Gun cleaning book

Seamus357

Can anyone recommend a good book on gun cleaning? There seems to be plenty of books on almost every other aspect of hunting and shooting except gun cleaning.

EWQuinn

http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Owners-Handbook-Maintaining-Firearms-In/dp/1592287425

You can get a gun care book, like this one at link is decent on cleaning, otherwise lots of cleaning info on line. To me gun cleaning is a little like religion and politics, lots of opinions, some of them very strong. Among various firearms experts and barrel makers etc, a wide diversity of opinions on how, when, and how much. People on this forum including Moderator Cass have some good advice if you want to get a gun really clean.

Cass

Are you looking for info on a particular caliber or just in general?

A rimfire would have a different regime to a centrefire and both would be different to a shotgun. There may be some overlap but the process and chemicals used would vary.

IRLConor

The manufacturers will sometimes have recommendations for cleaning their products as well. It's worth having a look for these because there could be notes on things to look out for that are specific to the design of your gun.

hexosan

What would people recommend for cleaning a 10/22

What products and how often ??

Jayzesake

Cass wrote: »

A rimfire would have a different regime to a centrefire... There may be some overlap but the process and chemicals used would vary.

I thought the difference was that centrefires just need cleaning more frequently than rimfires. What other differences are there, or is that question too generalised to be able to answer here?

Cass

hexosan wrote: »

What would people recommend for cleaning a 10/22

What products and how often ??

You would want a carbon and lead cleaner. Something like Bore-Tech Rimfire bland. Failing that, as it's not readily available here, KG-1 carbon remover and if necessary a nylon brush.

Jayzesake wrote: »

I thought the difference was that centrefires just need cleaning more frequently than rimfires. What other differences are there, or is that question too generalised to be able to answer here?

Rimfires such as a .22lr are lead. No copper. So a copper cleaner is redundant and not ideally suited to cleaning out carbon. Also most .22 ammo is coated in a wax/lube. Stuff like the hmr that is copper coated needs a copper remover too but the fouling is not as severe as a cerntrefire which has a copper jacket and not just a coating.

I never use a bronze brush. They are pointless, overly harsh, a dirt magnet and it's not the brush that does the cleaning but the chemicals you use. So once you have the patience, patches and the proper/appropriate cleaner will do the job.

Bore snakes are another pet peeve. They are an emergency cleaning tool in my book. Not suitable for every day cleaning.

My routine would consist of the following:

1. KG/Forrest Foam for regular barrel cleaning. (Wipe out/Butch's Bore shine now and then for heavy cleaning.)
2. Run a KG-1 soaked patch through the barrel. This is a carbon remover to get the grime out first.
3. Leave to sit for a few minutes.
4. Run another wet patch with KG-1 through the barrel to moisten the fouling, and remove the first lot of carbon..
5. Continue this util the patches run wet and clean. In case of a really fouled barrel run a nylon brush up and down the barrel about a half a dozen times. Clean the brush each time with a spray oil to prevent a build up of gunk on it.
6. Run another KG-1 patch down the barrel to remove fouling while treating the barrel again.
7. Leave to sit for a minute or two.
8. At this stage have about 15 or so oiled patches at the ready.
9. Start running them down the barrel one after the other until they run wet & clean. The patches need to remain wet to prevent drying.
10. If they come clean before the 15 great. If not use more.When they run clean and wet, time to turn to dry patches.
11. Run a couple of dry patches to remove any oil/excess.
12. Time to use the copper fouling.
13. Repeat steps 2-11 with the KG-12 or preferred copper remover. You are looking for wet and clean patches. If there is any hint of blue or green then there is still copper in the barrel.
14. Once the patches are running wet and clean it's time to clean out the excess from the barrel.
15. Run a few oiled patches down the bore.
16. Once done run a coupled of patches with Meths on it. This removes any excess oil residue and as meths simply evaporate rather than burn (like oil) it's excellent for getting the bore completely clean.
17. If you like now you can use a mop. Run it through a few times.
18. On the last run leave the mop half protruded from the muzzle. Wipe around the muzzle and clean any fouling on the crown. The mop will prevent anything running back down into the barrel.
19. Remove the bore guide and use a tooth brush, patches and bore brush to clean out the chamber, breach, etc.
20. Wipe down/clean the rod, brushes, jag, and bore guide.
21. If the rifle is being stored away for a few weeks i roll up a soft cloth and place it into the chamber up against the breach and store barrel up.
22. On the off chance that i have somehow missed some residual this will collect it.

Most will have there own method. Its as personal as ammo choice, rifle choice, etc. One small tip though. Each time you run the rod up the gun have a cloth in hand to wipe the rod. This prevents any residue or gunk from the barrel sticking to the rod, and being run up and down the barrel like a paste. For a rimfire (again depending on whether it's a copper coated or just lead round) i'll use the same process just with or without the copper cleaner.

Jayzesake

Thanks Cass, a very comprehensive explanation for us newbies there, as usual.

Cass wrote: »

Rimfires such as a .22lr are lead. No copper. So a copper cleaner is redundant and not ideally suited to cleaning out carbon. Also most .22 ammo is coated in a wax/lube. Stuff like the hmr that is copper coated needs a copper remover too but the fouling is not as severe as a cerntrefire which has a copper jacket and not just a coating.

What about .22 wmr, is a copper cleaner necessary, or just carbon?

EWQuinn

I run CCI copper plated, I think they are wax coated. I never have any copper on my cleaning patches. So probably just a good bore cleaner that gets the carbon and wax etc is all that is needed. I happened to find some interesting links.

Extreme case of leading supposedly after 300 rds of Remington Thunderbolt ammo (nasty):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjbsuJhr_zE

More than we probably need to know, Rimfire Research web site, their page on rimfire bore cleaning:

http://www.rrdvegas.com/rimfire-cleaning.html

Cass

That article from rimfire research is extremely comprehensive and very good. I noticed a good few similarities with my own method. For example he does not use bronze brushes, dislikes boresnakes, and uses the same bore-tech/Pro shot rods i have. Also his technique is the same as my own, more or less.

Very good article.

Kramer

Cass wrote: »

Stuff like the hmr that is copper coated needs a copper remover too but the fouling is not as severe as a cerntrefire which has a copper jacket and not just a coating.

All 17 HMR ammunition is jacketed, not coated.

Cass

Does that change the process for cleaning out the copper?