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For you experienced shooters (cleaners), can a gun be damaged by not cleaning it right away after you shoot it?
I don't mean if you shoot it again without cleaning it, I am thinking more of the residues left behind from shooting
chemically damaging a firearm.
Thanks, Haka

If you wait a day or two and have not been shooting corrosive (mainly old military) ammo, it should be fine.

But the longer you wait the more those deposits will solidify and make your cleaning task all the hardrer...

Hak

I don't clean mine regularly at all, except for the one that I carry. Those that are blued, I wipe the outside surfaces with a light coat of oil to prevent rust from finger oils. My thought is that unless the firearm is a black powder gun (which requires immediate cleaning) or you've been shooting corrosive ammo, immediate cleaning is not necessary or even advisable, and that excessive cleaning may cause more wear than if the gun is not cleaned regularly. Of course, this subject is debated frequently and I think every one has their own opinion. I will say that at least in my case, I have not found any evidence of damage to any of my firearms from not cleaning them regularly.

Just my .02

Yleefox

I agree with Ylee. Cleaning after every session is not necessary and will only wear the firearm faster. As was mentioned, cleaning immediately after a range session is only needed if corrosive ammunition was used, or if the firearm was rained on, and I will add if you plan on storing the firearm for a long time; I consider a long time around 6 months, but I am by no means an expert on storing firearms.

For firearms that are used regularly, they should be cleaned on a round count basis. As Ylee mentioned, you will find differing opinions on this; however, the majority of folks will agree that there is no benefit in cleaning after every range session, and that it does cause undue wear.

Powder residue will absorb humidity, and that speeds corrosion.

I don't worry about when, exactly, I get around to cleaning guns unless I can't store them in a low-humidity location. If they can go into the cabinet with desiccant or a case with desiccant and didn't get wetted (rain/snow) or shoot corrosive ammo (older surplus) ... I just don't worry about it beyond a wipe-down and blow-out.

Carry guns, on the other hand, get cleaned for the purpose of inspecting internals and checking function. I rarely carry a gun that has been shot extensively at the range without at least a quick strip/clean/inspect.

Good points BFD. I clean my carry gun every trip to the range, not because I'm afraid of the shooting debris, but because it gives me a chance to look for defects and clean out lint, dirt from carrying, and give it a little lube.

Yleefox

A scenario I have is my service rifle, ar-15 with a SS barrel. I shot it 3 weeks ago and have yet to clean it. (probably clean it tonight). I don't plan on shooting it again til it's clean, but wondered if 3-4 weeks in the safe would be a problem?
Thanks, Haka

bigfatdave wrote:Powder residue will absorb humidity, and that speeds corrosion.

I agree on that, and residue is also abrasive. I rarely wait past the next day. I don't totally detail strip anything but my Mark III (about twice a year). Otherwise, what I can't see gets flushed out thoroughly and relubed.

Can you picture R. Lee Ermey saying, "A clean gun is a happpy gun"?

Hakaman wrote:A scenario I have is my service rifle, ar-15 with a SS barrel. I shot it 3 weeks ago and have yet to clean it. (probably clean it tonight). I don't plan on shooting it again til it's clean, but wondered if 3-4 weeks in the safe would be a problem?
Thanks, Haka

shouldn't be an issue. especially if you have a chome lined chamber and bore.

shouldn't be an issue. especially if you have a chome lined chamber and bore.

Maybe this should be in the black rifle, but I just cleaned the AR-15 and it wasn't very dirty except for inside the housing of the bolt carrier group. Carbon gunk was caked in there from the past ( I never cleaned inside there before), and it had to be scraped out. My barrel is a SS barrel, I don't know if it has been chromed lined or not? Maybe I should ask Rock River Arms. Anyways, it's cleaned now.
haka

the bolt carrier group is what gets gunked up the most, and usually needs a good scraping to get the powder fouling off the raer of the bolt and firing pin. these coolect the debris from the direct immpingement system.

I suspect the most you'll get is copper fouling in the barrel and I've heard some say not to clean the bore until accuracy starts to get poor. I think its all voodoo. its ok to shoot a dirty gun it will not hurt it. and it is ok to keep your gun sqeaky clean too.

Thanks Mr. Greener, good info. It feels good to have a clean gun/rifle, but sometimes I don't get to cleaning them right away. Sometimes 2 weeks later.
Haka

my duty gun goes a while between cleanings too. a wipe down and lube periodically but I don't clean it every time I put down a deer. I had a buddy who went 1,000 rounds or so over the course of a year and didn't clean his glock, and never had an issue.

most guns are made so they do not need meticulas cleaning to keep them running, but a clean gun does give you piece of mind that it will work when needed.

With the exception of old mil ammo, there are not any components that are corrosive any more. So cleaning is not nearly as important as it has been in the past. Cleaning these days is more to protect the outer finish "Bluing" than internals. My carry gun gets cleaned after every shooting, but it's more to make sure it's not needing any repair work. Any gun that gets wet should be thoroughly cleaned. My MKIII gets the receiver and bolt cleaned after every outing. The barrel is not touch unless I'm doing a detail cleaning it and the accuracy has dropped off.

Now I live in a rather dry environment, currently under an extreme drought at this time, so humidity does not have a big impact. Now my 22 rifle is wiped down after each using but again to protect the bluing. Since it's shot frequently it does not pay to clean the barrel since it impact accuracy. So cleaning it is counter productive since I have to shoot it to season the barrel to get the accuracy back. My shotgun the same way, it's almost shot on a daily basis during the summer as well as my 22's. I will only clean them when being stored till next season.

All guns that are going to be stored for long term storage are cleaned, including barrels. Then protected with a silicone gun sock, before going into the safe.

If you live in the colder environment where you can get condensation when take the gun outside, you have to worry about corrosion in the barrel and outer surfaces. One advantage of living in the south.