Moltke
01-14-14, 12:23
Preventative Maintenance!
Many folks either clean their guns alot, or don't clean their guns at all - which is not what I want to talk about here. I'm posting about maintenance because that's the part of "maintaining" a firearm that most will overlook. Eventually parts break and people should keep an eye on their gear to know what to change & when - so that you get rid of that bad part before it's a problem.
I don't shoot my carry gun (Glock 19) much anymore since I've got into competition shooting but because I carry it everywhere/everyday, I still do preventative maintenance on it. It's easy and cheap, and gives me peace of mind. That being said, my training / competition guns have seen alot of rounds in the past few years and preventative maintenance keeps them going strong too.
I shoot my two primary Glock 34's to a total of about 25k rounds per year combined (not each). I use them for training classes, competitions, my own weekly practice and they're shot indoors, outdoors, hot, cold, dirty, clean, rain, shine, dry, wet, whatever, and do well in all conditions - as should be expected.
Instead of constant cleaning and attention, every January I make it a point to do preventative maintenance - and oh look, it's January!
1. Start with a full blown stripping and cleaning of the entire gun. If you don't know how to do it, get a punch and watch Youtube, they'll walk you through it. Most cleaner/lubricant/preservative oils will get the job done, I prefer FIRECLEAN.
2. Once the gun is broken down and cleaned, change out all the springs that are used in cycling the action. Springs are easy and cheap, I buy OEM stuff from Glockmeister as they ALWAYS have them in stock and they're pretty quick. They are of course available elsewhere but for example, I just got:
G17 Recoil Spring Assembly - $7.50
Depressor plunger spring - $3
GLOCK Firing Pin Safety Kit for 9mm - $4
Factory OEM Firing Pin Spring For All GLOCK Models - $3
GLOCK Trigger Spring fits all models - $2
So look at that, $19.50 to reset all your worn out springs to factory conditions.
3. While putting the gun back together, look for wear and tear on parts, and change them out as needed. If something has damage such as - it's ground down, chipping, flaking, or it's too "iffy" then just change it out and move on. If there's just some light rub marks then it's likely it's fine, don't worry about it.
4. Then put the gun back together, oil the parts well, and go back to training.
The moral of this story is everyone needs to find their balance between cleaning, maintenance and shooting. Cleaning is easy, and maintenance is easy, and having guns that work will lend to your shooting being successful whether it is defensive or for fun. Glock pistols are easy to shoot, easy to work on, easy to maintain, and cheap. Clean it when it needs to be cleaned, inspect the parts and replace them as necessary, and focus on becoming a better shooter.
I hope this was helpful to someone.
Many folks either clean their guns alot, or don't clean their guns at all - which is not what I want to talk about here. I'm posting about maintenance because that's the part of "maintaining" a firearm that most will overlook. Eventually parts break and people should keep an eye on their gear to know what to change & when - so that you get rid of that bad part before it's a problem.
I don't shoot my carry gun (Glock 19) much anymore since I've got into competition shooting but because I carry it everywhere/everyday, I still do preventative maintenance on it. It's easy and cheap, and gives me peace of mind. That being said, my training / competition guns have seen alot of rounds in the past few years and preventative maintenance keeps them going strong too.
I shoot my two primary Glock 34's to a total of about 25k rounds per year combined (not each). I use them for training classes, competitions, my own weekly practice and they're shot indoors, outdoors, hot, cold, dirty, clean, rain, shine, dry, wet, whatever, and do well in all conditions - as should be expected.
Instead of constant cleaning and attention, every January I make it a point to do preventative maintenance - and oh look, it's January!
1. Start with a full blown stripping and cleaning of the entire gun. If you don't know how to do it, get a punch and watch Youtube, they'll walk you through it. Most cleaner/lubricant/preservative oils will get the job done, I prefer FIRECLEAN.
2. Once the gun is broken down and cleaned, change out all the springs that are used in cycling the action. Springs are easy and cheap, I buy OEM stuff from Glockmeister as they ALWAYS have them in stock and they're pretty quick. They are of course available elsewhere but for example, I just got:
G17 Recoil Spring Assembly - $7.50
Depressor plunger spring - $3
GLOCK Firing Pin Safety Kit for 9mm - $4
Factory OEM Firing Pin Spring For All GLOCK Models - $3
GLOCK Trigger Spring fits all models - $2
So look at that, $19.50 to reset all your worn out springs to factory conditions.
3. While putting the gun back together, look for wear and tear on parts, and change them out as needed. If something has damage such as - it's ground down, chipping, flaking, or it's too "iffy" then just change it out and move on. If there's just some light rub marks then it's likely it's fine, don't worry about it.
4. Then put the gun back together, oil the parts well, and go back to training.
The moral of this story is everyone needs to find their balance between cleaning, maintenance and shooting. Cleaning is easy, and maintenance is easy, and having guns that work will lend to your shooting being successful whether it is defensive or for fun. Glock pistols are easy to shoot, easy to work on, easy to maintain, and cheap. Clean it when it needs to be cleaned, inspect the parts and replace them as necessary, and focus on becoming a better shooter.
I hope this was helpful to someone.