Pistol Cleaning (barrel)

[Ranger188]

What are the thoughts about how often and how well you clean your pistol and or barrel?
This is for the recreational shooter, 50-100 rounds a month.
Do you still need to clean the barrel every so many rounds or after every session?

 

[ELR LVR]

Depends on the type of bullets you use such as Cast Lead and the hardness
if its Rather Hard, such as 19 BHN or so, dont need it too often,
if its wheel weight lead
might need to every 100 rounds
---
every 500 rounds though is about good
or when you see accuracy fall off
---
The velocity you are shooting has something to do with it
same as rifles
if you are driving it hard and fast like a 454 Casull
vs
a 9mm
you have to gauge when accuracy falls off for your particular pistol
then stay ahead of it
---
But within every 500 rnds, you should be cleaning your pistol and going over it anyway
so why not clean the barrel

 

[Ranger188]

This just occupies me till the snow melts and can get back to a long rifle.
Factory loads. 9mm FMJ

 

[qldreloader]

I live in an area that gets humid and shoot steel handguns so corrosion can be a problem. I shoot most weekends (50 rounds or so) and clean the gun after each session including a light coat of oil before storage. Barrel of my 9mm gets a push through with one or two patches wet with Ballistol or Hoppes #9 followed by a dry patch. Never had any corrosion issues yet.

Barrel gets a deep clean with a brass brush a couple of times a year.

 

[GetReal]

22 rimfire (lead) : every 2-300 rounds.

Jacketed Centerfire: every 4-500 rounds.

Both w/o regard to timeframe. Mostly suppressed shooting, so they are usually pretty dirty by then.

A variety of solvents applied with patches, then bronze brushed. Lightly oiled. Wipe down the exterior.

Basic cleaning, nothing too obsessive.

 

[tominboise]

I tend to clean my handguns every time I shoot them. Just what I do.

 

[K22]

Although I made a New Years resolution to avoid "barrel cleaning threads" I've opted to respond to this one since it deals with pistols. Since I have shot them for over 50+ years including competition, I thought I might have something of value to share.

I found that cleaning a pistol depends on the kind of pistol, i.e., revolver, semi-auto, or single shot and the type of bullet / powder that you are using. While I've owned all three types of pistols over the last 50+ years, for the purposes of this thread I am only going to address revolvers since that's what I've primarily shot for the last 50+ years or so.

When I shot swaged hollow-base wadcutters with target load charges of 231 or Bullseye powder in my Model 14, 38 Special, I could go an entire season without cleaning the barrel without any drop off in accuracy. However, I had to clean the cylinder, under the extractor star, and frame housing the cylinder (i.e. top strap, face plate, etc.) periodically to maintain functionality due to powder accumulation.

For jacket bullets, I found that I could go 100 to 150 rounds between cleaning the barrel without any loss of accuracy.

While I tried a variety of solvents and methods, I finally settle on old Hoppe's No. 9 with a bronze brush. After dry patching I run a very lightly coated patch of Hoppe's Gun Oil (mineral oil) or Barricade down the bore. Before shooting the pistol, I run a dry patch through the bore.

Since revolvers must be cleaned from the muzzle when using a cleaning rod, care must be taken to avoid damaging the crown. For this reason, the best cleaning rod I have found is the carbon fiber rods made by Hoppe's. This is especially essential for 22 caliber revolvers. For centerfires, it's fairly easy to keep the rod from touching the crown if you mount the revolver in a padded shop vice making sure it is vertically level. Even so, the carbon fiber rod provides extra margin of protection should you inadvertently tilt the rod.

 

[GetReal]

What are these "revolvers" of which you speak ?

 

[dantiff2]

It's personal preference- unless you are competing in an accuracy game. I go hundreds of rounds (500) with no ill effects. If I know the gun will sit for a while, then I'll clean with chore boy on brush and let sit with sweets for a while and they always wipe clean like new. If I know it's getting used in the near future, I'll just oil the high wear surfaces and keep it running. The only exemption is rimfire. They get cleaned to bare, every range session unless it's less than 200 rounds fired. I don't own any firearms that are too good to shoot and get dirty so i enjoy them while I'm alive to do so

 

[Steel Mover]

I clean my guns after every outing. Had our safety director run blind tests. The cleaned guns won by a wide margin. NRA did the same thing, with the same results, clean guns win matches.

 

[powderbrake]

I tend to clean my handguns every time I shoot them. Just what I do.

Me too.

 

[bullseyeshtr]

I shoot Precision pistol/bullseye. I will clean my barrel every 500rds or so. That is mainly shooting soft cast lead with hi-tek. I would bet my hardness is 12 or less. But every time you shoot is a good rule of thumb.

 

[stork]

I shoot Precision pistol/bullseye. I will clean my barrel every 500rds or so. That is mainly shooting soft cast lead with hi-tek. I would bet my hardness is 12 or less. But every time you shoot is a good rule of thumb.

I've done the same but up to 1000+ rds. I did a test for a winter season with my main wad gun (1911 set up for shooting semiwadcutter ammo). Shooting at least once a week averaging 100-150 rds per session. I went from November to March end without cleaning. Just to see how many rds it took until it failed to function. Towards the last 2-3 weeks it failed to lock back the slide after the 5th rd, but never a jam or failure to eject.
Load I was & still use for short line is 3.6 Clays with my cast 196 gr H&G 130 BN of 9-11, sized to .452 and crimped to .465, TZZ match brass. It still held x ring at 25 yards.
Yes it was filthy and I've never repeated the test. I have way too much respect for my gunsmith to ever abuse his creations like that again.
This wad gun has seen over 105,000 rds, still has the original firing pin & extractor and still holds well under 2" @ 50 yds.
It is on its second kart barrel. The first was toast by 30,000 rds in its 3rd year ( 10+ yrs prior to the torture test)
Al