Alas, for many of us hunting season is--or is about to be--over for another year. If you haven't already put a spit polish on your shooting arms and stored them away, now is the time to do it before serious problems arise. Frequent cleaning and maintenance preserves the value of your shooting irons and guarantees that they won't let you down in the field.
Deer Rifles
It's especially important to thoroughly clean a deer rifle, because most of these guns only see action for a short period each year. The sooner copper, powder, and lead fouling is removed from the barrel, the easier the task becomes.
Removing the copper from a rifle barrel is a critical step towards consistent accuracy. Every 20 shots a good copper solvent should be used on rifle barrels. Normal power solvent like Hoppe's No. 9 won't touch copper fouling. You need a copper dissolving agent like Hoppe's Bench Rest or Barnes C-10 for this job.
Run a patch soaked with solvent down the barrel and let it set for a minute or two. Then follow up by running a couple clean patches down the barrel. A blue color on the patches means the solvent is doing its job.
I work the barrel over with a wire brush soaked in solvent then run a couple more clean patches down the barrel. Keep running patches and solvent down the barrel until the patches come out clean. This whole process can take 10 to 20 patches if there is heavy fouling in the barrel.
A few tools make this job much easier. Purchase a one-piece stainless steel cleaning rod if you don't already have one. The whimpy aluminum rods out there aren't worth owning. Pick up a good wire brush in the appropriate caliber and a cleaning jag in the proper size. You can purchase pre-cut patches or cut your own from old rags.
If you don't like the elbow grease method, an electrochemical bore cleaning system is the easiest way to remove fouling. The system works by depositing copper or lead fouling onto an electrode inserted in the bore. Outers produces an electrochemical bore cleaner that costs $80.
Once the barrel is clean, I run an oil-soaked patch down the barrel if the gun is to be stored for a period of time. If I plan to shoot the gun again in the near future, I simply leave the barrel clean and dry.
My deer gun of choice is a Remington model 700 Mountain Rifle. Once a year I remove the stock and spray out the trigger mechanism, bolt, and magazine with a alcohol-based solvent. Remington's Rem Action Cleaner is one of the best I've found. This pressurized cleaner quickly washes away grit, grime, grease, and oil and then dries almost immediately.
These type of cleaning agents are a must for hunters who shoot auto-loaders and pumps that have lots of moving parts to collect gunk. Once the gun is reassembled, I wipe the entire gun down using a rag moistened with Rem Oil to prevent rust from forming on the metal parts. Even the scope tube gets a coating of this light lubricant. The stock is rubbed with a clean rag to make sure no solvents or oil are left behind. The scope lens get cleaned with a soft rag and the caps slid into place.
When bolt-action guns like the Model 700 are stored, the spring in the firing pin mechanism should be relaxed to prevent it from losing strength. Make sure the gun is unloaded and rack the bolt. With the bolt handle in the up position and the bolt closed, hold the bolt and squeeze the trigger at the same time. Let the bolt handle down slowly. The spring in the firing pin is now relaxed and the gun can be stored until next season.
Blackpowder Rifles
Blackpowder and Pyrodex are corrosive and quickly cause damage to a front loader left uncleaned. A muzzleloading rifle should be thoroughly cleaned after every shooting session. Even one shot can leave behind enough corrosive powder residue to ruin the gun.
The problems associated with cleaning muzzleloading rifles is one of the main reasons I switched to the Knight MK-85 rifle. The unique design of this rifle allows it to be unloaded without firing the gun! Make sure the gun is uncapped and remove the bolt assembly, nipple and breech plug. When these parts are removed the powder charge can be dumped onto the ground. Then take the ram rod and use it to tap the bullet out through the same opening.
The whole process takes a couple minutes including reassembly. Since I use a fresh powder charge each day in the field, I don't have to worry about the powder getting damp and fizzling at the worst moment.
When it's time to clean my front-loader, I disassemble the gun while filling the kitchen sink with hot soapy water. The hammer, nipple, and breech plug are put in a cup of soapy water to soak and set aside.
The end of the barrel is slid into the sink and using a cleaning rod and jag, I run a patch up and down the barrel. This motion sucks soapy water into the barrel and flushes away fouling.
It takes several patches to remove all the black gunk. A few dry patches are run down the barrel to make sure all moisture is removed. If the gun is going to be used again soon, I leave the barrel clean and dry. For longer storage I run a patch soaked with Rem Oil down the barrel.
The hammer, nipple, and breech plug are cleaned using a toothbrush, then sprayed off with a moisture displacing product. Remington's Rem Action Cleaner also works great on blackpowder rifles. The trigger mechanism gets the same treatment. All metal parts (except the trigger mechanism) then get a light coating of Rem Oil and the gun is reassembled.
When sighting in my muzzleloaders each year, I clean the oil from the barrel before dumping in the first powder charge. I also clean the barrel every few shots by running a patch moistened with Thompson Center No. 13 Plus Bore Cleaner down the barrel. This procedure gives me better shooting accuracy and makes the final cleanup less of a mess.
Clean guns should be stored in a dry place where they won't be handled. My guns are locked in a Homak safe where kids and thieves can't get at them.
Copyright (c) 1996 Mark Romanack. All rights reserved.
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