semi

How do you clean your rifle. I am looking for best practices actually. How many bullets before you clean it, and how do you clean it.. Never did it before and want to keep my rifle looking like new for many years. thanks for any advice you can give.

Vapodog

Assuming you're talking about a centerfire rifle now.....shooting jacketed bullets!

First of all there is no hard and fast rule....sometimes you clean it every year during superbowl halftimes because it's far more entertaining!

In all seriousness I'd recommend cleaning at least every fifty rounds or annually at a minimum. It's not necessary to get carried away as long as you shoot modern powders and primers. There is still some corrosive primers in military ammo out there and one should clean immediately after each outing if that stuff is being used.

I like to use mops instead of patches..it's a matter of convenience. Soak a mop or patch in an ammonia type solvent. Sweets and shooters choice are two fine products and mop the barrel. Make twenty passes thru the barrel. Let it set for ten minutes. Repeat running the resoaked mop thru the barrel twenty passes and again let it soak.

Using a phosphor bronze brush, vigorously make another twenty passes thru the barrel and then using a dry mop (or patch) dry the barrel. I also like to use a third mop with a generous helping of rem oil to lightly lub the barrel and then again run the dry mop thru to reduce the amount of oil in the barrel.

If you get serious about copper fouling, there's no reason to go after powder residu. It'll come out with the copper.