Regular cleaning will keep your gun performing at an optimal level, and ensures accuracy and reliability.
Whether you use your guns for sport, hunting, or defense, cleaning and maintaining a gun is vital to its ability to function properly and reliably. Without cleaning, a gun may develop rust and burrs that can effect bullet trajectory and may even cause the gun to jam. Cleaning your gun also has the added benefit of allowing you to become more familiar with your gun's components and how they work. To keep your gun in optimal condition, clean it after every shooting.
Instructions
1. Put on your safety glasses and nitrile gloves. Make sure the firearm is unloaded and that the chamber does not contain any ammunition. Visually inspect the chamber yourself; do not take anybody's word that the chamber is empty.
2. Disassemble the gun as much as possible. Use the recommended tools and techniques that should have come with your gun. Consult your gun's owner's manual if you are unsure disassemble your gun.
3. Attach the bronze bore-cleaning brush to the cleaning rod and moisten with few drops of solvent. The bore-cleaning brush must be made for your caliber of gun. Different caliber guns require separate bore-cleaning brushes. Use a bronze brush because it will not damage the inside of your barrel.
4. Start from the breech end of the barrel, if possible, and work the brush around inside the barrel to loosen powder residue and fouling. If the barrel could not be removed from the gun, point the muzzle of the barrel downward to minimize the chances of metal fragments and dirt falling into the chamber. Put the brush into the breech end of the barrel and work it around while sliding toward the muzzle end, and then push the brush out through the muzzle completely before pulling it back into the barrel. Repeat this motion several times.
5. Allow a few minutes for the solvent to soak in before drying with patches. While the inside of the barrel soaks, use clean patches soaked with a small amount of solvent to wipe away any visible dirt from the outside and inside surfaces of the gun. Wipe down the outside of the barrel and pay special attention to cleaning the feedramp.
6. Remove the bore-cleaning brush from the cleaning rod and attach the patch holder. The patch holder should screw onto the end of the cleaning rod. Insert a clean patch into the patch holder.
7. Insert the patch into the breech end of the barrel and slide the full length of the barrel. Repeat with new patches every time until the barrel wipes clean.
8. Dip the toothbrush, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners in solvent and use them to clean the small corners and crannies inside and outside the gun. Clean the frame of the gun, the chamber, the firing mechanism and any moving parts you can see. Vigorously scrub any heavily soiled areas with the toothbrush. Wipe any recoil springs with a patch soaked in solvent.
9. Dry the gun with the cleaning cloth, inside and out. Dry the inside and outside of the barrel, the frame, and any wet parts of the gun as completely as possible, trying to remove as much of the leftover solvent as possible. Be sure that the firing pin hole is clean, free from obstructions and dry.
10. Attach a clean patch to the end of the cleaning rod and moisten the patch with gun lubricating oil. Run it through the barrel once to put a fine coat of oil on the inside surface of the barrel. This will prevent rusting.
11. Apply oil to the gun according to the directions in your owner's manual. If you do not have the manual, wipe a light coating of oil onto all parts of the gun, especially the mechanical parts and any parts that contact each other, such as the slides. Do not over-oil the gun as this may lead to firing problems and grime build-up.
12. Reassemble the gun without loading it with ammunition and pull the trigger (dry fire) to ensure that the firing mechanism works properly. Give the outside of the gun a final wipe-down with a clean cloth to complete the cleaning.
Tags: bore-cleaning brush, breech barrel, patch holder, barrel Repeat, clean patch, cleaning moisten, firing mechanism
