How long does it usually take to clean your 1911 or other pistols?

[PriestEG]

it would deffinately depend on how much it has been fired and what kind of ammo was used. i routinely spend about 10mins per week to clean the normal accumilation of dust and dirt off that my pistol gets from CCing it. After a good day at the range, ill put it about an hour hour and get it perfect again

 

[adam]

I'm pretty OCD about cleaning my 1911 and firearms in general, so 1+ hour is pretty common for me even on a routine cleaning.

 

[88E30M50]

We typically spend about an hour and a half cleaning guns after a range trip and that's for 6 to 8 guns. Cleaning them is almost as much fun as shooting them. On the 1911s, if they've been shot a lot, it will take about 20 minutes to a half hour to strip, clean, lube and assemble each one. If it has recently been thoroughly cleaned and was used lightly, then it might just get a boresnake pulled through a couple of times, a good wipe down internally using a rag over a brush and then a bit of lube before it goes back into the safe.

If it's a carry gun, then it gets the full treatment, including burning some incense, carrying it around on a velvet pillow and anointing it with Hoppe's #9.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

Bout a half hour, and that's with some fairly thorough inspection time.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

If it's a carry gun, then it gets the full treatment, including burning some incense, carrying it around on a velvet pillow and anointing it with Hoppe's #9.

+1 for pampering. Sorry, out of rep's today.

 

[loony1]

my 1911 takes the longest of all my pistols, probably 45 minutes for a good clean.

 

[wwdkd]

I fall into the half an hour range for all of my guns, steel and plastic alike.

 

[adam]

+1 for pampering. Sorry, out of rep's today.

I got you covered, it got a solid chortle out of me.

 

[bobzilla]

Usually about 20 minutes. I do a wipe down on the outside after a few days of carrying. With acidic sweat, it's a good preventative measure. It's kept the gun looking and functioning great for over 10 years.

 

[hooky]

Depending on the gun, 20-45 minutes. 90 minutes the first time I took my Ruger Mark III apart to clean it.

 

[MtnBiker6510]

I enjoy cleaning them when I get home, but even then, I usually only spend about 10 min for ea. pistol and 30 min on the AR, 5 min ea. on the shotguns & bolt guns

 

[ccolip2189]

it usually takes me about 20-30 min to clean it but if i strip the gun completely then i am lookin at 2 hours

 

[Osobuco]

Depending on the gun, 20-45 minutes. 90 minutes the first time I took my Ruger Mark III apart to clean it.

I hear ya on the Mark 3 - took me hours to figure the thing out the first time. Now I can clean my autos and revolvers spic and span in about 20-30 minutes each and that is being quite thorough. Now I am not pulling grips or springs or cylinders and the like mind you. For autos I pull slide, barrel, guide rod, etc - typical field strip - clean lube and reassemble.

 

[Armed-N-Ready]

30 minutes if I just give it a good field strip/clean. I shoot a 2011, about every 2 month's I'll completely diassemble, remove grip from frame, drop all the internals, clean, inspect, lube and reassemble. 2 hours for this chore.

OK what is a 2011? I usually spend about 20 - 30 for a 1911, about the same for the plastics. They get a good deep clean 45 - 60 twice a year.

 

[SEIndSAM]

Yeah, I agree with Armed-N-Ready 20-30 minutes. Deep clean with soaking parts, 45-60.

 

[redpitbull44]

If we are talking taking a clean pistol, shooting it 100-500 times and cleaning it, usually 15 minutes. I use foaming bore cleaner for the barrel, brake clean for the rest, then spray it down with oil. Of course, I do a semi-annual detail strip and cleaning as well. On some guns, that is actually more of an annual blow the dust off with compressed air type of thing. I also scrub the bejesus out of the barrel with bronze brushes and jag patches.

 

[Arthur Dent]

About 15-20 minutes to clean my P95. And that's after around 500 rounds and three trips to the range.

 

[zenbruno]

I enjoy the process of cleaning my 1911, and it is maintained in a condition which I would describe as immaculate. But I am diligent in the maintenance of every gun that I own, blued-steel or polymer. I can flow through the cleaning of my guns with efficiency, if time is limited or I can devote the evening to the disassembly, cleaning, inspection and re-assembly of it all. In this way, an evening of gun cleaning becomes an extension of my enjoyment of shooting. The same with reloading: for me, it is an enjoyable extension, and a natural continuity, of shooting.

The question that was raised about "over-cleaning" a gun may be grounded in concern for the rifling -- for the lands -- of the barrel. Discussions about bore cleaning can become tantamount to discussions about religion -- especially among precision competition shooters.
I believe in applying the most velvet technique that still achieves thorough cleaning of the bore. Those Hoppe's Tornado Brushes, in spiral-wound stainless steel, are ruthlessly effective but I would not like to use a brush which is composed of the same material for which I'm attempting to clean. There is much more to be said on that subject, but in another thread, I'm sure.

 

[M67]

Depends if I'm field stripping or full dissasembly. Field strip is about 10 minutes (what can I say, I try to clean every nook and cranny on the slide), full is about 40 minutes.

But, it depends how detailed a cleaning I want to give, but when I set out to full clean something, I FULLY clean it. From a 1911, to taking apart a revolver, 10/22, 870 express, whathaveyou.

It's not that 1911s are complicated to take apart, it's just that they look so damn sexy when they're fully taken apart and clean , but a good, used, and dirty 1911 looks pretty good too

 

[hot rod al]

OK what is a 2011?

As far as I know 2011's are just double stack versions of the 1911 and made of both steel and plastic. Somebody chime in if I'm wrong. Nevertheless, I haven't handled one.

New Brazos Custom++ 2011 | Ken Nelson