Cleaning question for 91/30 folks

M

mxracr

New member
I went shooting my 91/30 yesterday. Came home and started cleaning. First thing I did was run a bunch of boiling water down the the barrel. Next, several swabs with Hoppe's. Then a brush. More Hoppe's. Then more Hoppe's. Eventually, a few Boresnake passes. More Hoppe's. Overall, I would say more than 20 passes with the Hoppe's swabs.

My issue is that, eventually the swabs came out slightly cleaner, but still pretty black. I'm confident that the corrosive properties are taken care of, but I hate the idea of it still being dirty. Do these guns eventually come out with a clean swab? Is there anything else you guys would suggest to get the barrel good and clean. Looking down the barrel, it looks good. I just still get dark swabs.

I'm used to cleaning hand guns, just a bit new to rifles. Not sure the spray foam stuff would get any place close to the middle of the barell to be effective.
 
Assuming you (or someone else) has been shooting corrosive surplus ammo, the best thing for dissolving the salts is an ammonia type substance. Flushed with lots of hot water then do the Hopies, oil, treatment.
 
Just an fyi, I've used the spray foam cleaners on mine and it does indeed go clear to the opposite end. How long have you had it? I know on both my Mosin and SKS I had to actually soak them in Hoppe's to clean off the cosmoline they came in.
In my personal experience, the brush is definitely your friend. I usually run it through the barrel at least 15 times before I even bother with solvent.
 
I've had it for about six months. Just didn't use it till yesterday. When I bought it, I used the hot water, did a total tear down, used Hoppe's, and thought I did a good job getting all the cosmoline out. Funny how after only the first ten rounds you have enough heat to realize there is still some more in there. I will try the foam. I have no problem continuing to clean the cosmoline out, but I want the barrel to be clean as well. I think I would need 100 patches of Hoppe's to do it.
 
You will probably never get all the cosmoline out, lol. mine still leaks, i think it channels a wormhole into another dimension and sucks cosmoline from it because i can't find any left anywhere when it's cold.

Ammonia does little if nothing at all for corrosive ammo, just use pyss or water and then clean as usual.

I usually spray any kind of cleaner to get the bulk out first, carb cleaner, ether, etc... gunscrubber then run at least a dozen or more patches and still get dirt. You don't have to get it spotless but I get it damn close. Let the solvent you use sit in there a few minutes or more to do it's thing then clean it out.

I got it spotless and then used some foam copper cleaner and got patch after patch of blue for awhile. You will never get your bore 100% clean but you can get it damn close. Don't worry about a little bit of residue but it shouldn't be allot.
 
Thanks guys! I kinda figured that with the age of these guns, I may always be able to get a little more out of it. Like I said, I did start with boiling water and then start with the Hoppe's. That way, at least the corrosive properties are taken care of. Cool old rifles. My wife just shakes her head these days. First it was the hand guns, now the rifles.
 
How'd you get the boiling water down the barrel without getting it all over the stock just interested as i've been just cleaning mine the standard way but a bit more thoroughly and i've had no issues with corrision of any kind except a tiny spot on the muzzle where i must have missed a tiny spot.

But i've been thinking about using boiling water though just to give me bit of peace of mind.
 
You can use a small funnel. However, I did get water on the stock. I just wiped it off pretty quick. It evaporates pretty quick. I have not heard not to do that. Anybody advise against it?
 
Use Wipe-Out- after flushing out the salts.
Hoppes #9 is OK, but there's nothing wrong with joining the 21st century...
The foaming cleaner expands dramatically- and fills the entire bore.
It also takes care of copper fouling, which many shooters ignore- and leaves a protective coating in the bore so you don't need to run an oiled patch through the bore.
 
Never heard of Wipe Out. Thanks. I will try to find some. Sounds like good stuff. As far as the 21st century, your not the first to say that to me. Still trying to figure out how to get the internet and apps on my flip-phone.
 
the best thing for dissolving the salts is an ammonia type substance.
Click to expand...

This is not correct. Water dissolves the salts not ammonia. I and many other people carry a small bottle of windex around to clean the guns if I am out for extended periods of time, but I only use windex because it is in a convenient spray bottle, not because the ammonia does any good.
 
I have seen people use hot water in a bucket stick the barreled receiver in it (stock removed). Then they make the motion with cleaning rod like they were churning butter. It works like a pump causing the water to come out of the muzzle end. They changed the water in the bucket from time to time until the water was clean. Then he took the gun to the bench to clean it with Hoppes #9. I was always afraid to clean a rifle like this just because of the water. I see now that it want hurt the riffle, but will changing directions with the cleaning rod hurt anything? I was told years ago not to change directions. Push all the way out then pull it back threw. It seems to have not hurt the rifle, but is this a bad practice?
 
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