How often do you do a complete clean.
 

During hunting season if you shoot something do you go back that day after the hunt and tear apart your gun, breach plug and all? Or do you let it go for a couple weeks until the ML season ends? I always use wet then dry patches to clean my barrel after each shot but I am curious how long it is "safe" to let the breach plug go without a cleaning.

I'm picky. I do a full cleaning even if i've only taken one shot.

I'm with Muley... if I shoot it, for what ever reason, it gets cleaned that evening.

A full cleaning every time it is shot, always.

i hunt with white rifles which require firing a squib load which makes the barrel dirty so the bullets can stay in the barrel so i just came back from a hunt here in arizona where it's very dry so when i loaded my rifle i hunted with it for two day's but you can't let any moisture get in the barrel which means you have to keep it from getting to hot or cold too quickly which creates condesation this is something i could only do here never back in the northeast you have to clean every night or you will probably get rust if there's moisture. long winded but hope the info helps. by the way if there's any doubt clean it.

A little bit of a thread hijack but have you tried Knurling the bullet and applying teflon tape to mimic a fouled bore? It works very well with my 54 Bison and No Excuse bullets.

Ditto a full cleaning after shooting

no i haven't tried that but i have in the past shot sabots with a cleaned and oiled barrel with grease on the sabots. i just bought a .54 bison maybe i'll try that. fyi to the original poster not cleaning your rifle is risky you have to know for sure about the conditions and even then your taking a risk !

I clean my guns after any type of shooting. I love my guns and I want them to be treated the best and hope they will last a lifetime.

ditto i love my guns as well and have been shooting some of them for over twenty years and you would think they are new and never used, the barrels are spotless. like i said not cleaning is risky but if you know what the conditions are you can get away with it. but i don't recommend it.

I'm with the "clean it the same day" guys.

If I am shooting blackhorn 209, I don't feel I have to clean it every time. However, with 777, pyrodex or black powder, I do a complete cleaning ASAP

You may want to try and fire 2-3 caps to fowl your bore without any powder. The powder residue from firing caps is not corrosive. Depending on how your bullets are sized it may be enough to prevent them from moving off the charge or to have your first bullet to shoot to the same point as the others.

Ed

You might be surprised to know that Western is now saying BH 209 is corrosive.

All my smokers are cleaned ASAP unless the hunt lasts more than one day and the weather conditions are favorable.

My smokeless MLs get cleaned when i feel like it.

I clean after shooting ASAP.

Has anyone had experience with Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner? Some reviews are great, some not so. I think it is more for smokeless but I am hoping that it will work with 777. Does it clean well enough that a little oil will protect the bore for a few days until the old fashioned bore cleaning can be done? Thanks.

I'm on board with the other fellas... if you shoot it, CLEAN IT!!

BPS

Yep, I clean the same day. I've never understood how some people have rusty guns when it is so easily prevented.

i like the idea that all of my firearms will be reliable and with me still in 25 years. to get to that goal i feel its important to clean every time i shoot.

Always...:party0005:

I clean mine with boiling soapy water if I shoot it that day.

I've shot a Savage smokeless for over a decade now so that means I've pulled the plug out & shot brake cleaner down it now about 10x. That's it. :s2:

Back in the 80s I'da rather picked cotton by hand than clean a ol poc CVA Hawken I had that "patterned" instead of grouped. :s8: Then in the early 90s I bought a Knight Wolverine & hunted with it for a decade until I bought the Savage. I used to clean it after it was ever fired! It wasn't/ain't much more fun to clean than the ol Hawken was.

Did I mention I LOVE my Savage? :happy0001:

Cleaning a gun is not like getting a root canal. Some of us like to do it, and the guns show it.

I bought a Remington 700 in .270 once. I brought it to my gunsmith to give it a general check up. He said he's never seen a bore so built up with fouling in the rifling, and he was doubtful that i'd ever get it out.

I went home, and scrubbed that bore for hours. When I thought I had it clean I brought it back to the gunsmith to check the bore. He said I had gotten about half of it out.

Once again I scrubbed and scrubbed. I tried all kinds on solvent, and about wore out a brush. I brought it back to the gunsmith again, and he said almost, but not quite.

One more trip, and I finally got it all. I never worked so hard on a gun before, but it turned out to be a very accurate gun.

I laugh when I hear someone say they don't need to clean their smokeless gun often. It always reminds me of that .270 I bought from someone who told me they take good care of their guns.

Muley,

If that ever happens again, try some "Kroil" brand penetrating oil first. Just saturate a patch, run it through the bore and let it stand overnight. They call it the "oil that creeps" because it will literally penetrate or creep if you will, beneath the fouling to loosen it. It's pretty amazing stuff, and there are a lot of benchrest shooters that swear by it.

BPS

I could have used it for sure. I think I used a whole bag of 500 patches.