So I rifle hunted this year for the first time since I've had a driver's license.... this led to a new excuse for more hunting crap. Picked up a Tikka T3 Lite SS in .30-06 topped with a Leupold VX2 3-9x40 CDS scope... ready to run 10-20 rounds through it and get it dialed in. That said, I don't have gun cleaning supplies, at all. My kit consists of a 12 gauge bore snake, a can of rem oil, and a box of shop rags... this has sufficed for my pistol and shotgun needs over the years. What do I need? The more specific the better. Products improving the ease of cleaning gets you a gold star...
A couple 30 cal. jags a bag of ,007-.010 patches and a bottle of sweets. A bore guide is nice but your palm,thumb and forefinger will do just fine.
I clean my guns like how my father was taught in the military. All I use is a piece of an old clean t shirt, some solvent, oil, and a piece of thread to use to pull the piece of t shirt through the barrel. I clean my guns before and after each season so I don't usually need a bore brush. The only real time I need a brush is when I leave my shotgun uncleaned for a while.
Tipton Carbon Fiber Rods : Cabela's + Tipton® All-In-One Universal Bore Guide Kit : Cabela's + Amazon.com : Gunslick Foaming Bore Cleaner (12-Ounce) : Hunting Cleaning And Maintenance Products : Sports & Outdoors + Amazon.com : Remington Rem Oil Gun Lubricant - 10oz Aerosol Can : Hunting Cleaning And Maintenance Products : Sports & Outdoors + Birchwood Casey Synthetic Gun Oil with PTFE Lubricant : Cabela's + Patches, Jag and a Gun butler if you don't have to hold your gun while cleaning. = Happy, easy, quick and effective cleaning.
I am a huge fan of bore snakes and own one for every caliber I shoot. After bore snake runs a time or two...I use the cloth with some oil of choice down the barrel...if it comes out clean done. After every time shooting for me.
Oh I forgot and if you are breaking in a barrell you will want a bottle of this. Sweet's Copper Remover Solvent : Cabela's
Use Barnes bullets and Barnes CR-10 as a copper solvent. Proper cleaning technique is more important than fancy cleaning tools.
Any good links to proper cleaning techniques? I have 6 Boxes of Barnes Vor-TX 180 grain bullets that I plan to dial in and get a custom dial for on the scope from Leupold. So sweets as I break the barrel in, then the foaming type cleaner from then on? Funny the list you made is about half what I had picked out last night from reviews on midway...
Neil jones at Custom products sells every thing you need, he makes a great bore guide also. Push some patches through from the bolt with sweets on them, followed by dry patches until the dry ones show no signs of dirt. Fire a shot and repeat the cleaning for ten rounds, you will notice a real difference in how easy the patches start go through. Then shoot 5 rounds before repeating the cleaning process repeat the 5 shots strings a couple more times, you will know when the resulting cleaning happens with a patch or two.
Thanks for the tip... I planned to do 3 shot groups initially to speed up the process but may clean between each round depending on how much time I have when I go to break it in. I ended up getting the following en route from MidwayUSA: Tipton Gun Butler Tipton 1 Piece Carbon Fiber 40" Cleaning Rod Tipton Universal Bore Guide Sharp Shootr WipeOut Foaming Bore Cleaner Tipton Ultra Cleaning Jag Set Nickel Plated Brass Barnes CR10 Copper Cleaning Solvent Butch's Triple Twill Cotton Patches This is an expensive endeavor for a weapon I'll likely fire 5 rounds a year from once dialed in.. LOL
Always clean from Breech-to-Muzzle® in the natural direction of the bullet. When you fire your gun, the powder residue and dirt are in the barrel. The chamber and receiver are clean. If you run a brush or patch from the muzzle end you will push this dirt, residue, and moisture into the chamber and receiver. This is a major cause of stuck cases or problems with lever actions and auto-loading rifles and shotguns. If you push or pull a brush back toward the chamber, you will notice the brush will throw the debris from the bore back into the chamber and locking lugs. Center the tip and rod. Be careful not to let either rub the bore. All firearms record their history. This is the reason most people look down the barrel of a firearm. An experienced eye can tell the method of cleaning, the number of shots, and the gun maintenance applied to the firearm. Many marks are caused by people who carelessly let the tip or rod rub the inside the barrel. Use a clean patch surface each time you go down the barrel. This is similar to mopping a floor and rinsing the mop out. When you are using your firearm you will get abrasive dirt in the muzzle. The patch with solvent will flush this dirt out in the shortest distance. If you use this patch surface again, the dirt will be deposited in the chamber and neck. The next bullet down the barrel picks up this dirt and erodes the throat. This is the exact equivalent of cleaning in the wrong direction. Never run a brush in the barrel first. This will damage the firearm. The brush will pick up dirt, moisture or powder residue and deposit it into the chamber or receiver. Never dip a brush in solvent. The solvent at the brush core will collect dirt and drop it into the receiver and chamber. Never go back and forth reversing the brush. This will bend the bristles on the brush. This is the equivalent of bending a wire back and forth until it breaks. You will always ruin a brush if you reverse it while in the bore. Use only a few drops of solvent / lubricant. Many people think the more solvent the better. However, this will damage the firearm. Use only the solvent that the patch will absorb. If you see too much, the solvent or oil will drip down into the trigger mechanism. This will cause a gummy trigger. If you use too much oil, it will drain back toward the stock and cause premature failure of the wood. Don't leave solvents in the barrel, wipe 'em out. clean your cleaning rod and brushes. Grinding in grit is worse than not cleaning your gun.
I agree with everything you wrote but I was told that I should leave the solvent in the barrel for a period of time before putting a dry patch through. I Use hoppes #9 btw.
Congrats on the Tikka. You have made some great choices on cleaning supplies. I have become a big fan of the foaming bore cleaners over the last few years and the tipton rods are awesome. Just some additional notes to add to the already great advice that you have received. If using a dedicated copper solvent such as the CR10 make sure you follow the directions carefully. You cannot leave that in the barrel for any extended time as the active ingredient is ammonia which is immediately strips copper but is corrosive to steel if left on it for extended periods so follow the directions. You will initially get some significant copper fouling breaking in a new rifle (especially with the barnes bullets or any copper monolithic bullet for that matter) so make sure you take the time to remove it all and it is easy to tell when you get it all as copper will leave either a blue or green residue as you patch the barrel. I have found that the foaming cleaners do remove copper but it usually takes me more cleanings to remove it all as opposed to the quicker method of using CR10. The other advantage of using the foaming is that it is safe to leave it in the bore overnight if you want with no damage to the firearm. I have switched to using mostly fiber bristle brushes instead of the copper or brass bristles for 2 reasons, 1 being that they lesson the possibility of damaging the bore and 2) when using a copper solvent the brass bristles become damaged by the sovent. Another product that I really like is Break-Free CLP which is a cleaner, lube and preservative that has worked well for me. Barrel break-in procedures vary widely with a lot of opinions on how many rounds before cleaning, etc., etc., etc. However you decide to do it just make sure to fully clean the copper as it has a tendency to layer in there. Good luck and I hope the Tikka is a shooter for you.
Barnes has made some great steps in bullet development, but if I were breaking in a new barrel I would buy some cheap Remington or Winchester rounds just for the brass, as the barnes bullets are a softer copper and will lead to more fouling than the harder cheaper core locs. Granted 30-06 factory rounds are not exactly high performance compared to some of the magnums, fouling will occur.
Amen....life is so easy with bore snakes....EVERY caliber I own gets a snake as well...my rifles and shotguns are always spotless with minimal effort thanks to these...love em
Yeah I picked up a box of federal premium ammo with the rifle when I first bought it, so I will be using them to break it in... then sight it in for the Barnes loads afterwards. Can't thank everyone enough for the advice. I know nothing about rifles really, so it's like starting from scratch all over again.
That's a nice rifle. -06 is my all time favorite. Clean with a brush and solvent from the back and run patches until clean. Some of the new -06 loads out there are pushing magnum load performance. Look at hornady superformance loads for example. You might also be surprised, and pleased how well cheapo ammo shoots for deer/hogs etc... My -06 shoots 150 grain core locks as good if not better than any other factory load I've run through it. If I were to go after anything bigger than a deer then of course I would look to a sturdier bullet like those offers by Barnes...
Yeah I doubt my use and marksmanship will be able to allow me to discern a difference between different bullets... I just figured no more than I'll shoot it, I don't want ammo to be in my mind as a possible concern. This rifle will be mainly used for Grizzly, Sheep, and possibly Mtn Goat hunts... Elk/Mule Deer/Etc depending on where I end up living of course.
