Assuming I have a clean and well oiled gun already, after shooting I frequently only clean and oil the barrel, cylinder, nipples, and external parts.
Eventually the gun will need to be taken apart piece by piece and have a detailed cleaning/oiling job on all its parts, but definitely not every time you shoot it. Only once every several cylinders or so. You'll know when it's ready. Also, it will be ready a lot sooner if you carry it on your hip when you walk the brushy riverbanks like I do.
It will also be ready for a re-bluing alot sooner if you do that...
Some of that may depend on where you live, some may depend on what you mean by "ready for a re-blueing". If the wear bothers you, you may consider it "ready", but of the several revolvers Ive carried fairly extensively/daily for years, the places that wear the blue from the holster down to bare metal havent had any problems on the bare spots. The ongoing holster wear also likely keeps the metal from gathering rust, though I live in pretty dry country. At least one of my revolvers I carried daily for a couple years in all weather, riding motorcycles (carried openly, the days before concealed carry was legal), and I was nomadding around living in the hills camping about 10 months/yr for several years. That gun (not BP) was cleaned only with an occasional wipe down after rain or snow exposure and dusting of sights etc with toothbrush and shot a fair amount. It went a year or so between actual cleanings at least once that I recall. A couple small rust stains are the only casualties. The blue loss didnt seem to be much trouble.
Its not only the fit of the holster and what you are doing, (and holsters generally loosen up when used regularly) in dry country the constant dust gets in everything and is very abrasive to blue and anything else it touches. I quickly get to bare metal showing on the sides of the cylinders and whatever touches the bedside table where the gun lays at night. That fine powdery grit also gets in holster leather and wears any contact points pretty quickly, at least it has in Az and the northern rockies on the dry side where Ive lived.
I have a saddle carbine made by a well known maker in 1927 that hasnt has much finish on it in decades. I got it in the mid 80s, it was a ranch gun in Az, it looked and felt like it hadnt been cleaned in decades, if ever and was terribly abused and damaged. I detail stripped it and cleaned it, put it back together, and been carrying it a lot over the past 35 years, its my rainy and snowy weather gun besides also just being a general favorite. No rust on the silver metal of the frame and other well worn parts.
I used to keep a cheap brass frame Pietta Navy copy in 44 in my truck when I lived in Flagstaff, it lived there always, all year. It was loaded all the time, id shoot it once a year, clean it, then reload it and back in the tool box it went. Once when I went to give it its yearly shoot/clean,...and realized I had shot it the year before and forgot to clean it. It had some minor rust and discoloration, but no deep pits, it cleaned up pretty well, so I loaded it and put it back in the tool box. It was a loaner once to a single lady living alone in a tipi with her toddler son, she was bothered by aggressive dogs trying to get her food.
