax in doing it when I took my stainless 629 to the gunsmith to be drilled and tapped he noted the finish on it. He wrote DIRTY:uhoh: instead of stainless on my receipt:rolleyes:
 
I guess I fall into the "like to clean" category - though I do usually limit myself to two guns when I go to the range by myself. More when there's a "shoot" - and I find that can get tedious afterwards.

But usually I spread out in front of the TV, put a good movie on, and take my time. It's both relaxing and reassuring to me as I not only make sure everything's properly cleaned and lubed, but also refamiliarize myself with how everything comes apart, goes together, and works in general. It's a zen thing. To become one with each gun for a brief time.

Yeah - I know - I'm nuts. But at least I'm happy :D
 
I like disassembling my guns but cleaning is a pain. My Mosin gets sooo filthy that I spend like 30 minutes running patches through it.
 
I took four handguns and a shotgun to the range a week ago Friday and made them all filthy before leaving. After getting the kids to bed I tossed "Not Another Teen Movie" into the DVD player and had all five cleaned, lubed and ready to be locked up before the movie was over. I don't spend more than about 20 minutes cleaning a gun. It doesn't need to be sterile, just clean.
 
Yup, I like it. It's all part of shooting. I guess it's part of that pride of ownership thing.

Mark
 
Cleaning them after a shoot is like dessert to me. I like caring for the boys. I am not a sterile cleaner, but a cleaner nonetheless. It is all part of the bargain.

I used to shoot with a guy who never cleaned, and his gun safe reminded me of a bus station toilet :uhoh: . I felt unclean.

Unfortunately, the smells of the solvents & oils aren't always compatible with everyone in the house. :-(
Click to expand...

I think the smell of Hoppe's is like the smell of freedom. The lingering solvent and oil odors are an aphrodisiac for me......:D
 
Unfortunately, the smells of the solvents & oils aren't always compatible with everyone in the house. :-(
Click to expand...

I think the smell of Hoppe's is like the smell of freedom. The lingering solvent and oil odors are an aphrodisiac for me......
Click to expand...

Ditto that. I love the smell of Hoppes... in the morning or any other time. Don't know if I'd go so far as to call it an aphrodisiac... hey, I'm nuts but not weird :D ... but it does smell like freedom to me... part of the sensation of exercising a God given right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution... despite the best efforts of the sheeple and their a-hole politicians to take it away.

My wife, on the other hand, can't stand the smell. Don't know why... sometimes I suspect she must be a closet Communist... just kidding ;)... but she doesn't feel the same way about it as I do. To her it's just another odd smell in the house.

To me it brings back memories of the first time I cracked open a bottle to clean my first gun after my first trip to the range. That was a cool and exciting event in my life.
 
I used to always be afraid of cleaning a gun because I wan't ever sure how to take them down (when I only had my shotgun).

After I got my pistols, I've started to actually enjoy cleaning them. I enjoy cleaning my Browning more than my FEG, due to the smooth interior machining, but I still enjoy it. I don't usually go too far with the FEG, but I find it relaxing to get the Browning as clean as I can -- within reason, of course.

So yes, I'm another one of those weird guys that likes to clean the guns.

Wes
 
Went to the range Sat (1-17) with 2 guns. Came home and cleaned 7. BUT, 1 of the guns I took to the range was not cleaned:confused:

I bought a boresnake on ebay but it has not arrived yet. How are these things ?

My wife loves the smell of Hoppes. She's a good ol gal, though.
 
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I been trying to teach my wife how to clean guns for twenty years now, but it ain't worked.
 
thats why

I dont have a 1911.
I have cleaned my friends 1911 kimber twice, and could NOT get it back together easily, Thats why I shoot Glocks or S & W revolvers.

If anyone knows of an "EASY" to reassemble 1911, please let me know.
 
The “Joy of Cleaning†has passed for me.
It happened sometime during my competitive career.
I am still a fanatic about my carry guns, but the other ones are cleaned only for function and preservation.
 
I truly enjoy cleaning my pistols and rifles,
I dont detail strip every time but probably every forth time
bright light, plenty of room, rags, Qtips, Bore snake,patches
the tools it is all very cathartic to me.
and I KNOW they are ready to rock when I need them.
 
cleaning is part of the hobby

I love cleaning. I hate the smell of some solvent, but I love cleaning.

I use Militec-1 and there is no smell.

I clean my guns even when I don't shoot them. Take my SKS for instance, I got it for 3 years now and have put at least 8 thousands through it. For a pretty long time, it was my only rifle and Wolf was so cheap back then. I still shoot it every weekend now and I clean it before and after the shoot. Since it is being used all the time, it has never seen the bore brush is is spoiled with Hoppe's aluminum rod taped with duct tape to avoid the bore scatches. I bought this giant size Hoppe #9 for 6 bucks. The label says 16 oz but I think it lies because I have been using it for 3 years and I still have half of it. I doubt that anyone can really finish using that bottle cleaning one gun in one life time since I can't finish it even though I have been cleaning other guns with it too and I am very generous with this stuffs to cut down on cleaning time. I just bought another bottle yesterday and the price is now 10 bucks. The 2 oz bottle is 7 bucks. I think Hoppe makes money from the small bottle. I wanted the copper solvent from Hoppe but they don't have this giant bottle, so I am not going to pay 7 bucks for 2 oz. No Sir, not when I can have a life time supply for 10 bucks.

I finally found a way to get rid of the Hoppe smell. Now I can actually use it without wearing a mask, but I still wear one just in case.
 
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