Thread: Cleaning

When cleaning your rifles, how far do you break them down, and do you just clean the barrel and bolt or take the whole thing apart and clean each piece? and then realise that you forgot how it goes back together. This can go for any bang stick and activity ie "bush walk" or sports. Just want to see what some people do.

If it hasn't been subject to rain and or debris or even shot then just a patch soaked in crc longlife down the spout and wipe down on all metal surfaces with the same.
If it has been shot then brake cleaner down the spout first followed by a nylon brush and a couple patches till clean, then crc longlife treatment as above.
If it's been wet and or exposed to debris then I'll pop it out of the stock and make sure it's free of crap (avoid at all cost as re zero is required, but if it needs to be done it is what it is).
I use bore bright to remove copper and heavy carbon, just when it needs it could be 100 rounds, could be 200-300, just when heavy copper fouling is visible at the muzzle. After bore brite treatment I do the brake cleaner and crc treatment as above. (Bore Brite should be used with a bore guide, not going in depth on the technique here).

Never had problems with carbon rings, rust or any other gremlins I do the same on all my centerfires SS, Cerekoted or Blued.

This is my cleaning regime, it works for me, I'm sure others will have their own that works for them.

If its been out and not shot just an oily patch down the bore. If its been a day shooting at targets ill unpack rifle first put a nice wet patch of no9 down it and let it soak while Im putting the rest of my stuff away then a couple of dry patches and an oily patch and a wipe over on the outside. Oily patch is either inox for inside and out or just in the bore ill sometimes use atf. Very rarley take them apart and Im not anal about cleaning.

My fastest routine, after shooting the rifle, is two dry patches through the bore followed by a patch well wetted with Berak Free CLP pushed through 3 to 7 times to thoroughly coat the bore. Then usually a wipe over of all metal ( on an assembled rifle ) with an oily cloth wetted with Break Free CLP. Then into the gun safe, muzzle down, as I don't want CLP bleeding into the action.
Before shooting a couple of dry patches to dry off the CLP and I'm away.
Somewhere bewteen about 200 to 300 shot I would expect to notice copper build up in the bore and by then probably see, on paper target, accuracy decline so I go to wetting and soaking overnight the bore with KG1 before wiping dry with a couple of patches. Then borescope to see what carbon and copper remains which I think usually shows around half gone. So then I liberally coat either an old, worn brass or nylon brush and scrub the bore for around 20 strokes ( down bore and back = 2 strokes ) with KG2 ( Bore Polish ) which usually cleans back to bare metal or very close. If anything remains it will be a carbon ring at the neck / leade junction which I might tackle with more KG2 on a brush but with short strokes concentrating on the ring zone.
The only time I take down a rifle for overall oiling is if I have been out in very wet conditions, which I try to avoid anyway.
One thing that has helped me reduce time bore cleaning is fitting rifles with good quality stainless steel barrels. Compared to Carbon Steel I find they both foul less and clean quicker which are properties I appreciate.

If hunting with overnight stays and it's been wet I have a pull through and saturated oily patch I run through the bore a couple of times and use the same pull through with a dry patch through before hunting next day. Not to remove carbon but to stop rust starting in the bore. Without this routine rust can start overnight in some environments.

Only time I have completely broken down my rifle was after taking it for a swim, water inside the bolt even. Thankfully its stainless and no rust signs.

I do a complete strip once a year and then check zero after - if it has got really wet may do a complete strip - if I have not fired rifle on a hunt which is rare just a dry rag for any dust and rem oil rag to protect - I change my barrel oil regularly say every 3-4 months just a couple of rags thru and then fresh rem oil - if i have fired then a dry rag hoppes no 9 solvent for 2-3 days and then change to rem oil to store rifle-- seems to work - overnight trips will pull rag thru at night with breakfree then remove in morning

Goodness. I’m a bit naughty then. I wipe the outside with an oily rag if they look a bit grubby. A dry bore snake every now and again and a full clean for copper and carbon maybe twice a year. Only uses patches, never brushes. No special reason, just what I do. My barrels both chrome and stainless all look like new.

I occasionally squirt a bit of wd40 down the barrels of the ones I’m not using and wipe them clean before using.

I detest stripping them cause it just means resighting in again. For the underneath I rely on the penetrating powers of wd40 without pulling them apart. Back in the day we used to coat the underside of the barrel with car polishing wax.

Usually it's just an oily rag to the outer surfaces and if it's been fired, a patch with some carbon remover and then a dry patch. If I see a lot of copper build up I will get rid of that once a year or so, and my blued rifles get some Tetra gun oil down the bore for storage.
The only time I have every fully disassembled a rifle after a hunt was after a very windy week on Stewart Island where sand got into everything.

I use a product called "WIPE-OUT PATCH-OUT", which is easy to use, no brushing required to dissolve copper, carbon & powder residue, and patches seem to clean up pretty quickly, so then oil patch down barrel and store

The 6 month clean of model 7 .223. Few hundred shots. A hundred or so of copper Hammers and Makers.
Used Boretech Eliminator. Only patches. No brush. Swab, leave, swab until they come out clean.

Not to much bore cleaning,youl wear the bore out sooner than the bullets will.

Originally Posted by Tahr

The 6 month clean of model 7 .223. Few hundred shots. A hundred or so of copper Hammers and Makers.
Used Boretech Eliminator. Only patches. No brush. Swab, leave, swab until they come out clean.

Attachment 283848

Perfect technique

95% of the rifles I get handed to sort the accuracy issues are copper fouled and or Carbon fouled.

You won’t have that problem

Originally Posted by Trout

Not to much bore cleaning,youl wear the bore out sooner than the bullets will.

This.
More harm is done overcleaning and bad cleaning techniques than round counts.

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Come home from a hunt,few drops of BreakFree CLP on small patch.pushed through with spear Jag, flipped over n pushed through again.then dry rag then CLP again,whipe down outside,put it all away in its seperate lockups.if been out near the sea,get out and go over it again three days later to get rid of the red stuff growing where I missed first time around.