Cleaning guns can be very simple and yet very complicated. It's quite an arcane subject, you will get many different answers from different people. I can offer a little advice to a beginner but it's really only one perspective, take advice offered if you want and then tailor it to your needs. To give you any tailored advice I would need to know a lot more information such as the specific rifles, the ammo you will be using and your application for said rifles.
Do I need to buy different tools and cleaners for each rifle and what are the essentials that I need? Can I make do with bore cleaner and a bore snake?
You may have to buy different tools depending on the calibre of the rifles you have and the cleaning tools you want to use. For example if you have rifles in calibres .22 (5.56mm), .26 (6.5mm) and .30 (7.62mm) then you would need the appropriate brushes/jags, etc. or boresnake for that calibre. Trying to clean a .30 calibre rifle with a .22 calibre brush is just going to be an exercise in futility.
For your first set of cleaning supplies I'd recommend just buying one of the universal gun cleaning kits you can find at virtually any retailer that sells sporting goods. Check out the site vendors or go to your local Canadian Tire/Cabela's. This will include all of the tools you need to perform basic cleaning of your firearms (some may include cleaners and solvents while others will not). I started out with a Hoppes universal gun cleaning kit. I wouldn't invest a lot of funds when you are just getting started in the world of firearms, you can upgrade as you get further along and learn what you need to make things easier for you.
Regarding cleaners/solvents/oils you can likely get by with only a few products to start off. You don't even have to use specialized gun cleaning products! Check out this video of Paul Harrell using water and a bar of soap to clean his AR-15.
You can make do with a Boresnake + CLP but in my experience it isn't as effective as a rod with patches and brushes. I like to use boresnakes for "quick" cleanings where I don't feel a complete treatment with the rod and patches is necessary, Boresnakes are a part of the tools I use but I don't see them as a one-item solution to cleaning your firearm.
If I were to have to rebuild my gun cleaning supplies and tools for a beginner knowing what I know now I would consider the following essential;
1. Universal gun cleaning kit with rods, brushes, mops, slotted ends, etc.
2. Old toothbrush or nylon cleaning brush
3. Cleaning patches (if not included in kit), I'd recommend properly sized patches to prevent any debris from getting in your bore. For cleaning other components cut up t-shirts, paper-towel or rags can be used. I like microfiber towels.
4. Q-tips/cotton swabs, very useful for getting in small places. Princes Auto usually has kits of cotton swabs in all different sizes for a good price.
5. Bore cleaner/solvent such as Hoppes No.9, M-Pro7. I typically use this for cleaning the bore on all types of guns, also use it for cleaning any areas where carbon builds up to heavily for CLP to not handle it effectively.
6a. CLP, there are so many different products on the market to use. I like having a liquid and an aerosol. I use G96 in an aerosol can, I use Gunzilla and some generic looking stuff from CanadaAmmo for liquid CLP. I also like Ballistol Gunex.
6b. Instead of using CLP you could use a non-bore cleaner and then a lubricant. Lots of people use brake parts cleaner to clean fouling and engine oil for lubrication. I would not recommend using brake parts cleaner in the bore.
7. Towel or cleaning mat, you don't want to get your table/floor or whatever surface you are using dirty with runoff from cleaning. Use an old bath towel or you can buy a cleaning mat.
8. Water, preferably boiling for cleaning guns that have been firing corrosive ammo.
I plan on cleaning my rifles after every usage but I’m not sure if I have to take them apart every time or just do a quick clean and do a full clean once a month or something.
This is entirely personal choice. I don't clean my firearms if they haven't been used since the last cleaning as it's completely unnecessary. I clean my firearms when any of the following circumstances apply;
a) I feel like it
b) It seems dirty to the point that a cleaning seems warranted
c) The guns function or performance is affected
d) after shooting corrosive ammo*
e) It is new to me
The only circumstance where I clean
immediately after shooting is when I've been using corrosive ammunition. You can follow whatever procedures you like, I enjoy cleaning my guns but not as much as I enjoy other things and my time is limited so I try to only clean when I think it is actually necessary.
*Regarding corrosive ammo, cleaning immediately afterward is not opinion it is fact (unless you like rust
). If you don't clean your gun rust will eventually begin to form, it depends on your humidity and environmental conditons but the longest I'd be comfortable leaving one of my guns after shooting corrosive is about 24 hours (I live in Alberta so humidity is not a huge issue otherwise it would be a shorter period.)
I could write you a whole treatise on cleaning guns, but it'd only be my opinion and there's already plenty of guides and videos on YouTube from people with more experience and expertise than myself.
Anyways hope this helps and if you have any other questions let me know.
