Cleaning a Rifle
Please remember to ensure your gun is unloaded before attempting to clean it.
When cleaning a rifle you will need a cleaning kit that matches the calibre of your gun. You will need gun oil and, if it is a gun that has done a lot of shooting or is a center fire rifle, you will need solvents to remove lead, copper and gun powder residue.
The cleaning kit will consist of:
- A Bonze brush to loosen copper, lead and powder residue
- A mop to polish the bore when you are finished cleaning
- Patches
- A rag to clean the bore after solvent has dissolved the lead, copper and powder residues.
- Gun oil - Good quality gun oil is an essential to cleaning any firearm.
- Old toothbrush
- Copper Solvent – This might be needed to take off any powder residue
Step 1:
Take some gun oil or solvent or dip a patch in the gun oil or solvent. Push the patch up through the barrel from the chamber to the muzzle with the cleaning rod. Leave the oil or solvent in the bore for 10 minutes.
Step 2:
Push the bronze brush through the bore several times using the cleaning rod. This will loosen any copper, lead or debris.
Step 3:
With the cleaning rod, and the jag, push the patches through the bore until a patch comes out clean. This will tell you that the bore is clean.
Step 4:
Now you will begin cleaning the action of your rifle, start by removing the bolt. The bolt is removed and then you will spray gun oil all over it. If there is a lot of gun powder residue on the bolt and the action you might want t use solvent on it. Apply the solvent, leave for 10 minutes and then carefully remove all the solvent. Apply gun oil and use a toothbrush to get around the action in those hard to reach spots.
Step 5:
Before putting your gun away spray some gun oil all over the exterior and wipe away any excess with a clean cloth or towel.
Clean your shotgun
Please remember to ensure your gun is unloaded before attempting to clean it.
You will not need many items to maintain your gun and the items you will need won’t be very costly, however if you maintain and clean your gun using the correct methods on a regular basis, it will keep the firearm in top condition for longer. Cleaning your firearm will not take long and will maintain the condition, performance and reliability of the firearm for a longer period. The main items you need are as follows:
- Shotgun cleaning kit – This will consist of a cleaning rod, a bronze brush, a soft plastic brush and a mop. All of the brushes will attach to the end of the rod. The rod usually comes in three separate attachable rods, which can be screwed together. Cleaning pads are also useful when cleaning off any residue.
- Gun Oil – Good quality gun oil is an essential to cleaning any firearm.
- Copper Solvent – This might be needed to take off any powder residue.
- Towel
- Old toothbrush
The cleaning kit will consist of - cleaning rod, bronze brush, soft plastic brush and a mop (each will attach to the cleaning rod separately).
Step 1: Disassemble the gun
Disassemble the shotgun by removing the forend and removing the barrels for the lock or action. If the shotgun you are cleaning is a multi-choked, remove any chokes in the barrels.
Step 2: Bronze Brush
You will now need to spray some gun oil down each of the barrels. Attach your bronze brush to the end of your cleaning rod and push the rod up the barrel, from the chamber end towards the muzzle. Move the bronze brush up and down the barrel several times. This will loosen any lead or debris that will have coated the inside of the barrel.
Step 3: Plastic Brush
Attach the plastic brush to the end of the rod and repeat step 2.
Step 4: Cloth Pads
You can buy pads for this step, however we find just cutting up an old cloth will do the same trick. Cut a patch of cloth and place it on the end of the cleaning rod. Push it up through the barrel and this will clean out any remaining dirt and oil.
Step 5: Mop
The barrel is now clean and you will now need to attach the mop to the end of the cleaning rod to polish the barrel. Same process as before, you just push it up through the barrel several times.
Step 6: Multi-Choked
If your gun is a multi-choked shotgun you must clean the threads on the barrel and the choke. We recommend that the chokes be taken out and cleaned, with some oil and a cloth, after every use.
Step 7: Cleaning the Action and Forend
With the barrels off the shotgun, spray or wipe gun oil all over the action. We recommend spraying if you can, as this will get into all those hard to reach places. The copper solvent will be used on the action to take off any powder residue. Finally apply a light coat of oil before reassembling the gun as this will keep the action lubricated and rust free. Wipe gun oil and steel parts of the forend also.
Step 8: Cleaning the exterior of the Barrels
To clean the exterior of the barrels, just spray gun oil all over the barrels and rub with a clean cloth