Cleaning new rifles?

[Chet Punisher]

So I got my 700 SPS... I don't buy a lot of new rifles, I was wondering if the outsides are always so dirty? Or is it just a result of the Remington's bluing process? I cleaned it really well with CLP, I also cleaned the barrel. Did I miss anything?

[whitearrow]

i would coat the entire outside of the gun pretty liberally with gun oil of your choice and leave it like that for a few hrs and then wipe off most of the excess. i put a little grease on the locking lugs and raceway where the bolt glides and rides. this is strickley optional but i find it makes the bolt way smoother alot faster.
good luck with the bg green product,

[big al hunter]

New guns are oiled to prevent rust. They may sit in storage for a long time before they are purchased. It looks dirtier than it is.

[Gunplummer]

Not a bad idea to clean a new rifle completely. Find things wrong that way. Had more than one person bring a new gun in with a factory defect.

[Metal god]

I clean all my new guns like I just got back from the range . That way I know how to break them down , how they operate and can get a good look at everything . At the very least I reccomend cleaning the chamber and bore just in case someting found its way in there

[reynolds357]

I clean all my new rifles. Every one I have purchased has been test fired at the factory and not cleaned.

[Scorch]

New rifles are manufactured in an industrial setting (oily, dusty setting), packaged in new corrugated (dusty), cased together with 4 other rifles in a larger box, carried around a warehouse by forklifts, loaded on trucks and bounced over the road, then unloaded at a distributor's warehouse where the larger boxes are broken down to individual boxes, shelved, then shipped to wholesalers, again shelved, handled, sit around in dusty warehouses, then finally shipped off to retailers, some of whome may actually open the box and take the rifle out but not always. By the time the buyer gets the rifle, it has been bumped, rattled, and shaken all over the place inside that dusty box with that same coating of oil on it. Yes, they look a bit dusty when you open the box. No big deal. Wipe it down, clean it, punch the bore, inspect it, fondle it, get acquainted with it.

[johnwilliamson062]

I usually shoot it before cleaning, even if just once. If it doesn't work right I know It isn't b/c I reassembled it wrong.

I know most disagree and there are reasons not to do so, such as the firearm not being oiled correctly.

[Metal god]

If it doesn't work right I know It isn't b/c I reassembled it wrong.

That's so funny . That reminds me of when I got my Ruger 22/45 . When I got home from the store . I took it apart (field stipped ) . When I put it back together It would not work . Trigger didn't work the slide would not lock back and what ever I did wrong made it so I could not take it apart again . I was unable to pull the mainsping housing open on the handle . If you can't do that the gun does not break down . Now I can't even take it apart to fix what ever I did wrong . So I spent the rest of the night looking on the net for what went wrong . I found this and check out the very first problem http://www.guntalk-online.com/TroubleshootingPage.htm .

So there I was pounding the muzzle of my brand new gun on a block of wood in my living room. What can I say it worked after about three good hits .

[dead bird]

I recently purchased a new cz 455. usually I do not clean bores of a new rifle. For some reason, I sent a cleaning jag down the barrel and it would not pass through from breech to muzzle. I tried from muzzle end and pushed out a plug in the barrel that retailer forgot to remove when gun was sold. I'm glad I checked this one and I think I will check all new guns fron now on.

[Chet Punisher]

I've honestly never heard of a retailer doing that.

[warnerwh]

+1

[4V50 Gary]

Cleaning a new gun is part of your familiarization process.

[reynolds357]

My Savage 6.5 X 284 came in yesterday and it had a piece of Red plastic stuck in the barrel. The retailer did not put it there because he had not even opened the box. It was special order.

[Erno86]

If you want to break in a new barrel: One method is to take the barrel and reciever out of the stock, then...with heavy gloves and rags on --- pour hot boiling water down the barrel, inorder to open up the pores in the barrel. Dry patch out. Next...get a smaller diameter cleaning rod and 3 cotton flannel patches rubbed with mild JB bore paste. Measure the distance between the muzzle and front of the chamber, and mark that distance on the cleaning rod. Insert the patched rod thru the muzzle and rub each patch down the bore about 10 times back and forth; without touching the chamber. Clean out with Hoppes patches and oil down.

Shoot 3 shots --- clean out with Hoppes. Do this ten times. After that...use copper remover and brushes, after every 20 shots; for target rifles.

[Metal god]

Erno86 , Im not going to say anything but I think your going to get spanked on that post . I see a few things that I was tought were no no's .

[reynolds357]

My barrel brake in involves me hand lapping it and then taking it off and sending it to be cryoed.

[btmj]

Exposing steel to boiling water will not "open up the pores". I am not saying that you won't get good results with your method, but I don't think the boiling water step does what you think it does. Hot water (near boiling) is a pretty good de-greasing agent, so that is probably what you are accomplishing... which you could also do with a bore cleaner, or alcohol, or a variety of solvents.

I personally would not remove the stock from a rifle unless it needed a repair or had a known accuracy problem.

[Erno86]

btmj --- Clean your muzzleloader with hot soapy water. Think you have it clean with the clean dry patches coming out? Try the boiling water treatment... and see how dirty the patches will come out.

Boiling hot water will expand and open up the pores in the metal, just like hot water will open up the pores in your hand.

I have to find the magazine article...that more throughly explains this cleaning process. Putting a rifle back together, requires a knowledge of bolt torque, stock seating and first bolt tightening, that may not be wise in certain instances. Sometimes, when I take apart a pistol...I'm afraid that I'll leave it as a basket case, for the gunsmith to sort out and put back together.

You probably don't need the boiling water treatment anyhow, due to the advances of barrel polishing these days.

[hooligan1]

Oh it's been WAY too long since I last purchased a brand spanking new rifle. I like to disassemble and inspect and clean/fondle every part.. kinda makes her mine if you follow me. I tell her how I will treat her nice and I expect the very same from her, and then I shoot the liven __ss out of her!!!

[solocam72]

I use a product called bore tech eliminator, I won't shoot a brand new rifle without thoroughly cleaning the barrel, I start with a patch on a jag (for the caliber obviously) I also use and swear by a good bore guide and a good quality solid 1 piece cleaning rod, I start the patch in the bore guide (mine have solvent ports in them) then soak the patch with the bore tech and push through, you will be amazed at how much crud is on the patch, not always but most of the time (manufacturers coat the inside of barrels with a rust preventative like cosmoline) I take the patch off at the muzzle and pull the rod back out and wipe it off with a clean rag then repeat, I do this 3 to 5 times and then let it sit for for awhile (10-15 minutes) then I use a nylon brush and push, pull it back n forth through the barrel 10 times, then run another soaked patch back through, repeat as above 2 to 3 times, I continue this process til the patches come out clean. Then I run a couple of dry patches through, and last I pull a boresnake through 2 or 3 times. I am now ready to shoot the new rifle for the first time, I like to try and clean using the above method after every 10 shots. This is my method and it has worked very well for me over the years.