How do you clean your centerfire rifle?

O

overthere

New member
For those of you who shoot centerfire for accuracy, how do you clean your rifle?

- Do you use a bore brush? If so, bronze, nylon or stainless?

- What bore cleaner do you use for carbon fouling? Which ones do you like? Which ones do you not like?

- What bore cleaner do you use for copper fouling? Which ones do you like? Which ones do you not like?

- How often (round count) do you typically clean copper fouling (if ever)?

- When you clean out carbon fouling, how many clean patches do you typically need to run through before you consider the bore clean?

- When you are done cleaning the bore, do you run a patch with oil through?


I am trying to get a feel for how other folk are cleaning their rifles. I have been using Hoppes #9 as a bore cleaner until recently when I tried M-Pro 7 and I'm not yet sure if I like it.

I am a 'light/moderate brush user' in that I typically run a bronze brush through about three times per cleaning (in action-to-muzzle direction only) but I never really get a sense of having thoroughly cleaned the bore. The patches will come out increasingly clean but it seems I am just drying out the bore. If I run the bore brush through it again, the patches keep coming out dirty. Is it that the bore is still dirty or is the brush dirty, mucking up the bore when I run it through?

For those of you who do not use a brush at all, is a bore solvent really all that is needed to get the carbon out? How does a patch loosen up the gunk and carry it out of the bore as opposed to just picking up some while mostly absorbing the cleaner?

What does it take to get the bore really clean? And does it even matter? I shoot targets for accuracy (causal shooter) and I do not have a good idea of how big a difference it makes to really get all the fouling out, especially copper fouling.

I recently bought an M-Pro copper cleaner and used it for the first time. It produced green patches so I guess I had copper fouling but is running the cycle once enough? Or should I keep doing it (run wet patches / let soak / run dry patches until dry) until no more green comes out?

How do you clean your centerfire rifle? What have you seen work and what is a waste of money and time in your opinion?
 
Solid, one piece rods. Bare stainless or coated. And a bore guide for them to fit the receiver goes in first. Never ever a bare aluminum rod or sectioned bare steel one.

Patch damped with Shooters Choice or something equal pushed through the bore twice to get most fouling out.

Bronze brush first dipped in bore cleaner then back and forth in the bore a dozen or two times.

Three more damp patches. Then three dry ones.

Toothpaste with a lot of dental pumice in it's great for removing copper fouling; smear it on a 2" square patch wrapped around a sub caliber nylon bore brush. Back and forth a few times. Change patches when it gets really black. Then wet patch with bore cleaner to remove the toothpaste.

Copper fouling's gone when slightly damp patch with a little anhydrous ammonia doesn't turn blue being pushed through the bore.

Extremely thin coat of machine oil protects the bore; clean it our before shooting. Stainless steel bores often don't need rust protection.

Really smooth bores clean easy Once every 30 to 40 rounds is good. Rough ones are hard to clean and need be cleaned most often.
 
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I use the Otis cleaning kit, I clean after every trip to the range. 4 passes with the bronze brush, them 2 passes with a swab with M Pro 7, then a clean swab and finially 1 pass with a slight amount of Hoppe's gun oil.
 
I use brushes(brass preferred but nylon acceptable), to loosen all the gunk in the bore and then switch to patches. everything is done with CLP.
 
How do you clean your centerfire rifle?
Click to expand...

Foaming bore cleaner. One piece ramrod, bore guide, sub-caliber nylon brush and cotton patch (sometimes strips of paper towel instead).

Spray foam bore cleaner and let sit overnight. Wipe bore with 2 dry patches. Wipe bore with 2 oil (rem oil) patches. Wipe bore with 2 dry patches.
 
Tipton rod. I use a nylon brush with M-Pro Copper Fouling Remover and give it a dozen strokes from the breech. Let sit five minutes then run a dry patch through. Repeat until no appreciable color is detected on the patch. Dampen a patch with Hoppe's and run that through the bore followed by a dry patch.

when to clean depends on the gun. I have one that opens up groups after only 30 rounds but two others that never seem to mind being dirty. I shoot Barnes exclusively.
 
I shoot cast in my CF rifles. Most bullets used have Gas Checks. I use a patch with a slotted tip and use 50/50 of ATF and WD-40. I use a one piece SS rod. On the big bores (.44 & .45 Calibers) I use a sectioned 1/4" aluminum and or Brass Outers rod and use a 7mm Rem Mag case with its base removed as a muzzle protector. The rod never rubs on the barrel.
 
For a regular cleaning I use Wipe-Out Patch-Out works great no smell & will not harm your barrel. For a good spotless cleaning on a regular barrel I use JB Bore Compound & kroil oil. brushes should be also cleaned after cleaning, they hold on to the grime. Don't dip the brush into the bore cleaner, drip the cleaner on the brush. I clean after 30 rounds, I'm old school
 
I use a bore guide most are Lucas then use Bore Tech coated rod with bronze brush in whatever cal cleaning and I use GM top engine cleaner mix with Kroil.

When I run a patch I use a Dewey coated rod with a jag for what cal I'm cleaning and I run one patch with the above mix before using a brush. 3/4 pass with brush then I run one patch then I'll run one more normally my barrel is pretty clean.

For Copper I use Sweet's and I have one of Sinclair kits for chamber mop and cleaning the lugs and I do that every time I clean and I grease the lugs then.

I have set of Rods for every caliber and stored in Sinclair double rod cases. I get my brush from Bruno couple dozen for each cal and Patches are per cal and since jags are fitted I can use same for 3 calibers.

I make sure bore is tip down so I get nothing running back toward the action and I do put scope cover on so nothing come back since most of my cleaning is at the range.

I clean my brush with choke cleaner and they make 4/5 range trips then there replaced may be sooner.
 
Hoppe's #9, a couple of wet patches on a spear point jag on a one piece coated stainless rod witha bore guide....... breech to muzzle for everything.

Brush through bore a couple of times. Clean chamber with a cotton mop, bolt with an old toothbrush and a rag.

'Nuther couple of wet patches.

Put in safe muzzle down overnight.

Wet patch, dry patch, wet patch, put away muzzle down overnight.

Repeat until the patches stop coming out blue-green. Then a dry patch and put away.

I use a scentless (or at least less smelly) solvent and oil before deer season.

Takes 5 minutes per gun ...... if we only shot a few rounds, the patches may come out clean on the 3rd day. If I went shooting prairie dogs for the weekend, it may take a week.
 
From the breach preferably with a rod when possible and with a cable when a rod isn't possible. I use good ole Hoppes no9 for the bore and Balistol or CLP for everything else.
 
When cleaning my high dollar match barrel, I start with a dry bronze brush on a one piece coated cleaning rod.

I push the dry brush through from chamber to muzzle, when the brush comes out of the muzzle, I unscrew it from the cleaning rod, remove rod, re-attach and repeat.

Then I do the dame thing with a brass cleaning jag and a solvent wet patch,
Then a dry patch,
Then another wet patch
repeat as necessary, ending on a dry patch.
 
the first shot on the range will take care of any mess:D

no but sparingly, compressed air, solvent, run a couple of patches thru, some alcohol on the bolt and then oil if needed, wipe of

store it barrel down for a while
 
Collings & Brady No.90 solvent - patches , no brushes.
Every 50 rounds I swab though a patch soaked in industrial strength Amonia then dry patches till clean.
 
Foaming cleaner overnight with plugged muzzle.

A few patches the next day until they come out clean, and oil patch to finish it
 
Pretty close to what BartB said, except I still have some JB bore cleaner and some LBT polishing compound that work well, hadn't thought of the toothpaste. I usually oil the bore with Kroil when done, or if I know I am going to put it up for a while a heavier oil.
 
Foaming bore cleaner, time, Ed's Red, bore guide, patches, nylon brush are the tools that I use. I clean the bore less than I once did and can't tell much difference, even with my aspirin guns.
 
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