When a friend conducted a weapons inspection at his department recently, he was dismayed to find that most of his officers did a poor job of maintaining their duty firearms. The striker-fired guns (like the Glock pistols and Smith & Wesson M&P pistols) that are so popular with police officers were in especially bad shape and demonstrated a distressing number of failures to fire and eject as a result of poor maintenance practices. Show To help make a dent in this problem, let’s discuss what you need to do in order to keep your Glock pistol running well. While we’re singling out the Glock pistol in particular, because of its dominance in the law enforcement market, this information will also apply to similar, striker-fired pistols like the Smith & Wesson M&P series, the Springfield XD/XDM series and the Sig Sauer P320. With slight modifications, it will also apply to hammer-fired pistols of various designs. Read the manual that came with your gun for the manufacturer’s recommendations on how to disassemble, clean and reassemble your pistol. (Photos by Mike Wood) getting startedBefore we dive into the particulars, a few general rules apply: Read your owner’s manual! Cops being cops, I know most of you have never cracked this open! Do yourself a favor and read the manual that came with your gun for the manufacturer’s recommendations on how to disassemble, clean and reassemble your pistol. There’s some good stuff in there, honest. Follow the safety rules! It’s essential to follow your agency’s firearms safety rules every time you handle your firearm. Before you attempt to disassemble and clean your firearm, you must safely unload/clear it in accordance with the process described by the manufacturer or your agency, and ensure that the ammunition remains separate from the gun (ideally, in another location) until you’ve made the conscious decision to load it again. Protective measures. Wear safety goggles to protect your eyes, and disposable gloves to keep lead and chemical residue off your skin. Ensure the area you’re working in has adequate ventilation. Clean up your work area when you’re finished, then wash your hands and face with cold water and soap (cold water is better than hot, to keep your skin’s pores from opening up and increasing your exposure), to avoid getting any chemicals or residue in your eyes, nose, or mouth. how to clean your glockA variety of cleaning products, tools and methods are available. Our goal here is to discuss a simple method, using common resources, so if you have a different technique or favor a different product, please continue with it ‒ we’re not trying to talk you out of it. Starting with your protective equipment in place, and a field-stripped firearm, do the following:
Cleaning your firearm begins with safely field stripping your pistol. Refer to the owner’s manual and/or your department guidelines for instruction on how to do this. It’s critical to get the feed ramp clean to ensure reliability. All this crud needs to come off so your cartridge can smoothly feed into the chamber. The chamber area must be clean to ensure reliability. Get all the carbon and other fouling out of here with solvent, a brush and clean patches. The area behind the extractor hook must be clean to prevent failures to feed and extract. You’ll want to periodically disassemble the slide for deep cleaning of this area, but you can usually get the job done without taking things apart if you’re careful. The breech face needs to be clean and smooth to ensure reliable feeding. Get the baked-on crud off of there. The slide rails need to be cleaned for reliability. It’s easiest if you use a brush to get in there. The frame rails collect crud and need to be cleaned so that the slide can travel without unnecessary friction. Don’t forget you have two up front and two in the back – get all four of them clean. These are the aft rails, right and left (top and bottom, in the photo) And these are the forward rails, right and left (top and bottom, in the photo) When you’re scrubbing the slide, hold it with the muzzle end down to prevent extra solvent and debris from running into the internals of the slide. If solvent and oil collect inside they can turn into a gummy residue that will prevent your pistol from working properly. Wipe the exterior of your magazines off, focusing on getting the follower and feed lips clear of any debris. You’ll want to periodically disassemble your magazines to clean the internals, but it’s not necessary every time. Wipe off the recoil spring assembly to get it clean and dry. Extra oil will attract dirt here and is unnecessary. Clean the big stuff off the frame with your rag, then go back for the detail cleaning with your brush and another clean rag or patch. This area back here is where your ejector, trigger bar and connector live, as well as the rear frame rails. Clean the locking block area and the forward rails with your rag to get them clean and dry. It’s hard to get the slide rails clean with just your finger and a rag. Use a tool to push a patch into the groove, and drag it along the length of the rail to get the crud out. You can clean the area behind the extractor hook with a pick, or by “flossing” it with a patch. Just make sure you don’t leave anything behind – this area needs to be clean and dry. If you need to scrub the breech face to get it clean, do it with the muzzle facing down, to limit the amount of runoff into the slide’s internals. Lubricating your glockWhen the parts are cleaned to your satisfaction, lubricate and reassemble your pistol. Be sparing with the oil, because you don’t need much to ensure proper function, and any excess will just attract dirt. Furthermore, excess oil will coagulate and turn into a sticky residue that might impair the reliability of your pistol.
To lubricate, place a small drop of oil on each of the forward frame rails. And a small drop of oil on each of the rear frame rails. A small drop of oil should be placed in the area where the cam on the trigger bar meets the connector. Place a small drop of oil near the muzzle, and wipe it around the circumference of the barrel with your finger. Place a small drop of oil where the hood of the barrel locks into the slide and smear it around with your finger. A small drop of oil on the locking lug is appropriate too. Smear it on the lug with your finger to distribute. Do the “tinkle test” to ensure your striker moves freely. Hold the firing pin safety plunger down, and shake the slide back and forth. You should hear and feel the striker moving around in its channel. If it doesn’t, you need to disassemble the slide and clean out the channel and striker components. Function checkOnce the pistol is lubricated and assembled, perform a function check to ensure the system is working properly.
Load upOnce the function check is complete, move to the location where your ammunition has been stored and tell yourself, “No more practice, COMBAT MODE.” This may sound a little silly, but it helps to establish that hard mental break that is necessary to prevent a negligent discharge from trying one more “dry fire.” Prepare your magazines with cartridges and load your pistol. Put the pistol in your holster and your magazines in their pouches, and secure your equipment. Fight the temptation to do any last-second cleaning or inspections as you put your gear away because that’s how accidents happen. Hit the streets with your clean and lubricated pistol, and be safe out there! NEXT: 5 important lessons about firearms maintenance About the authorMike Wood is the son of a 30-year California Highway Patrolman and the author of "Newhall Shooting: A Tactical Analysis," the highly-acclaimed study of the 1970 California Highway Patrol gunfight in Newhall, California. Mike is an Honor Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a graduate of the US Army Airborne School, and a retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel with over 26 years of service. He’s a National Rifle Association (NRA) Law Enforcement Division-certified firearms instructor, senior editor at RevolverGuy.com, and has been a featured guest on the Excellence In Training Academyand American Warrior Society podcasts, as well as several radio and television programs. He’s grateful for the opportunity to serve and learn from the men and women of law enforcement. Should I clean my Glock after every use?Your GLOCK pistol should be cleaned and lubricated: When it's brand new, before it's fired for the first time. After each time it's fired. At least once a month, if it hasn't been used in that time.
Is WD40 good for Glocks?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. Solvents, such as WD40, don't remove any gunk or slime. Solvents dissolve gunk, which then moves the dissolved goo to another area of your gun that you cannot see.
Is it easy to clean a Glock?Cleaning your Glock is super easy and simple! Everything from the tools you need to how often you should be doing it, we'll take you step-by-step through the whole process. And also how to detail strip it for when it gets really dirty.
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