Why Your Gun Hates Mondays Too: A Comedy Driven Cleaning Guide

When most people think about Sunday, they picture football, church, naps, or pretending they’ll start eating healthy “tomorrow.”

Gun people? Well, we are a different breed.

For us, Sunday is the day we look at the pile of brass in our range bag, smell the gun oil on our hoodie, and realize two things:

1.     We had a great week.

2.     Our firearms are now dirtier than a gas station bathroom at 2AM.

Welcome to Sunday Shooters Shenanigans, presented by Timberlake Firearms where we take shooting seriously, but not ourselves. Each Sunday we talk guns, gear, laughs, real life range lessons, and the occasional “oops, that’s why we follow safety rules” moment.

Today’s topic: dirty guns and why neglecting them is like ignoring the check engine light.

Sure, it might run… for now, until it doesn’t.  And that’s usually when someone’s watching.

Why Gun Cleaning Matters, even though it’s basically dishes for adults

Gun cleaning is the shooting world’s equivalent of laundry.  Nobody likes it, but everybody’s happier once it’s done.

Here is what actually happens inside a gun after a day of shooting: 

1.     Carbon builds up – Every shot produces residue little bits of burnt powder and metal fouling. That fouling starts sticking to the barrel, chamber, and moving parts like a bad habit.

2.    Oil burns off – Heat + friction = your oil no longer doing its job.

3.    Your accuracy slowly drops – You may not notice at 5 yards, but you WILL notice at 25.

4.    Feeding and extraction get cranky – A semi-auto with a filthy feed ramp or dry rails starts behaving like a toddler skipping nap time dramatic, unreliable, and loud

5.    Rust doesn’t take days…it takes humidity – Humidity + fingerprints + residue = corrosion party. And nobody wants their favorite carry gun looking like it was pulled from a pirate ship treasure chest.

“But My Gun Can Shoot Dirty!”

Yes, some guns are famously reliable even when filthy.  Glocks, SIGs, HKs, and certain rifles can take abuse, but consider this:

• Your defensive firearm should always be ready
• Clean guns last longer and run smoother
• Accuracy matters more than ego
• A gun you bet your life on shouldn’t be a science experiment

If your idea of gun maintenance is: “Shake it twice and blow in the barrel”

…we need to talk.

Top Signs Your Gun Is Begging to Be Cleaned

Real quotes heard at ranges everywhere:

✔ “It only jams every few rounds.”

✔ “I think the slide is supposed to move slower.”

✔ “It used to be accurate.”

✔ “Why is everything black and sticky?”

If your gun sounds like it is grinding sandpaper when the slide cycles, that is not battle ready.

That is a gun that needs a spa day.

A Simple, Non-Boring Sunday Cleaning Routine

Let’s break it down so easy even someone who buys guns and never reads manuals (you know who you are) can follow.

1. Clear the firearm Check the chamber. Then check it again.  Then check it a third time.

More accidental cleaning mishaps have happened than people admit.

2. Field strip. If you don’t know how, here’s a secret: YouTube instructors never judge, or you could try that manual that came with your firearm.

3. Clean the barrel.  A bore snake + solvent is your best friend.  Run it through until it doesn’t look like a chimney brush.

4. Hit the slide, frame, and feed ramp.   Carbon hides in tight spots:

• Under the extractor
• On the feed ramp
• Inside slide rails
• Around the breach face

5. Light lube.  More oil is NOT better.  Too much turns your gun into a dirt magnet.

You’re lubricating a machine, not frying chicken.

 6. Wipe, reassemble, function check. Rack the slide. Dry fire (if allowed). Work the controls. Make sure nothing feels gritty or sluggish.

Boom!!  Your firearm feels like it spent a day at a luxury spa.

The Dirty Truth: Most Failures Aren’t the Gun’s Fault

Most range malfunctions—jams, failures to feed, failures to extract—come from:

❌ Dirty firearm

❌ Cheap ammo

❌ Weak grip

❌ Bone-dry slide

❌ Magazines that haven’t been cleaned since the Clinton administration

Yes, magazines need love too.  They’re the heart of the gun.  If the spring can’t lift rounds or the follower sticks, you’re basically using a single-shot.

How Often Should You Clean Your Guns?

A simple guide:

• Carry gun: after every range trip, or at least monthly
• Home defense gun: monthly inspection + light oil
• Range toys: whenever they start acting dramatic
• Hunting rifle: after every season or wet day
• AR platform: every 300-500 rounds (light), deep clean every couple thousand

And if you shoot suppressed? Just assume everything is dirty all the time.

What Happens When You DON’T Clean

Real stories from gun owners everywhere:

• “My slide locked halfway and wouldn’t move.”
• “I had to mortar the rifle just to extract a round.”
• “Every magazine was a surprise malfunction party.”
• “My trigger felt like gravel.”

A dirty gun will always choose to fail:

• in a match
• in front of friends
• when you hand it to someone and brag “this thing NEVER jams”

Lazy? Busy? Allergic to Solvent?

We get it.  Timberlake Firearms will clean it for you.

Bring it in:

✅ Pistols

✅ Rifles

✅ Shotguns

✅ ARs

✅ Suppressed setups

✅ Nasty bores that need copper scrubbing

We have solvents, bore snakes, cleaning mats, and oils for sale—plus full service cleaning for folks who want the gun to sparkle without doing the dishes.

Moral of the Story

Your gun isn’t mad you shoot it, It’s mad you put it away dirty.

Sunday is the perfect day to reset:

✔ guns cleaned

✔ ammo stocked

✔ gear organized

✔ range plans for next week ready

Take care of your firearms and they’ll take care of you.

See you next week for another round of Sunday Shooters Shenanigans.

Because shooting may be serious business, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun doing it.