4 Reasons Why Cleaning and Maintaining Your Weapon is Important
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Why Is Cleaning Your Weapon Important?
Your gun is like any other tool, it needs to be maintained to operate the way it was designed to operate. When a gun, be it a range toy, great grandad's old Winchester or an everyday carry self defense weapon, cleaning and maintaining your weapon is important.
Here is a list of reasons with a bit of an explanation for each on why you should take the time to learn how to and clean your guns. Other than trying to intimidate the boy your daughter just started to date of course.
1.) LongevitySimple maintenance and cleaning can make sure your gun will last for generations, not years. Have you heard people say their shotgun belonged to their great grandfather? The gun lasted because it was taken care of. The owner didn't likely shoot the gun then throw it in a dirty, damp basement for 30 years. A simple cleaning, oiling and storing the gun in a case or safe can preserve it for a long time. Keep in mind, guns with wooden inserts, handles or stocks will take some extra care. Depending on the type of wood, you can use a wax or sometimes a polish just like you would on your wooden furniture. |
2.) Knowing How the Gun WorksYou may not have a burning desire to know what happens to make the bullet leave the chamber of your Glock. However, cleaning and maintaining your gun will help you learn about how the gun works. You'll learn how the parts interact with each other. Some guns are more complicated to disassemble, clean and put back together. Some handguns let you field strip them quite easily like the Glocks. You don't need to be an all out gunsmith, but being able to field strip the gun, clean and oil all of your guns is a good bit of knowledge to have. |
3.) You'll Learn to Lubricate Your GunMore lubrication is not always a good thing when you're maintaining your gun. When the moving parts of your gun have too much lubrication there will be some issues such as excess dirt build up. The dirt build up can cause light primer strikes and Failure to Fire (FTF). Failure to Eject (FTE) can occur when the lube works its way into the parts of the gun and magazine which transport the round from magazine to chamber. If it's like a Slip-N-Slide in there, you'll have malfunctions. |
4.) Safety and ReliabilityAfter you practice shooting your self defense gun, you should clean it. You are betting your life on the gun working when you pull the trigger. Having rust in the barrel or crud collecting in the over lubricated areas could be your last mistake. |
How to Clean a Handgun
Having a well maintained car won't leave you stranded on the side of the road. The same goes for your self defense gun. Maintain it to the best of your ability and it should work with every trigger pull.
How often do you clean your primary self defense gun?
Feel free to share any tips and tricks down in the comments.
About The Author
Trevor Dobrygoski has been afreelance copywritersince 2009. He has written about many different topics over the years. His 9-5 is outfitting police and other public safety vehicles with all of the equipment the law enforcement and other first responders need to save lives. When not working and writing, he is coaching, refereeing and playing the world's greatest game... Soccer.