Cleaning advice needed

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RookieGuy

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Good morning all.
I have a .22 and a .223 bolt and am wondering how to clean them properly and how often.
I have put about 1000 rounds through the .22 and about 250 rounds through the .223.
How often do I clean them and should I oil the bolt on the .223?
Also is it better to buy a cleaning kit that has lots of parts or specific ones for both rifles?
I also have a .22 bolt and am hoping to buy a 30-30 soon (trying to convince the wife I need one ha!)
I cant find any cleaning videos so I am asking for help here. I think I read somewhere that the brushes can ruin the rifling and am worried to go scrubbing down any of my barrels!
Thanks Kindly:redface:
 
With the .22, I'd clean and oil the bolt, and clean the bore when accuracy falls.
With your .223, I'd do the same on the bolt, and a couple patches through the bore.
I use Hoppes and G96, but brands don't matter. I clean the bore from chamber to muzzle, and I pull the patch at the muzzle. I don't pull it back through.
I don't use brushes or snakes, except at ~1000 rounds or so, then I use a soft bristle brush.
I clean the chamber and bolt often, and always before the bore.
I oil the outside, top to bottom, before I put the guns away.

Fwiw, I had a 10/22 that I never cleaned. ~30000 rounds though it before I gave it to my bro. It shot well, but my bro was disgusted the first time he cleaned it. Now you couldn't hit a barn, if you were inside it.
 
You can check Youtube as well for tips on cleaning tools and methods I use Alcohol 98% for detail cleaning and Balistol for general use including stocks and frame..
 
Don't get carried away oiling a bolt; the oil will stiffen up in the cold, making the action difficult to cycle, and the firing pin won't have sufficient energy to initiate the primer. Don't use stainless steel brushes in a stainless barrel, they will cause damage, but good quality bronze brushes of the correct size are safe to use in all barrels. When possible, clean from the breach, and use a bore guide. When you must clean from the muzzle, be as careful not to drag the cleaning rod along the edges of the crown, keep the cleaning rod centered in the bore. Use a jag of the correct size and a tight fitting 100% cotton patch to remove the fouling loosened by the brush, and just push the patch through in one direction then discard it. The first patch should have a dime sized stain of gun oil on it, followed by a couple of dry patches. It doesn't hurt to put a light smear of low temperature grease on the bolt's locking lugs. I purchase most of my cleaning supplies from Plenty 'O' Patches in Drayton Valley AB.

Edited to add . . .
Don't contaminate your bottle of solvent by dipping a dirty brush in it. Soak a patch, work it back and forth through the length of the bore, and repeat a couple of times, each time with a fresh patch to ensure the entire surface of the bore is wet. Then brush it out, then patch it dry, then an oily patch, then patch it dry. If possible get a good quality one piece cleaning rod, although its handy to have a sectioned steel rod, not aluminum, for out in the field or at the range.
 
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get yourself a quality 1 piece cleaning rod, it'll last a lifetime and a bore guide after that some brass brushes and a jag. If you have a cabelas near by they have a tipton brass/jag set that'll have you covered for everything next buy some patches or buy some fabric and cut it up. as far as oil and solvent goes if you ask 10 people you will get 30 different answers pick the one that fits your budget the only stuff I wont buy is remoil.
The jury is still out on cleaning some people will say clean when accuracy starts to fail and some say clean after every shoot I cant say whats best but I can tell you what I do. Since were talkin bolt guns here after shooting I wipe the bolt off and wipe the outside of the gun down with a oily rag and toss it in the safe and I hardly touch the bore unless I dropped the gun in a river or something then that's a different story all together.
 
Get a good quality one piece rod, and a proper bore guide. For the 22lr you need a powder solvent, and for the 223, you will also need a copper solvent. I only clean my 22lr rifles every few thousand rounds, but any firearm using jacketed bullets, or monometal bullets gets cleaned much more often. Do not spray gun treatments onto the firearm, or it will run onto the bedding, and can cause accuracy issues. Moisten a rag with oils or rust preventatives to wipe down the metal parts, and go easy on the oil in the action. Keep the trigger mechanism clean, but don't leave any excess lubricant on the trigger mechanism, or it will gum up. Keep WD-40 away from firearms, as it just gums things up.
 
I recommend buying specific parts rather than a kit that has a bunch of stuff you don't need. That way you can get better quality brushes a and whatnot that you actually have a use for, rather than digging through ten other brushes to find the one you need.

A good one piece rod, preferably the ones coated in plastic or something, goes a long way. They do come in multiple lengths as well, so figure out what length is best for you and what length is actually usable in your house. Remember if your barrel is 20" long, and your rod is 26" long, you're going to need at least 56" of space to work with. More than one guy has hit the ceiling or had to stand out in the hallway to get the rod inserted or removed.

Q-tips are actually very helpful, I love them.

Good gloves are so very useful. I switched to the Grease Monkey Gorilla Grip gloves a few years ago. Slightly thicker than your normal disposable gloves, but without sacrificing any real dexterity. After all, sometimes stuff comes up and being able to pull one off to answer the phone or whatnot can be very useful even if the cleaner you're using isn't toxic.

As I recently found out Hoppes 9 is pretty decent for cleaning a bicycle as well.
 
As has already been mentioned, I recommend a good quality one piece cleaning rod. You'll need to buy one suited for .22 caliber. I clean my .22s only once every year or two, and then lightly, just a couple patches. (powder solvent and a light coat of oil) The main reason I usually end up cleaning the rimfires is to clean the chamber/action area. Some .22s might get a little gummed up - my 94/22's chamber gets sticky periodically and does need to be cleaned. For the centerfires, I probably clean more often than most people do; this is mostly so I leave my rifles with a lightly oiled bore. I suspect that if there is any chance of ambient moisture, powder fouling may absorb that and transfer it to the bore, not a good thing. I have more than several rifles and some will get put away and not fired for a year or two. I also wipe the exterior of the action and barrel with a lightly oiled cloth relatively often. All my rifles are blued steel, and some get exposed frequently to rain, snow, and drastic temperature changes (sometimes -45 to room temperature). If a rifle is to be carried and used in cold temperatures it is important to de-grease de-oil the firing pin/spring.

I think cleaning fire-arms is a very personal thing, but there is lots of good advice to consider, lots already mentioned here. A common theme seems to be start with a quality one piece cleaning rod! I personally have added to that, barnes CR-10 for my center-fire rifles, Hoppes #9 on the rimfires, good quality brass jags, and good quality cotton patches. My oil of choice is break-free. I rarely use brushes anymore.

Have fun!
 
x whatever for a good quality one piece cleaning rod. Buy a .22 calibre jag and some appropriate sized patches and some Wipe Out bore cleaner read the directions and start cleaning. If you don't buy Wipe Out get a .22 calibre brass brush as well. Frequency depends like said accuracy will start to go south when dirt. on average clean maybe every 500 .22 lr and every 100 .223
 
Hi All I am back again its been busy with work this fall and I haven't had a chance to do much.
Can anyone tell me where to buy a bore guide for .22 and .223?
I looked at the hoppe one at cabelas and the reviews says it wont fit these calibers. I get hesitant to order stuff from the us and who knows what they will ship here.
Not much choice in Toronto. I also cant find a one piece cleaning rod they all seen to come in kits.
I just looked at hoppe site and they wont ship outside the us.
Thanks.
 
Epps has all kinds of one piece cleaning rods, and they ship. try Flaherty's they should have them too. Theres also a fella always set up with tables at the Orangeville show that has every cleaning rod, brush, jag etc. that you would ever need.
 
Sorry for all the questions but also do I have to disassemble my Henry .22 to use the bore guide?
If so I would rather not. So perhaps a bore snake is good enough?
Thanks again
 
Some firearms are more difficult to disassemble than are others. Some cannot be cleaned from the breech.

As has been mentioned, if you must clean from the muzzle, be very careful not to drag your rod [or cord] across the rifling at the muzzle, since any damage there will affect accuracy.

When cleaning from the breech [recommended if at all possible] use a bore guide and a one piece rod. Brushes should be quality bronze, with bronze wire in the core, not steel.

Most of the better solvents attack copper and copper alloys, so if you use your brush with them, clean your brush immediately after use, or it will last only a very short while. [A viable option is a nylon brush]

As far as I am concerned, Stainless steel brushes have NO place in any decent rifle bore.

I personally only use brushes occasionally. Most cleaning is done with good cotton swabs and solvent. Good barrels do not gather much copper anyway.

I think that many different solvents are adequate for cleaning....I prefer Butch's Bore shine for practically all my cleaning, but for stubborn copper I use KG-12 Big Bore Cleaner.

Regards, Dave.
 
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