Advice on inner barrel cleaning

[emilianoksa]

I've asked this before and apologise for asking again, but there is often no definitive answer to some questions.  

 

I have a small collection of pistols which I use occasionally at home. I always keep some gas in the mags and will often take out a gun, put a mags worth of bbs through it , put it away and do the same with another couple of pistols. Realistically should I be cleaning the barrel and relubing the gun every time I do this? Common sense tells me no. If I used the pistol during a three hour skirmish I would completely clean and relube it. But that has not happened so far. So after how many mags should I do these things?

 

How often should I remove the inner barrel and bucking to clean it? Hop up units are made of  pot metal and the screws are tiny. Constantly disassembling them and putting them back together again cannot be good for the threads. If the hop up is off can I just leave the bucking in place. I run small cotton lint free patches  down my barrels - sometimes dry,, sometimes with a little isopropyl alcohol. Do I risk damaging the bucking by leaving it in place but turned off when I use the cleaning rod? Is it OK to only remove the hop up unit after a few weeks of occasional  use or a few days of heavy use? 

 

On one of my WE Glocks it is impossible to fully turn off the hop. There is still a bit of rubber showing. Would gently putting a cotton patch down it really be a problem?

 

As far as AEGs go I have a different problem with my LCT AK subcarbines. The front end of the gun holding the barrel is held into a block by a tiny allen headed screw which is very difficult to get at and loosen. Repeatedly removing and replacing this screw does not seem to be a good idea. It should really only be done if the bucking or inner barrel need replacing. And so my question is the same. If I have turned the hop fully off, is there any problem in gently pushing a patch with a bit ( I stress bit) of alcohol on it gently and carefully down the barrel until it meets resistance? People say never touch the hop but what is the point in cleaning the barrel if you leave the area around the breech dirty? 100% Isopropyl alcohol evaporates very quickly so I would be surprised if it could damage anything.

[Guest Lord Elpus]

Each to his own method of cleaning barrels, I don't remove mine from the guns I use kitchen towel paper on the eyed rods, no cleaning fluid, new clean bit of paper to push very gently through hop area. On pistols a little spray of silicone on the nozzle. When finished cleaning.

    I might use meth spirit on occasion for certain applications.

[jcheeseright]

bit of iso on a patch of lint free cloth works fine for me.