There are some times when you should clean your gun every time immediately after use. If you are shooting corrosive ammunition, or if the firearm is exposed to water, moisture, or other damaging elements you should always clean your gun as soon as possible. Corrosive ammunition, water, salts, dust and dirt can all lead to rust, corrosion, excess wear and tear and eventually the early failure of the rifle or pistol.

“But,” you say “I’ve got a stainless steel barrel and receiver. I don’t need to worry about moisture.” To a certain extent, that is true. Stainless steel components do help slow down corrosion and the effects of the elements that cause it, but such parts are more susceptible to excess wear from dirt, dust, and fouling. Stainless steel is softer than other steel used in firearms and as such can experience faster wear.

If you’ve got a gun that is only used for plinking, target clays, or punching holes in paper, it’s probably OK to let a few months and 3-4 trips to the range lapse before doing an in depth cleaning. You should still be aware that semi-automatics and rimfire firearms may begin to show performance and reliability issues with excessive fouling.

On the other hand, if you’re shooting a match gun or a firearm that is relied upon for personal defense, you should always keep it clean, oiled, and ready to go. As mentioned above, fouling, dirt and dust can cause reliability issues in semiautomatic firearms. Any primary defensive firearm should, in this writer’s opinion, be kept clean and well oiled at all times. Revolvers are not immune to fouling either: carbon build up on the cylinder can make a double action trigger nearly impossible to pull as the cylinder gap becomes clogged. For match guns, most semiautomatics run more accurate and more reliably when clean.

Depending on how often they are used, all firearms should periodically undergo a professional detailed cleaning where the firearm is torn down and thoroughly cleaned, oiled and reassembled. How often this is necessary depends on the number of rounds fired through the gun and the role it typically is used for, but I like to detail strip and clean all of my firearms at least once a year regardless of whether or not they ever made it out of the gun safe at all. On firearms that are just being stored in a safe, ambient moisture in the air, humidity, can cause some small rust spots to show up. Dessicants such as Hyskore drying silica gel will help reduce the humidity in your safe and cut down on rust caused by this moisture in the air. An annual cleaning not only makes sure that all of your guns are clean and stored properly, but also gives you the chance to inspect each firearm for problems that you may not normally notice. While you’ve got the gun broken down, look for cracks, rust and corrosion, erosion, or other signs that a part may need replacing.