How to clean rifle chambers

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I use a “chamber” brush wrapped with a patch on a long pistol brush...
Twirl it around a couple of times and change patches until it comes out more or less clean.

But I suppose a suitably sized brush would work fine too...

I generally just use it dry and it seems to get the majority of the crud out.

I don’t bother with the brush itself or solvents.

Unless you are firing a direct blowback semi auto I don’t think you have to overthink the issue.

As for the bolt face area I use long stemmed Q-Tip thingies - also generally dry.
 
Major supplier Brownells has these. In my experience, this is handy for twisting a patch inside a chamber without removing the bolt. The T handle is good for torque.

https://www.brownells.com/gun-clean...essories/chamber-cleaning-kits-prod24195.aspx

How to clean? Same as the bore, but not through and through. Just back and forth with solvent wetted patches and then dry patches. My best advice is to be sparing with the liquids. Wooden bedding surfaces are immediately around the chamber, and oil won't improve the eventual accuracy.
 
Good suggestions above. I have pulled a number of rifle barrels - always amazing to me the amount of crud and whatnot that is left in the bolt lug locking recesses - do not usually get to see that until barrel is unscrewed. So, an area I try to work on when fussing with the chamber area - I cut a small shard of mirror - glued to a 1/4" wood dowel - with flashlight can use that as an "inspection mirror" to take a look see how well I got the grunge out from those recesses. Works well on rear locking bolts as well, except those areas often easier to get at to clean with brushes, etc. For old milsurp, very abused other rifles, I remove the stock, often even the trigger and bolt stop assemblies - amazing what falls out of them!! - set the barrel in a padded bench vice that is installed above my waist level - seems to give good height for bore scrubbing, etc.
 
I usually will fill the chamber up with wipeout foam and let it soak then patch it out with some big patches or twisted up shop towel. That's for hunting/bolt action rifles.
 
I use crud-cutter aresol followed by a pistol brush. Afterwards I use patches/solvent until clean. For really bad chambers, I use the aforementioned process and follow-up with patches, a 410 shotgun mop, and some Mother’s chrome polish. Used lightly it will remove minor rust pitting and polish the chamber for slick extraction.
 
Potashminer mentioned the lug recess area...
You can buy them, but I made a tool that holds a dental roll for cleaning out the lug recesses. It is remarkable how much crud can collect there.
As far as cleaning chambers goes, that should be part of the bore cleaning regimen.
You don't want an oily chamber when shooting - this increases backthrust on the locking system, but corrosion can form in a chamber. A pitted chamber leads to hard extraction, and a spoiled barrel.
 
blasted_saber said:
A brush. Tip - a normal 410/44 cal brush will fit the chamber of many standard calibre rifles like 308/3006/270 etc
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this. I use a .44 cal "mop" soaked in solvent that i just push with my fingers into and pull out of, the chamber. then a little brush, then back in with a clean mop. seems to do a fine job. If I'm setting up the gun for a long time, I'll use a mop soaked in my oil of choice. As Tiraq stated, clean out the oil before shooting.
 
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