How often do you clean and lube your (unused) guns?

[aray]

As you may recall, I posted a recent thread on a Beretta 92FS that was malfunctioning. My problem was that I bought the thing new, plunked it into a gun safe, and never fired the thing in 12 years. After following jocko's "proper prep of a new kahr" guidance and giving it a couple of good cleanings, it went from a 40% malfunction rate to perfect operation.

Which got me to thinking: how often do you clean your guns when they are not being used? Although I'm never going to go a dozen years without firing and cleaning any of my guns again :blushing: at the same time some guns inevitably will be fired and cleaned on a more frequent basis than others.

My carry gun (Kahr CW9) will get the most practice. I'm not really concerned about that. But I keep a secondary and a tertiary gun around the house just for backup. Those are the ones that are less likely to get used.

So, if one of my guns sits around unfired for some period of time, in your experience what is a reasonable period of time over which I should not be concerned, and at what point should I take any gun out and clean and relube it to ensure reliable operation?

(Note: all of my guns are semiautomatic, not revolvers.)

Thanks.

[ripley16]

Light gun oil will dry up over time, so in order to protect stored guns they should be checked periodically for any dry, gummy oil or any rust issues. Certainly annually is about the longest anyone should go, sooner depending on the climate of course.

[jocko]

what ripley 16 said, sounds good to me.. oils in time dry out and leave the area where it was put.... grease in time will loose all of it's oil and therefore become like a brick of cheese.

[Dietrich]

The firearms that I use get cleaned after every range/hunting trip.The ones that sit idle most of the time get cleaned&lubed about every four months.So far,all of them have functioned flawlessly when called into duty.My friends make fun of me but if I ever have a gun to malfunction it won`t be because it wasn`t tended to.

[hsart]

My experience with my Kahrs (PM45 and P380) is that they want to run clean and well lubed, so I clean & lube after each use of 50 rounds or more. My Glocks are a different story - not as sensitive and usually go 200-300 rounds in between cleaning though can go a lot longer. My rule of thumb is to keep those guns you need to count on in times of need in perfect order.

[aray]

Thanks. I do clean any gun I fire after I return from the range, each time. I was wondering however how long I could reasonable wait for a gun which sees no action before I take it out and fuss over it. All of my guns are potential self defense guns, but some are likely to just sit around the house until I make myself take them out.

Thanks.

[hsart]

One of the determinants of this would be the type of lube you use. I use TW25b which is a grease and should last much longer than most of the oil which over time do dry out. I would be interested to see if anyone knows which lube would have the longest life in the gun.

[PaiN]

I clean and lube my firearms after each use. I don't have many so they usually don't sit long but as rule, since I use synthetic and/or dry lube I only wipe the idle gun(s) down with a dry cloth. Also, I never leave oils or silicone on any of my guns, I do wipe the outsides but before the gun is put away or holstered I make sure it is completely dry....nothing collects gunk faster then a wet gun...

[ripley16]

One of the determinants of this would be the type of lube you use. I use TW25b which is a grease and should last much longer than most of the oil which over time do dry out. I would be interested to see if anyone knows which lube would have the longest life in the gun.

I also use TW25b as a point lube, and it's an excellent product, but I don't use it as a "all over" long term storage, rust inhibiting coating. That could get expensive very quickly, especially on a safe full of long guns. ;)

One product I've found that is simple to use, acts as a competent lube, but has very good long term rust inhibiting qualities is Eezox. It is sold as a dry lube, but I use it as a cleaner and rust preventer more than a lube. One small can goes a long way when applied as instructed and would protect a safefull of guns.

I also use desiccants in my safe.

[steve666]

Kind of like bath night, they get a cleaning about once a month whether they need it or not.:behindsofa: