Rifle cleaning

[wisconsinteacher]

I read a lot and many sites say that the improper cleaning of rifles happens more than anything else that hurts accuracy. So, what is your method for cleaning a rifle? Also, what tools do you use and what is needed?

 

[BK]

THE most important tool is a decent bore guide. Letting the cleaning rod flex and rub against the barrel's throat is a big no-no.

 

[nodak7mm]

THE most important tool is a decent bore guide. Letting the cleaning rod flex and rub against the barrel's throat is a big no-no.

Yep and a single piece cleaning rod such as a Dewey or Pro-shot...

 

[257 Ackley]

Anything you push through from the breech end is unscrewed before the rod is pulled back through IMO. I have moved away from using anything but nylon brushes if I need to brush at all. If you use brass brushes make sure the center of the brush isn't SS. Choice of cleaners is a Ford-Chevy thing; there are lots of good cleaners out there.

I'm kinda anal about cleaning and do it as soon as I get home from the range.

 

[Polaris]

I am a firm believer that rifles are often loved to death. I'm not a bench rest shooter so I don't fuss with getting my bores back down to bare metal every time. I try to clean as little as possible to get the desired results with a full-blown cleaning once a year or after each match with my ViMBAR rifle or when I want to test a load I'm working up.

My basic cleaning if I haven't fired enough shots to get sig. copper fouling is only running a couple of patches soaked in liquid wrench pen. oil followed by one dry patch, all from the breech. This removes carbon fouling fairly well and leaves the bore protected. If I've fired a few more rounds I'll use good ol' Hoppes #9 patches until they come out clean.

If I want to really strip it down, I use only Sweets 7.62. I use it only outside. Alternate wet patch dry patch. On the wets, I pull back from the muzzle reversing the patch and add some more solvent at the muzzle and drag it back. Let it work for 2 minutes then dry patch. Repeat until they come relatively clean. I've never seen them come out totally white. Not sure if it's possible. You're looking for the blue/green streaks to disappear.

For all rifle cleaning except for emergency rust prevention with 1 or 2 oil patches in the field (I carry a cheap 3 piece rod in my pack for this) I use a stainless one-piece rod and a stainless slotted tip from the breech. All my rifles have CM barrels. Use a brass or nylon jag or tip if you have stainless barrels. I use a drilled out .243 win case as a bore guide. All my rounds are 30-06 based so this works well for me.

 

[DrMike]

I'm kinda anal about cleaning and do it as soon as I get home from the range.

I clean at the range so I don't have to hear about the aroma of solvents and ammonia.

 

[velvetant]

I'm kinda anal about cleaning and do it as soon as I get home from the range.

I clean at the range so I don't have to hear about the aroma of solvents and ammonia.

WHAT, the misses does not like Ode de hoppes :shock: :shock:

 

[DrMike]

It is more of the eau d'Butches and eau d'Sweets 7.62. :shock:

 

[SJB358]

Anything you push through from the breech end is unscrewed before the rod is pulled back through IMO. I have moved away from using anything but nylon brushes if I need to brush at all. If you use brass brushes make sure the center of the brush isn't SS. Choice of cleaners is a Ford-Chevy thing; there are lots of good cleaners out there.

I'm kinda anal about cleaning and do it as soon as I get home from the range.

Same here. I know I probably could get away with not cleaning them as much, but I really only use patches and jags, so I am not really "scrubbing" anything. Just too hard for me to leave dirty rifles in the safe. I think more bad comes from not cleaning them then the other way around. Scotty

 

[DrMike]

While I may permit a rifle to be stowed for a period during hunting season with a fouled bore, my usual habit is to clean before leaving the range. Most of my rifles have the same POI from a clean bore as from a fouled bore. I do use nylon brushes and tight-fitting patches for cleaning chores.

 

[onesonek]

Pretty much the same thoughts as the first 3 response's, with one exception.
I don't clean the bore until accuracy falls off slightly. That varies between the individual characteristics different barrels.
Dave

 

[Guest]

I take a pragmatic approach to cleaning. I generally clean at least once a year, but usually more often when accuracy falls off.

I use a Tipton carbon fiber rod (won't embed, won't get bent, very durable, very cost effective) and Tipton Ultra Jags (with nickel plating to avoid bleeding copper onto the patches). I use BoreTech Elimator for almost everything now, but I keep Hoppe's #9 for heavily carbon fouled stuff and stuff that sees no copper jacketed ammo (like my revolvers when I'm plinking). I also keep a couple of different foaming bore cleaners around (I like Break-Free the best but also Birchwood-Casey), and Synthetic-Safe Gun Scrubber aerosol. Different tasks sometimes require different solvents.

I tried maybe 15-20 other solvents and BTE is the stuff for copper. The only limitation I've found is that it's sticky if you let it dry in the bore. but it comes right out if you wet it down with another patch of BTE, and then patch it out until it's dry.

Oh, and I use a good bore guide, always. Sinclair and Midway carry a variety, but I'm about to embark on swapping over to the Sinclair polymer guides with the o-ring snouts. These are action specific and fit only a range of bore diameters (matched to cleaning rod sizes, usually), but they look like the cat's pajamas. I'm going to start out with one for my Colt Light Rifle (since my existing bore guide doesn't fit it well) and go from there.

 

[1Shot]

Get away from the old cleaning rod and brush and come into the 21 century.

I use bore foam. Spray it in and let it set 30 min. Then take a piece of weed eater line about a foot longer than your barreled action and sharpen one end and with a match melt the other end and press it against something hard to form a button. Push the sharp end through a cloth patch and slide it down to the button end of the line. Stick the sharpened end in the chamber end and push it until it comes out the muzzle then grab that end and pull it through. I then repeat with a new patch with Hoppe's on it and let it work for a few minutes then run a few patch to dry everything out good. If long time storage will be needed I finish with a patch coated in Break Free CLP. With the weed eater line you don't have to worry about damaging anything. That bore foam will clean the bore very well.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Is there a bore guide that would work in rifles from .22 to .338 or larger?

 

[SJB358]

Tipton makes a decent one for about 20.00. Getting a good rod is the most important piece of the equation I believe. Clean from the breach and go easy. You will be in good shape. Scotty

 

[Desert Fox]

I hate dirty rifle. Unlike Polaris, I do love my rifles so much. :wink: So it get clean after every trip from the range or after returning from a hunt. I use nylon brush... seldom use aggressive solvents either. I soak the bore for a couple of hours with either Hoppes #9 or Butch Bore shine and let the solvents does it's work. I then run several tight patches until it comes out clean. Once that done, I then run a clean patch soaked with break free oil before storing the rifle.

 

[onesonek]

Is there a bore guide that would work in rifles from .22 to .338 or larger?

I just drill out the primer pocket of a fire case, and use that as a guide.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

http://www.scheelssports.com/webapp/wcs ... ryId=70178

Here is the rod I have. I need to get a bore guide. I used a Bore Snake for years but after wanting to make my rifles shoot better, I got a full length cleaning rod. I am guessing that my 22-250 has only been cleaned two times with a cleaning rod. I hope I did not mess anything up by not having a guide. I know when I was younger that I did not use the best cleaning methods on my 30-06 but I was young and did not have anyone to teach me the correct way to clean it.

Do most of you use a brush when cleaning or a jag? I have been using a brass brush as of to date.

 

[BK]

Is there a bore guide that would work in rifles from .22 to .338 or larger?

I know I have a tendency to make things more complicated than need be, but I have three guides for different bore sizes.

 

[GF1]

I used to be hard over about a clean regimen, but don't see that it matters that much. Carbon fouling is the worst, in my experience, and I do make a point to get that out after every range session.

When I want to get copper out, I use Montana Extreme Copper Killer. It is the best I've ever used for getting at copper, and the bonus is that it is not corrosive like ammonia based cleaners such as Sweet's 7.62 and others. If I'm really lazy and have some time, I use Wipe Out foam. Similarly effective as Montana Extreme, but takes a lot longer. Good news is that it's really easy - shoot the foam in, lay the rifle down for many hours to soak, swab out. Done. It's not corrosive either.

As to bore guides, I do simple. I cut down 20 ga. shotgun shells to about 1" long, punch the old primer out, slide on on each of my stainless steel cleaning rods. As I'm inserting the rod through the action bridge/magazine area, I shove this 20 ga. case into the rear bridge (fits almost all bolt action rifles). Keeps the rod centered, no fuss.