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rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 6:44 pm
by bandit1250
I know cleaning rifles some times is a subject that has a lot of different opinions especially rim fires. I am one the side of believing in cleaning my rifles after using them. Some say never clean a 22 but it doesn't work for me. I have tried it and my rifles seem to do their best accuracy between a couple fouling shots to about 80 rounds at least shooting groups. Just out plinking away you would not see a difference. I have left a few go longer and I will be on the porch shooting and the gun just doesn't seem to be performing like it usually does and I tell my wife who is sitting on the porch "this rifle isn't doing it this evening. She will usually say "Maybe it's dirty. I walk in the basement and wet patch it and a stroke or two with a brush and wipe it clean with patches and try again and it is back to shooting at it's best again. I don't have the cold bore flyers with most of my rifles but a couple do and I believe that is the nature of some barrels. I have many CZ's and Remington rim fires that will put the clean cold barrel shot right on POA with no problems. I clean my rim fires with a mix of 2/3 Sea Foam and 1/3 Kroil. Talk about bring the black junk out of a barrel. It is nothing I came up but has been used by bench rest and target shooters for quite a while. I really think my rifles are consistently more accurate and I am not having to be real concerned about shooting with a clean bore. I have tried Hoppes NO.9 with Kroil mixed the same as the Sea Foam mix but haven't tried it enough to say it as good or any better. I will say for sure I believe the Sea Foam mix brings more black out than the Hoppes mix on the initial pass. I believe another good cleaning agent is automotive or marine top cylinder cleaner. GM top cleaner and Mercury marine Quick Silver are among the best in the cylinder cleaners and work well on rifle barrels that I have used it on. What I am using now is easier to get and seems to be as good. My rim fires seem to lose accuracy faster than normal if switching ammo brands and not patching between brands. I think some rifles that folks claim shoot better the dirtier they get actually have rough bores that need the fouling build up to smooth out the rough spots. Just my experience and yours may be different but I am going to stay with what is working for me as you should if you are satisfied with yours. Shoot every chance you get time to get to the range.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:20 pm
by Mags
Another tip: Drizzling Hoppes #9 Solvent into the chamber and out through the muzzle draws out a lot of the blue/green copper fouling too. Follow with a bore squeegee, chamber and out the muzzle. Repeat drizzle and squeegee until no more blue/green. Finish with a slightly damp patch of gun oil.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:27 pm
by Shakey Jake
Never thought of trying Seafoam. I use it all the time with my Honda Goldwing. Maybe I'll try running a patch mixed with some Ballistol and see how it works.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 11:23 am
by RanchRoper
I also clean after every outing with my Henry.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 1:40 pm
by GFK
RanchRoper wrote:I also clean after every outing with my Henry.
Me three.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:37 pm
by Mags
My bad. :cry: Not always. If I know I'm going to be shooting again in the next few days, except for running a dry bore snake through, I let it slide until I know I'm going to be done for awhile.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 4:39 pm
by RanchRoper
I guess it depends on how well you know your rifle and the feel of it. Shooting only 1 rifle often I can feel the difference if I skip a cleaning.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 4:46 pm
by GFK
For me, I noticed that the action is smoother if I take the bolt out, and clean and lube it.

Re: rifle barrel cleaning

Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2018 7:16 pm
by Bugs
I just run a bore snake through the barrel while it is still warm soaked with Ballistol after shooting.

Bore cleaning

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:22 am
by Viking
What’s the best way to bore clean lever action rifles (Henry Long Ranger in my case). Is a bore brush good enough by itself? I have been told it’s not good idea to run a regular cleaning rod through the “end of the barrel “ Didn’t worry about it on my bolt actions but need some expert advise. And yes, at my age I should already know the answer,but..... I don’t. Thank you guys and gals! ........PS This is only my third post, so be gentle. GREAT FORUM!