Gun cleaning – I need your help

I have a couple bore snakes, but I really feel like I need more for a good cleaning.

The research i have done says don’t use the old school 3 rods and now use carbon fiber or nylon coated

I know this is a tough subject just from all the research I have done and it might be a ford/chevy type of debate, but before I spend some money i thought I would ask what you guys are using.

I see Otis makes a pull through style but reviews are mixed, I have 8 different calibers so I assume I would need a couple different sized rods and tips. do you need a bore guide or do you just need to be careful? Do you use brass or nylon brushes?

I can’t find a kit that includes everything so this might have to be a custom job.

any feedback would be great!

Has anyone seen this kit… i understand some of the limitation but I am kind of liking it…

You can scratch up your barrel if you do not push the old school 3 piece in straight. That is what i use. I just make sure i’m headed in the barrel straight. I use a 2nd hand on the gun as a guide to get the rod started.

I clean all my guns with the Otis kit and it works just fine. For years I used the 3 piece rod and never had a problem. Just use care when you are doing it.

This is one area where IMO a lot of over thinking goes on and suddenly everyone starts to feel that they need to emulate what a benchrest competitor is doing and take the whole process off the deep end.

In theory, there is a danger of damaging the rifling or the crown if you were to use aluminum or other alloy cleaning rods AND assuming you clean from the muzzle.

Now, of course, you can use the Nuclear Option, and solve the problem by purchasing hundreds of dollars worth of space-age cleaning rods and other dodads.

But the thing that is hard to get a grip on is just how likely is damage to the rifling? How often does this really occur and if you’re using a modicum of care and the right size of brushes, etc, is it REALLY even remotely likely given the average use/cleaning cycle for the average shooter even if using an el cheapo $6.99 cleaning kit?

If you clean from the breech whenever possible, use a bore guide, and use the right size brushes/tools, it’s hard for me to see that messing up a rifle is even remotely likely. Sure, anything can happen, any of us could get hit in the @ss by lightening and die tomorrow, but realistically…

Now obviously everyone has a different view of this as you’ve pointed out. Some people view their guns as children or pets and therefore they HAVE to go to the greatest lengths and expense possible in their care/feeding. Fine.

My view is that my guns are tools and insofar as I want to take care of them to the best of my ability, the point is that they are here to be used. And in that use, I accept that I am wearing them out. Some relatively quickly, some very slowly, but nonetheless, by using them, I’m wearing them out.

So to me, the impact of cleaning on accelerating this wear-out process is absolutely one of the lowest factors on the list as far as contributing to the overall demise. I’m pretty sure with my stable of varmint rifles, that I’d know by now if I was messing them up through using a alloy cleaning rod. Generally, I’m cleaning these rifles after every day in the field or test session at the range, so my .223, .22-250s, and varmint handguns get cleaned 8-10 times per year each. The only decline in accuracy I’ve ever experienced has been a gradual let-out in groups after thousands of rounds of barrel wear.

I just don’t see it as the huge risk that some are making it out to be.

Grouse

Thanks guys, I do get caught in the hype but i don’t want to be that guy my guess is I over researched this area as well

Most of my rifles actually shoot better a little dirty compared to a shiny spotless barrel. And all of my rifles are coyote rifles so they get used quite a bit in a season. So after every 100 rounds or so I’ll run a bore snake down the tube a couple times then at the end of the year I’ll do a big deep clean then after the season. When doing test loads while reloading I will make sure the barrel is relatively clean to make sure all the groups are shot similarly

I still use my Dad’s old Outers kits for my rifles and shotguns but I have supplemented with bore snakes that I use 3 out of 4 times. Maybe more with my shotguns. I always clean from the breech. When I was young and dumb I definitely rubbed off some major aluminum on the crown of a couple rifles but I am not aware they ever shot differently. But then again they were not scoped.
Frankly nowadays the barrel seems so easy to clean next to the rest of the gun I hardly think about it.

Don’t get caught up in the hype.

But honestly some of the best cleaning brushes I ever have used are the Brownells Brass loop ones. I really like them because they wear very well and really scrub a bore out.

Granted I do not clean very often anymore for 2 reasons.
1. No need to over clean
2. Fouled bores usually shoot slightly better than a perfectly clean bore in my opinion (to a point)

Even my match guns, only every 1000 rounds it gets a quick clean.

Jeff Schomaker wrote:

Most of my rifles actually shoot better a little dirty compared to a shiny spotless barrel.

This is a good point to call out.

Every year I read or hear of people taking rifles to sight in before the hunting season and then giving them a right good cleaning afterward. Whaaaaaaat???? Sight them in and leave the alone!

The few rounds that it will take to sight in most rifles will in no way hamper performance. Assuming, of course, that you stared with a clean rifle in the first place. Do your cleaning after the hunting is over, not before it starts.

Also just a comment on how dirty is really too dirty. I think there are a number of urban legends and old truths out there that shooters still apply to today’s guns.

1. In the black powder and early transition to smokeless powder days, cleaning guns very frequently WAS necessary. In fact, after every use was advisable. Why? Because (the old formulations of) black powder and early smokeless powder and primers all had corrosive agents that would rust or pit a gun barrel if not cleaned.

Many have take this practice forward to the modern day making it into a more-is-more cleaning approach. It WAS necessary back then, but it is no longer necessary now.

2. Modern smokeless cartridges and jacketed bullets are tremendously clean. Occasionally you will still hear someone calling out this/that powder as being “dirty”. This has to be taken with not just a grain, but a pound of salt!

Dirty is very relative when you consider just how clean powder, primers, and bullets are on average today. They are really, really, really clean.

When varmint hunting, I can shoot 200+ rounds out of a bolt action rifle in a single day with no noticeable change in accuracy or rifle function. So, of course, this has led to discussions about how much cleaning really IS necessary in the modern era?

Obviously, as I discovered and documented in another thread on this forum, AR platforms take us a few steps backward in this regard, but still they will shoot far more rounds than your average hunter is likely to shoot in a season and still be functioning just fine.

I’m not quite to the point where I’m willing to shoot hundreds and hundreds of rounds to find the answer to how much is too much, but the point is that it takes a LOT of shooting before you’re anywhere near the point where accuracy is compromised.

Grouse

Good info above. But I think you first need to determine what you need to clean.

Copper fouling is different from powder residue which is different from……..
Years ago I cleaned my rifles obsessively. Learned I don’t need to do that and it isn’t good on the barrel. ONLY when I see my accuracy failing do I “clean”. Most of the time in rifles like my 22-250 that uses Varget, I get a lot of burnt powder residue build up after 200…300 rounds. I’ll start to notice my pattern is drifting an inch to ther left and I know its time for the boresnake.

I never actually counted the rounds it takes to copper foul my 270’s, but its a lot. My short mags all use MagPro powder and solid copper Barnes Bullets and that has been a relatively clean burning powder. If I notice my pattern is off a little, I’ll bore snake it. If its still off, I do a thorough cleaning to break down the copper.

I think much more important thought is any CLP products you use. Gummy oils like Rem Oil will give you long term build-up of crud. Look for the best CLPs to have more micro lubricants. Guys like Kyle Lamb will shoot 1000’s of rounds through their AR in a weekend and not clean it until they get home. Yes, that is 1000’s Not 100’s. I think it was Mike Lamb earlier this summer put nearly 1000 rounds through a 50BMG at an event. They never stopped to clean it. Using the best CLPs will keep it lubricated and not full of crap and sludge.

my old man taught me to clean after every time out shooting. unless hunting the next day with it/shooting. We have always used the old school three rods and brass brushes. Brass is softer than the barrel metal so no worries there. I always go from the chamber side and try my best to not hit the rifling with the rod but odds are it probably does minimal damage. never have had an issue with wearing out a barrel early I am still young though and don’t have a crazy amount of cleanings on any gun yet. But the old mans .22lr that he has had since he was a kid still shoots like a champ

I love my otis gun cleaning kit! I can clean almost any cal with it. Also its awesome for any action gun. I clean shotguns more than riffles just because they just have dirtier powder. other than that just a wipe down befor hunting season and clean after hunting season. VERY IMPORTANT when ever you take a gun out and it gets wet (snow rain what ever) at least take a clean towel and wipe down the gun and get that moisture off of it. That is the biggest reason guns fail not full of powder its rust. If you just wipe it down not even taking it apart that will be enough most of the time. You dont need to clean clean clean it all the time in my opinion. Keep up on moisture control and you will be set.

I use what we used in the Army…. rods and brass brushes, Hoppes 9, Sweets and lots of cotton swabs and q-tips.

big_g wrote:

I use what we used in the Army…. rods and brass brushes, Hoppes 9, Sweets and lots of cotton swabs and q-tips.

Thank you for serving.