What's the dirtiest you've ever let your guns get? Let's See 'em!

[george burns]

My guns have always been cleaned within 2 days of use. Usually the same day. That's the way I have always done it, my life depends on that gun firing, After you use a weapon, it needs to be inspected. IE: I came home after firing a couple hundred rounds through my carry gun, "about 18 years ago,", A Glock", it had functioned fine. Once I took off the slide, the recoil assembly fell apart. It had cracked inside during my range use, but still worked until it was removed, and fell apart. If I hadn't taken it apart and went on carrying it, there is a good chance that if there was an emergency and I needed my gun, it could have easily failed for a few dollar part.
Taking your weapon apart after a session, is essential to not just clean it, but to inspect it for malfunctions or broken parts, you should do it every time you fire it.

 

[Warp]

My guns have always been cleaned within 2 days of use. Usually the same day. That's the way I have always done it, my life depends on that gun firing, After you use a weapon, it needs to be inspected. IE: I came home after firing a couple hundred rounds through my carry gun, "about 18 years ago,", A Glock", it had functioned fine. Once I took off the slide, the recoil assembly fell apart. It had cracked inside during my range use, but still worked until it was removed, and fell apart. If I hadn't taken it apart and went on carrying it, there is a good chance that if there was an emergency and I needed my gun, it could have easily failed for a few dollar part.
Taking your weapon apart after a session, is essential to not just clean it, but to inspect it for malfunctions or broken parts, you should do it every time you fire it.

The catch is that there is arguably no better way to 'know' that the firearm functions than to test it after taking it apart and putting it back together. This of course varies based on the specific firearm in question and how far you disassemble it

 

[Impureclient]

This is so weird. Unless you are proving something like those silly Glock torture tests to feel better about your Glock, it seems meaningless. I can't say I understand wanting to keep it dirty on purpose.
All my guns look new and after shooting anything centerfire, it stays that way because I clean it until it's 100% clean inside and out.
The rimfires barrels are left for a couple hundred rounds but the outsides look like they just came out of the box. You can take a cotton swap on any part of my guns, except those rimfire barrels, and it will only end up with light oil on it.

This all seems like not wiping just to see how long it takes until it crusts over and you have trouble. Maybe a closer comparison would be working on a car and not wiping down the grease all over the tools when you are done and just throwing them back in the tool box.

 

[Odd Job]

I also think that (for .22s at least) over-oiling it leads to much faster build up of grime, especially with the more waxy rounds. I have become much more selective about how I oil and where I oil.

 

[ljnowell]

I regularly go 2000-2500 rounds between cleaning the bore and throats of my bullseye guns.

I do wipe down the bluing with a cloth with a little solvent and apply a little oil to the exterior every other week though, so that's every 1000 rds or so.

 

[Dr.Zubrato]

I don't advocate leaving your guns dirty for when you need them.
I also don't advocate babying your guns like they're anything more than a tool, unless they have sentimental value to you.

Guns get dropped. (don't ever catch a falling gun)
Guns get dirty, muddy, grimey, and even bloody.

No offense to the dudes that flip lids, but how confident in your weapon are you if its necessary to clean after 10-15 rounds?
I have supreme confidence in my weapon, I'm fully aware of wear intervals for my particular firearm due to my firing schedule and relatively high round counts.

This was not a torture test, nor was it a test of neglect, although I may have toed the line a bit. I did not abuse my weapons, I simply used them in the function they were intended.
I don't know about you, but neither my glock nor my AR came from the factory with a card stating CLEAN EVERY ___ ROUNDS.

I have not yet found a round count for my weapons that would cause failure to fire from fouling under circumstances of minimal lubrication, and no cleaning.
I called the test on my AR because I don't like washing carbon stains off my face, arms, clothes, and hands.

Having said all that, my AR is sitting happy, clean as a whistle after a white glove cleaning as a reward for an exemplary performance at the range.

Push the limits of your weapon, but more importantly the limits of your training.

Edit: Added a few bonus pictures for the hand wringers. The pic of the upper receiver is at 1k+, close up of the BCG is just past the 2k mark.

 

[230RN]

As I am fond of saying, "more guns, cameras, small boys, and coffeepots have been ruined by excessive cleaning than any other single cause."

Note the "excessive" part.

I'm not a fanatic about either cleaning or not gun cleaning. To me, sometimes it's a chore, sometimes it's a great relaxing pleasure to say hello to the internals of my guns.

I do have an M4gery that I decided to let go until it stops. The trouble is, I lost count of how many rounds I put through it, so that experiment is now pointless. I guess I'll clean it the next time I get in a gun cleaning frame of mind.

And some of the newer guns are dicey to put back together, like the Ruger MKII and the Kahr CW9. The instructions for the Kahr specifically indicate that if you don't reassemble it correctly, it may have to be sent back to the factory to unkink it.

Great little gun, otherwise, but I don't strip it without the step-by-step instructions in front of me. I don't relish the thought of sending guns back to the factory.

The PF9 is also tricky, although shaking it vigorously in all three XYZ axes usually unkinks it. I've taken to using a broken-off Q-tip as a slave pin to hold the barrel in place during re-assembly so it doesn't lock up.

So. Sometimes it's a pleasure, other times I approach the project with trepidation.

And since the advent of non-corrosive ammo*, unless the gun has taken a mud or dust bath, that religion-like business of cleaning every time it's shot is unnecessary, in my opinion. Except for some perceived need to reinforce discipline.

I do wipe down every gun before putting it away, though, or even before just putting it down. Each gun is wrapped in its own wipedown rag before casing it --except for molded cases where there's no room for a cleaning rag.

This, even for stainless guns.

Pix?: "Laundry Day at 230RN's," showing the red shop rags and a couple of BoreSnakes hanging out to dry. Best I can do right now.

Terry, 230RN

*Excepting, of course, ammo where its non-corrosiveness is in question.

 

[Warp]

This is so weird. Unless you are proving something like those silly Glock torture tests to feel better about your Glock, it seems meaningless. I can't say I understand wanting to keep it dirty on purpose.
All my guns look new and after shooting anything centerfire, it stays that way because I clean it until it's 100% clean inside and out.
The rimfires barrels are left for a couple hundred rounds but the outsides look like they just came out of the box. You can take a cotton swap on any part of my guns, except those rimfire barrels, and it will only end up with light oil on it.

This all seems like not wiping just to see how long it takes until it crusts over and you have trouble. Maybe a closer comparison would be working on a car and not wiping down the grease all over the tools when you are done and just throwing them back in the tool box.

You can do it that way if you like but it is not necessary.

 

[1KPerDay]

Ruger 22/45, 10K rounds Federal Champion, no cleaning. I think a waxier bullet would have been much worse. Click for larger if desired.






And after an hour of cleaning...



Mossberg 590 after a few 3-guns, last one in the rain

 

[Dr.Rob]

I don't sleep easy around dirty guns. They never sit unclean for long.

 

[Zach S]

This is so weird. Unless you are proving something like those silly Glock torture tests to feel better about your Glock, it seems meaningless. I can't say I understand wanting to keep it dirty on purpose.
All my guns look new and after shooting anything centerfire, it stays that way because I clean it until it's 100% clean inside and out.
The rimfires barrels are left for a couple hundred rounds but the outsides look like they just came out of the box. You can take a cotton swap on any part of my guns, except those rimfire barrels, and it will only end up with light oil on it.

This all seems like not wiping just to see how long it takes until it crusts over and you have trouble. Maybe a closer comparison would be working on a car and not wiping down the grease all over the tools when you are done and just throwing them back in the tool box.

I don't see the point in making an effort to keep them spotless. I used to be picky about it, but after seeing a few FILTHY IDPA pistols run flawlessly, I was less picky. It went from every range session, to every other, and eventually, every case of ammo.

None of my guns look new. They are all obviously well used. My 590 has very little parkerizing left on the mag tube, my 9mm AR has the anodizing worn off of the high points (and flaking off elsewhere), and all of my carry guns have dings and holster wear.

The wiping anology is original, but doesnt apply IMO. If a gun ont run dirty, it has no place in my safe. And I dont a lot of effort into wiping my tools down after working on the car. Rust prevention.

I look at cleaning guns every time they're shot the same as changing the oil every time I drive. I don't bother with the 3k mark, I'll wait for 7500 or so. Adverse effects? Haven't noticed any. The last car I scrapped had 371k on it. Had a blown head gasket and wasn't worth fixing.

 

[Lycidas Janwor]

I guess I'm somewhere in the middle on cleaning my guns. If I go to the range and put less than a 100 rounds through my AR then I don't clean it, I just throw it back in the case. Same for my Glock, if I put less than a 100 rounds through it, I just throw it back in the case. So, after doing this a few times (going to the range, firing 100 rounds or so per gun) I will break the AR and Glock down and clean them. However, won't ever over lubricate them because IMHO, that just makes them dirtier faster.

As for my hunting rifles, I clean those immediately after firing them. I mean, these are nice rifles and family rifles with nice wood stocks and what not, so I like to keep them clean and looking good.

But the plastic fantastic stuff, meh. I clean them as required, but not religiously. I do think you can over clean guns and you can definitely over lubricate them, causing them to just collect muck way quicker.

 

[win71]

I try to keep them clean

And I am in this same situation.... Corrosive ammunition may have had something to do with it.:

I dunno...we were raised by Dads and uncles who had fought in WWII, and we were never allowed to go to sleep at night until all dirty guns were cleaned and oiled.

However, at one two year period in my life I lived in a 140 year old ranch house on 6800 acres. Digger squirrels everywhere. Kitchen had the old wood framed sliding windows. I had a Win model 62A. At the time 22 LR on sale in Carson City were $10.99 a brick and I had plenty. The cheap ones, lead with some kind of waxy coating. Two things happened in those years. I sweped my kitchen floor with a push broom when I got tired of steeping on brass and I cleaned that 62A pump when it quit feeding. That was usually around 6-700 rounds.

The only other semi abuse I have seen was a 5 year period that I was shooting trap but mostly skeet. This was in the mid 70"s. The club champion in trap shot mostly release trigger high grade single barrel trap guns. They were ALWAYS clean. He shot for money. He also shot skeet for fun. He was a duck hunter and skeet helped. He used a Rem 1100, and it was kept in the trunk of his car. He lived and the trap range was on the Pacific coast.

One day I was shooting with this man on the skeet range when his 1100 just quit working. He dropped out of the round, and when I joined him at the trunk of his car he was spraying fluid out of a shake-up can into and all over the 1100 action and chamber. I do not remember what it was for positive but it was either brake pad cleaner or carburetor cleaner.
I asked him about this and the answer was simply, "I shoot it until it quits then I Zap it". I have no idea how many reloaded skeet rounds he fired through that 1100 before it quit. A guess, several hundred over several years.

 

[guncheese]

ahhh i got one really dirty
made up some pyrodex loads for the 1911
wanna see smoke?
it got so dirty after the first round it wouldnt chamber right
next time ill degrease and lube with olive oil! as i had a real chunky mess
see video here
http://youtu.be/Gun6jmbo9Rs

 

[Jesse H]

Being a car/motorcycle guy before I was into guns, I'm ok with not having a white glove clean weapon. Just like your cylinder head, it's not going to be sterile if it's being used and maintained.

I was never in the military so my first taste of white gloved weapons inspections was basic SWAT school. I hated it.

 

[theotherwaldo]

-Picked up a scoped Sears Model 53A (Win. Model 70 in .30-06) a while ago from a guy that said that he couldn't get it to shoot straight. Found out why - it probably hadn't been cleaned since 1973. Used up a whole bottle of Hoppe's No. 9 and two old t-shirts.

It's much better now.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I would be banned from this forum if I posted pictures of mine...