OK, after putting 500 rounds thru my new 1911 I did a complete disassembly cleaned every single part, oiled it and reassembled. Was not too hard, followed instructions on DVD that came with gun. My question is at what round count this should be done in the future. Or will just field stripping suffice from here on out?

Field strip is sufficient for 99% of your cleaning purposes..maybe once a year do a teardown to look for any excessive wear

Good question, thanks scarecrow.

Quick fieldstrip to clean and grease/oil. That can be done after every time you shoot it, or every couple times, or once every few months, or never.

 

Depends on what you prefer to do.

I do a complete dissasembly of every gun I purchase before first range visit, then quick field strips as needed after that.

I do a complete dissasembly of every gun I purchase before first range visit, then quick field strips as needed after that.

 

Rob, did your 1911 come with a full length guide rod?

 

Rob, did your 1911 come with a full length guide rod?

no I use the Wilson combat

Complete teardown is not a regular maintenance procedure for any firearm. It only needs to be taken apart to be fixed when its broken. Regular fieldstrip and cleaning is all that's needed on a regular basis. Flush it out with Gunscrubber regularly.

 

I have a Combat Commander I bought in 1974. Shot it, carried it, cleaned it regularly. After about 30 years and well over 30K rds the hammer would fall to half cock. Took it to a trusted pistosmith and that was the first and last time it was totally taken apart.

 

Even if you know what you're doing and have the right tools a gun is not meant to be taken apart all the time.

While it's nice to get in there and see everything a full strip I don't feel is nessessary, especially at only 500 rounds down the pipe. Heck my Brazos Custom Edge I ran something like 1000-1500 rounds through her and just kept her well oiled so the moving parts would have a chance to break in before I field stripped it and cleaned it. The basic lapping in so to speak being the gun is built tight. I would however run a bore snake through to clean up the ramp and bore.

Thanks to all for the input. Only reason I disassembled was because RIA’s have a rep. for leaving factory very dirty plus it was relatively easy. And it’s my 1^st 1911 Read in a few places that they don’t like to run dirty. Will stick to my usual routine now. Snake barrel and clean feed ramp after each outing and field strip, good cleaning and oil every 500 rounds

Thanks to all for the input. Only reason I disassembled was because RIA’s have a rep. for leaving factory very dirty plus it was relatively easy. And it’s my 1^st 1911 Read in a few places that they don’t like to run dirty. Will stick to my usual routine now. Snake barrel and clean feed ramp after each outing and field strip, good cleaning and oil every 500 rounds

 

No problem, I think everyone should always field strip and ops check every new gun prior to shooting it.

 

First to get to know it, to learn about how it works, clean the shipping lube that isn't good as a lubricant, most of it is just to stop the gun from rusting and to make sure nothing is wrong with the gun.