basic cleaning help needed

[TWeatherford]

Hi,
I feel stupid asking this, but I have gotten many conflicting questions on cleaning guns. I just got a Henry GoldenBoy .22 (lever action, first gun). When I bought the gun the dealer recommended a little $10 cleaning kit. It has Hoppes #9 cleaner and gun oil, a little box of patches, 3 piece rod and rod ends. I've added Qtips. I've run around 3,000 rounds through my gun. I haven't gotten it wet (more than a few drops) and have cleaned the action (what I could get to) with a Qtip and then re lubed all the moving parts. Then rub down the barrel with a little oil to get the fingerprints off. I cleaned it once according to directions. Run cleaner through, run patches through until they come out clean, run an oiled patch through. I have questions about cleaning the inside and outside of my gun. I did try to search here but didn't find a consice or "agreed" thread on cleaning guns, particularly rifles. Here goes.

For the inside. My uncle was telling me that he wouldn't clean it. He said the metal rod would screw up my rifling and hurt more than help. He said just to run a little oil down it once a year. Makes sense to me. He didn't say anything about a boresnake. So either I get a wood or at least a one piece rod, or a boresnake. Then what do I have the general gist above? Would a $12 walmart boresnake be as good as any? What about the action. I like to keep it clean in there, Henry says not to take it apart, that its not necessary.

For the outside. Is there any need to apply any type of cleaner to the barrel? How often should I oil? I don't like a lot of oil because it makes it catch lint like crazy. But I also can't stand fingerprints (which get there when my Dad or brother shoot it).

For right now the gun is being shot almost every day, at least 4-5 times a week. When I start storing it longer, I have no problem cleaning it well beforehand. But it seems a little overkill to clean this thing completely every single day.

And one more thing. In my gun manual it says not to store the gun in cloth that will absorb the lube from the gun. Will the silicone gun sack up I got at walmart do this?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Erud]

I'll take a stab at this. Cleaning the way the manual describes is a good way to go, but you certainly don't need to do that every day. In your situation, I would get the $12 boresnake from Wal-Mart and run it through the barrel(with oil on the "brush" parts) 3 times or so at the end of the day when done shooting, then wipe the barrel down on the outside with an oily patch - fingerprints can ruin bluing very quickly if left alone. Maybe once a week or so give it a thorough cleaning with a good 1-piece rod(Dewey, Tipton, etc.), bronze or nylon brush and a .22 cal patch jag. Don't get too crazy with the brush. If you shoot a lot of un-jacketed .22's(like I do) there is a product made by Kleen Bore called Lead-Away. It is incredible. It comes on pre-soaked patches and I am amazed every time by the amount of lead it will pull out of barrels that look clean. I use it occasionally on all of my .22s and .45's that I shoot lead bullets in. Unless you are shooting thousands of rounds a week, this routine will probably work ok for you - adjust frequency as needed. I am no expert - just another guy that likes to shoot a lot, so take this advice for what it's worth!

Good luck,
Erud

 

[blackhawk2000]

Don't know about the sack. For cleaning I usually just run a bore snake down the barrel 1-2 times. Follow up with a lightly oiled patch on a rod. Otis makes some good cleaning kits. Also Hoppes #9 is old school. There are less stinky/hazardous cleaners out now. Mpro7 is pretty decent stuff. I think it's also sold as Hoppes Elite. There are some people who think overcleaning a gun is worse than not cleaning. A boreguide if you use a rod is a good idea too. 1 piece cleaning rods, are better then sectional. Lots of guys like rig rags for wiping down the outside.

Now I've probably opened pandora's box here a bit, so prepare for some more advice.

 

[DMK]

I'd pull the boresnake through every time you shoot it. Maybe once every few months use the cleaning rod and brush. I second the advice on the one peice rod.

Add a rag and a toothbrush to your cleaning kit. Put a couple drops of oil on the toothbrush and use it to oil down your barrel and the metal parts of your gun. Wipe it down with the rag. After a while, the rag will get oily and you can just use it to wipe the gun down.

The toothbrush will also come in handy to scrub the dirty parts of the gun when you take it apart for a good cleaning every so often.