I came across this article about the right and wrong ways to clean your treasured gun so it stays reliable/accurate as it was built to be. If your cleaning tools aren't made to fit your gun barrel correctly for cleaning then you would be better off leaving the gun dirty rather than damaging it trying to clean it. Use well made cleaning tools used correctly to keep your gun working properly. http://www.otistec.com/Support/Gun_Cleaning_Rules.asp
Thanks Buster... Always clean from Breech-to-Muzzle® in the natural direction of the bullet. Center the tip and rod. Be careful not to let either rub the bore. Use a clean patch surface each time you go down the barrel. Never run a brush in the barrel first. Never go back and forth reversing the brush Use only a few drops of solvent / lubricant.
I've been cleaning my guns my way for nigh on 70 years and ain't lost one yet. Screw those rules. (!!) [there BG, take that, you conformists!]
I am guessing VT that your gun cleaning practice for the last 70 years for the most part are in line with the 6 rules mentioned. I thought it was beneficial for gun owners to know how not following the 6 rules can damage their guns. I have basically followed most of the rules but not all of them. I am not so old that I can't learn and benefit from some more information as to why to do things we have been told to do. I did often soak the brush in solvent and it was my first action in cleaning my guns.
My 1st step is and has been to get a loose fitting patch wet with Hoppe's #9 and pass it through the bore, starting at the chamber end. This can be done with any gun I have ever owned, bolt or otherwise. Let it set in there for a few minutes, then mount a brass brush at the chamber end an pull it through. Stick a piece of cloth in the chamber to protect the boltface and cover the feed mechanism in your lever or pump or auto action, then run the brush through the bore for 6 passes (three each way). It ain't going to hurt the brush. Then run loose patches through, one pass each way (think about that, what surface of the patch touches the bore each pass), changing patches until they come out clean. Then look at the well-lighted bore and see what is left in there. A little copper shine is probably a good thing. A little lint from the patch may mean you need a different bunch of patches, but one more pass may remove it. Damn it, this ain't rocket science. Sorry about getting cranky about this, Buster, it's just that some folks are too blasted 'scientific' about stuff.
I've never used a bore guide, but it seems like a good idea. I have an elderly Winchester Model 61, been in the family for 70-80 years, and the rifling is about gone near the muzzle. I'm thinking a steel cleaning rod did that. I use brass cleaning rods nowadays. I've read here and there that they will leave brass in the rifling, but haven't seen it.
I basically do/use the same routine as VT uses, in post above. I'm extremely careful when inserting the rod/brush/jag, so as not to touch the chamber and muzzle. I do use Butches Bore Shine often , only tiny amounts though. My finish off with a slightly damp patch with CLP. Don't forget to paste wax the barrel OD, receiver, and all wood. Jim
No offense to the Otis company but I don't ever think I cleaned a gun by their methods and from the age of 12 and my first shotgun thru many military situations, some under a lot of duress I never had one not go bang when I wanted it too. Lucky, maybe, or it could be it's not the specific steps to clean one but that you thoroughly do.
