Cleaning your pocket carry gun

[incredipete]

I inspect regularly, but I don't clean unless I've been to the range.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[ArtificialGrape]

Thanks for all the replies.

[Harold Green]

Last fall, I wore my Kimber Compact on a three-day river trip through the wilds of southeastern Utah. There was plenty of Mud and sand on this trip, and when I got home I realized the gun was a little bit gritty.

In order to best get all the grit out of the gun, I did a full, detail strip, rather than just a field strip, when I cleaned it. Guess what I found in the bowls of the gun’s workings when I stripped it? Yup, I found pocket lint. Not just a little pocket lint, but a significant amount of pocket lint.

It had been a while since I last detail stripped this gun, and it had been carried a fair amount in an IWB since then. It was never carried in a pocket or on an ankle. Just riding around in an IWB for a while allowed it to collect a pretty good amount of lint.

So the moral to this story is, 1.) Your gun doesn’t have to be carried in a pocket to collect lint, 2.) You should detail strip your gun every once in a while in order to clean out the lint that doesn’t get cleaned out during the normal fieldstrip and clean process

[jhark123]

I pocket carry a 342pd every day. I try to clean it once every 6 mo., but sometimes i let it go longer. I know it is a bad habit, but I have never had a failure. This is part of the reason I own six revolvers and zero semi-autos.

[hayley]

It's not just lint...your pocket carry piece is exposed to lots of moisture from body vapor. Check-out your sleeping bag in the morning on your next hiking trip!

[Mo]

I carry in a pocket holster, so lint has never been a problem. I take off the sideplate of my 637 and blast it with instaclean when the trigger starts to get gritty (about every 500 rounds) and then relube. I wouldn't recommend it though - Instaclean is great for steel but it eats up the aluminum finish.

Other than that, a wipedown with CLP weaponwipes after each range trip.

[Doc Holliday]

I carry in a pocket holster so lint doesn't seem to be a big problem for me. My P3AT gets cleaned at the same time its big brothers do or right after I shoot it.

[maclean3]

My pocket gun is a 642, slightly less susceptable to lint fowling than an auto. Anyway, I check the cylinder and give it a quick once over every time I put it on and take it off. I give it a quick wipe down maybe once a week or so (unless I notice something that needs immediate attention) and a full cleaning whenever it gets shot at the range. I should clean it more often than I do but there's LOTS of things I should do.
Jack

[Eddie A.]

I just clean visible pocket lint off every day, and do a full cleaning at least once a month, or after each range visit, whichever comes first.

[PapaScout]

Even though I carry in a pocket holster the P3AT collects dust bunnies at the back of the slide around the "hammer". I swab these out weekly and re-oil monthly.

[devo6684]

Due to its shrouded hammer and always in a pocket holster, not much concern for lint and debris. I try to shoot it monthly and my guns always get a good bath after play time.