Hunting rifle CLEANING program

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Jetman

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Have brand new hunting rifle. Will shoot a few boxes a year but nothing crazy. Looking to nail down a specific cleaning regiment just to keep accuracy in tact.
I have a rod and wire brush and snake so far. And misc oils/clp.
It will shoot 1/2-1 box at the range a couple times a year. Then a few shots to double check zero BEFORE hunting. Then put away for the long winter.

Looking for specific products to use at specific times? And for example should I just run a quick snake thru after each session until end of season then do a thorough clean at season end?
What’s your process ?
 
Give it a decent clean once per year after hunting season with Hoppes no 9 ( or similar) and a light coat of oil after. You may need to do a full copper removal after several hundred rounds, (Sweets 762 or similar). I found with my 7RM shooting Barnes TTSX I need a full copper removal after 300rds-ish, a non-magnum shooting regular gilding jacketed rounds could be 500-1000+ rounds before a copper removal is needed. Your rifle will start to group bad and develop flyers, then you know its time to remove copper.
 
I clean my hunting rifle after the season ends, I sight in in the spring for bear season and then I don’t clean it till the end of dec or the freezer is full. Regular cleaning procedure, I might put a box or two through it while sighting in and getting comfortable with it. Sometimes more if I’m in the mood to shoot some groups in the summer while waiting for deer to open up.
 
I would not use a bore snake! I clean my hunting rifle bores after every 30 - 40 rounds ... and run an oil patch down the bore after every outing.
 
I agree with post 5. I would not use a bore snake! I clean my hunting rifle bores after every 30 - 40 rounds

And bore snakes will wear your crown. And if a snake get 'jammed' in the barrel how do you remove it. The bore snake is however a successful marketing ploy.
 
I just keep the bore oiled and metal wiped down with oil while in storage, Balistol is my go to for this, it does smell like dirty socks but works well.
Dry patch the bore before shooting/hunting, bit of grease on the back of the bolt lugs.
End of the season tear it all down for oiling (disassembly of bolt etc), oil the bore again, let it sit until next time.
Only rifle I use a pull through (Otis kit) is my 17hmr... didn't want to blow $50 on a cleaning rod just for it lol.
 
If you are out in the bush especially if its rainy one trick I do is lean my unloaded rifle close to or against the furnace/stove you are using to heat the place for about an hour to warm up the metal to dry out all the parts. Then when home I break it down and oil everything and wipe away any debris etc that may have become caught up in the firearm. Also a single Hope's patch then dry patch then oil patch to the barrel is all I do with my hunting rifles (really I only have 1 dedicated hunting rifle a nice k98 for moose). Deer get hunted with the gun of the moment which right now is a CZ527. Some firearms are more resilient to weather issues than others. Some newer less expensive firearms will rust more than granddad's old blunderbuss.
 
I clean my hunting rifles at the end of the year if I will not be using them for several months. During the season just shooting for practise, I don't tend to clean them at all. One thing that does make a difference when hunting is too keep the barrel from becoming dirty from dirt, twigs, leaves, etc. ... I use a latex finger cot over the muzzle end to keep this stuff out, there is no change in impact when fired through
 
Jetman said:
Have brand new hunting rifle. Will shoot a few boxes a year but nothing crazy. Looking to nail down a specific cleaning regiment just to keep accuracy in tact.
I have a rod and wire brush and snake so far. And misc oils/clp.
It will shoot 1/2-1 box at the range a couple times a year. Then a few shots to double check zero BEFORE hunting. Then put away for the long winter.

Looking for specific products to use at specific times? And for example should I just run a quick snake thru after each session until end of season then do a thorough clean at season end?
What’s your process ?
Click to expand...

I'm sure that you will receive a variety of many good comments on how to clean your rifle. What I will suggest, is to: give your rifle, in fact all firearms, a cleaning after a day of hunting. Metal does not like moisture, it eats away metal and turns it to rust. Therefore, wipe-down the inside of the barrel with lite oil and all metal exterior surfaces. Your firearms with last forever!;)
 
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time4t said:
Centerfire with jacketed rounds are cleaned after every shooting session including decoppering to keep the fouling under control. A clean bore snake does well for touch ups, and at the end of a hunting day when the tools get a quick wipe down. During storage times, a quick wipe and patch every month or two keeps things ready to go. g 96 for the routine stuff and sweets for copper. Eds red is pretty good too.
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Hunting rifles need a consistent POI. If you clean after every shooting your poi will be constantly shifting. You want to maintain a copper/carbon fouling to keep it consistent. Cleaning once a year is plenty for just a few boxes per year.
 
todbartell said:
how does a light coat of oil effect point of impact on the first shot?
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It may, and the only way to tell is to test. I had a 308 Anschutz and I would leave it outside for a couple of hours in fall, to stabilize the temp at near zero, and then take a carefully aimed shot. It was dead on at 100, and every subsequent shot went about 3" high. I knew that my first shot would be dead on at 100, after that the zero was at 250. After hunting, clean and oil. Cleaning consisted of a patch soaked in Hoppes 9. Oiling the bore is important. On opening day I saw a buck staring at me, 100 yards away. I put a shot between his eyes, lights out.

Ku25DKum.jpg


This is what happens if you neglect your rifle, don't clean/oil/store it properly. The good thing is that sometimes a bore can look like this and still be OK for hunting. The barrel in the picture will still shoot 1 moa at 200 yds, 5 shots. I did have to trim 2" off the barrel and re-crown.

BTW, I swapped for this pig-in-a-poke, none of the rifles I've owned from new have ever looked like that.

The worst place to store a rifle is in or near a laundry room.
 
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todbartell said:
how does a light coat of oil effect point of impact on the first shot?
Click to expand...
I suspect that could vary depending on the barrel. I actually had that discussion with a shooter at the Range this morning after observing my cold/clean round land high which is often (but not always) the case. My theory is that the film of oil results in higher pressure. The shooter I was discussing the phenomenon with advised that he always starts with a clean bore and his chrony says the cold/clean round is usually 20 - 30 fps slower than the subsequent shots. Although it seems counter intuitive that a drop in velocity results in a higher POI, perhaps barrel harmonics may have the final word.

EDIT: This is what happened this AM @ 100m with one of my hunting rigs. Cold/clean is the single hole on the left followed by two five shot groups to the right.
 
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