Centerfire hunting/informal target rifle cleaning

[Dr. Strangelove]

How do most of you approach cleaning your hunting rifle barrels? When I younger, I would clean and clean and run patches through until my arms ached, until the last patch came clean.

These days I shoot my hunting rifles once a month or so, and I usually just run a patch or two with Hoppes or Kroil through the barrel and call it good enough. Once in a while, I'll do a better cleaning to get the copper and lead out, but if I'm using a rifle regularly, I just don't see swabbing it down to bare metal every time I shoot. At the end of the season, or if I don't see shooting it for a while, I'll give a rifle a good barrel scrub.

Not mil-surp shooting corrosive, not benchrest rifles, just regular ol' center-fire hunting rifles.

 

[Outlaw81]

I scrub mine down and lube them thoroughly after every season. Just to counter the effects of weather. My target rifles get a patch every fifth shot and wire brushed with solvent every fifty shots. Hunting rifles don't typically get shot that much.

 

[Scorch]

I approach mine from the rear. Otherwise, they can be daynjerus!!!!

Just kidding! I clean them after each trip out, whether a range trip, match, or hunting trip. Strip, clean, reassemble. Takes about 10 minutes, 15 at most if I am talking or tired. That way I know it;s ready to roll next time.

 

[hooligan1]

It's really a good end of the day afield for me to scrubb'em down,,, kinda unwind so to speak.

 

[okiewita40]

Anytime I put ammo down the tube the gun gets cleaned. And just like the USMC taught me. The gun gets field stripped and scrubbed til all the patches come out clean. I do this once a day for 3 days after I shoot. I guess old habits are hard to break.

 

[Doyle]

Once a year only. I clean and de-copper in the late summer. I then refoul the barrel, recheck my scope zero, and I'm good for another year of hunting.

 

[L_Killkenny]

We need a "none of the above". The answer is....... I clean my guns when they need it. That may be everyday if the weather is foul or it may not be for months. Shot count has some impact too as I'll clean em if the get grimey or accuracy suffers. Other times I just clean em for the heck of it.

But to get along with the general jist of the question: If I'm out in good weather all season and my guns haven't gotten dirty or wet I generally don't clean em till after season.

LK

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I purposely didn't include a none of the above, just pick the one closest to what your actions.

 

[Pathfinder45]

Bore snake

With my 270 I usually just run the bore-snake though it before shooting and sometimes after. I will not clean it at all for some time before hunting season so as to minimize odors. After the season is over it will get a thorough cleaning inside and out. The bore will get many strokes with a brush, then copper solvent, then patches, more copper solvent, patches again 'til clean and finish off with a light coat of break-free CLP and put it away.

 

[FrankenMauser]

If I scrub all of the copper out of the barrel, I have to run another 30 rounds through it, to load it back up. Without copper fouling, my rifles lose accuracy (and velocity, changing the POI).

I hit the bore with a bore snake, or just a quick pass with a brush and a couple patches, a few times a year. If the action needs any attention, I don't hesitate to clean and lube it. ...But a proper cleaning only happens after all centerfire rifle hunting seasons are closed. I scrub it like a mad man, and then spend the winter/spring getting the bore properly copper fouled again.

One of these days, I'll probably give up. Scrubbing the copper out just means I have to put some back. Why waste the time?

 

[Slamfire]

Swab barrel out with GI bore cleaner, run a bristle brush, also dipped in GI bore cleaner, then run patches through to remove the dirty bore cleaner.

Every so often I will let barrel soak with a copper cleaner.

Only if I suspect accuracy has gone bad will I now run JB bore cleaner to clean out the throat. The stuff is an abrasive and needs to be used very sparingly.

I shot a HM score at 600 yards Sunday with a barrel I treat this way.

I am getting to the opinion that cleaning all the copper out really does very little. Lumpy fouling is very bad, but I don't get lumpy fouling with my match barrels and match bullets. I do believe accumulation of crud in the throat is bad. Frank White of Compass Lake told me copper solvents will not clean that out, once in a while you have to use JB.

Because of the hot, humid area I live in, I want to remove all the powder fouling that I can as that attracts moisture.

I do have one bud who never cleans his target rifles, I think he does lube them, but he does not clean out the barrels. He is a High Master. Outshoots most of the population.

We had a barrel cleaning discussion last small bore match. Anschutz says to clean their .22LR barrels after the first 500 rounds, then every 5000 rounds after that.

 

[rickyrick]

I wipe out the bolt/receiver area rather regularly, especially when dust or some debris gets in there.
The barrel, maybe every 200rds more or less.

if the rifle is not gonna be used for a while then it'll get the spa treatment.

I used to clean like an angry demon until i learned that it is not necessary.

 

[horseman308]

Well, the rifle I shoot the most gets cleaned the most, but since it's a flintlock that only sees real black powder and patched round balls, it has to be cleaned every time I shoot. But that's probably not what you're asking.

As far as centerfire rifles go, I generally clean with a wire-brush and patches about ever 40-50 rounds. If it's the M1 I break it down and clean the action in detail about once a year or if it is out in bad weather (I hunt with it on occasion, when I'm not using my flintlock).