Cleaning your firearm is extremely necessary if you want to give your weapon a long life. Without cleaning the residues like powder settled down at the bottom of the barrel, eventually, after a long time, they become hard enough to disrupt the usual path of the bullet. It causes the gun to completely break down and render it useless. However proper cleaning and maintenance of the gun with general lubrication help to increase the life of a gun by many folds.
Generally speaking, it is suggested to clean your gun after your fire a shot or at least after you are done with firing a few shots. Because when you press the trigger, substances like gunpowder are released due to the chemical reaction inside the gun, and they settle down at the bottom. Now, the powders are soft and are much easier to remove rather than tiring yourself in cleaning the barrel of a gun that contains a lot of solid powders stuck at the bottom for a long time.
The frequency of cleaning your gun depends on your usage. The more you use the firearm, the more you need to take care of it and clean it. However, the environmental factor in which you are practicing shooting or out for hunting also plays a significant role in determining how frequently you should clean and lubricate your firearm. Here, we will discuss some conditions depending on which we will decide the frequency of cleaning our gun.
- If you are in a place where humidity is more, you must clean your gun thoroughly after you are done with the practicing for the day and are ready to pack you are gun inside a bag or a safe. Because of the presence of water molecules in the air, the weapon is at a high risk of corrosion. Cleaning the firearm and drying it will prevent the formation of rust and thereby saving your gun from getting damaged.
- If you are shooting a gun with corrosive ammunition, you need to clean your weapon as soon as you are done with it. Usage of corrosive ammunition religious powders which might be harmful to the metallic part of the gun. Take special care while cleaning the weapon and make sure to remove any ammunition or leftovers after shooting.
- While shooting in wet areas, water droplets might enter the gun and remain there without coming in the notice of your eyes. These water droplets will then react with the metallic part of the weapon and lead to the formation of rust due to oxidation on the surface. Hence is always recommended to clean your gun after you are done with shooting in wet areas or in areas where you sweat a lot because it might also happen that while shooting, a few drops of sweat have entered the gun without you knowing it. So, play safe and clean it every time.
Some people also clean their gun unnecessarily, even when the gun is not used for weeks and is kept in a safe with a dehumidifier attached to it.
You do not need to waste your time cleaning organ every week or every alternate day because the basic purpose of cleaning a gun is to remove any form of residues and water molecules that might harm the structure of the gun if they are not present anywhere near it, you and your gun are good to go.
Lubricating your gun depends on the usage. If you use more, you need to lubricate it more so that your gun functions smoothly. Less usage means less lubricating as there is not match mechanical movement going on inside the gun.
There is no hard and fast rule of how frequently you should clean your gun and lubricate it. Everything depends on your usage and in an environment where you are shooting. The best you can do is to buy a good cleaning kit and lubricating well for your gun and not go after the once that might even damage you are gun. Clean and lubricate it only as much as needed so that you give your firearm a long life.