BARREL CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS SECTION 1
Today it is a very common belief, that while most ammunition
will not cause direct corroding of rifle barrels, they do not have to be cleaned
or oiled at all!
This is not, however, true. Besides corrosion, many other
things can and will occur inside the rifle barrel, if not cared for properly.
During firing, every bullet leaves some metal residue onto
the steel surface of the barrel. When more and more shots are fired, this amount
of METAL FOULING will increase.
The bullet is driven down the barrel by high-pressure gas:
generated by burning solid propellant (powder). This also gives, momentarily, a
very high temperature. However, some solid particles of powder, and particles
contained in the priming mixture, will remain on the surface of the barrel after
each shot. These are partially pressed into the barrel steel, when squeezed by
the next fired bullet. This is called POWDER RESIDUE FOULING.
This phenomenon is amplified with fast and powerful
cartridges. If a “Magnum” shooter wishes to get the best performance and
accuracy from his/her rifle, cleaning and care maintenance is absolutely
necessary. This can be readily demonstrated while shooting accurate loads form a
bench rifle, and seeing how groups get wider and wider when the barrel gets
dirtier.
This will happen with all barrels: even stainless steel
barrels, which thus have to be cleaned at certain intervals too.
CLEANING:
For proper cleaning, a good and solid steel cleaning rod
must be used. Also a bore-guide, which helps to start the cleaning rod right
from the centre of the barrel from the chamber end, is useful. Use only
high-grade bronze brushes.
There are several different types of bore cleaners. Clean,
pure ammonia will cause stress corrosion cracking, and is not a recommended
chemical to be used – ever.
However, there are several bore cleaners which do have mild
ammonia content; but they also contain many other chemicals that will not cause
any harm to the barrels. There are also some bore cleaners that do not contain
ammonia, but often have chlorinated hydrocarbons as ingredients.
Always follow the manufacturers instructions, and do not mix
two or more different kinds of cleaners! This could form a corrosive chemical
mixture, and damage the barrel.
Some of the most common chemical bore
cleaners are: Shooter Choice, Barnes CR-10, Birchwood Casey’s Super Strength
Bore Cleaner, Hoppes No.9 or Benchrest, RIG 44 Super Bore Cleaner,
Forrest Professional Super Bore Cleaner, Kleen-Bore No.10 Solvent,
etc
There are also mechanical bore cleaning pastes like Gold
Medallion Remcleaner, and JB Bore Cleaner (highly recommended). These need a
very good, and comparatively tight cleaning patch, wrapped over a bore brush
that is a bit smaller than that of the actual bore diameter. These will not harm
the bore, and will clean off all the powder and metal residues. Once again, make
sure you follow the manufacturers instructions.
When these cleaners act chemically or mechanically on the
fouling, quite dirty green, blue or black patches will come out of the barrel.
Finally, when the inside of the barrel is clean, there should be not dirt or
metal residue visible on tight patches pushed through the barrel.
PRESERVING:
If one does not intend to shoot the rifle soon, a light
coating of cleaning preserving oil, or rust preventative, should be wiped into
the bore.
CLEAN BARRELS SHOOT BETTER, AND WILL LAST MUCH LONGER.
NOTE:
When the barrel is clean, and has a coating of
preserving gun oil, a clean dry patch should be pushed through it before
shooting: otherwise damage could be caused by excessive pressure. Note - a clean
barrel may not shoot the first bullet to exactly the same group as the next
bullets. This is normal, because the friction inside the barrel will change
after the first, or a few shots.
All loads are not the same. There may be
considerable differences both in the point of impact and accuracy (size of
groups), from one brand of ammunition to the other.
All Sako and Tikka rifles have been tested at the
factory for accuracy and proper functioning before packing. All rifles are
protected with preserving oil before dispatch.
Coated bullets have recently appeared on the
market. Various different coatings containing Teflon, moly-disulphide, etc. are
used. These will all change the friction in the barrel compared to a similar
uncoated bullet. Thus barrel time and muzzle velocity will change. Further, it
will take several shots with a coated bullet to “neutralise” conditions within
the barrel. This means that shooting just a few bullets of a certain coating
type will not actually reveal anything. Maybe only poor accuracy will result.
One has to make a longer series of shooting with these new bullets, to find out
if they shoot well in your particular rifle.
Further to the above, a situation will arise when
pitting can occur, mainly towards the muzzle end of the barrel when: A) the
rifle is stored after use in wet condition, and B) the rifle is stored uncleaned
in humid areas. This can happen even if only one or two shots have been fired.
The advice, therefore, must be: clean the barrel
after every use.
.22 Long Rifle rimfire rifles do not
need cleaning as much as the centrefire rifles. But the differences in .22 LR
ammunition can be considered large. Changing from one brand or load to another
may cause temporary inaccuracy. This may take ten, twenty or even more shots,
before the situation inside the barrel will settle to a level which remains the
same from shot to shot, so maintaining groups
BARREL CLEANING INSTRUCTIONS SECTION 2
A regular rifle cleaning regime is an important step on the road towards
maintaining consistently good accuracy. Cleaning procedures, including the
removal of powder and metallic fouling from barrels, have advanced dramatically
in recent years. Improvements have, for the most part, arrived in the form of
chemicals which actually do what they are supposed to.
Although there are exceptions, the amount of fouling in a barrel is
proportional to the surface finish. A well-used or neglected production grade
barrel with some erosion or pitting will foul more than a well maintained select
match-grade barrel providing all other factors, such as bullet type and
velocity, are similar. In order to clean effectively, there is a certain amount
of equipment which is essential, over and above this, there are other products
available which either make the job much more pleasant or protect parts of the
rifle such as the bedding.
Before cleaning begins, the rifle should be supported in some fashion, with
the muzzle pointing slightly downwards to let excess solvents run out, while
keeping both hands free. A wooden frame or vice can serve well, alternatively,
proprietary "cradles" are now available from various sources.
A cleaning rod is essential. It should be of the correct size and length,
i.e. as short as practical for the barrel length. Two rods save a little time
and effort. Good quality solid steel rods are available and the decision between
plastic coated and steel is up to the individual shooter. I choose the plastic
coated versions, but appreciate that both have their merits.
Next to the cleaning rod, the most important item is a good bore guide which
fits closely inside the action and rear-end of the chamber. Those that have a
rubber O-ring to seal the chamber, prevent a lot of solvent from running down
through the action bolt holes and into the bedding. The bore-guide should
protrude far enough from the rear of the action to stop dripping solvents from
entering the bedding via the tang. Its primary function is to align the cleaning
rod with the bore, thus preventing brushes and jags from gouging into the
chamber or throat, and avoiding damage to the rifling while cleaning.
Spear tip jags and cut patches are simpler to use than the traditional
serrated jags and four-by-two. I also prefer not to pull dirty patches back
through the barrel. Good cotton patches are absorbent, and fit well when used
with the correct size of jag. If you use bronze brushes make sure that they are
of good quality, with a brass core. These brushes are often cheaper than
inferior ones.
Discussions on the many solvent types and their effectiveness often come to
no definite conclusion, as personal preference usually prevails. The main types
of powder solvents such as Parker Hale 009 and Hoppes No. 9 will remove very
little, if any, copper and are best used on shotguns. Specialist copper solvents
such as Hoppes Benchrest, Sweets and Shooters Choice MC7 & Copper Remover all
work well; but both Sweets and Shooters Choice Copper Remover have strong
ammonia bases, and if not used with care can etch the surface of stainless steel
barrels. It is not recommend to use strong ammonia based products in any
stainless barrels. I usually find that unless the barrel is badly fouled that
Hoppes Benchrest does a very satisfactory job. The third group of cleaners are
the abrasives such as JB Compound and Gold Medallion (or RemClean). Despite what
it says on the container these products are abrasive to the point where they can
easily put excessive wear on the throat or crown of a barrel. However, they do a
very good job of removing metallic fouling. Please use only small quantities,
while carefully avoiding any concentration of use at either the muzzle or the
throat.
When using moly coated bullets, the process can be modified to use either
Kroil on its own or a Shooter's Choice / Kroil mixture on a 2:1 ratio.
Occasional cleaning with JB compound, or a similar light abrasive, should be
carried out every 200 / 300 rounds.
Barrel Cleaning Method:
1/ Push a loose patch soaked in Hoppes Benchrest or Butch's Bore Shine through
the barrel - this wets the bore and removes any loose powder fouling - repeat
this until the patches no longer come out looking black: twice is usually
enough.
2/ If time permits leave the solvent in for 5 - 10 minutes, and patch out
with clean tight patches. If the patches have copper deposits on them then
either repeat stages 1 & 2, or begin using a bronze brush, depending on how much
copper is appearing. Before brushing, give some thought to protecting the
objective lens of your scope or front-sight, as solvent splashed on these does
nothing to improve their performance.
3/ Push a wet brush through the barrel and completely out of the muzzle. Do
not dip the brush into the solvent bottle, as this will contaminate it. Pull the
brush back through the barrel only when it has completely cleared the muzzle.
Good quality phosphor-bronze brushes with brass cores should not damage the
crown, but care should be exercised while using them: i.e. when entering the
brush at each end of the stroke. I use roughly one cleaning stroke per shot
since the last cleaning, this is normally between 15 & 25 strokes. I then patch
out the barrel with clean, dry patches.
As with the previous operation, this task should be repeated if the patches
are still coming out blue or copper coloured. Copper solvents will react with
the copper in the bronze brush and leave small traces of blue colouring but this
is nothing in comparison with bullet jacket fouling. If two attempts at brushing
do not remove the copper then more serious measures, such JB Compound, are
necessary.
4/ To apply JB Compound, wrap a Parker Hale type serrated jag with strong
tissue paper, ensuring that it is a tight fit in the bore. Evenly apply a small
quantity of JB to the patch, and run it back and forth in the bore approximately
twelve to fifteen times. In order to minimise damage from the abrasive, try not
to let the patch completely exit the bore at either end of the barrel.
After the first application, patch out the bore with solvent soaked and dry
patches; then check for remaining copper near the muzzle. This is most easily
accomplished by leaving a jag approximately one inch from the muzzle and, with
the aid of good light, look onto the rifling for traces of copper. If copper is
easily visible then repeat the process with JB. Always clean the bore well with
both wet and dry patches after using an abrasive cleaner.
A patch with a little light oil can be run through the barrel after cleaning.
Shooter's Choice Rust Preventer is suitable. Dry out the bore
before use, and do not ever shoot a rifle with a wet chamber or bore, as this is
extremely dangerous.
5/ Presuming that all has gone according to plan and the patches are coming
out clean, remove the bore guide and swab out the chamber with an action
cleaning kit to remove excess solvents. Care should be taken to clean out the
bolt lug recess, as dirt trapped in this area will lead to galling of the bolt
lugs and action. Action cleaning kits are available which are designed to make
this job easier with the aid of cotton dental swabs.
6/ Chamber cleaning - this can be completed with an action cleaning kit and a
little heavy tissue paper. The cleaning kit is not sophisticated. It consists
merely of two aluminium rods, one of which accepts a bore brush and the other a
cotton roll. By wrapping tissue around the brush, pushing it into the chamber
and gently turning it, any surplus solvents or foreign material will be removed.
7/ Apply a small amount of light, high quality grease to the back of each of
the bolt lugs. I am not a fan of oiling and greasing rifle parts, unless for
protection while not in use, but I feel this is important in order to prevent
galling.
General Rifle Care:
As with most mechanical objects, the performance of a rifle will
depend upon it being kept well maintained. Apart from cleaning the bore, which
is described elsewhere, several other operations and checks should be completed
on a regular basis.
Locking Lug Recess: where the bolt lugs lock into in the action is
difficult to access, and yet very important to clean. This area provides a
collection point for material that will get between the bolt lugs and the
action. At best this will reduce accuracy, but it can also lead to galling or
tearing of the bolt lugs, at which point the lugs will no longer bare evenly.
Cotton dental rolls should be used to clean out any accumulated dirt.
Bolt Lugs. In conjunction with cleaning the locking lug recess, the
bolt lugs should be wiped off and lubricated every time the rifle is used. Use a
very small quantity of good quality, light grease, best applied with a syringe,
to help prevent galling of the lugs.
Cocking Cam. At the rear of the bolt body, on the underside, a cam
that is intended for cocking the rifle will be found. The contact surface of the
cam withstands the pressure of the firing pin being cocked each time the bolt is
opened on a fired rifle. Applying a small quantity of grease to this area will
aid smooth operation and reduce wear.
Firing Pin Assembly. Using a firing pin removal tool, the firing pin
assembly is easily removed from any rifle with a Remington or custom action.
This splits the bolt into two parts for easy cleaning. It is also useful to
remove tension from the firing pin when the rifle is not in use. A consistent
firing pin strike on the primer is critical for best accuracy, and in order to
achieve this the inside of the bolt should be kept clean. This does not mean
that it should be packed full of grease, as this will only impair a consistent
strike. Light oiling should be sufficient to ensure no corrosion takes place
around the firing pin or spring.
Bedding. With the exception of glue-in benchrest rifles, the barrel
and action should be removed from the stock when it gets wet. Water trapped
between the action and bedding will cause elevation problems. No matter how
close a fit the bedding is, capillary action will draw water under the action
and, compared with an un-bedded rifle, it is unlikely to evaporate. It will
probably lead to oxidization of either or both of the action and metallic
component within the bedding epoxy. Care should be taken when removing the
action not to damage the bedding. It should be lifted vertically away from the
bedding until the recoil lug clears the stock. Dry off the bedding of any water,
solvents and dust, and carefully replace the metalwork.
Screw Tension. When a rifle has been disassembled it is important to
re-assemble with the correct tension on the bedding screws. This is rather
subjective, as I do not recommend a specific torque setting due to the large
variations in rifles that are available. On a custom rifle with a pillar bedding
system, it is not critical to achieve a particular torque in order to get the
rifle to shoot. It is possible to crush the epoxy resin used for bedding, or the
material around it, and so a happy medium between this and being too loose is
required. Generally the correct tension is when the screw starts to 'feel'
tight: but I appreciate this is a matter of opinion.
Trigger. The Arnold Jewell triggers supplied with most
custom rifles are manufactured with simple adjustment as a primary feature.
Specific instructions should be supplied with all Jewell triggers, please take
time to understand the basics: it could save a wasted hunting trip or
competition. Any trigger that is finely tuned will occasionally need small
adjustments. Any tuning of Jewell triggers should involve minimal screw turning.
One quarter of a turn is a large amount of adjustment on both weight & sear
engagement screws.
It is better not to grease or heavily oil any trigger, as the lubrication
acts like a magnet to dust. When the need arises a commercial electrical aerosol
cleaner or brake cleaning solvent will serve well to flush out the unit. If
lubricant is applied for anti-corrosion purposes, a very small quantity of light
oil is all that is required to keep everything working well.
General. In order to prevent corrosion, and enhance the appearance of
the action and barrel, a small quantity of light oil such as Shooters Choice
Rust Preventer can be applied. Any excess should be wiped off and not allowed to
get into the bedding. The inside of the action can be cleaned with the same oil
applied on a clean rag.
Stock.
Finally, thought should be given to caring for wooden stocks. A rifle will
maintain its point of impact and accuracy in a more consistent fashion if the
stock remains stable. This not only means excluding water from the stock, but
also avoiding large variations in humidity and temperature over a short period
of time. The common stock finishes, such as oil and varnish, work perfectly
well providing they are maintained.
