Any Gun Maintenance Threads Out There?

[bitruns]

Bought my first Tikka t1x the other day ($608, which is nuts).

As a newbie, there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding gun cleaning and maintenance.

Hickok 45 uses a cotton rag and mineral oil to stop his metals from pitting, while using solvents to clean his bore, others claim a specific gun oil is needed like linseed or synthetics like silicone, and just a bore brush alone is fine.

Last thing on earth I want is this T1x not lasting, giving it to my future generations would be a dream.

Any pros willing to share their gun care routines, or point me to a thread that has?

What do you do after a day at the range for maintenance?

Thanks a lot CGN’erz

[joemanco]

Anecdotal response for you - I'm not a pro, and this isn't T1X specific. I had similar questions recently and read around a fair bit. Thoughts were varied but seemed to fit mostly into these 3 mindsets:

a) Paramilitary mindset. Clean after each use / even a single round / regardless.
b) Lean mindset. Clean only if necessary / before it's an issue / before use if obvious.
c) Maintenance mindset. Clean on a cycle (e.g. rounds fired, calendar months, if obviously needs it).

My opinion on each: "a" can be zen like, near essential for a defensive firearm, but may risk wearing or damaging firearms prematurely. "b" seems to be the answer from everyone I physically talk with / mostly old timers. "c" is like "b with a plan", encourages more shooting than "a", and resembles how we treat other tools (e.g. trucks). I now adopt "c" because it encourages logging, which has helped me advance other aspects of my firearms skills.

As for tools, oils and techniques, understanding that is important regardless of mindset. There can be lots to it and often is specific to each firearm and storage. I hope you get more responses that give alternative and more experienced views.

[AfroCowboy]

Dissemble clean your gun before you shoot it the first time!

Ballistol, the universal oil and aerosol is the best for cleaning and lubing. Plant based mineral 100s of different uses. Lubes down to -40C

Non toxic, not aggressive like hopp's #4 and solvents.

Ignore all the people out there saying use car oils ect or to not clean them after each use. You paid big bucks for a nice gun.

Spray your action and bore down with ballistol as soon as you get home from range.
Using brass or bronze bore brushes are idea, small brushes and pics for cleaning. Boresnakes are handy. make sure any cleaning rod is brass or Al.

[Gatehouse]

Don't over think it.

[janegomez]

So, you'll have to thread the barrel. You may either acquire the tools and perform it yourself, or you can have a professional firm or gunsmith handle it.

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