Compile your gun care library:
Obtain the appropriate reference manual, operating manual, tech manual or instruction for the specific firearm. You can also refer to more general guidance such as military field manuals or NRA instructor guides for gun care and maintenance. Or both.
If you have access to gunsmithing references, or armorers instructions, those can complement your library. If you purchase parts, and they come with “instructions”, you can add those as well.
Centralize your library:
It’s also a good idea to find a central location such as a file box, safe or file drawer to store your library so you don’t have to search every time you need a reference. Do you need to pull out the instruction every time you do a procedure? No, but it’s nice to know if you run into a unusual situation, it’s only a arms reach away to find the ‘answer’.
Digital media:
The internet is the 1st stop for most people now-a-days because of its convenience. Rightly so; however, the ‘authenticity’ of the information is often suspect and must be validated. Blog information tends to be ‘non-attributable’ and from ‘anonymous’ postings, so be extremely careful acting on it. Normally, most firearms companies post their manuals and instructions in .pdf format which is a reliable reference and convenient. Other locations such as stevespages.com are a compilation of technical references stored conveniently for you in ONE Place and allow you to avoid the wild west approach of a google search. Note; when you do a google search today, the top postings you see are generally ‘paid for’ by someone to occupy that top spot.
BEWARE OF "PAID FOR" INFORMATION, THEY ARE EXPECTING A RETURN
Here’s some examples of ‘credible’ references:
Manufacturer's owners manuals can be downloaded - https://kriss-usa.com/owner-s-manuals
How to clean your gun, Courtesy NRA - https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2018/1/14/how-to-clean-your-gun/
Steves Pages, a compendium of tech manuals, primarily military - http://www.stevespages.com
IN CONCLUSION
As always, avoid ‘un-credentialed’ or ‘fake’ information. This can lead to disastrous results. Beware of ‘sales pitch’ information or non-referenced, ‘anecdotal’ hype type info. Even videos can be slanted/tainted to deliver false expectations. The more we read reviews, we can sense when the post is biased or tainted by the writer’s slant. Objective posts are instructive, constructive and offer balanced viewpoints.
During a google search, I found a gun care ‘best of’ article recently, which gave the bloggers rank order of the best gun oils. Real or Fake? The article was an obvious “pitch piece” for the named products. The article had no independent reference to explain how gun oil is used in the maintenance, function and storage of a firearm or what base materials gun oil comes from (hydrocarbon, silicon, bio-base, graphite, etc.). The blogger makes no representations that he/she even used or tested each product. He simply gave general statements of why you should use gun oil and some dire consequences if you don’t. At the bottom of the blog was the ‘smokin’ gun’…”______ is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. OK, so our reviewer is advertising on Amazon and likely selling these same ‘best’ products. Fake.