Taking my guns to the range for the first time
 

I don't know where to post this, but this is the guns section so I figured this would fit. I'm taking my Marlin 336 30-30 and my Savage Arms Marksman II .22lr to the range tomorrow and am nervous about cleaning them. I've shot guns before, just never cleaned them. I don't know what to clean, how much to clean, when to clean, any of it. I was planning on taking my guns apart tonight just to get a feel of it but I wanted to see if anyone had advice first. I'll probably shoot around 20 rounds out of my marlin and 100 rounds out of my .22. Thanks in advance!

buck, i take it you have all the cleaning tools you will need. the 336 is LEVER action and shouldnt be taken apart. it has to be cleaned from the front of the barrel. be careful when cleaning a rifle this way. first make sure it is UNLOADED. leave the action open and run a patch with solvent down the barrel. next attach a wire brush for the right caliber and run it down the barrel being careful to keep the cleaning rod away from the sides of the barrel. remove the brush and attach the slotted patch tip and run dry patches until they come out clean. not sure is the savage is a rifle or a pistol but it can be cleaned the same way. if it is a bolt action rifle, you can take the bolt out and clean it from the action.

Actually I think the 336 is easy to take apart. Unscrew the lever hinge screw and pull the lever out, then the bolt. Put it back together in reverse order. Rifles should always be cleaned from the breach if possible. Any damage to the rifling at the muzzle by the cleaning rod will result in poor accuracy. Apply some copper solvent with a brush. Run some patches through it until they come out clean. Run an oily patch through, followed by a couple of dry ones and you're done. Don't bother cleaning the .22 barrel. If you have gunk in the action, though, clean it out.

As noted, the 336 should be cleaned from the breach, and all that's required is removal of the lever screw, then the lever, then the bolt. But, do be careful not to lose the extractor. It will just fall out once the bolt is removed. Before removing the bolt note the position of the extractor, so you'll know how it should look when you replace it.

Clean the 22 the same as you'd clean any bolt action, barrel and all. 22's are dirty.

In general, I like to get some solvent into the bore and let it sit while I'm working on the rest of the gun. Then I run a wire brush through the bore and follow that with solvent patches. This is repeated until the patches look pretty clean. Then hit the bore with dry patches, and follow that with a lightly oiled patch. Before shooting next time it may be a good idea to run a dry patch to remove most of the oil.

If you don't have the owner manuals the first thing I would do is go to the mfg's site and download/print out copies.They will cover how to disassembly,care/cleaning step by step.Good luck!

There's really no need to be nervous about cleaning.

Generally, you should always clean a firearm from the breech. Theory is that running a metallic cleaning rod through the bore from the muzzle may inadvertently damage or prematurely wear the rifling at the crown, imparting uneven forces on the bullet as it leaves the barrel, thus degrading accuracy.

Some designs are obviously harder to clean from the breech than others, lever-actions, slide-actions, and semi-autos in particular. Though you probably CAN remove your Marlin's bolt, you may also consider using a .30-caliber "Bore Snake" instead. If your .22's bolt isn't easily removed, you may want to purchase a second one in .22-caliber. Being flexible and nonmetallic, save for the brass (softer than steel) weight and the bronze brush embedded, these feed through the breech easily. They're not the perfect solution, but they're a fairly low-cost option if you're not mechanically-inclined.

In reality though, my first centerfire was cleaned from the muzzle for a couple years until I figured out how to remove the bolt. I religiously cleaned it after every use with a common metallic sectional cleaning rod. Accidental damage and premature crown wear aside, it still shoots 1 MOA or better at the ranges I typically hunt with it at.

Use a good solvent (Hoppes is almost synonymous), apply a light coat of lubricant to prevent rust, keep solvent and lube off any wood, glass, or painted surfaces, and you should be good to go. When you've dumped thousands of dollars into a precision rifle, or shoot hundreds of jacketed rounds each year, you can begin to worry about things like chamber guides, one-piece rods, copper fouling, alloy jags and brushes, etc. For now, just get out and shoot.

Actually the 336 is easy to clean from the breech. Cock the half way open take the screw out that holds the lever in,now slide the lever down and out,grab the rear of the bolt & pull it out.There's a small part on the left side if the reciever {the ejector clip}it just sits in the reciever,take it out so it dont get lost.Clean your rifle from the breech.When your replace the ejector clip,slide the bolt half way in install the lever and replace the lever screw.

This is alot easier to do than it is to explain.Or you could just buy an Otis cleaning kit.

Get a couple of "bore snakes", until you know what your doing.

One for solvents, and one for oil.


More gun barrels have been ruined by improper use of cleaning rods.

IMHO if the poor guy has never cleaned a gun in his life I wouldn't be telling him to take them all apart. It may seem simple to us that have done it for 50+ years, but I would just do as Sheridan mentioned and clean the bores with the flexible system and wipe the exteriors carefully with an oil rag until you can get with a mentor to show you the ins and outs of really cleaning them thoroughly. Please don't listen to the one comment about not cleaning the bore of your 22. They are as dirty a caliber as you will shoot outside of a muzzleloader and the bore needs to be thoroughly taken care of like any other caliber.

This might be one of the more ignorant things I've heard. If you can't disassemble a Marlin 336 for cleaning, you shouldn't be shooting a firearm at all. It's LITERALLY one screw. If you can open a door, you can disassemble a Marlin 336. It's not like we're taking for granted that I can build an AR-15 blindfolded because I've done it for years, it's an easier skill than changing your oil.

The one thing I haven't seen anyone suggest is a break in procedure. If these are new guns, then you'd benefit yourself by breaking the barrels in. Maybe it won't make a lot of difference in accuracy, but YES, it will make a difference in how easy they are to clean from now on. The better you break them in, the easier they'll be to clean.

Clean the bore after every shot for 10 rounds or more, then clean after every group (3-5rnds) for the next 10groups or more. Some guns I'm very careful to clean after every round for 100rnds, but if I'm lazy (like for a hunting rifle or a plinker), the above is what I do. Lower pressure rounds (like a 30-30), I would recommend actually a LONGER break in period.

That statement was no more ignorant that you telling a person who has been hunting since 1953 like I have that my post was ignorant!!! Read his friggin post where he says he has no idea what he's doing: "I don't know what to clean, how much to clean, when to clean, any of it." I'll stay wih my post and if he does what you're saying and something bad happens it's on your expert shoulders Sir! I'd stay with what Sheridan and I suggested until he finds someone to give him some hands on help no matter how easy something might seem to you. I'm surprised the OP hasn't come back on and asked what a bore snake is, LOL! Read the other posts and one guy tells him not to take it apart and you tell him if he can't take it apart he shouldn't even be shooting, LOL! Another tells him to clean it from the breech and another tells him the barrel has to be cleaned from the crown end to the breech. All kinds of people here have given him advice that contradicts the others and now you're telling him it's simple to take it apart.

Don't sweat it !! A Marlin 336 is relatively simple to break down into its "major" assembly groups for cleaning. So is the Savage. Got to learn sooner or later anyway. There are also some nice sebsites that go through break-in and cleaning techniques. And I have found almost every instruction needed to properly break down and reassemble every firearm I have ever attempted. Most can be found on-line too. Just take your time breaking down the rifles, and make notes if needed.

I "Googled" Marlin 336 cleaning and found several well done "You Tube" demonstrations on cleaning the Marlin 336.

Second to last line on the original thread:

"I was planning on taking my guns apart tonight"

Obviously the guy believes he is competent enough to pull them apart, he just isn't aware of "how clean is clean". I honestly don't care how long you've been hunting, it makes no difference. Removing ONE screw, and not losing ONE SMALL PART is a very simple job. If the guy can replace a lightbulb, he can clean a Marlin.

As a whole, yes, I'd agree, it is very unwise for new shooters to disassemble leverguns, which is to say I concede that most new shooters will get lost very quickly if they tear apart a toggle link action like a Winchester 94 or 94 clone (henry's, Rossi's, etc etc). If you

But this isn't your average "levergun", it's a Marlin. Marlin actions were made to be easily disassembled, and cleaned from the chamber end.

Only ONE poster said ANYTHING about do not take it apart, and then FIVE of the following posts rebutted this ignorant poster who was obviously not familiar with the Marlin 336 and corrected him that "taking down a marlin for cleaning is actually very easy".

No, I'd NEVER recommend a newbie take apart a Win 94, a Ruger Mini-14, or even a Ruger Mark III pistol, but the difference in technical skill between a Win 94 LEVERACTION and a Marlin 336 LEVERACTION is like the difference between changing your oil and changing your transmission. Anyone can change their oil. Anyone can clean a Marlin 336 (and for the record, my neice is 9 and she cleans her own Marlin 336).

If something happens because this guy takes out the lever pivot screw on a Marlin 336, then it won't be on my shoulders, it will be on Marlin's, because the gun was obviously defective.

Removing the lever pivot screw is EXACTLY how Marlin instructs in their owners manual how to clean the rifle.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/pdfs/m...Centerfire.pdf

Starts on pg6 ends on pg 8, has 6 pictures to depict FOUR SIMPLE STEPS to disassemble and clean your Marlin.

I reiterate, if a shooter is not capable of disassembling a Marlin 336 for cleaning, they SHOULD NOT be shooting it in the first place (and I do point out, that is not a blanket statement I would make for all firearms, which is why I did NOT say "if a shooter can't disassemble their weapon, they shouldn't be shooting it". I specified the Marlin 336 in question, because I honestly would be concerned for the safety of everyone around them if someone that could not remove ONE screw were holding a loaded rifle).

You win! I don't care to get in a pissing match when my intent was only to help a guy that probably doesn't even know what a bore snake is, LOL! There have been so many guys on here that have told him to do just the opposite of what the next guy said, like don't clean the bore, clean the bore from the breech end, clean the bore from the crown end, etc. The poor SOB is probably shaking his head and wondering why the he** he asked and gave up by the time he got to your last post! Whatever, as the kids say nowadays, LOL!!!

So back to the disassembling...

For me YouTube has been a God send. It is not unusual to find multiple videos that a cover disassembly/assembly of popular firearms. Ruger's Tech Tip guy may be kind of dorky but the videos are very helpful. I have downloaded many videos and keep them as part of a reference library.

Be sure to have the manuals and start there. But also check out YouTube, Google videos, etc.

Good luck!

I agree with the statement that if a person cannot field strip a given gun, he has no business shooting it.

The ability to strip is more than a skill needed for cleaning, and as noted cleaning can be done without stripping. What's really important about learning to field strip the gun is that you get familiar with the parts and learn how the thing works. Many accidents are caused by folks not familiar with guns just picking one up and trying to shoot it. Had they taken the time to learn the gun, they may have seen something that would have prevented the accident, like a plugged bore.