Any piece of mechanical equipment needs preparation and maintenance, especially if it may one day be needed in an emergency. The time to find out if your brand new whiz-bang 8000-Watt portable generator actually works is before the hurricane. The same holds true for any firearm that you depend on to save your life. Making sure that it works properly long before you may need to use it is simply good sense.

True, today’s firearms are engineered and manufactured with a precision unknown 50 years ago, but no sensible person would ever carry a gun (even a revolver) for self-defense without making sure it fired and functioned perfectly.

Let’s start with the first time you take it out of the box. Many guns, even stainless-steel models, often have coatings to prevent corrosion in transit and storage. For an auto-loading pistol, first do a standard field-strip of the gun per the manufacturer’s instructions. Then, for both revolvers and auto-pistols, use a good quality solvent to remove any residual grease or anti-corrosion coating.

Next, apply a light coating of lubricant to the major moving parts. In revolvers, the important places are the trigger group and the cylinder, where it rotates around its “axle” and the ejector rod.

In auto-pistols, you can use a light grease on slide rails, frame rails and barrel (exterior only). On the trigger group and other smaller parts, a lighter lubricant is preferable — spray applicators can make getting into tight spaces easier.

Next, make sure that the gun goes bang when you press the trigger. This is relatively simple with a revolver — load it up and fire off enough rounds to see that everything works (i.e. there are no “dud” rounds). If there is even one failure to fire, check the primer for a “light” strike. Every once in a while, a gun will leave the factory with a firing pin a few thousandths of an inch too short.

However, since it could be the fault of the ammunition, change ammo and fire off 50 or 100 rounds, just to make sure it doesn’t happen again. If “duds” persist, contact the firearms manufacturer and ask them for instructions on returning the gun for service. Most manufacturers will gladly accommodate you.

With auto-pistols, there are additional functional issues. Not only does the firing mechanism (whether hammer or striker) have to work, the gun also has to load each successive round as well as eject the empty cases after firing. And it has to perform these functions flawlessly, every time.

Note that most modern guns are so well-made that they seldom require a “break-in” period. However, I personally would never carry any gun I haven’t put at least 200 rounds through, preferably even more. Note that some failures (“stove-piping”) are the result of operator errors (such as not maintaining a firm grip). Auto-pistols depend on energy from recoil to operate properly — “limp-wristing” allows insufficient energy to reach the recoil spring.

Finally, any time you change your auto-pistol defensive ammo (brand, bullet weight, etc.), it is extremely important that you fire at least several magazine loads to ensure that the new ammo works flawlessly in your gun. Yes, defensive ammo is expensive, but a gun that jams in the heat of battle can cost you your life.

After that, regular cleaning and lubrication (even if you haven’t fired the gun recently) will help keep your gun ready for action. Be smart. Be sure.