Share your process for cleaning your Rifles - Page 2

brinker · February 20, 2013, 07:37 PM

I read every entry and they are basicly simular, I shoot classic, most of my pieces are 100 years old. I haven't read about corrosive ammo. My P-14 303 british, was state made. right now you can buy Pakistan ammo in 303 for .43 cents a round. but it is corrosive power. What do you do! #1, don't shoot it!. or clean you barrel, after you shoot it. This is something that can't wait. and a warm barrel works best. I remove the bolt. and back wash with soapy patch dawn/alcolhol/water mix. I back wash to keep a minum out of the action, back wash reciever forward, I will dry patch, Hoppies patch,clean patch, then oil patch, usually the chamber will not have much power residue, but a back wash will usually catch it. I will do this after 10 rounds, I will also store after runing an oily patch.My bore is bright and clean with good rifleing. a copper bore brush dipped in hoppies. (thats important), never run a dry bore brush thru the barrel . after you fire always run hoppies thru the bore, at the range. I use hoppies ,but any comperable cleaner will work. That spray stuff, personally I don't use it,I was taught old school, I also clean my bore brushes with naptha, ya they get dirty! be careful shoot clean sunny

brinker · February 20, 2013, 07:44 PM

I read every entry and they are basicly simular, I shoot classic, most of my pieces are 100 years old. I haven't read about corrosive ammo. My P-14 303 british, was state made. right now you can buy Pakistan ammo in 303 for .43 cents a round. but it is corrosive power. What do you do! #1, don't shoot it!. or clean you barrel, after you shoot it. This is something that can't wait. and a warm barrel works best. I remove the bolt. and back wash with soapy patch dawn/alcolhol/water mix. I back wash to keep a minum out of the action, back wash reciever forward, I will dry patch, Hoppies patch,clean patch, then oil patch, usually the chamber will not have much power residue, but a back wash will usually catch it. I will do this after 10 rounds, I will also store after runing an oily patch.My bore is bright and clean with good rifleing. a copper bore brush dipped in hoppies. (thats important), never run a dry bore brush thru the barrel . after you fire always run hoppies thru the bore, at the range. I use hoppies ,but any comperable cleaner will work. That spray stuff, personally I don't use it,I was taught old school, I also clean my bore brushes with naptha, ya they get dirty! be careful shoot clean sunny

jolly1 · February 26, 2013, 11:25 AM

How often do you clean your rifle if you don't use it?
Once a week, once a month, once or twice a year?
Or only after use?

Austin22793 · March 1, 2013, 11:15 AM

I use a carbon one peice rod along with a bore guide if or when i use patches its a must have if you want to keep from getting knicks and/or sratches in the long run.
1. run a saturated patch for power fowling on a jag
2. let sit for 30 mins while cleaning other parts
3. run a bore snake through twice
4. saturate a patch with copper solvent run through several times
5. let sit for 24 hours upside down on a towel to allow excess to drip down
6. next morning run bore snake through twice
7. visual inspection and repeat steps if necessary

Puddle · March 1, 2013, 08:05 PM

I am also curious how an aluminum rod will scratch the lined bore of a barrel. I have been using this type of rod and patches + regular old CLP for many years and my bores looks brand new.

Am I missing something?

zbones6 · March 2, 2013, 04:27 PM

I pretty much shoot mil-surp rifles, and corrosive ammo. I start with hot soapy water and a tight fitting bit of t-shirt as a patch. Dry patch to get the water out, followed by 2 patches soaked in Hoppes #9. Let sit for a few minutes, dry patch until clean. If tough buildup is present, a copper brush wrapped in a Hoppes soaked patch for a few passes. Dry patch until clean. I might be a little over protective with my guns, but then I wipe down all the metal with Hoppes gun grease, grease up the action and bore for storage.

PVL · March 2, 2013, 09:24 PM

I use a BoreSnake every three rounds with a few drops of Hoppes #9 while breaking in a new barrel.

Here's a boroscope shot of the barrel of my new BLR '81 after 20 rounds of break-in, with no cleaning yet after the final three rounds.

Note that the BoreSnake does a fair job. It was a new BoreSnake, BTW.

If you think the BoreSnake is getting dirty, by all means toss it in a bucket with some warm water and some dish soap. - I prefer Dove dish soap, because it gives you the hands that they love to touch!

Rinse it out, let it dry for a few days on top of a dead car in your driveway, or something comparable - and it's ready to go again.

I have hundreds of bucks worth of various cleaning paraphernalia and I like to use it all, but really you can get by pretty good with just a BoreSnake and a bottle of Hoppes #9.

Barrel break-in is a critical job, but look at the image... Will anything else really get a barrel significantly cleaner than this one is, dirty from three rounds after the last cleaning?

The boroscope was pricey - but educational. My most accurate rifle, for example, ( a button-rifled Savage, of course ) - has awful-looking chatter!

Prints groups a quarter the size of what the smooth as silk, hammer-forged BLR can do.

Go figure!

reynolds357 · March 2, 2013, 09:34 PM

PVL, button rifle quite often is the most accurate production type barrel.

Sport45 · March 3, 2013, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Somebody needs to show me how badly they scratched their steel bore with an aluminum cleaning rod.

Quote:

Barrels today are supposed to be harder than ever, but they cant stand up to aluminum?

Quote:

I am also curious how an aluminum rod will scratch the lined bore of a barrel.

Aluminum corrodes very quickly to aluminum oxide. This oxide coating seals the base metal from exposure to further corrosion making it appear to not corrode at all.

The problem with this is that aluminum oxide is very hard (and popularly used as an abrasive). Any surface irregularities on an aluminum rod from threaded joints, damage, etc, expose the bore to this abrasive as it passes by. Using a bore guide will help greatly but won't help when the rod is bowed inside the bore while pushing a tight patch or brush.

shootniron · March 3, 2013, 03:11 AM

Quote:

The only way an aluminum rod can harm a barrel is if it has grit embeded into it. You wipe it off after you use it and again before you use it again and it will do no harm to a rifle barrel.

What he said.

sunaj · March 3, 2013, 12:10 PM

Cleaning the barrel is easy enough,
now that I am shooting semi-autos with newer guns that use plastic in some parts (trigger guard on BARs for example) I am finding cleaning the rest of the gun and cleaning it well is more problematic, using gunk cleaner on plastic and wood seems like an obvious no-no,
without stripping the piece down it is difficult to clean it without getting messy (so perhaps stripping the piece down is the answer, though you don't always have time for a dissasembly))
sunaj

February 20, 2013, 07:37 PM	#26
brinker Member Join Date: January 12, 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 40	Cleaning your weapon: I read every entry and they are basicly simular, I shoot classic, most of my pieces are 100 years old. I haven't read about corrosive ammo. My P-14 303 british, was state made. right now you can buy Pakistan ammo in 303 for .43 cents a round. but it is corrosive power. What do you do! #1, don't shoot it!. or clean you barrel, after you shoot it. This is something that can't wait. and a warm barrel works best. I remove the bolt. and back wash with soapy patch dawn/alcolhol/water mix. I back wash to keep a minum out of the action, back wash reciever forward, I will dry patch, Hoppies patch,clean patch, then oil patch, usually the chamber will not have much power residue, but a back wash will usually catch it. I will do this after 10 rounds, I will also store after runing an oily patch.My bore is bright and clean with good rifleing. a copper bore brush dipped in hoppies. (thats important), never run a dry bore brush thru the barrel . after you fire always run hoppies thru the bore, at the range. I use hoppies ,but any comperable cleaner will work. That spray stuff, personally I don't use it,I was taught old school, I also clean my bore brushes with naptha, ya they get dirty! be careful shoot clean sunny

February 20, 2013, 07:44 PM	#27
brinker Member Join Date: January 12, 2013 Location: Texas Posts: 40	Cleaning your weapon: I read every entry and they are basicly simular, I shoot classic, most of my pieces are 100 years old. I haven't read about corrosive ammo. My P-14 303 british, was state made. right now you can buy Pakistan ammo in 303 for .43 cents a round. but it is corrosive power. What do you do! #1, don't shoot it!. or clean you barrel, after you shoot it. This is something that can't wait. and a warm barrel works best. I remove the bolt. and back wash with soapy patch dawn/alcolhol/water mix. I back wash to keep a minum out of the action, back wash reciever forward, I will dry patch, Hoppies patch,clean patch, then oil patch, usually the chamber will not have much power residue, but a back wash will usually catch it. I will do this after 10 rounds, I will also store after runing an oily patch.My bore is bright and clean with good rifleing. a copper bore brush dipped in hoppies. (thats important), never run a dry bore brush thru the barrel . after you fire always run hoppies thru the bore, at the range. I use hoppies ,but any comperable cleaner will work. That spray stuff, personally I don't use it,I was taught old school, I also clean my bore brushes with naptha, ya they get dirty! be careful shoot clean sunny

March 2, 2013, 09:24 PM	#32
PVL Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2013 Posts: 169	I use a BoreSnake every three rounds with a few drops of Hoppes #9 while breaking in a new barrel. Here's a boroscope shot of the barrel of my new BLR '81 after 20 rounds of break-in, with no cleaning yet after the final three rounds. Note that the BoreSnake does a fair job. It was a new BoreSnake, BTW. If you think the BoreSnake is getting dirty, by all means toss it in a bucket with some warm water and some dish soap. - I prefer Dove dish soap, because it gives you the hands that they love to touch! Rinse it out, let it dry for a few days on top of a dead car in your driveway, or something comparable - and it's ready to go again. I have hundreds of bucks worth of various cleaning paraphernalia and I like to use it all, but really you can get by pretty good with just a BoreSnake and a bottle of Hoppes #9. Barrel break-in is a critical job, but look at the image... Will anything else really get a barrel significantly cleaner than this one is, dirty from three rounds after the last cleaning? The boroscope was pricey - but educational. My most accurate rifle, for example, ( a button-rifled Savage, of course ) - has awful-looking chatter! Prints groups a quarter the size of what the smooth as silk, hammer-forged BLR can do. Go figure! Last edited by PVL; March 3, 2013 at 07:58 AM.

February 26, 2013, 11:25 AM	#28
jolly1 Member Join Date: November 28, 2012 Posts: 83	How often do you clean your rifle if you don't use it? Once a week, once a month, once or twice a year? Or only after use?

March 1, 2013, 11:15 AM	#29
Austin22793 Member Join Date: December 6, 2012 Posts: 29	I use a carbon one peice rod along with a bore guide if or when i use patches its a must have if you want to keep from getting knicks and/or sratches in the long run. 1. run a saturated patch for power fowling on a jag 2. let sit for 30 mins while cleaning other parts 3. run a bore snake through twice 4. saturate a patch with copper solvent run through several times 5. let sit for 24 hours upside down on a towel to allow excess to drip down 6. next morning run bore snake through twice 7. visual inspection and repeat steps if necessary

March 1, 2013, 08:05 PM	#30
Puddle Member Join Date: January 19, 2013 Posts: 57	I am also curious how an aluminum rod will scratch the lined bore of a barrel. I have been using this type of rod and patches + regular old CLP for many years and my bores looks brand new. Am I missing something?

March 2, 2013, 04:27 PM	#31
zbones6 Member Join Date: December 29, 2011 Posts: 91	I pretty much shoot mil-surp rifles, and corrosive ammo. I start with hot soapy water and a tight fitting bit of t-shirt as a patch. Dry patch to get the water out, followed by 2 patches soaked in Hoppes #9. Let sit for a few minutes, dry patch until clean. If tough buildup is present, a copper brush wrapped in a Hoppes soaked patch for a few passes. Dry patch until clean. I might be a little over protective with my guns, but then I wipe down all the metal with Hoppes gun grease, grease up the action and bore for storage.

March 2, 2013, 09:34 PM	#33
reynolds357 Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2012 Posts: 6,165	PVL, button rifle quite often is the most accurate production type barrel.

March 3, 2013, 12:10 PM	#36
sunaj Junior member Join Date: February 27, 2013 Location: California Posts: 84	Cleaning the barrel is easy enough, now that I am shooting semi-autos with newer guns that use plastic in some parts (trigger guard on BARs for example) I am finding cleaning the rest of the gun and cleaning it well is more problematic, using gunk cleaner on plastic and wood seems like an obvious no-no, without stripping the piece down it is difficult to clean it without getting messy (so perhaps stripping the piece down is the answer, though you don't always have time for a dissasembly)) sunaj