It is my belief that proper firearms training should include firearms
safety, care of the weapon, and knowing when to use or not use it. This should also include federal, state, and
local laws pertaining to firearms, other weapons (lethal and less-than-lethal),
and the use of force. Keeping your
firearms clean is important for multiple reasons.
Primarily, a clean handgun is a safe handgun. When firing, powder residue and grimy
substances are left on the exterior, in the action, and in and on the
barrel. Over time, this buildup can
prevent your firearm from operating the way it is intended to. The results can be both dangerous and cause
unreliable, erratic performance. Another
reason to keep your gun clean is to improve its useful life.A firearm that is properly treated, cleaned,
and cared for can last for decades, while a firearm that is rarely cleaned or
maintained can quickly deteriorate.
A dirty gun is one of the most common problems affecting both the
gun and shooter's performance. Your gun,
like any other tool, needs to be maintained to operate the way it was designed
to operate. When a gun, be it a range
toy, great grandad’s old Winchester, or an everyday carry self-defense weapon,
cleaning and maintaining your weapon is important. The cleanliness and proper maintenance of your
gun is directly related to its effective and efficient function for any use, as
well as, perhaps, your survivability.
Here are four reasons, with a bit of an explanation for each one,
why you should take the time to learn how to clean and maintain your firearms,
other than trying to intimidate the boy your daughter just started dating, of
course:
1) Maintaining Gun Accuracy
Copper fouling can accumulate in guns. These will decrease the velocity of a bullet
leaving the barrel, thereby reducing the gun’s accuracy. For hunters, that’s not an ideal situation
when hunting game on open plains. Regular
maintenance is vital in avoiding that scenario.
2) Knowing How the Gun Works
You may not have a burning desire to know what happens to make the
bullet leave the chamber of your Glock. However,
cleaning and maintaining your gun will help you learn about how the gun works
and how the parts interact with each other.
Some guns are more complicated to disassemble, clean and put back
together. Some handguns let you field
strip them quite easily like the Glock. You
don’t need to be a professional gunsmith, but being able to field strip (basic
disassembly), clean and oil all of your guns is a good bit of knowledge to
have.
3) Learn to Properly Lubricate Your Gun
Today’s lubricants are far superior to previous ones. Over the years I’ve heard people ask, “Where
do you lube a handgun? What specific
locations do you put lube? Do you use
oil or grease? How much lube do you use?” Guns run well with oil in key spots
designated in your owner’s manual. Key
points such as the rails in a semi-automatic and a light coat on the outside of
the barrel and slide are all that is really needed. I would also suggest lubricating every metal
part of the handgun where you see signs of wear and shiny contact spots. However, one tendency for shooters is to
over-lubricate their guns.
Old school thinking was to very thoroughly oil all components of
your gun. But excessive oil attracts a
lot of dirt, dust, unburned powder, and carbon fouling. So, a very light coat on the metal surface is
just fine. Excess dirt build up can
cause light primer strikes. Failure to
Fire (FTF) and Failure to Eject (FTE) can occur when the lube works its way
into the firing pin and the area which transport the round from magazine to
chamber.
4) Safety and Reliability
After you practice shooting your self-defense gun, you should clean
it. You are betting your life on the gun
working when you pull the trigger. Having
rust in the barrel or crud collecting in the over lubricated areas could be
your last mistake. Having a well
maintained car won't leave you stranded on the side of the road. The same goes for your self-defense gun.
Do not put oil inside your magazines. If you must use lube,
use a dry lubricant. For revolvers, hit
the chamber, cylinder, and barrel. In
general, try to clean in the same direction the bullet travels. This is mainly because the area at the very
end of the barrel, the crown or muzzle, could be damaged if you are using a
metal cleaning rod inserted from the muzzle end.
However, if you are using plastic cleaning rods or using a bore snake it
really is not going to matter which direction you clean your barrel. In some cases like with some snub-nosed
revolvers, it is nearly impossible to clean it without going from the muzzle
end. On a semiautomatic don’t
forget the magazine. The box magazine on
a pocket gun sucks up filth like crazy. Slide
the floor plate off and tidy up the inside of the magazine whenever you strip
the gun.
After cleaning your firearm, it is important to put it back
together with the proper way and function check it. Cycle your slide (semiautomatic) and pull your
trigger. Ensure the firearm is
functioning i.e. hammer falling, striker releasing and resetting, etc. Ensure that the internal and external safeties
are functioning correctly.
If you have dummy rounds/snap caps you can load them into your
firearm and ensure the firearm is feeding, extracting, and ejecting
correctly. Lastly, put a few light drops
of oil on a cloth and wipe the firearm down. Do not put too much oil on your firearm or it
will be slippery and difficult to handle.
I will take a clean dry rag and wipe any excess oil off the outside of
the firearm.
How often should you clean your firearms? That depends on use. Cleaning your firearms after every time you
shoot is probably impractical for most of you and, truthfully, unnecessary. I would recommend using some sound reasoning. Some ammunition leaves your gun dirtier than
others. Some cleaners and lube can cause
your gun to collect debris more than another. Additionally, environmental
conditions, sand, or rain will drive when you need to clean your gun.
For some people, cleaning and maintaining guns can be a therapeutic
activity. Seeing the gun shine after thirty
minutes of wiping lessens the stress. Gun maintenance isn’t even a complicated
activity. Guns are tools. Just like any tool, guns need regular
maintenance in order to function properly and not jeopardize the safety of its
owner. Stay safe, and keep your gun
properly maintained.
Maintain your firearm to the best of your ability and it should
work with every trigger pull. Stay safe, and keep your
gun properly maintained.
Integrity Security Consulting
Russ Sharrock
405-762-2471 |
integrityseccon@hotmail.com
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