shotgun questions
 

I just bought my first shotgun and have a few questions. Yesterday I used it for the first time and fired about 30 shots. Should I clean the barrel? How ofgten do I need to clean the gun? I bought a cheap cleaning kit ar walmart. It came with wool mops. What are these used for?

I also have a different type of question. I noticed after I used it that the forend must have rubbed the barrel, because there was a line on either side of the barrel where the black color had scraped off. How could this be fixed? I thought about taking off the forend and sanding down the area that is scraping the barrel on both sides. It is a Remington 870.
Thanks

Anytime you have the gun out, make sure you wipe it down after handling. Smokeless powder will not harm the barrel if left fouled, but at the same time you are not doing the gun any favors. The 870 breaks down very quickly and easily. After shooting it I would break it down, and clean it with a good solvent (hoppes, shooters choice, etc.) The mopps are used to run the solvent down the bore, followed by a scrub brush if neccessary (probably not after only 30 shots, but we shall see). Follow with a dry mop or a few thick patches (I use old cotton T shirts) until the bore is shiny. It should be as shiny as a mirror looking down. If there are streaks, that needs to be scrubbed out with the brush.
Many people minimize the care thier guns get, and the results over time is junk. A good gun used with care, with a few minutes of TLC at the end of the day will last for generations.
It is mornal to get some finish wearing on the magazine tube, and occaissionaly on the bottom of the barrel. I no longer have an 870, and cant remember if I had wear there.

clean it everytime you take it out and shoot it and you should not have any problems with it the remington is a well built gun. its like changing the oil in your car you never want to do it but you know you have to. the barrel will rust if left fouled for an extended period of time and most of my pump guns have wear marks on the bottom of the barrel or mag tube just the nature of the beast i guess. clean the barrle and lightly oil it and the action and the outside metal parts and every few times you clean it spray gun scrub into the action and it will last to be your grand kids first gun

Clean your gun after every use and it will last for generations.



At the very least buy a bore snake.


http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...233&hasJS=true


You'll be amazed how well they work, if you use them as soon as you're done shooting.


Buy two - one for solvent and one for oil and you might just need to clean your gun "completely" once a year.

I went ahead and cleaned the barrel with hoppes 9. Unfortanetaly the cleaning kit I bought didn't come with many patches, so I used the rest of them up, but still did not get all the gunk out of the barrel. Am I doing something wrong. Should I buy another mop, as that seemed to work well, but I only got one pass because it was dirty after that?

those mops can be black as coal and still get crud out of there ans the boresnake is the one of the best cleaning accessories ever

A few passs with a bore brush after wetting it down with solvent, and before you wipe it out should take care of it. I never buy patches- I would go through a bazillion bucks worth each season. I cut old cotton t shirts into patches while I am watching tv.

I always read the manual and then clean a new gun before shooting it. Pump shotguns generally strip down pretty easily. I clean the barrel wvery time I shoot. I strip my pumps once a year. It's surprising how much stuff comes out when you do a full cleaning.