cleaning regime

[pitdog85]

Thought this would be a good site to ask this as there is a combination or target shooters, practical precision shooters, hunters and plinkers here. Seems target shooters use a more aggressive and frequent cleaning regime then there are other shooters who work with a minimal bore disturbance cleaning regime keeping copper equilibrium etc. Here is my scenarios I would like your thoughts on what cleaning regime you would use in the following.

Tropical humid coastal environment. Lets say one weekend might be 20 rounds at the range and the rifle wont be used for the following weekend. Lets say then I'm out hunting and shoot 3 shots. The gun is back in safe and might not be used for another 2 weeks etc again at the range firing 20 shots or so. etc etc. what cleaning regime would you do in this environment??

I'm thinking of at least maybe running a bore snake through and oiling the bore after each use to prevent rust but maybe that's it? Every couple of hundred rounds do a more detailed cleaning using hopes 9 etc. Or should I be using hoppes each time do you think to get carbon out? I'm not sure if carbon will still cause rust if you oil the bore over the top without doing a detailed cleaning ie just using the bore snake??

thoughts

 

[diverdon]

I would never use a bore snake on a precision rifle.

 

[...]

I would never use a bore snake on a precision rifle.

why?........i use a dry boresnake after every range trip to clear powder residue and dust out of the barrel......works great for that.

if you ask 100 people.....youre going to get 200 different answers to "how to clean my rifle?"......and everyone swears by their technique.

even among top level shooters, they all differ........which leads me to believe that your cleaning regiment really doesnt matter as much as we think it does......so long as its done properly.


what i personally do is run a dry bore snake after every shooting session......then actually clean my rifle ever 200-250 rounds (for precision rifles).

i will run a few patches of Kroil.......then a patch with JB bore paste and Kroil a couple dozen times......then clean up with Kroil and dry patches........until all the copper is gone.


now regarding OPs circumstances....where he lives in a tropical coastal environment......i would probably keep to my cleaning regiment i just posted....but i would run a oil soaked patch before i put it away. for any length of time......i wouldnt actually put oil on the boresnake....mainly because its going to mix with the carbon residue....and get nasty after a short while..



so long as you use a bore guide....and take care to protect the muzzle and chamber area.....i really dont think it matters what or how you clean.

 

[diverdon]

why?........i use a dry boresnake after every range trip to clear powder residue and dust out of the barrel......works great for that.

if you ask 100 people.....youre going to get 200 different answers to "how to clean my rifle?"......and everyone swears by their technique.

even among top level shooters, they all differ........which leads me to believe that your cleaning regiment really doesnt matter as much as we think it does......so long as its done properly.


what i personally do is run a dry bore snake after every shooting session......then actually clean my rifle ever 200-250 rounds (for precision rifles).

i will run a few patches of Kroil.......then a patch with JB bore paste and Kroil a couple dozen times......then clean up with Kroil and dry patches........until all the copper is gone.


now regarding OPs circumstances....where he lives in a tropical coastal environment......i would probably keep to my cleaning regiment i just posted....but i would run a oil soaked patch before i put it away. for any length of time......i wouldnt actually put oil on the boresnake....mainly because its going to mix with the carbon residue....and get nasty after a short while..



so long as you use a bore guide....and take care to protect the muzzle and chamber area.....i really dont think it matters what or how you clean.

You may know things that I do not know. I do not know how to drag the snake perfectly straight, so I'm conserned that it could alter the crown. I know that you can snake out a pile of burnt powder residue, I just don't know that that residue was hurting accuracy. The only thing I have ever seen proven to harm accuracy are copper (which I don't think a bore snake will touch) throat erosion or dammage to the crown. Again, I'm not saying you don't know how to use a snake, I don't know what you know. I don't know how to use one and be certian that no damage will accrue to the crown. Most of the people who I have seen use one just drag it so it rubs much more on one side of the crown than the other, that just seems wrong to me.

I'de never clean just because I hit a number. I only clean when accuracy starts to decline.

 

[mkollman74]

You may know things that I do not know. I do not know how to drag the snake perfectly straight, so I'm conserned that it could alter the crown. I know that you can snake out a pile of burnt powder residue, I just don't know that that residue was hurting accuracy. The only thing I have ever seen proven to harm accuracy are copper (which I don't think a bore snake will touch) throat erosion or dammage to the crown. Again, I'm not saying you don't know how to use a snake, I don't know what you know. I don't know how to use one and be certian that no damage will accrue to the crown. Most of the people who I have seen use one just drag it so it rubs much more on one side of the crown than the other, that just seems wrong to me.

I'de never clean just because I hit a number. I only clean when accuracy starts to decline.

I could certainly be wrong, but my boresnakes, have bronze (I believe) brushes embedded in them. If the bronze is softer than the barrel steel, it seems ike crown damage is pretty low risk.

 

[diverdon]

I could certainly be wrong, but my boresnakes, have bronze ( I believe) brushes embedded in them. If the bronze is softer than the barrel steel, it seems ike crown damage is pretty low risk.

And water is softer than rock, still the Colorado River made the Grand Canyon. The thing that focuses me on this issue is that the crown is an edge and steel edges seem easily damaged. I'm not claiming to be an authority on this, I just stating my opinion.

 

[fmaglin]

And water is softer than rock, still the Colorado River made the Grand Canyon. The thing that focuses me on this issue is that the crown is an edge and steel edges seem easily damaged. I'm not claiming to be an authority on this, I just stating my opinion.

I totally agree. While having some work done at my gunsmith's shop, a guy brought a Remington 700 in and said the rifles accuracy had been getting continually worse. After a visual inspection, the smith claimed the shooter had been pushing the cleaning rod beyond the muzzle and then pulling it back to the breech by evidence of a worn crown. He claimed even a nylon brush will drag minute grains of abrasive carbon over the sharp edges of a crown, accelerating wear on a very critical area.

 

[mkollman74]

And water is softer than rock, still the Colorado River made the Grand Canyon. The thing that focuses me on this issue is that the crown is an edge and steel edges seem easily damaged. I'm not claiming to be an authority on this, I just stating my opinion.

No problem, I am just stating my opinion as well, and am certainly no expert. Ain't the internet great...?

As long as you are going breech to muzzle, I still think a boresnake is pretty low risk. It took the Colorado River millions of years to carve the Grand Canyon. My barrels will be shot out before I get any serious erosion from a boresnake. Again, just my opinion. A single pass every 4 or 5 range trips (which is probably more than I actually do it) doesn't keep me up at night.

Carry on...

 

[mkollman74]

I totally agree. While having some work done at my gunsmith's shop, a guy brought a Remington 700 in and said the rifles accuracy had been getting continually worse. After a visual inspection, the smith claimed the shooter had been pushing the cleaning rod beyond the muzzle and then pulling it back to the breech by evidence of a worn crown. He claimed even a nylon brush will drag minute grains of abrasive carbon over the sharp edges of a crown, accelerating wear on a very critical area.

The guy was cleaning his weapon incorrectly, not using the wrong cleaning equipment...

 

[mkollman74]

...I'de never clean just because I hit a number. I only clean when accuracy starts to decline.

This I certainly agree with. I still remember being educated about this concept. Both a better practice, and a time saver...

 

[Jjensen]

Clean it when it won't shoot how you want it to anymore....If you are concerned about rust, you could use a wooden dowel to push an oiled patch through.

 

[pitdog85]

thanks guys I bought a snake on the weekend, I think I will just give it a snake after use and run some oil down the bore and do a proper clean as required as you guys suggest. thanks

 

[Griz44Mag]

I have several Bob Lilja barrels, and since he is a world class shooter and champion that makes barrels, I tend to pay attention to what he has to say. I clean my barrels after every trip out by passing a patch rolled onto a long jag with a light copper dissolving cleaner (Butchs) and oil lightly after rinsing and drying. Don't want to remove all the copper, it does have a place in the barrel, just not too much of it. I have a tendency to wear a barrel out before I see any damage from cleaning. I even had a couple of barrels trimmed and set back reamed to get the throat erosion back to a place where I could load to the lands because the rifling in the barrel was still good. As stated, everyone has their own method, many are right, only a few are wrong. Protect the chamber (bore guide REQUIRED), protect the crown, and clean one way only, breach to muzzle. I only use a bore snake on my shotguns, but see no reason to think it would harm a barrel unless you pull through at a crazy angle. I don't particularly like the idea of any brush going through a barrel dry, and a bore snake has a brush built into it.

 

[pmclaine]

The Garand Collectors association did a test with a GI cleaning rod and a new GI Garand barrel. That jointed steel rod was pushed in and out of the barrel a bunch of times (in the thousands) and they couldn't create a discernible change in accuracy.

Im not saying I recommend GI steel cleaning rods but I'm pointing out my OPINION or BELIEF that barrels aren't fragile lilies.

Use good practice and proper care that makes YOU confident in your gear. Buy quality cleaning products from reputable businesses.

Probably the most important thing, as in shooting itself, is consistency. Do the same each time to reduce variables.

Me....I seldom use a brush. I do soak the barrel with patches and Hoppes giving the solvent time to work. I will clean before a class or at about 250 rounds. I store my guns muzzle down so crap flows out of the barrel not into the action/trigger.

Use good practice, realize the crown is better with sharp edges and clean with that thought in mind.

 

[fmaglin]

Different strokes for different folks. Use the one that works for you.....

 

[Griz44Mag]

Probably the most important thing, as in shooting itself, is consistency. Do the same each time to reduce variables.


Use good practice, realize the crown is better with sharp edges and clean with that thought in mind.

These are two absolutes... Very well worded.