MongoMike
New member
I am just curious if there are others that use a similar rifle cleaning regimen to mine.
Over the last ten years, I have gone almost completely away from brushes(My Grandpa is turning over in his grave as I type this), and have gone to chemicals except in extremely fouled (especially with copper or lead) or abused barrels. I am a high volume shooter, and I have found that unless I go too many rounds between cleaning, chemicals work just fine for me. They also seem to be much easier on my rifles, especially the crowns. I also have a Hawkeye borescope and use it to verify my findings.
Most of the time I use foaming bore cleaners, like Wipeout, Outers, or Gunslick foam. I only go 20 minutes and patch the barrel out, and sometimes go for another 20 minute application. I finish up with a bore oil/lube if the rifle is to be stored, or none if it will be shot in the near future. For my deer rifles, I only clean them once right after deer season. Before deer season, I run an oily patch down the bore and then fire some fouling shots and recheck scope zero. I admit most of my rifles have custom barrels, which are less prone to fouling and copper.
For my bolt action coyote rifles that get used all winter, I usually clean them only one time each between October and March, and sometimes nonce. They get a lot of use, like 30 or more hunts, so when I clean them in the spring I remove the barreled action from the stock and really give them a good cleaning. I also grease the side of the safety and the bolt release. During a prairie dog hunt I clean each rifle once every day, and sometimes have to break out the copper brushes.
Some of my other favorite chems are K1, Ballistol, Shooters Choice, Brakleen(non-chlorinated), Witches Brew bore lube, and Hoppes #9. For serious copper fouling I use K12 and Witches Brew Copper Cleaner.
After each bolt action rifle cleaning, I place a microdot of light gun grease (Shooters choice red in a hypo syringe) on the back of each locking lug to prevent galling and one dot in the camming area near the back of the bolt, especially on Rem 700s.
I use quality rods, (my favorites are BoreTech), and I try to match the rod to the bore diameter. In other words, I don't use a .224 rod in a 30 caliber barrel. I use bore guides, nickel plated Tipton jags (that will not react to the foam), and I try to make sure my patches are loose enough to keep the rod from flexing and touching the rifling. If the patch is too tight it will also unspin the jag. The bore guide almost eliminates rod flex and helps keep liquid chemicals off the stock and work area.
Over the last ten years, I have gone almost completely away from brushes(My Grandpa is turning over in his grave as I type this), and have gone to chemicals except in extremely fouled (especially with copper or lead) or abused barrels. I am a high volume shooter, and I have found that unless I go too many rounds between cleaning, chemicals work just fine for me. They also seem to be much easier on my rifles, especially the crowns. I also have a Hawkeye borescope and use it to verify my findings.
Most of the time I use foaming bore cleaners, like Wipeout, Outers, or Gunslick foam. I only go 20 minutes and patch the barrel out, and sometimes go for another 20 minute application. I finish up with a bore oil/lube if the rifle is to be stored, or none if it will be shot in the near future. For my deer rifles, I only clean them once right after deer season. Before deer season, I run an oily patch down the bore and then fire some fouling shots and recheck scope zero. I admit most of my rifles have custom barrels, which are less prone to fouling and copper.
For my bolt action coyote rifles that get used all winter, I usually clean them only one time each between October and March, and sometimes nonce. They get a lot of use, like 30 or more hunts, so when I clean them in the spring I remove the barreled action from the stock and really give them a good cleaning. I also grease the side of the safety and the bolt release. During a prairie dog hunt I clean each rifle once every day, and sometimes have to break out the copper brushes.
Some of my other favorite chems are K1, Ballistol, Shooters Choice, Brakleen(non-chlorinated), Witches Brew bore lube, and Hoppes #9. For serious copper fouling I use K12 and Witches Brew Copper Cleaner.
After each bolt action rifle cleaning, I place a microdot of light gun grease (Shooters choice red in a hypo syringe) on the back of each locking lug to prevent galling and one dot in the camming area near the back of the bolt, especially on Rem 700s.
I use quality rods, (my favorites are BoreTech), and I try to match the rod to the bore diameter. In other words, I don't use a .224 rod in a 30 caliber barrel. I use bore guides, nickel plated Tipton jags (that will not react to the foam), and I try to make sure my patches are loose enough to keep the rod from flexing and touching the rifling. If the patch is too tight it will also unspin the jag. The bore guide almost eliminates rod flex and helps keep liquid chemicals off the stock and work area.
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