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Old July 25, 2007, 08:46 PM   #1
sarubin3
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Join Date: July 21, 2007
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Share your cleaning regime

I wanted to share my rifle cleaning steps with you all and ask if anyone has advice/comments on how it’s better done. I know its not an exciting job but the time we all spend on this website indicates how much we care for our firearms and well, nobody wants a pitted barrel!

I study at university 2000km from home so every holidays I return and shoot (mostly paper target) and at the end of break I thoroughly clean my rifles for safe storage at the police station (until next vacation). I bought a basic Kleen-Bore cleaning kit (about 30 to 40 US$) and some assorted chemicals from various gunshops. Also bought a pack of patches (paid too much - should have cut my own) and use a old cotton t-shirt for a rag.

Barrel: Patch swab with Hoppe’s 9 and then use brass brush. Patch it clean and then repeat procedure with Copper Cutter. Finally push through a patch soaked with Kleen-Bore Gun Formula 3 Oil to prevent rust.

Remove stock and spray off all oily gunk with CO2 in an aerosol can (still looking for a better alternative). Electricians use this stuff to clean circuit boards and it evaporates quickly with no residue.
Spray metal parts (trigger, action, etc) with Silicone lube (also aerosol can) and wipe off excess. Reattach stock and carefully wipe off all fingerprints with the silicone-wet rag. The scope and mounts are aluminium so I don’t stress much about them, just try to keep chemicals away from the lens.

Any constructive criticisms/comments? My style is far from perfect and everyone has their own way of doing this. Please share yours!
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Old July 25, 2007, 09:06 PM   #2
armedtotheteeth
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Brake parts cleaner works great for cleaning guns cheaply. Use the Non chlorinated stuff and keep it off plastic and wood. I t proabaly wont hurt wood, but , you never know. I Never use a brass brush in my bore, ever. in its place, i use a nylon one. As you do I use Hoppes #9. Instead of using the wasteful jar it comes in, I put it in a contact leans squirt bottle. You can squuirt it on the patch and waste less, or none. you know that little slotted jag that comes in cleaning kits? well, throw it in the trash. worthless. You need a round one, that smashes the cleaning patch into the riflings. After alot of shooting, and after several regular cleanings, I use (BARNES I think, the stuff ate the label off the bottle)CR-10 copper out to really scrub the hell out of the bore. It eats copper like a Fat guy on a pizza. It however will also eat brass, so you have to use a nylon brush.
I dont sleep well at night with my guns in the safe dirty. I have to get up and clean them after each shoot.
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Old July 25, 2007, 10:03 PM   #3
Fremmer
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I just remove the bolt, clean inside and outside with #9, use patches of #9 in the bore. Then I wait a little while to let the #9 work into the bore (beer run); after a little while, I alternate between #9 soaked patches and dry patches, and finish with a light coat of oil inside and outside. I don't remove the stock. I might spray out the trigger some day, but it doesn't seem to need it. I rarely use a brass brush. I don't use copper cleaner hardly ever; the .308 ammo I use doesn't seem to leave hardly any copper, though. I just keep an eye out for it.

You like your rifles really clean, and that's good. Are you using a bore guide? A cleaning rod can wear on a bore, so watch out for that. And watch out for the crown, too. Unless you do a high volume of shooting (or you're stuck with dirty ammo, etc.), I'd just get the gun clean with patches and #9, skip the brush/copper/spray cleaner, and then finish with oil for storage. With my method, you get to drink more beer, you'll spend less time cleaning, and you won't have to deal with so many nasty chemicals, either. I don't think you need to remove the stock every time unless the trigger and other parts are getting really dirty.
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Old July 26, 2007, 08:19 AM   #4
5thShock
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A couple of patches wet with Ed's Red down the bore, no brushes. Clean chamber. Wipe down everything else with a rag dipped in ATF. Look at everything.
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Old July 26, 2007, 08:44 AM   #5
Full-choke
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1.) Boresnake the barrel once through.

2.) Hoppes Powder solvent down the tube, and chamber.

3.) Dry patch until it is dry.

4.) Rem-Oil the barrel, chamber and action.

5.) Hoppes Powder Solvent over the bolt or workings.

6.) Dry patch it until clean and dry.

7.) Rem-Oil over the bolt or workings.

8.) Light spray of Rem-Oil on patch and rub all the metal down.

My guns, no matter what make or style, get that treatment after every 2 or so boxes of shells.
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Old July 26, 2007, 10:26 AM   #6
hps1
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No brushes, no scrubbing. Insert bore guide in breech, one short burst from can of Wipeout; let sit overnight, two dry patches followed by a patch wet w/FP10 to, clean chamber w/FP10 patch & wipe down outside w/gun chamois and you're done.

Wipeout is the best thing since pockets on shirts. Removes all copper fouling with one application (maybe two if barrel is a bit rough or you did a lot of shooting).

Regards,
hps
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Old July 26, 2007, 10:45 AM   #7
The Tourist
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I do pretty much what most folks do when cleaning a handgun or removing copper fouling from a rifle. I do use a few things that many people might not.

I like clean pustols, and I mean spotlessly clean. To fire, they must go securely into battery. When I return home from a shoot, I take a can of the non-poison, evironmentally safe electrical contact cleaner and squirt out every nook and cranny.

Of course, this procedure also completely degreases the firearm, so a careful lube must be done after scrubbing.

Second, I shoot mostly cast bullets through my pistols and revolvers, and I hate leading. Despite what I've heard about Lewis Lead Removers, I simply don't like the severe grinding sound and my fear of scratching the bore.

In my business, I use a lot of Nevr-Dull. It's a brass polisher that many of you might be familiar with.

After a handgun is cleaned, I take a small wad of Nevr-Dull and a cleaning jag and run them several times down the bore. It's amazing how much more additional lead is removed.

However, that's not the entire benefit. If you look down my bores, you'll see that they are very shiny, like a chrome bore. Not only are they slick, but there's sort of a dry lubricity that keeps lead from sticking the next time.

I have a 629-5 that doesn't seem to lead at all.
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Old July 26, 2007, 01:23 PM   #8
sarubin3
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Join Date: July 21, 2007
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Looks like Hoppe's #9 is popular indeed! The contact lens squirt bottle is a great idea, I'll adopt that one. Yes, I thought I was overdoing it a bit but I wasn't sure how much is too much. Is it possible to damage the bore from overcleaning (brushing, harsh chemicals, etc)?

I thought the bore guide is for the crown. I push the rod from the action to the muzzle so I don't use the boreguide, am I doing wrong?

What is a boresnake exactly and is it better than a rod or something different altogether?
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Old July 26, 2007, 02:02 PM   #9
hps1
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Cleaning without a bore guide from either end, but especially the muzzle, can shorten barrel life due to wear from cleaning rod bearing on your rifling.

Some rifles can be cleaned only from the muzzle (M1 Garand, M1 carbine, lever actions, etc.), but there are bore guides to fit most. Some are made for muzzle and others fit in the breech end.

Here is my favorite type for bolt guns:

http://www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dl...eitemid=388884

For those tha cannot be cleaned from the breech end you can use this type:

http://http://www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dll/image?saleitemid=482824

A coated cleaning rod such as Dewey also helps keep your bore safe.

A bore snake is a braided "rope" the correct diameter that can be pulled through your barrel to clean it. I prefer rods, guides and patches myself, but some seem to like the snakes.

Hoppes #9 is a very old, and a good powder solvent. It does not, however, remove copper as good as many of the newer solvents. If you want a better Hoppes, try their Bench Rest; it is a bit more aggressive, will remove copper if left overnight but sometimes needs to be repeated a few times to get all the copper out.

Shooters Choice makes a pretty good bore cleaner which, I think removes copper a bit better than Hoppe's #9. Sweets is one of the more aggressive cleaners, heavy on amonia, and will remove copper, just be sure to follow instructions on the bottle to prevent damage to bore.

Wipeout is my favorite; put in bore guide to keep solvent out of action, give it a squirt and allow foam to expand. I put in from breech and as soon as foam appears in bore guide (at breech), I plug that end and allow any excess to expand out the muzzle. Let stand overnight and your copper is gone (except in rifles which are badly fouled from many rounds and/or a somewhat rough bore which causes excess copper fouling. Wipeout does better on copper than it does on powder fowling, so I sometimes push a patch wet with Hoppes Bench Rest or Kroil through first, then dry patch then Wipeout, but the Wipeout will get the job done alone, just not quite as quickly if barrel has a lot of powder fowling.

Regards,
hps

PS
For some reasons, Midway links will not work, so go to:
http://www.midwayusa.com
and do a search for bore guides under cleaning supply heading.
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Last edited by hps1; July 26, 2007 at 02:06 PM. Reason: To add PS
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Old July 26, 2007, 02:39 PM   #10
Fremmer
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Quote:
Is it possible to damage the bore from overcleaning (brushing, harsh chemicals, etc)?
It sure is possible. That's why I said to skip the brush and copper cleaner unless your bore really needs it. #9 and oil will usually do just fine.
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