Cleaning hunting rifles

[HookMeUpII]

I guess it depends how much you shoot. I switched to all Bore-Tech stuff. My threshold is about 20 rounds. If I shoot 20 rounds or more, I'll usually clean it before the next practice session. For hunting, being that you only usually shoot 1-2 or a few rounds, I won't clean.

As everyone said, always send a fouler down the practice range before going into the field. My X-bolt doesn't ever seem to be off even with a cold-bore, fouler shot but it still makes me feel better.

 

[Justbryan]

Lazy Method: I take mine to a friend who is a professional gunsmith. He builds my rifles and cleans them after or before every hunt. The gunsmith gives them a good cleaning where he completely breaks them down, cleans, oils, inspects, etc. I shoot 2 rounds to foul the barrel then 3-5 more to check grouping. Then I shoot 1 shot on site if traveling long distance.

If I shoot a lot at the range, I will drop it by the gunsmiths for a good cleaning. If deer hunting locally, I go all season without cleaning the bore.

I usually don't clean the bore till my next trip or even the end of the season. I wipe down the rifle daily when hunting.

Muzzleloaders are completely different; the bore must be cleaned every day when shot. I know from experience you cannot leave a shot muzzleloader bore dirty all season.

 

[Switup]

I don't mind cleaning a rifle, its a good beer drinking sport lol. I just don't want to be cleaning if I don't need to but I also don't want to abuse my barrel either. Its a fine line. I know some people that clean after every range session, that is not me for sure but I do think the 100 round interval works well and its easy to keep up with. And I know at 100 round marks on most SA stuff it aint to bad to clean. I shot 600 rounds out of 308 in a weekend and that ol' girl was NASTY!

 

[mdwest]

I do a very minor cleaning at the end of each hunting season.. basically a light wipe down and oil of the steel, a few punches up the bore with a rod and patch and some ballistol.. and a light oil and wax on the wood.. and Im done..

I'll dirty the bore up a bit just before hunting season begins.. I pretty religiously hit the range at least 2-3 times and will put 5-10 shots downrange with each rifle I intend on hunting with, just to make sure I keep my programming with the rifle up, re-confirm zero, etc.. (maybe 15-30 shots total down range per rifle before I actually hit the deer woods).. then hunt all season.. and repeat the cleaning/storage process again in the winter once the season closes..

My days of scrubbing every possible bit of carbon out of the rifle and spending 2-4 hours in a cleaning session ended the day I left the Army

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

What about cleaning the action on a double rifle? That is obviously a professional job, how frequently should it be done?

 

[mdwest]

What about cleaning the action on a double rifle? That is obviously a professional job, how frequently should it be done?

I dont own a double rifle.. but I do own a few double shotguns.. I have no clue about a professional cleaning on a rifle.. Ive never gone that far with the shotguns.. I can tell you that my process for the shotguns isnt much more detailed than my rifles though other than because they get shot a lot more (a few thousand shells a year), the bores do get punched a good bit more often and they do get a external surface wipe down more frequently as well.

Something I do with the double shotguns much more frequently than I do with my bolt and semi rifles is.. I hit them pretty hard with compressed air after they have had a good bit of use.. I'll fire the air into the firing pin holes and all of the little openings and channels of the action to try to push out as much dirt/grime/carbon/etc as possible before applying a light coat of oil..

I do the same thing with the bolt guns.. but not nearly as frequently.. they might get hit with compressed air, have the bolt disassembled, etc once every 5-10 years depending on how hard they get used..

 

[Inline6]

Clean bore, if you removed copper chances are high the bullet will not impact where you think. If you are taking shots at 50 yards this most likely will not be a problem. If your first shot is 500 yards, I would have shot at least 2 groups of 5. First 5 to foul the next 5 to confirm zero.

Like @Hogpatrol stated know your gear that is just like it sounds ammo, rifle, scope, bipod, tripod whatever you use needs to be confirmed (this is mainly for the longer range stuff, that said it is still good practice).

 

[Doug3006]

Prior to the hunt, I put 3 rounds through it so I know where it’s hitting. My rifles generally shoot high and right when they’re clean and lightly oiled.