How to Clean Your Rifle
One of the most important steps to keeping your rifle in top condition is building proper cleaning and maintenance routines. Switching out rifle magazines or other accessories can cause buildup in the various removable parts of your rifle. Worse, dust from storage can build up in the barrel of your rifle, leading to problems during its use.
Why Clean Your Rifle?
There are many clear benefits to cleaning your rifle and rifle magazines. And it’s not only about maintaining a flawless, desirable appearance. Beyond the aesthetic benefits, making sure your rifle is properly cleaned is essential for keeping it in working order. For example, keeping a clean barrel can help you ensure a clean shot. By contrast, improperly cleaned barrels can lead to a misfire, which can be inconvenient at best and dangerous overall.
Your rifle magazine is another vital component of your rifle that should be cleaned thoroughly. This allows you to reload your rifle with ease, much more quickly than with a dirty magazine. Using lubrication for high-capacity magazines in your hunting rifle can cause excess buildup in the magazine itself and leave the rest of your rifle greasy.
How to Get Started Cleaning Your Rifle
When establishing an essential maintenance routine for your rifle, it’s crucial to start with the most basic steps first – disassembly. This includes taking off the rifle magazine along with any other removable parts.
As you proceed, it’s beneficial to know that different caliber rifle magazines have different residue patterns, so make sure you have the right routine for your chosen rifle magazine. For example, short-action rifle rounds cause less residue when compared to long-action rifles, making them easier to clean. Additionally, certain magazines, such as a high-capacity magazine for a hunting rifle, require lubrication – which causes buildup and must be cleaned. Knowing what products to use as you clean your rifle is an important step that leads into the remainder of the process.
Essential Cleaning Tools for Your Rifle
1. Address Your Barrel with Bore Cleaning Rods
One of the most significant parts of your rifle is the barrel. Keeping the barrel free of debris and buildup helps you achieve a clean shot every time. Depending on the caliber of your rifle, finding a cleaning rod that can fit down your rifle barrel is crucial to this cleaning process. Some models, such as the Remington 783, come in different calibers, so different bore cleaning rods are needed to properly clean the barrel of each rifle.
2. Consider Using a Borescope
Much like cleaning rods, a borescope can fit down the barrel of your rifle and help uncover hard-to-reach buildup. Traditionally, borescopes came with handheld screens that display the images captured by the camera on the end of the scope. However, more modern versions have smartphone compatibility and can be plugged into your phone for use. This allows for a precise clean.
3. Remove Residue With Gun Cloths
Make sure you have the right type of cloth to clean your gun – especially considering the fiber residue that can be left behind by cheaper or less desirable alternatives. Proper gun cloths can be used on the interior and exterior surfaces of your rifle, and are essential for properly cleaning your rifle. Residue removal with a gun cloth keeps your rifles and rifle magazines in proper working order.
4. Utilize Smaller Magazine Cleaning Tools
Taking care of your rifle magazine is just as important as taking care of the rest of your rifle. Having a properly cleaned hunting rifle magazine can drastically improve your chances of scoring game throughout your hunting trip. Regardless of whether you use Marlin magazines or Remington magazines, your magazine box should be free of residue.
After using a gun cloth to get rid of surface residue on the magazine and inside spring, scrub the inside with a brush. Follow with a dry gun cloth to collect all the solvent from the inside of the magazine.
5. Solvent
Finding an appropriate solvent to use on your rifle and rifle magazines is extremely important to properly clean your rifle. Depending on the materials that make up the components of your rifle, different solvents and cleaning solutions may be needed to properly clean the various pieces. For example, cleaning the barrel typically requires a copper removing solvent to fully remove residue left by rounds. However, your rifle magazine requires a different solvent to cut down on grease left behind by lubricators.
6. Proper Maintenance and Aftercare
After cleaning your rifle's components, reassemble it with your full attention on the proper maintenance techniques that keep your rifle in working order. High-capacity magazines for hunting rifles require a lubricant to keep everything working smoothly. Making sure to reapply these necessary lubricants is crucial to ensuring your rifle lasts for years to come.
Your Trusted Rifle Magazine Carriers
The best compliment for a clean, well-maintained rifle is a suitable hunting magazine. Finding a proper magazine for a 22 rifle or Remington 783 will have your spic-and-span rifle operating at peak performance through every round you fire. For more magazines to complement your newly-cleaned rifle, contact us today or browse our selection.