Your Glock is one of the most robust and simple tactical pistols on the market. This is why the Glock became so popular. It’s almost like the Glock adheres to the Platonic ideal of the concept of a pistol. The Glock is absolutely everything you need in a pistol, but nothing extra. There is no external safety; there is no hammer; there is nothing your Glock needs you to do to fire it except load it, rack the slide, and pull the trigger. This makes the Glock pistol an extremely appealing daily carry pistol for CCW and for law enforcement. But it also begs the question: How do you clean your Glock 17?

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU CLEAN YOUR GLOCK PISTOL?

It isn’t necessary to clean your Glock Pistol if it hasn’t been fired. A Glock pistol that is carried in a dirty or debris-filled environment should be wiped down periodically and the barrel checked for obstructions, but as long as the barrel is cleared, you don’t need to clean your Glock pistol unless you’ve fired it. Firing a Glock pistol is what produces carbon and debris inside the weapon. Your Glock pistol is a robust weapon that will continue firing even with relatively infrequent maintenance, but most gun owners choose to clean their Glock pistols each time they fire them (especially after extended shooting sessions).

WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO CLEAN YOUR GLOCK PISTOL

To clean your Glock pistol, you’ll need solvent intended for firearms, a quality gun oil, cleaning patches, a suitably sized cleaning rod, and a suitably sized barrel brush. It doesn’t hurt to have a clean, dry, lint-free cloth that can be used to wipe down the pistol when you’re done cleaning your Glock. You may also want to have some paper towels or a gun cleaning mat on hand to keep the mess of cleaning your Glock pistol at a minimum.

MAKE SURE YOUR GLOCK PISTOL IS UNLOADED AND NOT COCKED

The first step to cleaning your Glock is to make sure it’s not loaded. Remove the magazine, rack the slide, and check your Glock to make sure there is no ammunition. Visually check the chamber and barrel and use your finger to double-check the chamber and feed ramp. There should be no live ammunition anywhere near you when you’re cleaning your Glock. Point the pistol in a safe direction and dry fire it once to make sure the striker mechanism is not cocked.

MOVE THE SLIDE BACK, PUSH DOWN THE TAKEDOWN LATCH, AND REMOVE THE SLIDE

Move the slide of the Glock back part of the way and push down on the takedown latch. This will allow you to remove the Glock’s slide from the Glock’s frame. Set the frame aside.

LIFT OUT THE GUIDE ROD AND RECOIL SPRING AND THEN REMOVE THE BARREL

Lift out the guide rod and recoil spring, making sure not to let that recoil spring shoot across the room (as springs sometimes do). Now it is easy to lift out your Glock pistol’s barrel. This is as much removal as you need to do to field strip and clean your Glock pistol.

DETAIL STRIPPING VS FIELD STRIPPING OF YOUR GLOCK PISTOL

There are plenty of tutorials available for detail stripping all the components of your Glock pistol, but this type of deep cleaning is much more time consuming. Your Glock does not require detailed cleaning each time you fire it. Field-stripping your Glock pistol should be enough for cleaning after the average shooting session.

WHAT TO CLEAN ON YOUR GLOCK PISTOL

Use a patch covered in gun solvent and run it through the barrel with the cleaning rod. Continue to do this until the patches start to come out clean rather than covered in carbon. You can use a solvent-soaked patch on the cleaning rod to get into other nooks and crannies, clean the feed ramp, and clean away any other carbon buildup on the top of the frame and outside the barrel.

DO NOT USE TOO MUCH OIL ON YOUR GLOCK PISTOL

Once you’ve cleaned the carbon out of your Glock, use a very sparing amount of gun oil and run it down the barrel to protect the inside of the barrel. A bore light or flashlight is great for making sure the inside of the barrel is clean. Just make sure you don’t use too much oil! An over-oiled Glock actually works LESS reliably than a Glock pistol reassembled with just a little bit of gun oil.

MAKE SURE YOU’RE DOING IT ALL ON A GUN CLEANING MAT!

It’s helpful to have a gun cleaning mat on which to work. This provides you with a non-slip work area for your Glock Pistol, preventing unnecessary scratches and gins. It also helps you keep track of your Glock pistol’s components. Consider getting a gun cleaning mat for your gun maintenance. You could even get one with your Glock pistol’s schematics printed on it. Happy cleaning!