rifle cleaning

fly tyer

Well-Known Member
can any one please explane to me what the correct method of cleaning a rifle with a stainless barrel is and how often i would need to do it

fly
 
Cleaning the inside of the barrel will I'm sure have been covered.
If it's been tipping it down with rain I might consider taking the action out of the stock to clean the exterior.
If there's been light rain I would wipe off the damp with a dry cloth,once the rifle is dry,wipe down the barrel & action with an oily rag, & if needed I'll give it a squirt of oil in the free floated area.
To avoid a build up of dirt,be ready to run a piece of card,paper between the barrel & the stock to check clearance.
Obviously,if you have taken the action from the stock,then be prepared to check zero before your next outing.
 
The next bullet....

The occaisional "pull through" with a boresnake is OK just to clear out any suspect "foreign bodies".

As a hunting rifle you only need to worry if your "first" and then "second" shot move.

Carbon deposits are cleared by mechanical means. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

After 250 or 500 rounds (in a year on live targets) then I would consider the copper fouling. If you then deal with it then have a couple of boxes on the range afterwards to get the barrel shitty again.

Functional tool really.

Only target shooters are worried about 100% control of everything 100% of the time.

I repeat, if you hit where you aim...... don't worry about it.

Stan
 
Wise words Stan, good advice I agree 100% and it is refreshing to hear someone say it. I have packed telling people that there is no need to keep cleaning the bloody thing, they treat me like some sort of heretic.

I too run a bore snake through to clear any foreign bodies, then when it is no longer accurate, I clean it and then foul the barrel thoroughly.

John
 
smullery/JAYB

Same here...my gun has been cleaned "properly " 3 times in 3years.In between cleaning it gets a quick zap with a boresnake from time to time.It's a 6.5x55 so it may be that such a slow moving round doesn't foul the barrel?
 
I wouldn't buy a second hand rifle off you guys!
I agree that more barrels are worn out by over cleaning than are shot out, but don't wind fly tyer up, he may take you seriously!
 
8x57

No wind-up....I suppose I forgot to mention that my gun has ss barrel but it holds zero and is more than capable of producing of sub-minute groups (more so than me!) plus has fired almost 2000 rounds to date. A bore snake is all it really gets.I am a bit ott when the rifle gets soaked though and seem to spend more time drying it than I spend on the hill with it! What's your routine?
 
Napier VP90 patch in the cabinet.

If I've been wet then I'll pull through with a boresnake and lightly damp VP90 patch. Moderator always gets taken off, a squirt and then left in the cooling oven, after a shot.

I don't consider this cleaning, just a light touch.

No shot, no action.

Stan
 
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this is my r93 after a good soaking yesterday, and a quick washdown with the hose to get the mud and blood off. it was fired and the inside of the barrell will not be touched. i gave the mod a quick squirt of wd40 on the outside and the screwcut gets a wipe of molyncote grease, but thats it, definately no wd40 on the inside of the mod as i've found it affects accuracy.

if i choose to clean the barrell, i use hoppes copper solvent and patches, no brush. i have learnt how to clean it so that 1st shot out is bang on, but i rarely clean it now, as with both my .243 and .308 r93's i have found there is no need. i never oil the barrells.

if i do clean them i always fire a test shot at paper first but with these rifles, it has never been off zero after a clean, as long as you get all of the solvent out - this can be done by repeated dry patching or with some meths, as i have just learnt from this site.

happy cleaning :D
 
Everyone has their own views on cleaning a barrel and these views range from those who are continually wearing away at the bore with brushes and solvents/abrasives, to those who seldom ever run a pull-through down the barrel.
I have my own views which I think sit midway between the two.
Personally I think a bore snake is a useful standby, but is no substitute for a rod with the correct sized jag.
I usually clean my rifles (except the .22) after use, and try to keep them clean and clear of fouling which atracts moisture and encourages corrosion. Even the .22 gets a clean if it has received a soaking. But then I am only a hobby shooter and don't shoot my rifles every day. If I did I would still clean them at least once a week or after firing 20 rounds or so, even if stainless steel. Stainless is only resistant to corrosion not impervious to it.
I have never had a problem with the first shot going wild on any rifle that I have owned except a .44 Marlin 1894, and that is more to do with barrel bands than bore fouling.
Like I said it is a personal thing and every one has their own views on cleaning, but I would like to keep and use my rifles for years to come so will continue to clean them after use.
 
This has been really good reading,

Already (2 days on the site) l have learnt something new! - i can quite catagorically say that l over clean my rifles now and will rectify this!

T
 
Only just noticed this thread (sitting uplate with toothache).

Whilst i agree that target shooters can get anal about cleaning their rifles, some of you guys make me cringe!

One thing we learned in the marksman training was that modern propelents may no longer have corrosive chemicals but that one of the active materials in the primer is fine ground glass ot silica? Effectively the last thing passing through your barrell is a fine dusting of a grindng medium that will get trapped between the next bullet and the barrell. The longer the cleaning periods, the more grinding medium in the barrel.

My rifle will be cleaned every time it's shot. I know where it will shoot with a clean barrel and where it will shoot with a dirty barrell (1-5 rds).
 
Just got through cleaning up ten rifles, whole lot done in 24 hours, right back to bright factory finish, courtesy of Wipeout products, some of these tubes are 1970s, & shoot six rounds touching @ 100mtrs. :D
 
R93 very nice rifle but gary wouldnt recomend placing your scope on radiator mate i do same with rifle & mod...
30112008473.jpg


this is my r93 after a good soaking yesterday, and a quick washdown with the hose to get the mud and blood off. it was fired and the inside of the barrell will not be touched. i gave the mod a quick squirt of wd40 on the outside and the screwcut gets a wipe of molyncote grease, but thats it, definately no wd40 on the inside of the mod as i've found it affects accuracy.

if i choose to clean the barrell, i use hoppes copper solvent and patches, no brush. i have learnt how to clean it so that 1st shot out is bang on, but i rarely clean it now, as with both my .243 and .308 r93's i have found there is no need. i never oil the barrells.

if i do clean them i always fire a test shot at paper first but with these rifles, it has never been off zero after a clean, as long as you get all of the solvent out - this can be done by repeated dry patching or with some meths, as i have just learnt from this site.

happy cleaning :D
 
Remind me not to buy a second hand rifle off you guys who don't clean regularly and like Scotsgun, what has been said by initial posters makes me cringe too!

It's upto you but not cleaning regularly will impede performance - fact.

Each to their own is what I say though.
 
Well I have just spent two days cleaning the BSA Majestic .270. It's taken that long using P-H009 and then Forest Foaming bore cleaner to get the years of accumulated jacket fouling out. Horror of Horrors I used a bronze brush dipped in P-H 009 to scrub away the burnt on layers of powder and primer fouling. yes I have an old bottle i keep just enough in the dip the brush is. The bore gets 20 strokes the the brush s wiped off along with the rod. Then dipped again and a further 10 strokes before being left to sit whilst the solvent gets to work softening the now exposed new layers of fouling.

After an hour of so the barrel gets wiped though with several patches then an application of bore foam which is allowed to sit and work. the bore is then inspected with a bright light and if any traces of copper can be seen on the lands it's repeated until it's removed. Once clean careful note is kept on how it seems to foul. No two barrels are the same and a cleaning and maintenance regime it then worked out for that rifle.

If the rifle gets really wet then it's will be pulled down dried out cleaned and oiled before reassembly. I have seen a few of these rifles that get used almost everyday and never cleaned and it was quite an eye-opener :eek:. I picked up an ex-keepers .243 and this person really needed instruction on the care and maintenance of a rifle :rolleyes:. The rifling was barely visable at the muzzle due to fouling and Moly build up. Seem he used those 58 grain Hornady Moly coated factory rounds. It took three days scrubbing and soaked to get that crap out and to discover fine pitting under the moly fouling :cry: the rifling however was strong, he thought it was hot out and all it needed was cleaning. Oh his way of keeping moisture at bay was to slaver the rifle in grease including the bolt. I scraped out about 1/4 a teaspoon of pine needles seeds and debris out of the action bolt lug recess and floor plate of the magazine. Once the grease was removed the damage to the action and bolt was noticeable. the cocking cam was all burred up and the bolt handle had been snapped off and brazed back together. A very neat job but it proved that the rifle had suffered abuse as well as neglect.

Test firing it proved that after cleaning and adjusting the scope the rifle was still capable on under MOA precision with factory Remington 85 grain ammunition. The rifle was returned and the now obvious faults pointed out and a refund obtained. Oh the rifle was a Parker-Hale model 1000 Std. I wonder if the grease and grime was an attempt to hide the faults?

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And this is the target with my walkign it onto sero:-

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The last few rounds made a nice group shot off the Bi-Pod.

Ahhh before some smart alec points out the perforated cardboard behind the settee :rolleyes: :doh: I'll tell you it has been and is used for archery practice and it's a Whitetail target.
 
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