Hubba and I are responsible gun owners, and as such, we exercise proper gun maintenance. What is proper gun maintenance? The answer to that differs from gun owner to gun owner. Some clean their guns after each time they shoot, while others rarely or never clean their weapons. We (mostly) fall into the former category and clean our weapons after each trip to the range, or rather, hubba cleans our weapons after each trip to the range…until today! After purchasing my second handgun, he decided that it was beyond time for me to learn how to disassemble, clean, and reassemble my own firearm.
I stated that my husband “mostly” cleans our firearms after every trip to the range, by this I mean that he cleans our home defense weapons each use. After seeing the residue that is left inside a gun after one trip to the range, I can see the importance of keeping our guns clean.
There is always fouling residue left after firing a weapon and the most common types of fouling are: carbon, lead, copper or plastic, depending on the ammunition used. This fouling residue is left in and on the barrel, chamber and action each time the weapon is fired. Fouling residue that builds up over time can affect a gun’s ability and reliability and can be the cause of increasing malfunctions. A grimy semi-automatic weapon would be more apt to feed failure or ejection failure because the leftover crud can cause the slide to slow down. If the cylinder doesn’t turn easily in a dirty revolver, the trigger may be difficult or impossible to pull.
If your weapon is just used as a range gun, then you may be able to let more time pass between cleanings. However, the more you shoot, the more residue will build up and the harder the gun will be to clean when the time comes. For this reason, my husband has made it a habit to clean his range guns after each use, also. Additionally, if the ammo you’re shooting is corrosive, or if the weapon is exposed to water or moisture, or excessive dirt/sand/salt/etc., you should clean your gun after using it. All those compounds can lead to rust, corrosion, and excess deterioration in the function of the weapon.
If you are relying on the weapon to save your life, it’s best to keep it in top working order! Clean weapons are more reliable than unclean weapons, so it is a good practice to keep your defensive firearms well-maintained.
As I previously stated, today was my first time cleaning a handgun. I could have easily continued to pass on the responsibility to my husband, as he doesn’t mind tinkering with the guns, but there may come a time when I need to know how my weapon works. Each time I take it apart and reassemble my handguns, I will gain more confidence in how they operate. It also helped to me see just how dirty a firearm can get in a short period of time, and why it is, therefore, necessary to keep our guns well-maintained – especially those we may have to rely one day to save our lives.
Nicely done!!