Cleaning and Maintenance of Howa .308

[Mesa]

Ask 20 people how to best clean a gun and you will get 22 or so answers. I have a Howa 1500 Lightning in .308. Once and for all, what do I need to do after shooting it at the range? AND what kind of rod, cleaner, oil et. should I use? The patches I got for it are supposedly for the .30 cal range, but I have to cut them down or they positivly will not go through. I clean and clean but the patches still come out with black on them. I always finally just give up and run a slightly oiled patch through and let it go at that. Very frustrating. Any help is appreciated!

 

[George Stringer]

Mesa, a rifle should be cleaned after every 20 rounds but a lot of folks just clean after each trip to the range. This is how I clean a rifle after firing. Run a wet patch with Hoppe's #9 through the barrel and let set for 10 minutes. Then take another wet patch and make 20 passes (10 in, 10 out)followed by 3 dry patches and finally a lightly oiled patch. I use plain old Hoppe's gun oil. The best rods are one piece rods and you should use a bore guide to protect the muzzle. George