Question on cleaning your 1911

He may not have been familiar with the disassembly process of the pistol. But to answer your question, no, after shooting I take my semi-autos apart to clean the entire piece.

I have pulled a boresnake through one once without disassembling it. Only because I had only fired ten rounds of test loads through it. Otherwise they come apart so easily I always take them apart to clean them.

Never shot enough rounds AT ONE TIME to run a swab/patch just through the barrel and always field strip and clean after every range session. Occasionally I've only fired one mag through the pistol but still field strip and clean. Some might say that's silliness but it's very easy to get distracted doing other things and then you look back and say "Gee, I shot that gun a year ago and don't recall ever cleaning it". Therefore, shoot, clean and repeat as necessary. At least I KNOW my weapons are clean.

Colt-SL said:

He may not have been familiar with the disassembly process of the pistol. But to answer your question, no, after shooting I take my semi-autos apart to clean the entire piece.

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I appreciate all the replies. I didn't think that he may not know how, never crossed my mind. I will offer to show him in a tactful way that doesn't call out that he may not know next time, taking special care to show him how to avoid the "idiot scratch". Thanks all

Many of the older Match shooters cleaned their target models without disassembling them.
This was believed to not alter the tight fit of parts.

Some of them only did a field strip at the end of a shooting season.

dfariswheel said:

Many of the older Match shooters cleaned their target models without disassembling them.
This was believed to not alter the tight fit of parts.

Some of them only did a field strip at the end of a shooting season.

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Correct Sir. It was a given that a complete cleaning would result in the dreaded "Alibi". Most were wiped down, then soaked with oil. Made for messy gun cases, but perfect scores.

I have shot my new Colt Commander twice now and only about 200 rounds total. I purposely have not cleaned yet. I do not CCW with it so I really want to see how long it will go before I notice any issues at range. I've heard 1911's are picky and finicky when dirty. No problems yet but its early.

I clean the whole gun not just the barrel after each range session and sometimes after I carry. I think one should always clean the whole gun and not just one particular part.

With modern ammo, firing a few rounds doesn't mean the barrel or pistol needs cleaning. You can fire 200/300 rounds at the range and it doesn't need cleaning every few rounds. I do field strip mine after every shooting session, but a complete tear down just isn't necessary. I am more concerned with getting sweaty finger prints off.

Oh, one other thing. I always at least field strip mine when cleaning it, no matter what. This is very important to do as well so you can inspect all visible parts for wear,tear and possible damage. However, this is just my opinion.