[e-luder]

personally, i never use silicone spray. it's very light and tends to be very messy. It is useful in a sense that it is very light and gets into the little nooks and crannies very easily without having to disassemble the gun. but if you're taking the gun down and completely dismatling it, put some grease while you're at it. It will last you a while before you're next tune up.

i use a small bottle of grease and it lasted me about two years. you need only apply a very minute amount to get the gun working flawlessly. it is also recommended that you use grease on metal components. Silicone is not meant for metal parts. Grease is as 99% of the machinists will tell you.

Only clean the gun when you need to. i find that most problems occur when the gun is being taken apart on a constant basis. People to wear screw post down, gears don't lnk properly, blow back units begin to come loose (on pistols anyways) and all the sort stuff. Clean if you feel that gun is dirty and feel a drop in performance. "if it aint broke, dont fix it type deal.