You should ALWAYS clean your gun within a few days of shooting it. You don’t need to clean in 5 minutes after you fire but generally within one week will be fine.

On the higher end of the salary spectrum, a Gunsmith can make up to approximately $48,605 per year, with an average salary of $36,267 annually, with experience. No doubt, a self-employed Gunsmith has the most earning potential. The average salary for a machinist is $43,220 annually, depending on experience.

It is not possible to over clean your guns, if you clean them properly. Using the wrong style of cleaning rod, or even using a cleaning rod incorrectly can very easily damage the crown or chamber of your barrel.

Fouling can lead to rust and erosion damage that eats the metal of the gun, typically starting inside the barrel of the gun, then around the chamber, ejector and firing mechanism. During fouling, parts have been known to rust and fuse together, causing failure to feed as well as fire.

While it’s not mandatory, its recommended that you clean your guns after every use. Even after firing a single shot your gun barrel may get a noticeable amount of gunk and debris left behind.

Dirty barrels are probably the number one reason that otherwise good shooting rifles turn bad. Depending on your gun, that could happen every ten shots or every hundred shots. If you want to be on the safe side, clean your rifle after every trip to the range, assuming that you shoot a couple dozen rounds.

The reason is that there isn’t any point in cleaning your guns every 100 rounds or every range trip. You’re not going to break your gun or hurt it by cleaning it (unless you’re careless during disassembly and reassembly) but most modern firearms do not need to be cleaned more than every 1,000-5,000 rounds.

Residual fouling buildup: Each bullet that passes through your gun creates fouling residue in the barrel. The residual fouling can build up in the barrel, affecting your precision and potentially your handgun’s reliability. Failure to fire: Failure to fire is a common issue with guns that don’t see regular cleaning.

Since WD-40 is primarily a solvent it seems to make sense that it would be ideal for cleaning guns. However, cleaning your guns with WD40 is NOT advisable. Using an aerosol solvent simply “shoots” all the gunk into tiny crevices in your firearm, making them even harder to clean and can lead to “gumming” up.

While firing a handgun it should be held at the arm’s length. This is will allow the recoil to be directed back to the hand and arm in the straight line, this will prevent any harm caused by the back pressure created by the gases after firing.

Always unload and case firearms before transporting them. In many states, this may be the law. The action should be open or the gun broken down, whichever makes the firearm safest if it’s mishandled. Firearms should not be displayed in window gun racks because the display may provoke anti-hunter sentiment.

The most effective shots are delivered to an animal’s vital organs—heart and lungs. In large game animals, these organs lie in the chest cavity behind the front shoulder. A lung shot is the most effective shot for big game. The area of the vital organs also contains major blood vessels and arteries.