TargetTalk

I was just woundering when i should clean my gun?
please take the poll:)

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every few matches

every couple 100 shots


breezey1

I clean all .22's on a twice a year basis and my Centre Fire guns are cleaned on a monthly basis. Free Pistol gets a pull through and a chamber brushing before every shoot, AP gets a pull through bore clean----before each match.

I use the VFG felt system for .22 rimfire and .177 air.
With .22, I've found that if the rifle is left for more than 48 hours, the debris in the barrel oxidizes, and becomes much more difficult to remove, so I use a couple of dry felts after shooting, with a deeper clean if I'm taking a longer break, 3 or four times a year.
With .177, clean the barrel after every tin of pellets [500]

Heck!
Back in the ol´ days, charcoalburning, we used to clean our barrels every shot. Boring, but restored accuracy after every shot.

I´ll reccoment this procedure for 10 m matches.....

I subscribe to the theory of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". My guns get cleaned only when they start to malfunction, or a week before a big match. I make sure that everything's working properly, and fouled like normal before an important match. I will pull a snake through the barrel on a regular basis, just one pass, don't want to disturb too much of the precious fouling. With our Walthers, we've found that it takes 15-20 shots to get things back to normal after a thorough scrubbing.

Just the way I do it.
R.M.

The Pardinis get thoroughly scrubbed after every 500-600 rounds. It's about at that point where all three of these testy Italians (.22/.32/.45) will likely start malfunctioning.

I use Wolf ammo which may be a contributing factor.

I agree with RM - after a cleaning you must re foul the barrel before those tight groups return. If I cant do this before a match but I know the gun needs to be cleaned, I'll just clean the action and leave the barrel alone.


The Hammerlis get scrubbed only after thousands of rounds - not because they need it but because I just start feeling guilty. God bless the Swiss.

F. Paul in Denver

Okay, I can see the point of this thread, but I wonder why the survey did not include options such as:

* When it starts to malfunction
* Once a Year
* Never (For one who know they should but never do!)
* Clean? What's a clean? (For those who don't know)

I would say that in our club no-one seems to bother cleaning a .22 until it gets really badly fouled or starts to malfunction. I used to clean my Unique DES69U every few months but apart from a rare brush around the mouth of the chamber if it is obviously gummed, it has not had a rod or pull through in the barrel for a couple of years. I have been convinced by others that the best way of cleaning the barrel is to put another round down it.

The Unique is fairly open and most of the gunk blows away, however my new IZH-35M has a tiny ejection port and will probably accumulate more powder residue.
For my Morini air pistol, I ping a felt pellet at a marauding spider about twice a year but that is all.
My Smith and Wesson 586 gets the most cleaning because there is alot more powder residue around the wheel, but often I just swab the barrel with a lightly oiled patch.

The obvious question is: "Am I damaging the pistols?"

What I would like to hear is what I should be doing and why from the gurus who understand the wear and tear forces and also facts on accuracy of cleaning versus not cleaning.

ISSF
4.5mm - a felt patch at the completion of each session, and a wipe over the outside with a good gun oil. Has worked OK for about 20 years.
5.6mm - Hammerli 208, the swiss made disassembly a matter of undoing that screw below the rear sight a chore; wipe the breech face and slide face and wipe over the outside with a good gun oil after each session; disassemble and thouroughly clean twice yearly
5.6mm - High Standard; as for Hammerli
5.6mm proviso - if I used Lapua ammo; thouroughly clean every session - has it got any less greasy over the years?
.32 & .38 revolvers with handloads and V V powder - a wipe over the outside with a good gun oil; disassemble and thouroughly clean twice yearly
9mm with handloads and Bullseye powder - clean the chamber and slide face and wipe over the outside with a good gun oil after each session disassemble and thouroughly clean twice yearly

Black Powder revolver
thank god for the dish washer!

Spencer

ps 1.
disassemble and thoroughly clean also involves primary clean with degreaser bath, ultrasonic bath with white spirit, blow dry with compressed air, re-lubricate, etc.

ps. 2.
a batch of commercial projectiles has been giving me some leading problems of late - a lot more cleaning needed for the .38

S

For me, cleaning depends on the gun and when I expect to shoot it again.

Air guns almost never need cleaning. Perhaps every couple years I'll clean mine with TSI.

Most .22 target pistols and smallbore rifles go a whole season (several thousand rounds) very nicely without cleaning. But I will always clean them at the end of a season, or if I've shot one I don't expect to shoot again soon (e.g., when I take a gun I don't normally shoot to the range just to let a friend use.) As has been pointed out, if you do clean a .22, plan on shooting a few strings of fouling shots to get the gun to settle down again before shooting a match.

Centerfires are dirtier. In the case of some revolvers (e.g., a .357 shooting .38) you can build up crud in the chambers from the shorter cartridges. I'll usually clean centerfires every time I shoot them, but part of that is because I don't shoot my centerfires regularly enough to know when I'll shoot them next.

I cant tell you about pistol or centerfire in that my experiences are limited. however shooting for a college team i learned to clean before every match. Of course during one week i will shoot up to 2 bricks of ammo. In my opinion air guns should be cleaned every 6 months. as lead is the problem not powder. This pertains to competitive target shooting in the quest for the most accurate gun.

My 2yr old 10,000 rnd anschütz 2013 NEEDS a thorough cleaning with a lead solvent after 200 rounds, or the groups open up to the point it's not worth shooting. One of my team mates used an old anschütz 1813 loaned from his father for years and shot really well, he only ever put 2 patches through the bore once or twice a year. Last season he bought a new Bleiker and shot horribly untill he started to clean the bore thorouhgly after every 150 or so rounds. We confirmed this by putting the rifles in a vice.

My personal theory is that the newer and tighter the bore the more important correct cleaning becomes an issue, but that's something each shooter should ascertain for himself. When all is said and done it's vitally important that the shooter has total confidence in his or her equipment.

Jonno.