Auto pistol cleaning?
Printed From: The BaitShop
Category: FireArms, et cetera
Forum Name: Handguns, Pistols and SixGuns
Forum Description: Also, check out www.sixguns.com!
URL: http://www.baitshopboyz.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=26179
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 19:55
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Topic: Auto pistol cleaning?
Posted By: BEAR
Subject: Auto pistol cleaning?
Date Posted: 21 October 2018 at 12:33
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Keeping reliability as the prime concern, how often (number of rounds) should a centerfire auto pistol be thoroughly stripped cleaned? With all the auto today having syn/nylon frames and parts, are there any cleaning chemicals that should be avoided? |
Replies:
Posted By: jsgbearpaws1
Date Posted: 21 October 2018 at 19:27
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Visual inspection and feel are what dictates the cleaning on steel frames for me. Some ammo runs dirty and some clean with relatively little build up. lead or cast vs. jacketed vs blue, etc. My DE gets very little thorough cleaning maybe every other year or 5 k rounds provided I stay away from Samson loads, after a few hundred with those. But that gun is an early MK VII and has lotsa slop and play so even a bit of sand or dirt doesn't slow it down. Tight comp. guns like the STI are a bit more finicky and require a good teardown and clean after about 500 clean rounds. Never been a fan of the plastic fantastic, but I'm sure others here have more of a working knowledge with them. Light oiling and a proper cleaning of the barrel, extractors, and chamber runup and ramp are were you find the most critical places to keep free of grime. Tight guns gum up with even dust on an oily slide rail. Part of a proper break-in with any semi-auto should be finding the happy place and it's own personal hygiene quirks. Couple k at the range should pretty much tell the tale with any auto and give you the confidence and feel for the use of the gun when needed. Just my 5.4 cents....frickin inflation! ------------- ...oh yeah! thats gonna hurt! |
Posted By: Wing master
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 01:11
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When I first got my 1911 I wondered the same thing. I shot a little over 800 rounds with 5 grains of bullseye and cast 230 grain round nose bullets. That's when I had my first stovepipe. I took a Q-tip and cleaned the feed ramp and shot another 250 rounds without a problem. And, Bullseye works good but isn't the cleanest powder. I have been shooting the same gun a lot lately. I started using 3.7 grains of Clays powder with a 230 grain Blue Bullets. Clays is cleaner than Bullseye. I have been shooting about 300 rounds each week for three weeks a month and about 450 rounds on the fourth week. I clean it every other week. I have had no problems at all with feeding or extraction. When I do clean it the bore looks bright and shiny but I go ahead and swab it out. I only have one plastic framed pistol and I don't shoot it often enough to clean it, but I cleaned it before I put it in the night stand. I clean my Revolvers every time I shoot them. Wing master
------------- I have always considered myself to be quite the bullshitter, But ocasionally it is nice to sit back and listen to a true professional......So, Carry on. |
Posted By: Wing master
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 21:41
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This post also got me to thinking. How often do you completely dissasemble your semi auto pistol and clean it? I have just field stripped mine for cleaning but have wondered about taking the slide apart and taking the trigger group out of the frame etc. Wing master ------------- I have always considered myself to be quite the bullshitter, But ocasionally it is nice to sit back and listen to a true professional......So, Carry on. |
Posted By: jsgbearpaws1
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 23:19
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Depends on how sealed off/accessible the sear group is. If it's fairly well isolated just once every 1k rounds after the initial. After that you will know pretty much if it's getting gunked up or if it's pretty much how you left it. Carry guns get it at least once a year whether they need it or not. Range guns and safe queens, rarely. Every couple years or so unless they have open to element workings. Kinda like having tight fitting grips on a SS revolver. In almost 30 years of wear and tear, 3 times, and to be honest, it was only so I could sleep better about it. 1911 style pistols are easy enough to tear down and clean as the workings are more sloppy and open to debris, newer Sigs and HK's are more isolated, but more prone to issues caused by dirty rounds due to the blowback design. All about attention to detail for the first couple k rounds. Having little experience with the polymers but listening to others, seems the same for trigger group cleaning, depends on the tightness and rounds being fired. ------------- ...oh yeah! thats gonna hurt! |
Posted By: jsgbearpaws1
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 23:23
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BTW, I field strip the DE regularly as it's about as easy as it gets to do and it's carried so I keep a light oil film on all parts due to moisture,(sweat), and just plain wear. Same goes for the .357 during hunting season, pretty much a daily wipe and quick glance over for debris. ------------- ...oh yeah! thats gonna hurt! |
Posted By: Irish Bird Dog
Date Posted: 01 December 2018 at 09:41
yer s'posed to clean  handguns?????????? mmmm.....in reality carry guns do accumulate "lint" and "dust" & the "sweat moisture" or whatever just by carrying regularly....so even without shooting them they do require some minor cleaning pretty regular for that. I used Bullseye (it is a dirty but effective powder) for years with lead cast 230gr boolets or 200gr SWC....in 1911's....they required cleaning from the residual from the powder but easy to do by field stripping that gun. One thing I use to keep guns in working order is BALLISTOL.
------------- Irish Bird Dog NRA Life/Endowment 2nd Amendment Supporter |
Posted By: BEAR
Date Posted: 01 December 2018 at 11:32
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My 9mm Smith m-39 shoots lights out even when dirt...but I do routinely clean it like all my rifles and pistls and even skatterguns. But my new Diamondback seems to jam if not cleaned...might just need more break-in?
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Posted By: Wing master
Date Posted: 10 December 2018 at 20:33
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I'm with IBD. I like Ballistol. Bear, I think I would keep shooting it and see what happens. I carry a S&W Shield most of the time. It jammed a few times in the first couple hundred shots, then it hasn't had any problems at all since. How many rounds do you have through it? Wing master ------------- I have always considered myself to be quite the bullshitter, But ocasionally it is nice to sit back and listen to a true professional......So, Carry on. |