Newbie here - cleaning questions

[itguy11]

I'm a brand new XD owner here and in fact it's my first gun ever outside of a BB gun...

Shot an XD a couple months ago and it just worked for me so I knew it was on the short list. I picked up a Bitone XD9 that was used and a Gunslick cleaning kit yesterday and got in some range time and it really works well for me.

Got home and proceeded to clean the gun and got it disassembled and cleaned/lubed fine but I'm wondering on how bad the chemicals are for the polymer. The directions in the kit said to clean and lube the metal parts of the gun which I did. I applied the lube and wiped it in/off with a paper towel. My concern is for the metal pieces that are ingrained in the polymer frame. I ended up putting some of the lube on them and wiping it off.

Are these polymer frames pretty resistant to the cleaning chemicals or should I be extra careful?

Also, how often should you clean it? After every outing, after every couple hundred rounds, whenever? Am I safe in assuming that you can have too clean of a gun?

[Cuda66]

It'll be fine.

Almost all gun cleaners are polymer safe.

As for how often--whenever you want to. Some folks here like cleaning their guns after every time the go out; some will let their gun for a thousand rounds or more.

It's whatever you feel comfortable with.

[wgedwards]

Hello and welcome to the forum from Florida. Cuda66 is right, the gun will be fine. However, some of the chemicals are not that human friendly. Follow the manufacture's directions, especially about ventilation. Also, wearing latex or nitrile exam gloves is a good idea.

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[speedrrracer]

both posters above are right

be more worried about your lungs and skin than the polymer when using those solvents.

Cleaning is part preference and partially determined by your cleaning style - if you leave a lot of lube on the parts after a cleaning, your gun will get very dirty very quickly when next you shoot it, and therefore increase the likelihood you'll need to clean it immediately.

[Kaboom]

Stay away from chlorinated brake cleaner, NON-chlorinated brake cleaner is just fine.
Also there are no steel parts "ingrained" in the poly frame, not on XD's anyway.
You can clean a Service gun as often or as in-often as you like, they are made to run perfectly well while far dirtier than you could ever stand and for MOST new guns rust won't be much of a problem either as long as it gets shot from time to time.

[itguy11]

Thanks guys. I guess I'll have to come to a good regimen and stick with it as I want to make sure the gun stays in top shape and is always working at 100%. And definitely break out the "Exam gloves" and anything that requires spraying will be done outside with good ventilation.

As far as the metal pieces ingrained int he polymer I'm mainly thinking of the trigger and the other "bits" that are down in the bottom half of the frame.

[mountainbilly]

Hoppes #9 and you will be fine. Ventilation is key though. I also like Wipeout bore spray if I can't get to cleaning for a day or so, just give the barrel a spray and it can sit overnight no problems.

[richeyo2]

I agree w/Cuda66. I like to clean mine after every range trip personally!