I've been stripping my 1911 down and cleaning it thoroughly after each trip to the range even if I've only fired 50 or so rounds through it. Today I took it and the M1 out and this evening it hit that I only take the M1 down once a year because frequent takedown and reassembly can affect accuracy and the tightness of the fit and isn't recommended. I clean the bore, grease the metal to metal contact areas I can reach without disassembly, and wipe down all metal. While I wouldn't go that long between disassembly and serious cleaning of the 1911, is it really necessary to do it after firing less than 100 rounds? Can I go 200, 300, 500 rounhd spread over a few weeks? What do the rest of you do?
How often do you strip and clean your 1911?
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Field strip it every time I shoot it, since I normally shoot 100 rounds or more per session. Approaching 6,500 rounds through this gun, it's never been detail stripped. Maybe it's getting about time.
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597 Posts
I FS clean and lube after every range trip no matter if I shoot 8 rounds or 800 rounds. This is also my CC so I do not want to trust my life to a dirty, non lubed weapon. I also FS and wipe and re-oil as needed once a week, Sundays. As I carry my PT at least 12 hours a day everyday. Lint and other stuff get in there like you wouldn't imagine. I clean my magazines as well the last Sunday of every month, unless I haven't used them. I also take this opportunity to rotate my magazines so not to weaken or give the springs false memory.
As far as a detailed strip, never gave it much thought. It has been done once when I first bought the weapon. It was a used gun and I wanted to visually check and clean every part and ensure nothing was broken or out of whack. Maybe after 10,000 rounds I will do it again. Would go ahead and do it if I had to replace parts or anything.
I should be getting a new PT soon, so I may never detail strip this one again and see just how far it can be pushed. Nah, I love her to much for that.
As far as a detailed strip, never gave it much thought. It has been done once when I first bought the weapon. It was a used gun and I wanted to visually check and clean every part and ensure nothing was broken or out of whack. Maybe after 10,000 rounds I will do it again. Would go ahead and do it if I had to replace parts or anything.
I should be getting a new PT soon, so I may never detail strip this one again and see just how far it can be pushed. Nah, I love her to much for that.
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29,918 Posts
"IF" it's strickly a "range gun" go as long as you want between cleanings if you want.
"BUT", if it's used at all for self defense, I'd clean it after every use, period.
My life and the life of my family is worth 20 minutes taken to field strip and clean a tool used for survival.
"BUT", if it's used at all for self defense, I'd clean it after every use, period.
My life and the life of my family is worth 20 minutes taken to field strip and clean a tool used for survival.
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62 Posts
I clean it every other range day. Because I normally only shoot about 50 shots... so once I get to 100 I field strip it. I have had the gun for about 3 weeks now and shot only about 200 rounds through it and I just detail stripped/cleaned it yesterday and today. Going forward a detail strip and clean should only take me about 1 hr now.
I didn't realize how messy shooting is and how dirty stuff gets. Surprizingly though I enjoy taking stuff apart and cleaning it. It's calming for me.
-Nigel
I didn't realize how messy shooting is and how dirty stuff gets. Surprizingly though I enjoy taking stuff apart and cleaning it. It's calming for me.
-Nigel
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I use a little 10 quart dish tub to do my cleaning, helps concentrate the mess into a smaller area that cleans up quickly. About the messiest things tend to be the rags when i'm finished.
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With a 1911 I tend to detail strip it and clean it every time I fire it. For me it's just a lot easier to clean that way. I spend a lot less time digging around with q-tips and pipe cleaners that way. I usually take the small parts and drop them in some kerosene along with the barrel while I work on the slide and frame. I fish the parts out with a telescoping magnet, and save the barrel for last. To me it's not much more trouble than field stripping, and I always kind of figure 'I've gone this far, might as well do the full monty.' And I have absolutely no doubt that it's obsessive/compulsive behavior. You don't need to go that far. Just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing it's **** and span.
Even guns you don't shoot need to be cleaned periodically. Oil will dry out and congeal over time, and I've seen it gum some actions up pretty good. Particularly Birchwood Casey Sheath. Never use it on the internals of a firearm - it's to protect the outside in salt water environments. I managed to gum one of my Pythons up so good with that stuff that the action wouldn't work at all. Cleaned it out and never used it again. But in fairness to Sheath - it probably would have helped if I'd read the label first.
You don't need to go that far. Just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing it's **** and span.Even guns you don't shoot need to be cleaned periodically. Oil will dry out and congeal over time, and I've seen it gum some actions up pretty good. Particularly Birchwood Casey Sheath. Never use it on the internals of a firearm - it's to protect the outside in salt water environments. I managed to gum one of my Pythons up so good with that stuff that the action wouldn't work at all. Cleaned it out and never used it again. But in fairness to Sheath - it probably would have helped if I'd read the label first.
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15,646 Posts
Same for me.
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597 Posts
Cleaning and properly lubing your weapon is never unneccesarry or a waste of time. Especially if it is your goto weapon.
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If I know it will be a few days before I get to FS and cleaning I run a boresnake through it with Breakfree CLP on it then FS as soon as I can. If its my carry gun it get FS and cleaned right away. The only time I've detail striped any of my guns is if they were exposed to bad weather while hunting or my Sig 556 or Auto shotguns as I have shot 1000 of rounds through them at one or 2 times.
I spend a lot of time cleaning and lubing. Just got to wondering how much was necessary for the 1911. My M1's get a bore cleaning and lube of accessible bearing surfaces after every trip to the range but removing the stock and a detailed cleaning are an annual affair. Just give 'em some grease and those old warhorses keep purring along. The NM M1a goes even further between detail stripping since it is glass bedded. The M4 gets a complete breakdown after each outing since they don't handle infrequent cleaning and lubing well. The PT1911 is a new gun with only about 250 rounds thru it. Given the problem of extractor breakage I don't fully trust it yet for carry. That task goes to a S&W Airweight or a SA EMP depending on conditions.
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52 Posts
Good point.
Oh, it's not strip, and clean your 1911. It's breakdown your weapon and thoroughly clean it. I was wondering why you needed to strip off your clothes unless you and your wife or significant other use as foreplay. Is this a variation of strip poker? :-0. Sounds interesting. This could bring a whole meaning to gun play.
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BN, have you been in the cooking sherry?
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