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Firearm maintenance (or gun care for short) is a series of routine preventive maintenance procedures aiming to ensure the proper function of a firearm, often with the use of a variety of specialized tools and chemical solutions. Typically such maintenance is performed by the firearm owner using either simple methods such as cleaning the firearm with oil or other cleaning solutions or more sophisticated practices such as lubricating moving parts with oil/grease and recoating exposed surfaces with protective finishes such as varnishing or bluing.
When a firearm is presented with physical damage related to the ordinary use of the firearm, or when a firearm malfunctions in a life-threatening manner, a professional gunsmith should perform advanced maintenance to determine if the firearm is repairable and or safe to shoot anymore.