Rifle cleaning technique checklist

[kflach]

I've got some very specific questions about the techniques of cleaning a rifle that's firing BP bullets during a match. I've looked though the back pages and found all sorts of discussion, but they aren't always specific about technique. Also, I've found tidbits here and there across many different threads, and I'm trying to pull them all together in one place, as a sort of checklist so I don't forget a step. I know some people prefer Moosemilk, some prefer Windex with Vineger, some prefer WD-40, and some prefer other cleaning formulas. I don't need to know your favorite recipes (I've already checked through those posts). For the sake of brevity I'll refer to those as "spritzers" in my questions. I also know some people use lubricants like pure Ballistol. I'll refer to those as "lubricants." Please bear in mind that I don't have lubricated bullets of any kind (yet), or tallow. For the record I'm referring to a rifle that uses straight walled cartridges (.38 Spl) instead of bottle-necked cartridges.

1). Should I run a patch of lubricant, spritzer or neither down the barrel before I shoot? If I do, do I need to run a dry patch through it afterwards?

2). Should I spritz or lubricate the receiver/carrier before I shoot? What about the action area? Do I need to dry it somehow before I fire the rifle? If so, how?

3). After I've shot a stage (or two) I'll probably need to run a cleaning patch down the barrel. I have a spear tip jag. Won't that push BP fouling down into the receiver/carrier area of the rifle? Should I use a different kind of jag (maybe a loop jag) to avoid that?

4). The forcing cone of my barrel is wider than the rest of the barrel (duh!!!). Do I need to use a different type of jag to clean that out since a patch on my spear tip jag won't spread out to fill it tightly?

5). My best guess is that I need to spritz out the receiver/carrier area *after* I run the cleaning patch through the barrel (between stages). People use the term "spritz" in their posts a lot, but does that mean I should just give a quick spray into that area or should I really soak it down, letting it drip through to presumably wash out BP fouling from around the carrier?

6). After I spritz down the receiver/carrier, do I need to spritz into the action of the rifle (between stages)?

7). After I spritz down the receiver/carrier, do I need to dry it out before shooting the next stage?

. Do I need to lubricate anything *during* the match?

9). Is there anything different that I should do before I leave the match?

10). Is there anything different that I should do when I get home?

11). I know soap and hot water is probably the best BP fouling cleaner there is. However, I can't fit my rifle into my sink. I do, however, have the ability to heat up a pot of boiling water and I could pour it over the whole receiver/carrier/action area of the rifle. I'm sure that doing that would pose a risk to the wood on my rifle as well as increase the potential for rust. Is that what ya'll do, or do you just "field clean" the rifle (as described above) when you get home and then once a year tear it down and put the individual pieces into hot soapy water?

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If something on this checklist is just a matter of personal preference, please feel free to point out that "Item number X  is optional."

[Noz]

1. No
2. The action area should have a VERY light coat of, my choice, Ballistol. Not enough to wipe off.
3. If you are using bullets with BP lube, no wipe down is necessary
4. No. The patch will spread enough.
5. No
6. No
7. No
8. No
9.No
10. Run water, or Moose Milk or Murphy's Mix or Windex down the barrel from the receiver end. Run a bore snake thru the barrel a couple of times. Run a patch coated with Ballistol down the barrel. Spray a little Ballistol into the action. Wipe the outside of the firearm with Ballistol cloth.
11. Tear it down for a "complete cleaning" every 6 months. You will be surprised at how little fouling you will find.
12. Don't "overthink" black powder shooting. It's very simple. Fill the case with powder, use soft lead bullets lubed with an ample amount of Black Powder lube, wash it gently after shooting, lube lightly to prevent rust.
Go get a beer.

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

Yeah, you're overthinking it.

Back when I used to shoot pan lubed bullets I used to swab my barrel out once, or maybe twice during a match.

Typically, fouling builds up near the muzzle. What happens is the lube gets rubbed off the bullet as it runs down the barrel. If your bullet doesn't carry quite enough lube for the length of the barrel, it runs out of lube near the muzzle. Then hard caked fouling starts building up for the last six inches or so near the muzzle. Once fouling builds up accuracy will usually suffer. When I was pan lubing bullets I was using regular hard cast bullets with the regular Smokeless lube removed. Most Smokeless bullets have pretty skimpy lube grooves, the ones I was using only had one thin lube groove. So they just could not keep the barrel lubed for its entire length. After four stages or so I would swab out my barrel to remove the fouling near the muzzle. No big deal, I always carry a full length rifle cleaning rod on my gun cart. I always used the slotted end of the rod, never used a jag. One or two patches inserted in the slotted end of the rod, then soaked with my favorite water based BP solvent down the bore and I was ready to do again. You're only cleaning the last six inches or so of the barrel near the muzzle, the rest of the bore should be OK. Here's a trick to keep the fouling and dirty cleaning solution out of the action. Insert a spent case into the chamber and close the action. Twirl your wet patch all the way down the bore. Remove it and inspect it to see how dirty it is. Run another one down. As soon as the patches come out a dirty gray you are done. Don't expect the patches to be spotless. You have not shoved any fouling anyplace, you have dissolved it with the water based solution, and the dirty solution is bottled up in the case in the chamber. Turn the rifle upside down, without sweeping anybody, and eject the spent case onto the ground. Be careful, a spray of dirty solvent will come out with it. Run a dry patch down the bore to mop up whatever is left in the bore and you are ready to start shooting again. Simple, huh?

By the way, the reason you should NEVER use a jag for this operation is you will probably jam the patch in the spent case in the chamber and you will be very upset as you try to unjam it. ALWAYS use the slotted end of the rod for this operation and you will not jam anything up. Besides, the slotted end allows the patch to conform to the bore. Be sure to twirl it down the bore.

These days I use Big Lube bullets and never have to swab out my barrel during a match. But I still use that method to clean my bore at the end of the match.

As far as preparation, when I cleaned my rifle at home I left a thin film of Ballistol in the bore. I don't clean it out, I just start shooting.

[Blackpowder Burn]

I've just started casting my own Big Lubes (44 Mav) and lubing with DD's Pearl Lube II.  I shot our monthly 2-day match last weekend and after 2 full days of shooting, my rifle required a spritz of moose milk down the barrel, 1 patch and 1 pass with a bore snake.  The patch came out gray colored and had no fouling crud.  The bore was shiny bright after this cleaning.

My revolvers required a similar amount of "effort".  I think I used a total of 4 patches on each, including the cylinder.  Then one pass with the bore snake.

I love cleaning guns that run black powder.

[Dick Dastardly]

Pards before me, including Driftwood Johnson and his sidekick Wild Bill Peterson, did their homework.  I've never had to clean a gun during a match to keep it running and acurate as long as I've been shooting Big Lube bullets.

A spritz of moosemilk and a tug of the boresnake and my bores are clean.  More work if you enjoy it might include an annual teardown and action cleaning.  My guns have many seasons of SASS action on them now and they are just fine.

So, forget the hard work, the worry and all the tough cleaning myths.  Welcome to the darkside as it was meant to be.

Custer might have won with Big Lube bullets.

DD-DLoS

[Goatlips]

kflach,

Nothin' above that I disagree with, and there's some knowledgeable folks up there.  Big lube is the important thing for rifles anyhow.  I always shoot two day matches without cleaning just to be ornery. 

Goatlips

[kflach]

Thanks ya'll!

I admit that I analyze, analyze and analyze again - at least before I do something the first time. I'm having too much fun and don't want to mess anything up. <Big Grin>

I appreciate your simplificatin' the rifle cleaning process for me.

[August]

Them slide-rule guys what shoot them .254 Ackley Improve Lapua magnums in their bench 30 pound bench rest rifles do stuff like you ask about.

Black powder shooters blast them gunz, scratch a little bit, then run some water and a patch or two through 'em and are done.  Some of them black powder shooters get fancy and put some lubricant onto the gunz after washin' 'em.

[kflach]

If I backslide on occasion and shoot cheap smokeless rounds at the range do I need to do anything different? I've heard that you use different cleaning materials for smokeless.

[Wills Point Pete]

 Yep, smokeless requires a slightly different cleaning regime. You will need a regular solvent and probably a lot more work. Black powder is messier, no doubt about it. Yet if you have enough lube and soft enough bullets, you will need nothing but a good water based cleaning solution. This is why so many of us like Moose Milk, the water does the work and the little bit of Ballistol keeps the rust at bay.

If you choose to shoot jacketed bullets with your smokeless loads you will probably want to remove all the jacket fouling before going back to the soft lead and black powder.  This is easy enough, run a couple patches of Butch's Bore Shine through, leaving the bore wet, then leave it for a few hours, even overnight. Then, run a dry patch through, you'll see some greenish blue. Repeat until there is no more blue-green on the patch.

I don't really know how badly we need to follow the no copper fouling routine with real black, there is a school of thought that says the black powder residue actually removes the copper.

As far as cleaning after black, the only thing I do different from Driftwood is that I place my rifle upside down in a cleaning cradle with the action open. Then I run a couple-three wet patches through, letting them just fall free. Then when the bore is nice and shiny, it never takes many patches, I take the rifle out, squirt a whole slew of Moose Milk into the open action and then blow it out with compressed air. Note, do not do this in the house or while wearing nice clothes. Do not sit on the good furniture until changing clothes, either. If you must do this while traveling, do it in the shower of the motel room using canned air from the office supply store. then shower.

Just remember, Black Powder is messy but eaier to clean. Smokeless is neater but much more likely to lead. thus harder to clean.

[kflach]

Thanks WPP. May daughter wants me to take her to the range and let her shoot my rifle. I kinda figured those cheap smokeless rounds would be good for that because it'll probably only happen once or twice before I get to the point where I start reloading (January-ish).

[Noz]

Re: copper fouling.
the reason it is bad for the BP shooter.

Take brass or copper, add flux(bullet lube) add soft, possibly molten lead and you are into a soldering situation. The more copper fouling the more lead fouling and the tighter it sticks.

[Montana Slim]

No fuss...the rifle is the easiest to clean of all my irons.
Here's how I clean my 1866(s) & 1873 in .44-40 & 1892 in .357:

1. Empty fired case from the day's shootin' goes intot he chamber
2. Close action
3. Wet patch on jag down/up the bore (I use windshield washer fluid)
4. Repeat (3) as needed with clean patch
5. Eject empty case
6. Dry patch bore
7. Oil patch bore (I use WD-40)
8. Wipe breech bolt, muzzle & chamber face with oiled patch
9. Done

I don't spritz, or lube the action on my rifles during a match (or after), but you may want to IF your rifles don't behave.
If your not using a big-lube bullet, you may need to run a damp patch down the bore between every 1-2 stages.
Pay attention to YOUR weapon during a match and it will tell you what it needs. Take care of it & it will take care of you.

Regards,
Slim

[ol' poke]

Save yourself and get the Big-Lube bullets first - at least for your rifle.  After that....

1). Should I run a patch of lubricant, spritzer or neither down the barrel before I shoot? If I do, do I need to run a dry patch through it afterwards?   Nope - show up, load up and SHOOT!

2). Should I spritz or lubricate the receiver/carrier before I shoot? What about the action area? Do I need to dry it somehow before I fire the rifle? If so, how?   Nope.  If you did any cleaning after your last match, you should be ready load up and SHOOT!

3). After I've shot a stage (or two) I'll probably need to run a cleaning patch down the barrel. I have a spear tip jag. Won't that push BP fouling down into the receiver/carrier area of the rifle? Should I use a different kind of jag (maybe a loop jag) to avoid that?  Since yar usin' dem Big-Lubes, there is no need!

4). The forcing cone of my barrel is wider than the rest of the barrel (duh!!!). Do I need to use a different type of jag to clean that out since a patch on my spear tip jag won't spread out to fill it tightly? Agin, since yer usin dem Big Lubes.....

5). My best guess is that I need to spritz out the receiver/carrier area *after* I run the cleaning patch through the barrel (between stages). People use the term "spritz" in their posts a lot, but does that mean I should just give a quick spray into that area or should I really soak it down, letting it drip through to presumably wash out BP fouling from around the carrier?  Too much work.  Relax, have fun, and SHOOT!

6). After I spritz down the receiver/carrier, do I need to spritz into the action of the rifle (between stages)??  Too much work.  Relax, have fun, and SHOOT!

7). After I spritz down the receiver/carrier, do I need to dry it out before shooting the next stage??  Too much work.  Relax, have fun, and SHOOT!

8 ). Do I need to lubricate anything *during* the match?  Ya still need to relax more, have fun, and SHOOT!

9). Is there anything different that I should do before I leave the match?   Quit smilin' so much fer sure - people kinda look oddly at smilin' folks dressed up as cowboys!

10). Is there anything different that I should do when I get home? OK, now ya can start smilin' agin!

11). I know soap and hot water is probably the best BP fouling cleaner there is. However, I can't fit my rifle into my sink. I do, however, have the ability to heat up a pot of boiling water and I could pour it over the whole receiver/carrier/action area of the rifle. I'm sure that doing that would pose a risk to the wood on my rifle as well as increase the potential for rust. Is that what ya'll do, or do you just "field clean" the rifle (as described above) when you get home and then once a year tear it down and put the individual pieces into hot soapy water? I use Ballistol spray and the hottest water I can git on a patch.  I swab out the barrel until I get clean pactches (2 or 3), then a bore snake.  I wipe out as much crud out of the action as I can - there is not usually much.  Finally I spray Ballistol into the action to places I caint' reach.  The Ballistol nuetralizes the BP corrosives.  Once a year, I tear the whole thing down and wipe all of the crud out.  Black goo? - you bet.  Rust? - nada.

Black Powder rocks!

Good shootin'....ol' poke

[Pitmaster]

I know soap and hot water is probably the best BP fouling cleaner there is. However, I can't fit my rifle into my sink. I do, however, have the ability to heat up a pot of boiling water and I could pour it over the whole receiver/carrier/action area of the rifle.

I have a laundry sink in the basement. I cut off a piece of hose about 3" and screwed it onto the faucet. Turn the hot water on and hose it out. If I need some pressure I just put my thumb over the end to squirt with increased pressure.

[kflach]

I took my daughter shooting this week and used Smokeless. I've got bore cleaning compound for my bore. What do I need to do about  the carrier area of the receiver?

[pony express]

Probably won't need to do much of anything inside the action, after shooting smokeless, especially if it's just a few rounds. Maybe wipe out any fouling you can see, and a shot of whatever lube you like.