doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How often do you clean your guns?

Not the ones that you use on a regular basis, and not the collectables that never get shot. How about the guns you shoot, clean, put in the rack, and there they stand for a year, or two, or three... Do these guns go without cleaning until they do get shot, or do you still clean them after a while (the very first book on shotguns I read, years ago, insisted that a gun must be cleaned every six months no matter if it was shot or not).

?

Everyone of my guns gets cleaned after the last shot the day it is used.

Also there is a routine inspection of all guns, shotguns and airguns. After letting a Webley MkIII rust to hell unseen I learned my lesson. IT is cheaper to prevent than to cure.

If I clean a gun thoroughly, and it is put back in the safe, it is not cleaned until after using again. No dirt, grit, etc. can possibly get on/in it in the safe so no cleaning is necessary. Maybe once a year I pull them all out, inspect the exterior and bore of each gun, wipe it down again with a good preservative, and put it back.

For long term bore protection, and exterior protection, I use RIG, and have never had one problem. I understand there may be better products out there now, but I'll probably keep using it 'til I see a need to change. With my rifles I like to be double-sure by inserting a full length rolled up piece of VPI paper in the bore.

Why clean something that ain't dirty? Only if a gun had been in storage for many years would I thoroughly clean it before using, and then only because of the tendency of some lubricants, over long periods of time, to gel or harden. The only "slip-ups" I have had are when guns that are not in the safe are handled regularly, sometimes by others, and didn't get wiped down immediately afterward.

SRH

Once a year all of my guns get an oil patch run through the barrels and a wipe down with an oily rag. My working guns get a wipe down after each hunt and at the end of the season a major cleaning. But I live in an arid climate. If the humidity would get higher they would get a wipe down more often.

I clean mine after each outing, but then they get used more than once a year.

When I was posted to Belize I took my 1928 H Clarke boxlock with me. It was kept in the company armoury. Due to the humidity I religiously cleaned it once a month. It got a few outings at duck.

Tim

I wipe the one that went hunting down after each hunt with an oil rag. But clean them?

Well once a year, sometime along about March when it's to cold to train dogs and the ice is too rotten to fish and there are no birds to hunt and boredom sets in, I will give each a thorough cleaning.

How dirty can those safe queens get while I am shooting 99 percent of my birds with the little Lindner?

I clean my guns occasionally and every so often. Is that enough?
JR

I go through my gun vault every 4 months and do a inspection/cleaning operation. I like tinkering with my toys almost as much as using them. I've NEVER allowed the sun to set on a dirty/fired gun. They cost too much not to take proper care of them.

Vern

It depends on the gun, and even the part of the gun. Even with low humidity storage, some will start to rust sooner than others. I have one german shotgun externals that start to show "brown" on a rag within about a month of sitting without an oily wipe-down. The bore doesn't seem to rust as quickly. I have others that only need a wipe down every couple years. All shotgun bores are cleaned and oiled after the hunting season. As for rifles, some bores need cleaning more than others. I like accuracy, so some I'll de-foul every time after shooting, sometimes even between every five-shot series. Others shoot better dirty, so I might only scrub and oil the bores once a year (mid-winter when range time is minimized). For a top-coat I really like Ballistol because it doesn't hurt to get some on the wood, even sprayed lightly into the trigger mechanisms on a closed action like a boxlock SXS.

Guns I use, the night I used them, then again a few days later (howitzer tubes taught me guns sweat carbon and crude)

Guns I don't use once a year in February. It is a groundhog day or so tradition in my house to take stuff out. It is also the time I ask again why exactly do I own this?

I used to use Treflon, I am now an Eezox user.