Gun Cleaning Tips for New Gun Owners

If you are gifting a firearm this Christmas, or getting one, we have composed a guide for proper cleaning and maintenance for firearms. 

 Good maintenance habits help you know your gun better, and have more confidence in its performance at the range or in the field.

 Choose a work area that is well-ventilated, well-lit, organized and clean. Outdoors or in the garage is best. If you must work indoors, choose a large indoor room, and try to work near an open window. Your work table should be sturdy. It shouldn't rock or move when you lean on it. Avoid tables with wheels or casters. The dining room table or the kitchen counter is not the best choice, because you don't want to contaminate your food with chemical solvents, gun oil copper, lead or carbon fouling. For the same reason, you shouldn't eat or drink while you work.

Once you have chosen an appropriate work space, remove all ammunition from the area. All loose and boxed ammunition should be returned to its proper storage place before you start. Only after that is done should you get out your gun and make sure that it is clear. If the gun has extra magazines, make sure they are empty as well.

Before you get to work, find the owner's manual from the manufacturer. It should explain how to take the gun apart and clean it. 

There are a variety of specialized and improvised tools that will help you get the job done right, but can't be found in any cleaning kit. A rubber mat with a non-slip surface will help protect both the parts and the work bench from damage. A cleaning cradle keeps the gun under control and leaves your hands free to control loose parts and cleaning equipment. If you don't have one, a shooting rest for sighting-in or varmint shooting is better than nothing. Your bench vise may look tempting, but leave it alone: Too much pressure from the vise can crack the stock or even crush the receiver.

Also, an old cookie tin or coffee can is useful for holding loose parts. A container helps keep them in one place so small parts won't get lost or separated. You might want two: one for dirty parts waiting to be cleaned, and a second for parts that have already been cleaned. Lastly, here's a trick for when springs or pins go flying: Keep a flashlight on hand, as it is often a big help in finding lost parts. Even the tiniest pins and springs that have fallen on the floor will cast a shadow when a beam of light passes over them. Once you have the gun disassembled, start with cleaning the bore. The rifling at the muzzle is critical to accuracy. You don't want the cleaning rod to bang against the muzzle opening. Over time, this can widen the muzzle opening or leave it misshapen, so clean from breech to muzzle whenever possible.

With some guns the barrel is more or less permanently attached to the receiver, which leaves you with no choice but to clean the bore from the muzzle end. In that case use a bore guide (a sleeve that protects the muzzle), or a bore snake, rather than a rigid cleaning rod.

Use a cleaning rod of the correct diameter. They generally come in .22-cal., .30-cal. or shotgun/muzzleloader diameters. A cleaning rod that is too big will get stuck in the bore, while a cleaning rod that is too small will tend to flex in the bore and it will take too much effort to push it through. One clue is that bore brushes are sized to the diameter bore and will only thread onto a cleaning rod of the proper diameter.

Start with wet patches to loosen the fouling. Bore solvents are usually meant for either copper fouling or lead fouling. Naturally, if you have been shooting jacketed or copper-plated bullets, use a copper solvent. If you have been shooting unjacketed lead, choose a lead solvent.

Don't scrub, change direction or pull the dirty patch back through the bore. Always remove the dirty patch from the rod when it exits the bore. After you've run three patches through the bore, it should be ready for the bore brush.