Title basically says it. I was the keeper of my Grandfather's Winchester 71, as such I oiled it and kept it safe, but didn't really shoot it. But my mother bought out my uncle so she could gift it to me free and clear and so I've actually shot a whole box of ammo and would like to get it good and clean. For now I've sprayed it down with CLP and run a boresnake through it, which at least cleans the bulk of the barrel, but I don't feel it will really clean the chamber. My other rifles (bolt or AR) I would just remove the bolt and take a brush to the chamber... so what do you lever guys do? When I look up Winchester manuals they just talk about using a cleaning rod from the muzzle end, obviously that won't doba thorough job on the chamber.
How to clean well the chamber on lever guns?
- Thread starter Schlegel
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LRDGCO
member
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I take it you mean the receiver? Barrel cleaning will clean the chamber. To clean the receiver, You'll have to pull the bolt and remove the guts to get it properly clean. There will be several how to vids on YouTube. Watch at least three of them because at least one of them will have been done by a Darwin Award nominee in the waiting.
Good luck and if YouTube brings you no joy, pop back in for excruciating written instructions.
Good luck and if YouTube brings you no joy, pop back in for excruciating written instructions.
troy fairweather
Member
to keep the receiver clean, i pull the lever and the bolt. if easy to anything else to, i flip the gun over and lay some paper towel in the top of the receiver. then clean lie any other barrel, pull out the towel and done.
You want to clean the barrel from the chamber end, anyway. Just google how to remove the lever and bolt.
Takes a few seconds with a standard screwdriver. Also be sure to clean up the bolt.
Every so often, pop the cap off the front end of the tube mag, and clean the spring, and run a rag
thru the tube.
Takes a few seconds with a standard screwdriver. Also be sure to clean up the bolt.
Every so often, pop the cap off the front end of the tube mag, and clean the spring, and run a rag
thru the tube.
Pat Riot
Contributing Member
I disassemble my lever gun down as far as I can (or as far as I need to) for a detailed cleaning. I will saturate the bore and chamber with CLP. Let it sit for a few hours and then repeat and leave it over night. I will use heavy NYLON tube brushes in the chamber to get out the crud.
I get my tube brushes from these folks:
https://www.torringtonbrushes.com/nylon-bristle-hand-tube-brushes.html
Note: I used to plug the muzzle or the chamber with a rubber plug and fill the barrel with CLP and leave overnight but more often than not all I did was make a mess and waste CLP.
I get my tube brushes from these folks:
https://www.torringtonbrushes.com/nylon-bristle-hand-tube-brushes.html
Note: I used to plug the muzzle or the chamber with a rubber plug and fill the barrel with CLP and leave overnight but more often than not all I did was make a mess and waste CLP.
FL-NC
Member
Use a flexible T-handle for a pistol with a 45 caliber bronze or nylon brush attached.
Ks5shooter
Contributing Member
Break it down and clean from chamber end its not hard. Not every time you shoot it but once or twice a year.
zaitcev
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- Oct 14, 2016
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- 1,255
Agreed. Also, back in the day, there was this thing called a "revolver brush": it was a 38 or 45 caliber brush with a wire handle like a brush for milk bottles. It's flexible in the same way as a modern flexible T-handle.
I have never disassembled my 1894. I just use a bore snake and a brush for the chamber. Other that that, I just oil it and wipe it down. It has never, in several thousand 30-30 rounds of varying types (including many handloads), failed to fire or cycle. That video is terrifying, so now I will NEVER take it apart.
Well I took it somewhat apart, stopped at the hammer spring because I'd have to make a jig to compress it to put it back and didn't have that kind of time. But taking the loading gate and locking blocks out did let me get CLP in all the works better and I can do more next weekend I think. Looking at it I really want to scrub the whole interior.
If you have access to an ultrasonic parts cleaner, remove the stock and submerge the receiver and chamber end of the barrel into the tank and let it clean for 15 minutes. Then blow it out thoroughly with compressed air. Lube as desired. It will be cleaner, faster, than you can believe.
Obturation
Member
Get a length of paracord, a COPPER choreboy (confirm its non magnetic), some clp and some q tips. Tie a decent size piece of choreboy soaked in Clp on to the paracord and drag it through the bore , breech out to the muzzle. Wipe out the reciever with a clp covered rag and qtips, blow it out with compressed air. Disassemble if function becomes gummy , maybe every 500 rds depending on ammo. Store your gun muzzle down, oil running into the stock and thickening in the bolt is no good and will force you to disassemble and will ruin the stock. Thats just what i do, others may disagree.
theotherwaldo
Member
I use the ratcheting bore brush from my K-31 to clean lever gun chambers.
To remove the bolt and clean from the breech, you want to look for videos on disassembling a Winchester 1886...they're much more complex than the Marlin that Hickock 45 removed the bolt from, and there are some variations within the different time frames (and manufacturers of clones). Videos on the 1892 are similar but there are significant differences. I've taken 1892's down many times, once you get over the "lots of bits" fear factor, it should go pretty well. John Browning designed great lever guns, but they are not simple mechanisms.
The chamber brush that came with Remington Semi-Auto rifles is very useful. I use mine often when cleaning chambers on all CF rifles:
https://shop.brownells.com/gun-clea...-350&msclkid=d463db26c87a1e7f74bc875ff7c2c340
entropy
Member
Professionally, pull the wood, and put in ultrasound. Or an owner, if comfortable pulling the wood, can hose the action down with Gun Scrubber/Brake Cleaner, air hose out, and relube. Or without removing wood, lots of Q-tips and tenacity. I've done them all three ways, and listed them in order of ease.
Well I've done it now, and the hard way, of course. I took it apart, everything but the barrel and magazine tube off and I didnt totally disassemble the breech bolt. I decided i wanted to be able to not only clean it but inspect it for unknown issues as well. I knew going into it that the hammer spring was going to be the most tricky bit, but actually I managed to find a way to compress it without a jig after all. There's a short video of a Pedersoli employee with an 86 that was usefull as well. I never did find good instructions with pictures. Just text only, and not too much of that. It's clean and reassembled now, though I wouldn't do it this way often.
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