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AR-15 Rifles, Pistols & Tactical Gear | Gun Store in Roanoke, TX

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Glock

How to Clean a Glock: Step-by-Step Guide 2026

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I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. Glocks cross my bench about as often as anything else, and I’ll tell you a shop secret: half the “malfunctioning” pistols that come in just need a decent cleaning. The good news is this is a job you can do at the kitchen table in twenty minutes. Here’s how I do it.

Glock 17 with slide off

Gather your supplies

You don’t need much. A one-piece cleaning rod, a bore brush in your caliber, a jag and patches, a nylon brush, cotton swabs, solvent or CLP, gun oil, and a rag. A cleaning mat or an old towel saves your table from solvent stains. Any basic handgun cleaning kit covers all of this.

Unload it, then check it again

Drop the magazine. Lock the slide back. Look in the chamber, then put a finger in there and feel it. I don’t care how sure you are it’s empty; verify anyway. Every negligent discharge story I’ve heard in nearly two decades behind the counter starts with “I thought it was unloaded.” This matters double on a Glock, because takedown requires a trigger pull.

Field stripping

Glocks come apart in seconds:

  1. Point the pistol in a safe direction and pull the trigger to release the striker.
  2. Pull the slide back about a quarter inch.
  3. Pull down both takedown tabs above the trigger guard.
  4. Let the slide run forward off the frame.
  5. Lift out the recoil spring assembly, then the barrel.

You end up with four parts: frame, slide, barrel, and recoil spring assembly. That’s all the disassembly routine cleaning needs. Leave detail stripping to your gunsmith.

Gunsmith cleaning a Glock 17

Clean the barrel

Wet the bore brush with solvent and run it through from the chamber end, eight or ten passes. Let the solvent sit a minute while you start on the slide. Then switch to the jag and push patches through until they come out clean. Wipe down the outside of the barrel too, especially the hood and feed ramp, and dry everything off. A clean bore does more for accuracy than any accessory you can bolt on.

Slide and frame

Work the inside of the slide over with a dry nylon brush. The spots that collect the most carbon are the breech face, under the extractor hook, and the slide rail grooves. Cotton swabs reach the corners, and the wooden end of one will scrape off stubborn carbon without hurting the finish. If your Glock is new and you see copper-colored grease inside the slide, leave it alone. That’s factory lubricant meant to wear in.

The frame is easier. Brush it out, wipe the metal rails and the locking block, and clean around the trigger mechanism without flooding it. Don’t hose solvent into the frame. The polymer doesn’t need it and the trigger internals don’t want it.

Lubrication: less is more

Glocks run dry better than most pistols, and extra oil just attracts grit. Four spots get a drop each:

  • The frame rails and the matching channels inside the slide.
  • A light film on the outside of the barrel, a touch more near the hood.
  • The barrel lug where it meets the slide lock.
  • The point inside the slide where the connector meets the trigger bar.

Keep oil out of the striker channel entirely. It runs dry, period. Oil in there gums up over time, and that’s how light strikes happen.

Reassembly and function check

Everything goes back in reverse: barrel into the slide, recoil spring assembly seated against the barrel lug, then slide onto the frame rails until it clicks home. Now check your work. Rack the slide and pull the trigger on the empty pistol; you should hear the striker fall. Hold the trigger down, rack the slide again, and release the trigger slowly until it clicks. That’s your reset. Pull once more to confirm. If the slide binds or the trigger feels mushy, take it back apart and reseat the recoil spring assembly. That’s the usual culprit.

How often, plus a few notes from the bench

Clean after every range trip if you can, every few hundred rounds at minimum. A carry gun deserves a wipe-down and fresh oil monthly even if it hasn’t been fired, because holster lint and dust find their way everywhere. Magazines mostly need to stay dry; wipe them out and skip the solvent unless something’s actually wrong. While the recoil spring assembly is out, look it over for kinks. They’re cheap to replace, and a worn one causes sluggish cycling.

If your Glock still won’t run right after a proper cleaning, something else is going on and I’m happy to take a look. We do in-house gunsmithing here at the shop. If you’re weighing your next pistol, my Glock 19 vs Glock 17 comparison is a good place to start, and carry folks should see my picks for the best 9mm self-defense ammo. Questions? Email [email protected] or call 817-393-4000.

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Best Handguns for Women: Self-Defense and CCW Picks for 2026

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I’m Lance Rankin, owner and gunsmith at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. Western Sport is a family shop: my wife Donna runs the office and compliance, and my daughter Lexi is a responsible person on our FFL and shoots more than most of my customers. So when a woman comes in asking what she should carry, she gets advice shaped by the women who actually work here, not by a catalog. Here’s the honest version of that advice, and the guns that earn it.

First, the rule that outranks everything below: there is no “women’s gun.” There’s the gun that fits your hand, that you can rack and load without a fight, and that you’ll actually carry and practice with. Pink frames are marketing. Fit is everything.

Sig Sauer P365: the default answer

Sig Sauer P365X 9mm pistol

If I could only stock one carry gun, it’d be the P365. Before it existed you chose between a slim gun that held little or a fat gun that held plenty. Sig put 10 to 15 rounds of 9mm in a micro-compact frame about 5.8 inches long and under 18 ounces, with good sights and a clean trigger. It conceals under light Texas summer clothing, the grip fits smaller hands well, and the aftermarket for holsters and accessories is enormous. Lexi’s short review: “just buy this one.” I only argue with her when a customer’s hands or budget point elsewhere.

Smith & Wesson Shield EZ (.380 and 9mm): for hand strength issues

The most common problem I see at the counter isn’t recoil. It’s racking the slide. Arthritis, injuries, or just less grip strength make plenty of good pistols frustrating. The Shield EZ line exists for exactly this: a slide that racks with a fraction of the usual effort and magazines with a load-assist tab so loading doesn’t chew up your thumbs. The .380 version is the softest shooter; the 9mm EZ gives you more punch with an 8+1 capacity and stays pleasant because the gun is a bit bigger. Neither is the smallest option out there, but a gun you can operate confidently beats a smaller one you struggle with, every single time.

Glock 43, 43X, and 19: boring reliability

Glocks are the pickup trucks of the handgun world. The 43 is the slim single-stack six-shooter, dead simple and thin enough to hide anywhere. The 43X adds a longer grip and 10 rounds, and for most people it’s the better buy; I’ve written up the differences in my Glock 43 vs 43X comparison. The Glock 19 is bigger, 15 rounds and about 21 ounces, and it’s the right call if the gun will pull double duty on the nightstand and only occasional carry. All three just run.

The tiny guns: Ruger LCP and Glock 42

The LCP weighs 9.4 ounces and genuinely disappears in a pocket. The Glock 42 is a touch bigger at under 14 ounces and noticeably nicer to shoot. Both are .380s. Here’s my honest warning: the smaller the gun, the harder it is to shoot well. The LCP in particular is snappy, with tiny sights, and I don’t recommend it as anyone’s first or only gun. These are experts’ guns and deep-concealment backups, not beginner guns, even though they get marketed to beginners constantly.

Sig P238 and the used-market Ruger LC9s

Ruger LC9 pistol

The P238 is a little all-metal 1911-style .380 with a light single-action trigger, and women who like it tend to love it. The metal frame soaks up recoil better than featherweight polymer guns. It costs more than most micro .380s and has a manual safety you must train with, but it’s a sweet shooter. The Ruger LC9s is discontinued, replaced by the EC9s, but clean used examples are cheap, slim, and reliable if the budget is tight. Expect some snap from the short grip.

How to actually choose

Come handle several. Check that your finger reaches the trigger without shifting your grip, that you can rack the slide and lock it back, and that the gun points naturally. Then, ideally, rent or borrow your top two and shoot them, because hands lie less than spec sheets. Whatever you pick, feed it quality defensive ammo, my 9mm carry ammo guide covers that, and get training. In Texas I still recommend the LTC even under constitutional carry, for the training and the reciprocity.

New to buying entirely? Start with how to buy a gun in Texas. And if you’d rather talk it through with a family shop where women are behind the counter and not just on the posters, that’s us. Local pickup by appointment in Roanoke, north of Fort Worth. Call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected].

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Sunday Shoot-a-Round: Swedish Mauser, Glock 43X, and Thoughts on Freedom

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I’m Lance Rankin, gunsmith and owner of Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, and Sunday Shoot-a-Round from Hickok45 is one of the few gun series I watch with coffee instead of a notepad. The episode above rambles, in the best way, from a Swedish Mauser to a Glock 43X to free speech and even diet talk. Everything on screen is his; the commentary below is mine.

Shoot your keepsakes

The theme that opens the episode is one I preach at my own counter: quit letting cherished guns rot in the safe. He’s owned his Swedish Mauser Model 96 in 6.5×55 for eight or ten years and still hikes with it and shoots it regularly. That rifle was made in 1911, the same year Browning’s famous pistol was adopted, and it’s still splitting 2-liter bottles a century later.

From the gunsmith’s chair, I’ll second all of it. The Model 96 action is one of the smoothest ever made, and 6.5×55 is the original gentle-recoiling 6.5, doing what the Creedmoor crowd rediscovered a hundred years later. His trick of dabbing white paint on the front sight is old-school and it works, especially on dark targets. Cheap fix, big difference. And no, honest use doesn’t ruin an heirloom. Neglect does. Guns are machines. They’d rather be run and cleaned than entombed.

The Glock 43X and Shield Arms mags

He’s still testing Shield Arms magazines in his Glock 43X, with good results so far, while rotating carry duty between the 43X and a Sig P365 XL. Those steel Shield Arms mags bump the 43X from 10 rounds to 15, which is why people love them. My advice as a smith: if you run them, use the recommended steel mag catch and then test the daylights out of them before you carry. Any magazine that touches a defensive gun earns trust at the range first, not in the holster. If you’re weighing that little Glock against its bigger siblings, my Glock 43 vs 43X comparison covers it.

The porch-talk portion

The episode wanders into the Joe Rogan cancellation push, platforms like Rumble courting creators who feel squeezed, and his own headaches with Facebook pulling links to his videos. Firearms channels live with that reality constantly, and he’s right that owning guns puts you in politics whether you asked for it or not. The Second Amendment doesn’t defend itself. He also shares that a low-carb diet has taken about 18 pounds off him, and revisits the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. That’s the charm of the series: it’s a range session with a neighbor, not a spec-sheet recital.

Where I land

Watch the episode for the Mauser alone. Then go dig out whatever’s been hiding in your safe the longest and take it shooting. If it needs attention first, a sticky bolt, a dark bore, sights that were never right, that’s literal daily work at my bench, and I’d rather fix it than have you retire it. Texas folks new to all this can start with my guides on buying a gun in Texas and constitutional carry. Reach me at [email protected] or 817-393-4000.

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Canik METE MC9 Prime NC: The Non-Compensated Carry Gun, From a Dealer’s Bench

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Lance Rankin here, gunsmith and FFL at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas. Canik has announced the METE MC9 Prime NC, and the interesting part isn’t what they added. It’s what they took away. The NC stands for non-compensated, and I think that’s the smarter carry gun. Let me explain why. Note this was written when the announcement was fresh, so verify current pricing and availability.

The comp trend, and why it’s not for everyone

Compensated micro-nines are everywhere right now. The ports vent gas upward to fight muzzle flip, and on a range gun they genuinely help you shoot faster splits. But I’ve had this conversation across my counter a hundred times: a comp on a defensive pistol has real costs. More muzzle flash and more concussion, which matters a lot if you ever fire from inside a car or a dark hallway. And ported guns can get finicky about ammo, since they bleed off gas the slide needs to cycle.

The original MC9 Prime shipped with an integral comp. The Prime NC is the same pistol without it. Canik’s pitch, and I agree with it, is that some shooters would rather manage recoil with grip and training than with technology, and get predictable function with whatever defensive ammo they load.

What you get

The NC keeps everything that made the Prime worth a look in the first place:

  • Aggressive grip texture where your hands actually need it
  • Deep front and rear slide serrations, easy to run with sweaty hands
  • Canik’s aluminum 90-degree flat-face trigger, which breaks cleaner than most striker triggers at any price
  • Night Fision tritium sights from the factory
  • Optics-ready slide for micro red dots
  • Accessory rail and a magwell
  • 17-round magazines in a genuinely micro-compact frame

That last line deserves a pause. Seventeen rounds in a gun this size was fantasy ten years ago. And factory tritium sights plus an optic cut are things you’d pay extra to add on plenty of competitors.

Price and my honest take

Suggested retail is $650. Canik hasn’t confirmed the full package contents yet, but they have a habit of including a holster and interchangeable backstraps, so I’d expect similar here. Street price usually lands under MSRP once stock normalizes.

Here’s my honest read as someone who sells and services these. Canik triggers are legitimately excellent, the feature list embarrasses guns costing more, and the company has built a real reputation on value. The trade-off is that the aftermarket for holsters and parts is thinner than what surrounds a Glock or a Sig, so check holster availability for the exact model before you buy. For a shooter who wants maximum gun for the money and doesn’t need the biggest ecosystem, the Prime NC looks like a strong option. For a first-time carrier, I’d still have you handle it next to a Glock 43X and a Sig P365 before deciding. Hands beat spec sheets every time.

Where Western Sport comes in

If you’re shopping the micro-nine category, I keep a running guide to the best 9mm handguns under $500, and once you pick one, feed it right with my notes on the best 9mm self-defense ammo. Buying online? I handle online purchases and FFL transfers for $40 plus $10 for the NICS check, with local pickup by appointment here in Roanoke, just north of Fort Worth. Call 817-393-4000 or email [email protected] and I’ll help you sort it out.

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Mrgunsngear’s top 5 favorite firearms: a gun dealer’s reaction

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Mike from Mrgunsngear put out a video picking his five favorite firearms, one from each major category, and it’s embedded above. He’s one of the more level-headed reviewers on YouTube, so when he commits to favorites, I pay attention. I’m Lance Rankin, and I sell and wrench on guns every day at Western Sport in Roanoke, Texas, so I figured I’d run his list against what actually moves across my counter and lands on my bench. Spoiler: the man’s picks hold up.

Shotgun: Mossberg 590

Mike’s heart says older Remington 870, but he’s had reliability trouble with the newer production, so his buy-it-today pick is the Mossberg 590. I see the same thing in the shop. Old 870s are tanks; recent ones have been a coin flip. The 590 is the 500’s tougher sibling, worth its extra weight, with a deep accessory market and a top-mounted safety that works the same for lefties. No argument from me.

Rifle: BCM AR-15

His rifle is a BCM with a 16-inch ELW-profile barrel, and his reasoning is the part worth hearing: past a certain point, more money buys very little more rifle. BCM sits right at that point. Durable, accurate out of the box, made in Wisconsin. As a Daniel Defense dealer I’d add DD to that same conversation, but the value argument for BCM is honest and I make it myself at the counter. If you’re earlier in the journey, start with my best AR-15 for beginners guide before you spend BCM money.

Revolver: Smith & Wesson J-frame

His carry revolver is a 13-ounce .357 Magnum J-frame, a design that’s been proving itself since the 1950s. He admits it kicks, and a featherweight .357 genuinely does. Most people who buy one end up feeding it .38 Special, which is fine. It’s the gun that’s always in the pocket when the fancier gun got left home. For a shooter who wants a bigger wheelgun, he points to the 686 Plus, which is also what I’d hand you.

Semi-auto pistol: Glock 19X or 45

He calls this pick controversial. It isn’t. The 19X and the Glock 45 are the same practical idea, a full-size grip under a compact slide, and they may be the best all-around Glocks made: reliable, optic-ready, decent sights, usable trigger. His joke that the 19X wins because it’s tan is at least half serious. If you’re weighing frame sizes in the Glock line, my Glock 19 vs 17 writeup covers the trade-offs.

PCC: CZ Scorpion Gen 3

His pistol-caliber carbine pick is the Scorpion, specifically the Gen 3, which fixed the accuracy complaints of the earlier guns. Simple blowback action, AR-familiar controls, big aftermarket, and a price that undercuts a lot of the competition. His best point is one I repeat to home-defense customers: an average shooter under stress will get hits with a carbine far more easily than with a pistol. Something with a stock and three points of contact is more forgiving of everything.

Where I land

What I like about this list is that there’s nothing exotic on it. Five proven designs, all of them repairable, all of them with parts support that’ll outlive us. That’s what favorites should look like from somebody who actually shoots. Every gun on this list is something I can put in your hands through our online store or here at the shop in Roanoke. Watch Mike’s full video for his complete reasoning, and if you want a second opinion tailored to your situation, call me at 817-393-4000.

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