Glock Barrel Cleaning - When is Enough?

[Silphidae 33]

I put between 1000 and 1200 rounds through my Glock 34. Cleaned it after the first 200 and then around 700. I used 26 cleaning patches, each one 4 times and I was still getting fouling on the patches. I would run a clean brush down the barrel after every 5 patches (cleaned with gunscrubber so it wasn't re-depositing any fouling). I finally gave up and called it a day by running the last 3 dry. If I would have wet the last patches I guarantee they would have looked dirty....they only started to look good since they were dry.

 

Is this normal or is there a better way to clean the barrel? I used Break Free Bore Cleaner at first and there wasn't any copper fouling. The rest of the cleaning was with Gunzilla and CLP. The bottom right patch was the last one.

 

[Ronald Silver 2]

Looks like dirty ammo...

[Jon 264]

Clean the chamber, ignore the rest and just shoot it. It's a glock, it doesn't need to be cleaned.

[Tactical Turtle 11]

I have a shallow tupperwear container with hoppes solvent in it that I soak my barrel in, firing pin assembly, and recoil spring. I normally.put them.in first thing, clean the slide and frame by then its been soaking long enough and I pull them all out, rinse them all off with clean water and then dry. The barrel I run a nylon barrel brush through. I stopped using metal ones a whole ago.

[BlueLineFish 615]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I maybe clean my glock twice a year and I'm not all that meticulous about it. Seems to run better a little dirty.

[Silphidae 33]

800 of the rounds were American Eagle 124gr. I bought 1000 for $160 so I couldn't resist, but yeah it's silly dirty. i have 2000 rounds of S&B waiting as soon as I go through the rest of the AE.

 

Clean the chamber, ignore the rest and just shoot it. It's a glock, it doesn't need to be cleaned.

 

I know it's a Glock and I don't clean it that often, but when I do I'd like it to be clean.

 

cguiro - I'll try soaking the barrel overnight and see what happens - how many patches do you have to run through it after soaking to the patches clean?

 

Is it unreasonable to expect a clean patch as an end goal or am I chasing my tail?

[Tactical Turtle 11]

I clean both of mine every time I shoot since I carry both. I don't think u need a overnite soak. That's a lil extreme. Mine soak for 20-25 minutes max. I.do the nylon.brush first, then run a bore snake through it. That does the trick for me. Yes the snake gets dirty but idk lol, try a snake a couple times down the bore. It workable better than patches.and a brush. Use a nylon brush first to get a lot of the grime.off

[Silphidae 33]

Thanks.

 

[DevsAdvocate 112]

Cleaning? Glock? What is this madness?

[bulpup 98]

The beat thing you can do is keep it dunked in solvent for a while as others have said.

 

However, the in the future you sould clean it a little more often with a combo cleaner, oil and protectant. The protecting part will keep the clean up easier each time.

 

I like my G19 looking factory new. But I will clean it after two trips to the range. A good cleaner makes the next cleaning a 5 minute affair.

[Old School 611]

Any barrel that's really dirty I like to clean while warm, it seems to work. If I can't spray it down with solvent while warm I heat it up with a hair dryer when I get home and get the solvent in there. A heat gun isn't necessary. Try it!

[Silphidae 33]

I've only had it since the beginning of February and I haven't cleaned it that much because "it's a glock". Now that I see how dirty it really was I'll pay a little more attention and clean it more often.

 

I'll warm it up and see if that helps when I get home from work tonight.

[lunker 274]

I don't clean my hard use guns much. They don't need it.

[hd2000fxdl 422]

I like to also use a bore snake after running a brush and a few wet patches through, but like others said, it's a Glock..

[DevsAdvocate 112]

Crazy question here: do guns really need their barrels cleaned often? I could see it if you want to baby a 1911... but I really don't see the utility of doing it with a Glock... especially given the octagonal rifling and tennifer finish.

[Old School 611]

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness"... And it's always nice to have somebody bigger than you on your side.

[RAL1979 9]

Agreed that cleaner is better, but don't go crazy trying to get the bore spotless, it's just not necessary.

[Dan 177]

I'd clean more often with just a little effort, no need to go nuts. Then do a full crazy clean and de-copper every 1000 rounds or so. Thats my rule of thumb.

[Old School 611]

And really don't forget the trigger group. If you want to take the trigger goup out fine but not absolutely necessary.

Just get the crud out of there. Hot soapy water works great with water as hot as it comes from the tap, and blow out with "Dust Off" or equal. Relube lightly.

[SpacemanFry 51]

Weird... I run American Eagle 124gr as well and I do not find it that dirty. Generally it does not take more than 4-6 swipes with a patch to get my Glock to the point where there is barely any visible residue on the patches. I used to clean it after every range trip (200-300 rounds) now I go longer in between cleanings.

[fmtek 4]

Weird... I run American Eagle 124gr as well and I do not find it that dirty. Generally it does not take more than 4-6 swipes with a patch to get my Glock to the point where there is barely any visible residue on the patches. I used to clean it after every range trip (200-300 rounds) now I go longer in between cleanings.

 

I was going to say the same. I've used dirty AE and regularly Federal and even Wolf through my G30 and never had to go past a few patches for the barrel.

 

I spray the inside of the barrel with gun scrubber and soak a patch with it too, and run it through the barrel. I then spray again in the barrel and spray a brass bore brush too, and run that through the barrel like 20 times. Then a few more soaked patches with gun scrubber and it's clean. Wow, 20+ patches is crazy.

[Silphidae 33]

I'M HAPPY NOW! Bought some M-Pro7 and went to town with the nylon brush for some time. 10 more patches and the patches were coming out nice and clean.

 

Another question popped into my head. I'm using 2" x 2" patches and folding them over to make triangles out of them. It's a little challenging to push them through the barrel....do you think this extra pressure could push the patches deeper into the grooves and I was really over cleaning?

 

Yes - I agree that 20+ patches is crazy!