Proper Cleaning?

[angelsfanbp]

anybody out there feel that windex is a bad idea? reasons? I'm not looking for people that don't use it....only those that feel there is a problem with using it? Anybody?

[desdem12]

You could use just water if you wanted too and get the same effect as the windex. I have used both. At home though i use boiling water.

[angelsfanbp]

Just trying to get the whole scoop. Sometimes I don't get home for 6 or so hours after a shoot and I am trying to figure out the best method for a quick "field cleaning" after using corrosive ammo until I get home and tear into with the boiling water. I will try the windex in the barrel and boiling water when I get home. I will post a full video on the field cleaning and home cleaning procedure on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRifleGuru?feature=mhee Be sure to check it out and subscribe if you like what you see. It's a work in progress! Thanks everybody for your thoughts!!!

[desdem12]

[avenger]

I also clean out the inside of the bolt head with a qtip

[WeldonHunter]

Nothing i have found does better then hot boiling water down the barrel. I have a tea pot that i use to dump it and then i brush with a brass brush and follow with a few patches of hoppes. Then when clean a patch of generous oil. After that i have a rag with oil on it and i wipe down the whole rifle. And don't forget the bolt head.

Brad you stole my post. If I didn't know you typed this I'd have sworn I was losing my mind. I'll say ditto. Short and sweet but more important to the point. It's just this easy.

[WeldonHunter]

I remove the bolt, grip the rifle by the wrist firmly in one hand with the muzzle pointing straight down. Take my teapot full of boiling water in the other hand and pour it right down into the chamber ( teapot spout makes this easy) this step takes less than ten minutes with water boiling time, washes 100% or the salt out and the heat from the water transfers to the steel and this steams off any residual water. Don't be sloppy and pour water on the wood, a little is unlikely to damage anything, but a lot could, heat transfer from the water going down the bore is less that what 10 rounds of firing will do so no problems there. The heat after you let the rifle cool for a few minutes will aid the bore solvent in eating up the fouling, this is also a good time for a chamber scrubbing. No soap in the water is needed, that is something you need for Black Powder fouling, plain boiling water for smokeless powder as you are only using the water to remove the salts from the corrosive primers.

Brad did the short version and the Boss did the longer one. It's so simple it's not funny. Especially on a bolt rifle. Nothing is more effective then this method period.

[WeldonHunter]

Quick question......if it's going to take me 6 hours after shooting to get home and before any cleaning begins......could I spray a generous amount of windex on the bolt and through the barrel at the range and run a patch through until I get home? Would leaving windex on the barrel and bolt be bad for 6 hours? Would it even do anything?

If you have to wait 6 hours to clean the gun it won't be a problem. The problem I see with spraying windex down the barrel at the range is unless you use a lot of it there's still going to be salts left behind that are now wet and can start the corrosion process. Corrosion comes from moisture, air and the reaction of the chemicals to metal that corrode. Salt being that chemical. Hot water desolves the salts quickly while flushing them away and it can wait until you can do it. The active ingredient in windex that cleans salts is water windex being mostly water. The problem is that the water in windex at room temperature isn't enough to really melt away the other residue left behind that boiling water does. I live in Louisiana and it's humid as all get out sometimes but I still wait to use boiling water.

[Junk Yard Dog]

In 2007 I bought an entire case of USGI WW2, or Korean era bore cleaner. This stuff was formulated to deal with corrosive primed ammo, and I use it in the field. Once I am home the boiling water is used anyway, and I scrub with Hoppes. With field cleaning done, and the bore oiled I can stop on the way home and enjoy a steak dinner without thinking about rust cooties eating my bores the entire time I am eating.