Do you run a lightly oiled swab through the barrel and chamber?
I used to, but was told not to by the instructor at a safety course I took a couple of years ago, and have since stopped. The argument was that it a) would attract and hold residue in the chamber area, and b) that oil in the barrel could be potentially dangerous--if the barrel is oiled, it should be swabbed out with a clean cloth before firing that first shot. The oil cannot possibly move out of the way fast enough for a bullet fired down the barrel and is therefore not good to have in there.
I've done quite a bit of searching on the web for information on this, and I'm getting mixed signals. Glock, for example, doesn't recommend it for reason a) and that oil in that area could damage primers. Not surprisingly, manufacturers of gun oils recommend it.
I shoot at least once a week and have not noticed any signs of rust in the barrel since I stopped oiling it, but if oil is recommended, I am willing to start again just to be safe. I don't go crazy in removing every speck of lead from the barrel anyway--I clean, but I don't soak the barrel for 20 minutes in solvent and then scrub with the bore brush 100 times and run 20 swabs through it! I figure the little lead left just fills in the irregularities in the barrel surface and adds a little protection. I can't believe a barrel cleaned that thoroughly stays clean for more than one shot anyway.
I used to, but was told not to by the instructor at a safety course I took a couple of years ago, and have since stopped. The argument was that it a) would attract and hold residue in the chamber area, and b) that oil in the barrel could be potentially dangerous--if the barrel is oiled, it should be swabbed out with a clean cloth before firing that first shot. The oil cannot possibly move out of the way fast enough for a bullet fired down the barrel and is therefore not good to have in there.
I've done quite a bit of searching on the web for information on this, and I'm getting mixed signals. Glock, for example, doesn't recommend it for reason a) and that oil in that area could damage primers. Not surprisingly, manufacturers of gun oils recommend it.
I shoot at least once a week and have not noticed any signs of rust in the barrel since I stopped oiling it, but if oil is recommended, I am willing to start again just to be safe. I don't go crazy in removing every speck of lead from the barrel anyway--I clean, but I don't soak the barrel for 20 minutes in solvent and then scrub with the bore brush 100 times and run 20 swabs through it! I figure the little lead left just fills in the irregularities in the barrel surface and adds a little protection. I can't believe a barrel cleaned that thoroughly stays clean for more than one shot anyway.