Cleaning The Barrel Of Rifles
Before you can properly learn to shoot your rifle you first need to know the basics of how to clean it. It is dangerous for anyone to clean their gun without first knowing exactly what to do.
In order to clean your barrel you need to use a one piece, coated rod. If you have a sectional rod, I would advise you to get rid of it, as it may scratch the bore. Always use a bore guide when you clean your barrel. This is crucial because it provides proper alignment for the rod and allows you to clean the barrel from the chamber end out, rather than from the muzzle end. It also provides protection for the chamber, throat, rifling and crown.
Start by soaking a patch with a good carbon cutter. Once you have soaked the patch, run it through the barrel and repeat that process three times. All of us on the Army Service Rifle Team use a pointed jag with Pro Shot patches; it’s a very good combination. Brushing the barrel is the next step. Use a copper or nylon brush; do not use a steel brush because it will scratch the barrel. Brush the barrel 10-12 times. Then run two wet patches followed by one dry patch down the barrel.
Now move to a copper removal solvent. Soak a patch with Sweets and run it through the barrel, let it soak for 3-5 minutes. If you are using Sweets, do not let it soak for more than ten minutes. After you have let it soak you can either continue to run wet patches down the barrel until the patches come out fairly clean or brush the barrel with the Sweets. If you do decide to brush the barrel with Sweets, be sure to use a nylon brush. Sweets will eat the copper bristles off of a copper brush rendering it worthless after one cleaning.
Which ever method you choose, you need to neutralize the Sweets. You can do this by rodding your barrel with a patch wet with Hoppes, followed by a dry patch. Continue that process until the patches come out clean. Cleaning the crown is the final part of cleaning the barrel. To clean the crown, use a Q-tip soaked in Hoppes followed by a dry one. Repeat that sequence until the crown appears clean.