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A one-piece cleaning rod is being
used with the rifle securely held
in an Outers rifle cradle while it’s
being given a thorough cleaning.2
To ensure troublefree
functioning, it’s wise to keep the
bolt face and chamber of your rifle
clean and free from brass particles.3
You can use a roll of cleaning
flannel or GFC Tampons that are
calibre specific. There’s a wide
choice of space-age metal
solvents, gun oils, gun greases and
preservatives available today to
keep your rifle in tip-top condition.4
The Bore Snake can be carried
afield in your pocket or
backpack and used to clean your
rifle’s bore in camp every night.and how badly it is prone to
metal foul, it is best to begin
the cleaning by running a
bronze brush dipped in a
good metal solvent like
Butch’s Bore Shine or Hoppes
Benchrest No. 9 through the
bore. Allow the rifle to stand
long enough for the solvent to
do its work, before working a
saturated patch back and
forth through the bore. Check
the patch for any sign of blue
colour which indicates copper
residue. Once a patch comes
out with no blue showing, run
through a dry patch and
follow with a patch moistened
with a good lubricant like
M-Pro 7 or Butch’s Gun Oil to
proceed with the cleaning
and oiling. Suitable patches
can be cut from a roll of
flannel or be bought ready-cut
in the proper size to fit the
bore, like Pro-Shot.
Special care should be taken
when high strength aggressive
copper solvents like Roblo
Solo or Sweets Solvent are
used, not to leave them in the
bore too long. Once the bore
has had all the fouling
dissolved, it's a good idea to
run a patch dipped in
thinners through the bore to
remove the residue of the
solvent and prevent it pitting
the steel of the bore. Once the
bore is cleaned and dry, a
patch should be lightly oiled
with a preservative gun oil
like Sweets Oil or Ballistol. Do
not saturate the patch with oil
or else it will run down into
the action.
Whenever possible with
rifles, cleaning and oiling
should be done from the
receiver end of the barrel.
The friction of cleaning rods
rubbing against the sides of
the rifling and banging on
the crown while cleaning it
from the muzzle end, has
taken the edge off many a
musket's accuracy.
The best cleaning rods for
rifles are all one-piece,
preferably made of polished
steel and not plastic coated, so
their surfaces won't pick up
grit and dirt particles.
A clean piece of cloth coated
with the same type of oil or
grease is then used to wipe all
the outside metal surfaces of
the gun. Detachable magazines
also repay coating them with a
thin film of oil. If you want
your rifle's bolt to work as
smooth as silk, simply smear a
thin film of TM Ultra Bolt
Grease on it. A cheaper
alternative is Nulon L90
Xtreme Pressure Anti-Seize
Lubricant on the bolt body and
lugs. L90 offers extremely high
film strength and adhesion ,
doesn't dry out and works in
extremes of temperature. A 125
ml tube will last you a lifetime.
Care should be taken to see
that the optics of scope sights
are never touched with an oily
cloth, though the scope tube
and mount can be wiped over.
The soft lens tissue used for
camera lenses can be used to
wipe scope lenses. The best
treatment for any hunting
optic - scopes, binoculars,
spotting scopes shooting
glasses and rangefinders, is
Birchwood Casey VizWiz Lens
Cleaner. After any dust or dirt
is carefully brushed off,
VizWiz is sprayed directly
onto the lens surface.
Afterwhich the lens is wiped
dry with a clean soft cloth or
dry tissue. VizWiz is not only
a lens cleaner but it does not
fog up or attract dust and also
removes fingerprints.
To protect wood gunstocks
during storage all that is
necessary is to wipe it over with
four or five drops of Birchwood
Casey Tru Oil in the palm of the
hand, spread it out, and rub the
entire stock's surface with hard
strokes. Tru Oil eliminates any
shallow scratches and tends to
bring out the original finish of
the wood.
In going over the stock with
Tru Oil, care should be used that
it doesn't get on the metal, as Tru
Oil on metal tends to gum.
With the gun completely
cleaned and filmed all overwith oil, the bolt (bolt actions)
should be replaced and closed.
The firing pin should be
released. No gun should be
stored with the action cocked- as a safety precaution, and to
prevent strain on the firing
pin spring.
The gun is then stored by
placing it in position without
letting any ungreased fingers
touch the metal. Handle it
with greased fingers and by
the stock.
A gun cared for in this way
will remain rust and corrosion
free (assuming a good quality
gun grease was used) until
needed again. In instances
where the gun is taken down
to show to friends, it is wise to
oil the exterior again before
returning it to storage. The salt
in some peoples perspiration
is very corrosive and any
fingerprints left on the metal
will rust. Many gun owners
keep an oiled or silicone-
treated cloth handy in their
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