The PROPER Way to Clean and Maintain Your GLOCK

GLOCK pistols, as with most polymer-frame striker-fired handguns, are easy to disassemble and clean if you know the proper procedures

by Lou Patrick and Rob Reaser

For experienced handgunners, cleaning a pistol is akin to sleepwalking—you can do it without too much, if any, thought. (Whether the cleaning is done the correct way is another discussion.) But for new gun owners or those who have picked up a polymer-framed semi-auto for the first time and are uncertain in their interpretation of the owner’s manual or who have purchased a used handgun and have no manual to reference, proper cleaning and maintenance procedures can be elusive.

Given the popularity and proliferation of the GLOCK handgun, we wanted to develop a video tutorial based on the factory recommendations for stripping, cleaning, and maintaining this iconic firearm. If you own a striker-fired pistol from another manufacturer and find yourself in the same quandary, stay tuned—the procedures detailed here are almost always the same or similar. Of course, always follow the manufacturer’s recommended procedures first, but if you don’t have access to that information, this process will offer a perfectly acceptable substitute.

For this demonstration, we will be using the Gun Boss Pro Handgun Cleaning Kit from Real Avid. This kit, which covers all the popular handgun calibers, comes with all the tools you need to clean and maintain your handgun. Inside the rugged clamshell case are the essential brushes, jags, cleaning rod assembly, and a smattering of cleaning patches to get you started.

We will also be using a slick tool developed by Real Avid to disassemble and clean GLOCK magazines. The Smart Mag Tool for GLOCK is an ingenious device that eliminates the hassle of removing the spring-loaded base plate from a GLOCK mag for periodic cleaning. This was our first time using this tool, and it worked flawlessly.

Real Avid has earned a solid reputation for developing solutions to assist the modern gun owner in working on and maintaining their firearms, and we encourage you to visit their website to learn more about their products.