How I Clean A Rifle Barrel

 

I often get questions on how I break in a rifle barrel, if breaking in a barrel is necessary, or just general questions on what I use to clean a bore with. So I thought I’d just do a little write up pertaining to the topic that I could refer people to.

Some say rifle break in process is unnecessary. That the first shot out of the barrel is its best and then its slowly downhill from there until you shoot the barrel out. I don’t necessarily disagree entirely but my thoughts on it is simply, “it can’t hurt.”

That being said, I generally use the “5-3-5” method. I clean after every shot for the first 5 shots. Then I shoot a 3 shot group and clean after the third. Finally I shoot s 5 shot group and clean it one last time. After that, go about your regular cleaning methods. There’s guys that don’t clean again until you see a decrease in accuracy and then there’s guys that keep track of their round count and clean religiously when they get to their number.

I fall somewhere in the middle of the two. Generally for something like a 22LR, I don’t clean until I see a change in my groups. But in a large magnum I clean after a maximum of 15 shots to try and prevent copper fouling. It also depends on the gun, some rifles shoot best with clean bores, others like it dirty. So in that category, my advice is do what’s best for you.

But when I do go to clean a rifle barrel, I have a pretty direct way of cleaning bores that I don’t stray away from much. Above you can see a picture of some of the products I use. I’ll go through each one of these products as I go through then process.

First I like to start with a foaming bore cleaner. The Break Free brand on the far right is my all time favorite. And my second favorite was made by Gunslick. However I don’t believe they make either of them anymore. So any foaming bore cleaner that removes copper will do.

Put the nozzle into the chamber and squeeze the button until you see the foam come out the muzzle. Then let it soak for 15-30 minutes. I then take my Tipton cleaning rod and screw on the appropriate nylon brush for the particular caliber at hand. I like the Tipton Rods because they have a graphite shaft that’s not going to bend or damage your bore. I also like the nylon brushes over bronze brushes because they’re less abrasive. Another reason I like the nylon brushes is because of how I use them in the next step of the cleaning process.

Once your bore has soaked for the required time. Insert the nylon brush. Instead of just pushing the brush the whole way through until it comes out the muzzle and then pulling it back through like you do with a bronze brush. The nylon brush enables you to reverse directions while inside the bore. So that’s exactly what I do. Starting at the chamber, I do a short stroke brushing motion (forwards and back) and work my way to the muzzle. I then do the same motion coming back. I repeat the process about 5 times.

I then unscrew the brush and put on the Tipton nickel plated jag. I like these jags because the nickel plating will prevent you from getting false signs of copper still being present. (The blue you see on your patch, that’s signs of copper.) Once the jags on, I poke a twill patch down over. I prefer twill over cotton because it’s tougher and doesn’t leave behind. Now run a dry patch through the bore to clean out the residue from the foaming bore cleaner. Your patch should look pretty dirty.

From here on out it’s pretty simple, I soak a patch in Butch’s Bore Shine and run it through. I continue this process until the patch comes out clean. This could take dozens of patches, so don’t get discouraged.

If you’re breaking in or just simply going to shoot after cleaning, now you’re good to go. If you’re cleaning before storing, finish off by putting some oil on a patch and running it through. Just remember when you get your gun back out to shoot, your first shot could be off due to the oil. But generally, one shot will dry that oil out. Happy shooting!