Rifle cleaning equipment question

[Jon]

Quick question for the group, what cleaning gear do you actually use and trust for your rifles?

 

[Indigo22]

Quick cleaning while out on the range between ammo changes I'll use a Boresnake. It isn't a replacement for a good deep cleaning though.

 

[CZMark]

I've used a lot of different products in my 55 years of cleaning rifles. There are only a few I would recommend by name:

Bore Tech Eliminator solvent for centerline (use with a copper/brass-free jag).

Bore Tech C4 solvent for rimfire

Birchwood Casey Barricade for storage protection

Use any quality one-piece rod and a suitable bore guide. I prefer brass bore brushes over nylon, but I use both.

 

[Tabby]

The question is, what products do I prefer. I have a 30ish inch long coated one piece rod in 22 caliber, and I use it on all of my rifles, .22 on up to 338 with many stops in-between. This way I don't have a bunch of different rods laying around (like I used to) The 22 rod is stiff enough not to flex when using it in larger bore rifles and in many cases the smaller diameter means less cleaning rod contact with the rifling. Don't know if it really matters all that much but every little bit helps. As for brushes, I predominantly use brass and some bronze. I also have some stainless and a few plastic or whatever they use that is non metallic. Jags are all brass, appropriately sized with patches of varying thickness to ensure a snug fit in the barrel. There are so many cleaning products that any and all claim to be the best. I have tried them all and have almost and entire shelf on my gun bench where they reside after I tried them and didn't like them. NOTE: WHEN CLEANING FIREARMS ALWAYS WEAR EYE PROTECTION, AND GLOVES. Eye protection is self explanitory, or at least I hope it is. Gloves because some of the chemicals that are used in all of these super cleaning products can and do enter the body through unprotected skin and may or may not play havoc with your bodys systems. (For us girls, gloves also keep the solvents, oils and other crap from damaging nail polish or carbon crud from discoloring cuticles. ) While I have tried a lot of different products I always end up coming back to these. Rem Action Cleaner - There are others but this one is relatively inexpensive and does a good job of blowing the crap. Hoppe's #9 simply because I have tried others and when the patches look clean try some Hoppe's and get even more crud out of the barrel. Lubricants, Again tried many of the new wonder lubes and have been disappointed when they either dry up or evaporate away leaving the moving metal parts looking like metal to metal contact. Some I guess are supposed to leave some sort of a dry film behind, but I don't trust left behinds or dry spots. I use Rem Oil and in some applications the original CRC CLP like the Army issued. Be sure to shake well to get the teflon particles in suspension before applying. While it was all we had in the Army I don't use CLP as a cleaning agent, I still use Hoppe's to clean, and Rem Oil or CLP as a lube. I clean after shooting, the only exception being leaving the barrel alone after firing a couple of fouling shots before Deer season. The bore remains fouled until after season unless the rifle gets wet, then it gets cleaned and either left dry or if I am at home I fire a few empty cases with primers only to help burn out the cleaning residue. It's not as good as actually shooting the rifle to foul the barrel, but it's better than nothing.