I like shooting guns, I like working on guns, I like fondling guns.....I'm not a big fan on cleaning guns.
I did the mathe. This 1866 in 38-40 (38WCF) has fired just a bit under 500 rounds since its last cleaning. I've run a brush and patch down the barrel after every 100 rounds or so, but I've not taken it apart, except to short stroke it, since I started shooting it in CAS last year.
I was simply amazed at how clean it was inside!
Other than a bit of dirty oil there was zero powder residue. No thick crud what so ever! I could have simply put it back together and gone another 500 rounds!
I was shooting a few rifles in 45 long colt when I first started CAS. But the blowback from these extremely low pressure loadings we shoot left a terrible mess in the guns = more cleaning!
The 38-40 and its big sister the 44-40 use extremely thin brass in the neck and even at super low pressures they seal the chamber and I never have as much as a smudge on the cases after firing.
Best advise I could ever give someone starting out in this sport....44-40 or 38-40 in everything!
BTW, you can read about the "Short Stroking" on my web site... http://www.rvbprecision.com