Help please! Basic rifle cleaning?

wildfowler.250

Well-Known Member
I'm needing advice on how to look after my CF and would be very grateful of any opinions on here!


I just got all the cleaning equipment recently. My first question is how often do I clean the barrel? (I always give a quick spray with the leiga stuff when the gun gets wet). If the barrel is cleaned the rifle will take a few rounds to get back to zero so would leaving it 'dirty' damage the barrel?


As for the actual cleaning does this sound ok?


Fit the bore guide,(not entirely sure how this is done but I assume it's straight forward). Put a patch on and give it a good soak with bore cleaner,(butches bore cleaner) and run that down the barrel. Then the same with a dry patch until they start to come out clean?
The gunsmith told me to sit the moderator on the top of a heater for a while to dry out aswell.

Your opinions on this method would be very much appreciated!! And also if there is anything I missed out I'd be glad to hear it!


The safelty and shooting I get fine, just really don't want to damage the bore!




Many thanks in advance for any help!! :D
 
1. Fit bore guide
2. Pass a patch saturated in your cleaner through the barrel
3. leave for a few mins
4. pass a couple of dry patches through to mop up the loosened dirt
5. pass through another saturated patch and leave for a few mins
6. using a bronze brush, scrub through the barrellin long smooth strokes. I tend to pass the brush through the barrell a half dozen times if lightly used and a dozen if heavily used.
7. pass through another dry patch to remove crud
8. pass through a saturated patch and leave for a few mins
9. pass through dry patches until they come out clean.
10. pass through a very lightly oiled patch.

Bolt
1. scrub with a small soft brush and cleaner
2. wipe clean
3. very lightly grease points and extractor claw

Moderator (non strippable)
1. remove from rifle before putting back in bag - don't leave it on
2. leave in a warm place to ensure there isn't any moisture inside
3. spray light oil inside via an aerosol and leave standing on a paper towel
4. do not use WD40 as it affects welds creating fast fractures.

Moderator (strippable)

1. strip it and give it a thorough clean you lazy bugger :D
 
Thank you very much for the reply! Really helpful!!


Do you do that after each outing? (assuming you fire a shot).

And also, what grease do you use? The gunsmith put a touch of grease on the threads to stop the mod rusting on.




Again, thank you very much!
 
Just a general gun grease...i buy it in a syringe from the gun dealers. A light oil will work just as well.

Nope..not after each outing. I'm a bit of a shocker in that i can go months without cleaning rifles because i know how far i can take it with mine. A rfeaction to my years in the army i guess.

Not letting it go longer than say 10 rounds would be a good rule of thumb with the occassional intensive clean after a heavy session at the range.

If you really want consistency clean the rifle, shoot a round and then put it away. That way you're always shooting with a lightly dirty barrel and the point of impact should always be the same.
 
OR method two, get rifle on a nice steady surface, raise butt so barrel is level, put some small amount of absorbent material in the breech end / magazine space, squirt barrel full of WIPEOUT, leave to work, push through dry clean patches till clean patch emerges........ no scrubbing, just clean steel.
 
If like me you clean the barrel after every outing during the winter {rifle sweats when brought into a warm room from the cold} lightly clean the bore and lightly oil it, prior to next outing run a meths soaked patch through and theres no need to fire a round to "dirty" barrel B4 stalking, old trick posted on here several times, and always leave mod off rifle when not in use. deerwarden;)
 
Nah Finnbear .... i don't trust the foam cleaners. You need to brush to scrub the ingrained muck out.
 
I clean mine once a year whether it needs it or not!:fib:only joking but I dont clean it on a regular basis will clean it if it gets damp
I have a Sako thats had over 25000 rounds through it and still shoots to P.O.A. so it works for me.:old:
 
Have a look at this website http://www.precisionrifles.com/ also google cleaning rifle barrels, no set way of doing it, each to their own. I am not aware of any rifle barrel maker who recommends leaving a barrel to rust or corrode to enhance its accuracy!

Bob
 
Boggy!, TWENTYFIVETHOUSAND?:D

Yes I know, and you hear of rifles shot out with a few thousand rounds, Sako A11 in.243 had it for 26 years average a thousand rounds a year through it.

Its a working tool and certainly not a thing of beauty, only bluing left on it is the bit under the scope, stock is well scarred
clean it now and again give it a wipe down and run a rod through it, if its got wet, other than that leave it pretty much
alone.

It will still shoot to P.O.A all day every day.

Now I don't know if this a testament to Sako barrels or what, but guaranteed minimum TWENTY FIVE THOUSAND.
 
Thanks again for all the help. Does cleaning every 40 rounds seem reasonable? I tried fitting the bore guide to my sako the other day and it wouldn't fit? I thought it went in place where the bolt goes or am I being a f*nny and it's more complicated than this?!




Cheers! :cool:
 
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