What is proper gun etiquette and how do we rate on the scale of clean vs. not so great.


The following are some tips and tools I have been using for years and have yet to ever clean any rust, or loose a gun to cleaning (lack of) caused failures.

What to use...this varies according to climate, I have found with my guns in the southwest that keeping them clean and dry, occasionally using a graphite dry or a silicone impregnated cloth works the best. If I plan on storing a gun for longer than a couple of weeks I always use a good gun grease and coat ALL the parts and barrel AFTER cleaning it thoroughly. There are allot of brands and the funny thing is some of the cleaners are the same as normal paint strippers etc in make up- so check em out and than check your local Hardware store- you will be surprised at the content of the cleaner compared...

Anyways, use a regular stiff toothbrush, old cotton underwear and T-Shirts, WD 40 can break down residue nicely (I use it not everyone will though- just make sure you clean it off good,) a dental pick is nice for the hard to reach areas, canned air is nice to have, a bore snake, Hoppes (everything they make works nicely, ) a good rifle/pistol cleaning kit, and a couple of silicone soaked cloths, save your newspapers they work well for covering the surfaces, and old cardboard boxes work nicely cut down for surface protection as well. (these are what I use- ) In addition any tools you may need to break the guns down all the way-

1. A brand new gun should be broken completely down to its smallest part, if you are unsure about how to do this- contact GlockMonger or your nearest gun smith- they will usually do full cleans for around 40.00 or so. To the point, break it completely down and clean ALL the components, just using gun scrubber does not mean it is clean. This is also a good time to evaluate things that may need replacement parts (like my Glocks and their plastic guides- METAL time) you also become very familiar with your gun and can easily replace large components yourself.

2. Now take it out and shoot it- everyone knows that you should shoot at a minimum 50 rounds if not closer too 200 to break a new gun in. (I prefer shooting 200-500 rounds) the larger amount allows you to check how different rounds act etc.

3. You pack up your guns to head home from the range- if you are me, I use gun scrubber and a snake to do a spot clean at the range before I pack them away. Some RSO's may be a bit anal about it- so do it on your car trunk or truck bed- but get that powder residue and lead out of the barrel no sense letting it sit if you dont have to.

4. Once you get home break them down again- it is not necessary to break them down fully every time you shoot, however, I would say if you use a gun 1-3 times a week break it down completely at least once a month. Clean every part.

I have seen more dirty guns than I care to over the course of time shooting, and all I can say is that if you do not regularly clean your guns you are really just asking for eventual problems- they WILL misfire eventually (unless you have a Glock or an AK)



Now I will admit for my Glock pistol tests I did not clean a glock for a few months and put almost 4-5k rounds through it during that time...towards the end I was having a few misfeeds- but it functioned...GO GLOCKS!





Add to this, we could start a whole new forum section for it!

NFA cleaning, etc.

All the lubricant any firearm will ever need. Bill T.

Great post PK!

Im currently doing a test of my own with my Para Nite-Tac to see what it can do. So far so good I havent cleaned it in about a year and have had about 5-600 rounds through it, ranging from off the shelf to second reload ammunition.

Im happy with the results so far but will probably clean it here in the next week and take Hansens advice and clean my guns every 2 weeks wether they have been fired or not.

Not bad. In my case I use AMSOIL, it's been great on my weapons from the 70's.

Some people like whittling, I like cleaning "my guns" often, dirty or clean it does not matter. ps. For now I use the Hopp's line of solvents and gun oils.

CLP is the oil of choice for me and also as a good anti-leading for those of us that shoot cast lead bullets, just run a soaked patch down your bore after cleaning it and it acts to preserve the bore and makes leading a thing of the past.

for internal parts a dry graphite is what i use or a teflon spray from dupont. external wipe down with CLP and wipe off with clean rag.

for cleaning i use the clp or butch's bore shine and worse case scenario (with some recent gun purchases that looked like they were cleaned in the 50's and then shot from thre on out) was to use either CVA or T/C foaming bore solvent and let the guns sit over night and then run a brush through several times then use more foam, repeat, repeat, repeat until the patches come out clean.

I do like testing for sure!

I also like cleaning my guns, the smells etc mmm

I gotta try CLP - one of these days!~

you know where i live.

I got a big industrial sized bottle of it and you are welcome to try it out.

also, when is the next match? I gotta get out to the range soon instead of just building guns or refinishing old ones

Hey GM,

I'm newer to guns (and cleaning them). Do you think I could pay for you to clean my S&W Sigma so I know what I need to do, and how to do it?

--Rob R.

Yes, Sir. PM me for my number when you need it.

First and Third Sundays of the month...9 am - it would be good to see you there.

yeah i know!

between the newborn, family "issues", work and then my 2nd masters degree I barely have time to even take the guns out to clean and fondle them.

if you are going this sunday let me know. I might be able to escape from the wife and kids for a few hours.