Field Strip Question

[docvinyl33]

We change the oil in our cars after so many thousand miles so assuming one is using clean ammo and cleans the bore and chamber after each trip to the range how many rounds can one shoot before a field strip is needed?

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[browningautorifle]

Now you're going to get cleaning ethics... I do similar now though with several rifles, I just do a detailed cleaning when it's dirty enough to show. Otherwise it's bore and bolt face mostly. With my AR15s, I do a comprehensive clean every time. With the Norinco M14, just bore and bolt face and a wipe through the open receiver with oiled cloths. I saw a build up on the gas system of the Norinco M14 and it got it's detailed clean and oiling. I couldn't give a round count, just when noticed.

Is that what you asked?

[Singer B]

When I first get a used firearm, I inspect it for various markings and damage and to start my research reference its historical and financial values. That research tells me what type of cleaning/lubing it will receive to start it's time with me. My friend's Type 99 with the screws still staked received the standard cleaning and wipe down of the wood and no disassembly since that would have ruined its "staked" value. My Underwood carbine needed a full disassembly due to its previous lack of care. Each one is different. Now that my Underwood has been detail cleaned, oiled and preserved according to factory specs, I usually just give it a basic cleaning after each range trip and an out of the stock cleaning/lubing every couple of years. Everyone has their own thoughts on it, and what always amazes me is that despite the obvious lack of care and abuse many of these guns have experienced over the years, they still work great and provide a wonderful shooting experience.

[mrclark303]

Same here, if it's a new milsurp to me, complete strip clean, inspection for any potential faults and research any markings etc.

Bolt guns and AR/Fal types with readily accessible bolt groups, have a bolts out, careful clean and reassembly with bores flooded with Parker Hale gun oil.

Others like M1 Carbines with captive bolts, it's bolts locked to the rear
(always remembering that painful Garand thumb incident) and bore and bolt face cleaning in situ, with a once a year deep clean strip and check.

[Sunray]

There's field stripping and disassembling. Ain't the same thing with a Carbine.
Parts like the Gas piston are not designed to be taken out by the user either. Doing so isn't necessary anyway. If you do you will probably require a new piston nut.
However, as mentioned, any new to you milsurp or any new firearm requires disassembling and cleaning before shooting. Like mrclark303 says, once a year or if the thing stops working properly.

[Daan Kemp]

A Browning HiPower about 1 200 shots before it stops working. Military ball.

An FAL needs new gas cyinder, unlocking bar, serious scrubbing and cleaning after about 4 000 shots. Didn't stop working, the armourer was just horrified at the annual inspection and took it for fixing. Military ball.

[DaveHH]

I wouldn't run any firearm until it stopped working. That's like running a car with no oil in the engine, it wears until the friction forces it to stop. There are two ways of looking at it: it is dirty or it is dry, or maybe both. Lubrication is essential to any machine.
I bought a S&W model 39 a few years ago. At the shop it looked bad, the bore was just black, the finish was dull and looked awful as well. I was hesitant to pay $375 for it. At home it cleaned up to a perfect pistol. Flawless bore, shiny and strong rifling, the bluing was perfect and after a cleaning the pistol looked new. The previous owner has shot a few boxes and never touched the pistol. I wouldn't worry about how old the oil or grease was. Grease is just oil that stays where it is placed. You could run it on Bear Fat which was what was used in colonial America.

[marc780]

I always clean my guns after a range trip as if it'll get stored for an indefinite period, because it probably will. I have so many guns I only take 3 or 4 at a time, so that makes the storage time even longer!
It makes me nervous to leave guns uncleaned especially before you put them away - visions of coming back to a rusted hunk of metal that used to be a gun is what motivates me to clean them pretty well. The bore is hard to see and hard to clean so it's probably the most neglected part on the gun; so i clean it extra carefully. I use Kroil (I never soak the bore overnight in anything, doubly so with Kroil) and a brush, then patches, when they are clean eezox on the bore - always eezox! The only other thing i leave in the bore is Break free, or RIG.
For the rest of the gun, brake cleaner, a good scrub, then blow it out with compressed air. On bare metal, Eezox or RIG, sometimes TW25B, but always some preservative on the metal.

So far, I have not come back to a rusted piece of metal that used to be a gun yet and that's all I'm going for... but leaving a dirty gun in storage can have consequences I'd rather avoid by cleaning it.

[floydthecat]

I work gun shows with a couple of buddies and it’s amazing to see what comes across the table sometimes. I have seen plenty of guns that have never been cleaned, but keep on shooting. Like already mentioned, if they have been oiled or greased often enough, no matter how dirty, they will usually keep shooting. I keep my guns clean, but not pristine. Every time you tear one down, you can contribute to it’s wear. Pins don’t need to be pressed-out and screws loosened and tightened unless it’s really necessary.

[browningautorifle]

I have seen plenty of guns that have never been cleaned, but keep on shooting.

I did a dope deal with a buddy for his Mod 66 S&W in trade for mine. Both were 6" Bbl but his was a normal type with cross pin and recess cylinder. Mine had been a 2 1/2" dash 2 or 3 and had a 686 Bbl installed. He liked the full underlug better...his had never been cleaned that I could see but I wanted it more than the front heavy one I had so I got to clean ages of carbon that had all but stopped it from functioning. I imagine my old one now looks like that...