[demari21]

As the title asks, I'm wondering if frequent detail cleaning is bad for a handgun?

By detail cleaning I mean FULLY DISASSEMBLING the frame and slide to clean every single part.

I bought my Glock 19 Gen4 back in July '12 and since then have put just over 1800 rounds through it, with no malfunctions whatsoever. I clean after every day at the range, mostly just standard cleaning. I've done full detail cleanings of the frame and slide a few times already.

I'm know the actual act of cleaning is just fine, but I read somewhere that FULLY DISASSEMBLING & REASSEMBLING the frame and slide puts excess wear on the gun.

Is this true?

 

[SeventiesWreckers]

It's not really necessary, even if you grossly over lube, all you really need to do is give it a high pressure squirt with some brake cleaner, to blow out all the dirt the extra oil has collected. As to wearing the gun out by frequent disassembly & re assembly? It would probably take a lot of them to put any significant wear on the gun. But you do stand a chance of slipping, & galling a pin bore, losing or bending springs, etc. And for no real good reason, or remedy. They just don't need that much attention.

 

[demari21]

Thanks for the reply SeventiesWreckers.

I've heard that Glocks don't need that much attention. This being my first gun, I want to take the best care of it as possible. And when I'm disassembling and reassembling, I am very careful with all the parts.

 

[dwcfastrice]

Clean it all you want. If you do bend or wear one of the little parts, the parts arent expensive to replace.

A note on brake cleaner, try to use non-chlorinated brake cleaner.

Besides, it helps you to know the pistol better.
I detail clean every 500 rounds or so.

D

 

[Smacks286]

I detail the frame once a year. I can reach most spots without taking it completely apart. The slide gets taken apart at least twice a year and checked for damaged and broken parts. I change all springs at or near 5,000 if they need them or not. YMMV

 

[unit44justin]

I detail strip my G23 after every time I shoot it. With it being my carry gun I want it spik and span.

 

[mgardner]

It won't hurt it for sure. Just get some extra striker spring retainer cups.

 

[VLOBB]

It IS possible to ware a GLOCK out from frequent disassembly/assembly. It would take a ridiculous amount of cycles to do it... but it can happen. Anyone that has taken an Armorer's Course can attest to that. It's not at all necessary as others have stated. I do all my GLOCK pistols once a year, or every 5K rounds, whichever comes first.

You can and most likely will damage and wear parts from improperly disassembling and assembling the pistol. This is really where the problem/s can happen. I read in another thread here that a member was using a hammer to remove the trigger pin because he was unaware you had to move the slide stop lever back and forth to free the pin. If you really don't know what your doing, don't do it. Take the Armorer's Course, which anybody can and get the proper education on how to do it right. It's worht the investment.

 

[demari21]

Thanks for the replies everybody!

It's probably just me but I swear the second best thing about going shooting is cleaning afterwards lol. It's my carry gun so I like to keep it looking and running like new.

And like I said before, I'm very careful when I'm disassembling/reassembling the handgun. I probably watched the same YouTube video on how to properly detail strip it 20 times before I did it myself.

 

[BORIS]

Thanks for the replies everybody!

It's probably just me but I swear the second best thing about going shooting is cleaning afterwards lol. It's my carry gun so I like to keep it looking and running like new.

And like I said before, I'm very careful when I'm disassembling/reassembling the handgun. I probably watched the same YouTube video on how to properly detail strip it 20 times before I did it myself.

If its your carry gun then you should test fire it after it has been put back into service. Every time I have seen problems from any brand of weapon was when a gun was thought to have been put back together proper, when something wasnt and caused a part breakage or something wasnt put back in or was put in wrong. I take any gun out of working duty that has been detail stripped untill I can confirm reliable function of a minimum of 100 rounds.

Its good you keep it clean, but not advised to rely on a gun for protection of life after it has been fully taken apart and put back together.

 

[VLOBB]

If its your carry gun then you should test fire it after it has been put back into service. Every time I have seen problems from any brand of weapon was when a gun was thought to have been put back together proper, when something wasnt and caused a part breakage or something wasnt put back in or was put in wrong. I take any gun out of working duty that has been detail stripped untill I can confirm reliable function of a minimum of 100 rounds.

Its good you keep it clean, but not advised to rely on a gun for protection of life after it has been fully taken apart and put back together.

It's completly fine to trust the gun IF the proper function tests have been preformed on the pistol prior to use and/or an Armorer has actually done the work. If it fails any of the tests, you stop and figure things out. This is something no YouTube video ever really covers and it's so incredibly improtant.

After reassembly there are several, very specific test that need to be completed while the pistol is in the "field stripped" stage and then another set for the fully assembled pistol. It a hell of a lot to type but not at all hard to prefrom, proably takes 90 seconds.

 

[BORIS]

It's completly fine to trust the gun IF the proper function tests have been preformed on the pistol prior to use and/or an Armorer has actually done the work. If it fails any of the tests, you stop and figure things out. This is something no YouTube video ever really covers and it's so incredibly improtant.

After reassembly there are several, very specific test that need to be completed while the pistol is in the "field stripped" stage and then another set for the fully assembled pistol. It a hell of a lot to type but not at all hard to prefrom, proably takes 90 seconds.

Not from what I have seen. I am also armorer qualified for several makes of weapons, to include Glock. Armorer is not my primary job, just one of my qualifications and I do alot of repairs while doing what I call work that takes me away from here for long periods of time. If a weapon has been tore down it will not see service untill it has been tested. More often than you would like to see, weapons fail during testing, to include Glocks. Seen it too many times in the real world.

Its just sound advice to test fire it first. You all can trust what you want. When in reality a Glock that has fired 100 rounds to be sure its reliable is not going to fail because it aint detail stripped clean. A glock with 5,000 rounds without a detail strip is still fine, a Glock without a detail strip in 50,000 rounds is still fine and there is plenty of pistols without a detail strip out there with them many rounds to overwhelmingly prove it.

Test a fully stripped gun before you rely on it to protect your LIFE. It is probably the best advice I can give here.....

 

[okdonk]

I detail strip clean it each time i clean my Glocks. I enjoy doing it so much. I just love the feeling to know my guns are fully completely clean n taken care of. The more you love the guns.. they will protect your life when they need to.

 

[demari21]

Not from what I have seen. I am also armorer qualified for several makes of weapons, to include Glock. Armorer is not my primary job, just one of my qualifications and I do alot of repairs while doing what I call work that takes me away from here for long periods of time. If a weapon has been tore down it will not see service untill it has been tested. More often than you would like to see, weapons fail during testing, to include Glocks. Seen it too many times in the real world.

Its just sound advice to test fire it first. You all can trust what you want. When in reality a Glock that has fired 100 rounds to be sure its reliable is not going to fail because it aint detail stripped clean. A glock with 5,000 rounds without a detail strip is still fine, a Glock without a detail strip in 50,000 rounds is still fine and there is plenty of pistols without a detail strip out there with them many rounds to overwhelmingly prove it.

Test a fully stripped gun before you rely on it to protect your LIFE. It is probably the best advice I can give here.....

Good point.

I know there is NOT a better way to test a gun after reassembly other than going to the range and putting rounds through it. That being said, I do the tests that VLOBB talks about.

Again, great input BORIS. I will defiantly keep that in mind.

 

[demari21]

Thanks everybody for the input.

Conclusion: Frequent detail cleaning isn't necessary, and eventually it will wear out the pin holes and possibly other parts.

But I must say after detail stripping it once, I've learned a lot about the gun. And I can thoroughly clean the Glock while it is gutted. For me, it is satisfying and assuring, knowing that all the parts of the gun are as clean as possible. It's actually a lot of fun fully disassembling & reassembling...probably why I do it so frequently

 

[talkglock]

I myself just do a 'general' cleaning after each range visit and every 1,000 rounds to a complete dis assembly of the slide.

I recently purchased a cheap ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and clean the frame with each general cleaning along with the barrel and RSA. Since no water can get trapped I simply tap the frame to 'knock' out any remaining water, sit the frame rail side down for like an hour or two to get remaining water out, relube as per the Glock manual and it's good to go for the next time.