First and foremost, the most important thing to remember is safety first. Make sure your firearm is kept safely away from children and in a safe place. When first disassembling a gun, make sure you refer to the owner?s manual. This is a vital step when deciding to clean a firearm. You don?t want to fully disassemble your gun, only the area that needs cleaning such as the chamber or bolt. You want to take notice of the powder residue on your gun. Where does it accumulate the most? After emptying your firearm of clips and any bullets in the chamber, you can then proceed to clean.

There are a few simple rules to cleaning a firearm you must follow. The recommended way to start cleaning your gun is from the breech end. This protects the end the bullet comes out of from scratches and nicks. This is the area that depends on accuracy for shooting. This method also helps from pushing debris back into the gun later causing jamming and release problems. Make sure you center the rod while cleaning; this prevents careless scratches from inside the barrel. When cleaning a gun, make sure you have all the proper tools such as solvent, patches and any other brushes you may need. It is recommended that you use a new patch each time you go down the barrel. The patches pick up residue and moisture and you don?t want to push that further into the barrel. When firing a gun you get debris in the muzzle and if not cleaned the proper way, you can add to the wear and tear of your gun

Never dip a brush in solvent or gun solutions when cleaning. This goes along with the wrong way of cleaning a gun. If you push the brush down the barrel, it will deposit residue into the chamber and that isn?t a very good idea. It is better to use a few drops of solvent than a lot. You don?t want to saturate you patches and create moisture.

You are supposed to use the patches successively until the gun is clean. The patches mold itself to the inside of the firearm. This happens so the patch can clean the gun sufficiently. You have to repeat this process until a patch comes out clean. You may store the gun with a patch inside with oil. This helps for the next usage and prevents any fouling shots. A lot of debris can collect in your cylinder part of the gun that?s why it is so important to clean the cylinder after each usage. This lengthens the life of your firearm. You also can purchase a gun cleaning kit specified for your gun, it comes with bristle brushes designed to fit the caliber of your gun, a cleaning rod, patches made for the specific for the guns bore, a hard toothbrush and gun oil. All these tools are necessary for the cleaning of a gun.

Cleaning a handgun isn?t as hard as you think, with practice and patience this task can become as easy as brushing you teeth. Just remember when cleaning you gun to follow the directions to ensure a safe clean way to handle you chosen firearm.