Cleaning a Precision Rifle
Many "correct" ways, but this is my way and it works...
There are many ways to clean a precision rifle, and there are many kits out there that claim to clean it the best way possible. There are many schools of thought as to what the right ways and wrong ways are; i.e. "Don't pull the brush/jag/patch/whatever back through the bore from the muzzle end", "always use a bronze/copper bore brush", "don't/do use solvents", etc. etc.
I am not going to go into a whole gamut of different methods out there on the inter-webs that are construed as being the "correct" way to clean your rifle. I will however outline the process I use, as I feel that it is most effective without any undesirable side effects.
Basic items you will need before you get started and yes, they are necessary.
- Bore Guide. This is one of the most important and often most overlooked pieces of kit in a rifleman's tool kit for cleaning their precision rifles.
- Carbon Fiber or coated cleaning rod. This is another important one. You can get away with brass or aluminum, as the metals are much softer than the steel in the barrel, but even aluminum can damage a steel crown if the conditions are "perfect".
- "Parker-Hale" style jag. This is one that I will not go without. You can use push style jags and there are the old fashioned loop style jags as well. I generally do not have a problem with the push style jags, but I will never use a loop style jag. They do not work as well, they leave half of the jag uncovered by the patch to bounce off your lands and grooves and they generally just aren't a good idea.
- Rifle stand or something to keep the rifle steady on while pushing the cleaning rod through it. You don't want your rifle to rock around all over the place and fall over while you are cleaning it.
- Empty Water bottle. Not necessary, but it makes cleanup much easier.Once you have assembled your kit of hard-goods, you will also need to select your cleaners and protectors or all-in-ones. I am personally a big fan of FrogLube CLP and good old fashioned Automatic Transmission Fluid. Ill explain why later.
First things first, unload the weapon, check and make clear. Remove all ammo from the area that you are going to be working in. Remove the bolt and insert the bore guide, lock it in and make sure that it fits nice and snug against the chamber. Also slide the water bottle mouth over the muzzle. A regular Arrowhead bottle fits snug on my compensator, and stays put until I remove it. It does an excellent job of catching any solvents, debris or pushed through patches when they pop out the muzzle.
I don't use a bore brush on any of my rifles. I find that its just not a necessary step honestly. I utilize the Parker-Hale jag and regular cotton patch, only. Roll the patch around the jag and apply a liberal amount of your favorite bore-cleaner. I personally like M-Pro7 Bore Gel. I find it works well, contains no ammonia, is non-toxic, has no harsh fumes and cleans out well. Run the patch through the bore until around 1/4 of the patch is showing out of the muzzle. Pull the patch back though and let sit for 5-15 minutes. Take this time to clean up the bolt and whatever else may need a wipe-down or a cleaning.
After you let the bore gel sit and do its work, run a series of clean, dry patches down the bore until they come out somewhat clean. at this point in time you can run a CLP type product down the bore. For this I like FrogLube CLP. If you don't have any CLP stuff around, grab some ATF fluid, I typically go for synthetic, but its not necessary. I really like Automatic Transmission Fluid for this application for a few reasons. First, it contains no tackifiers that make it sticky, like you will find in motor oil or gear oil. Second, its thin enough to clean up well and get into the pores of the metal itself and stay put to provide protection from the elements. Third, ATF contains a fair amount of detergents. You can actually do a fine job of cleaning an entire firearm with nothing more than ATF. It also works well as a lubricant, though it doesn't stay put as well as dedicated firearms lubes like FrogLube, Slip2000, etc.
Run 1 heavily CLP/ATF oiled patch down the bore, followed by dry patches until they come out clean and dry. I then like to follow up with one more lightly oiled patch, followed up by one more dry patch.
At this point, I consider the bore clean and ready for storage.
