Cleaning a Browning BPS

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Alright, so the manual said that you should take off only the barrel for cleaning (!) and further reading has made it clear that it can be a pain to actually field strip (or do what would be equivalent to field stripping in every other gun).

Is there any way to actually clean it without taking it apart more? Spray CLP into the action? :scrutiny: I refuse to believe that the action does not need to be cleaned, yet it doesn't seem like they intended it to be easy to do just that.
 
Actually field stripping is easy. Putting it back together is a different ball of wax. It took me about 1 hour to put my trigger assembly back together the first time. Its not hard to figure out, Its just hard to get evrything to line up just right. I only clean out the action maby once a year. Some gunk can get built up in there but it has never hindered the operation of the gun.
 
I would argue that with moderate shooting you would not need to detail clean that gun ever. Just wipe it down as best you can with a rag.
 
The PITA is the feed latch and interruptor. these are little flat bars that fit into grooves in the sides of the receiver. Once you develop a trick for keeping them lined up when assembling, the rest is cake.

Do NOT take the trigger apart. Spray it with eloctronic contact cleaner, blow gently with comressed air, and a spritz of Break Free. don't use WD-40, it leaves a shellac like residue.

You only have to do that all once a year. Rest of the time use a Tico tool on the barrel or run a couple patches through.

HM
 
I would argue that with moderate shooting you would not need to detail clean that gun ever.
I've owned a BPS 10 ga for the better part of 20 years. I don't find it particularly hard to disassemble and detail clean. As earl stated, the action doesn't get dirty very easy. It must be a product of the design. I detail clean mine at the end of goose season or if it gets a good soaking. Halfmiles advice is right on target. Also the slide release button will easily fall off the trigger assy while its out of the gun. No big deal really, but if you didn't see where it came from it could leave you scratching your head. Congratulations on owning a very fine shotgun.
 
I see I'm not the only one who learned the joys of reassembling a BPS the hard way. :) I fought that sucker for 30 minutes trying to get the trigger group in, and finally just walked away from it. Came back in an hour and stabbed it right in on the first try.

As has been said, the tricky part is to get the feed latch and interruptor ballanced in their respective slots just right, then it's a matter of a "slide and rotate" motion to get the trigger group to squeeze in between them and fall into place. Not too difficult, after you figure out the motions, of course.

I pull my trigger group out about once a year for an inspection. Some years I haven't shot it enough to dirty it up, so it goes right back into the gun untouched.
 
With moderate shooting and no malfunctions, the best way I've found to clean the Ithaca 37 is to take the barrel off and blow the inside of the action out with compressed air from the barrel opening side and the feed/ejection port. Once you've done that, dampen a large patch with break free and use a stiff-bristle brush to scrub the inside of the action with the bolt back. Do the same with the bolt forward and concentrate on the extractors and bolt face. Do the same once more with a fresh damp patch. Clean the bore, wipe down the outside and you're done.

Again if you're not having malfunctions, this should be all you need to do. The Ithaca is worse than the Browning BPS to disassemble.

The Browning manual is correct. The most wear and tear your shotgun is likely to see if you're only shooting it 1-200 rounds a year is in the 20 minutes you're going to spend cleaning it. I can't tell you how FEW guns I've seen that have actually been worn excessively by shooting. Almost all have been worn by overzealous cleaning and/or disassembly/reassembly.
 
I refuse to believe that the action does not need to be cleaned, yet it doesn't seem like they intended it to be easy to do just that.
Most older classic guns such as the Ithaca 37, Browning A-5, Winchester Model 12, Winchester lever-action rifles, etc, require almost a gunsmith education to completely detail strip and clean the action.

Many of those guns still run just fine after close to 100 years use, and have never had a screw turned. And they didn't have the luxury of chrome-plated & stainless steel internals your BPS enjoys.

Blow it out, lube sparingly, and enjoy.
Unless you get dunked in a salt water lagoon, there is no reason to ever completely strip the action for cleaning during normal use.

rc
 
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