How to clean your rifle?

[trg42wraglefragle]

Ok, I've been shooting for quite a while now and all I know is what my dad has taught me.

My dad doesn't know much about shooting.

On a bolt action rifle what should I be cleaning, oiling and greasing?
I clean the barrel the same way everyone does, and oil the outside metal and bolt and inside the chamber.

But do I need to do certain things inside the bolt? and should I be greasing anything?
If I grease the bolt do I use special gun grease or the same grease I use on my motorbike axle?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Old Grump]

Inside the bolt should be clean and dry, lube will just gather up gunk and impede the firing pin.

 

[Art Eatman]

Humidity of an area makes some difference about the amount of protection against rust which is needed. I like as minimum a coating of anti-rust oil as necessary. I've never used grease on a bolt action rifle.

If cleaning from the muzzle, the brass cone on the rod to protect the edge of the muzzle, the "crown", is something I see as very important. The crown pretty much controls the accuracy of a rifle.

If whatever load I'm using does not gunk up a barrel with residue, about all I usually do is spray some WD40 on a patch and make a few passes through the bore. If the patch comes out fairly clean, I then spray some gun oil on a patch, running it through for anti-rust. I guess maybe every 50 or 100 rounds I'll use a copper-removing bore cleaner and work with it until patches no longer show much blue color.

FWIW, I use a .22 stainless rod. 2"x2" GI patches work as-is for 30-caliber. Scissors allow trimming for smaller diameters.