Whether you have a passion to collect guns by building them with 80 Percent Arms or to hunt, cleaning and maintaining your gun properly can keep you and your loved ones safe from any accidental gun injuries. Proper firearm maintenance not only maintains its good condition and look, but also helps you with its performance and longevity. Although investing in the best scope for 308 long range for both seasoned hunters and competitive shooters can help them get a better view from a distance, however, if your gun isn’t properly taken care of, you won’t be able to shoot right at the target.
Hence, implement the following tips that will help you maintain your Horsley Park Gun Shop firearm in a good condition.
When Should You Clean Your Gun?
It mostly depends on how often you use your firearm. For instance, a gun after 1500 rounds will require more frequent cleaning as compared to the one with 100 rounds only.
Hunting firearms. If you’re out hunting, you will most probably fire your weapon around 8 times. It may even be fewer than this. Therefore, your firearm won’t require continuous cleaning.
However, taking your gun outside in the forest or the hunting location means you’re exposing it to rain, dust, heat, or moisture, which may impact the performance of your weapon. Hence, it’s ideal to give it a thorough clean after each exposure.
Target practicing. As opposed to hunting, when you’re at the shooting range to polish your firing skills, you may fire a lot more times. For this reason, it’s ideal to clean your firearm after each session at the range.
Guns in storage. If you’re thinking guns in storage don’t require any maintenance at all, you need to get your facts right. As the guns in a safe may also accumulate dampness and dirt over time, therefore, it’s best to clean them at least twice a year or quarterly.
How To Clean and Maintain Your Gun?
First off, you need to ensure that your weapon is not loaded, and the chamber is completely empty to avoid any mishaps. Point your gun either upwards or downwards, whichever direction you think isn’t pointing towards an individual or an object you don’t intend to shoot, and disassemble it. You should read the instruction manual for straightforward and accurate steps to disassemble a certain type of gun.
Working station. You also need to work in a well-lit and well-ventilated area like the outdoor place of your home. If you don’t have access to the outdoors, you can clean your gun near an open window. Keep in mind that the chemicals that are used to clean the gun are harmful to you and the surface.
Your gun cleaning supplies. Don’t just use any kind of cleaning material. You should use cleaning oils that are specifically made for guns. You can even use a gun cleaning kit that includes everything that you need like a bore brush, lubricant, spray, soft microfiber patches, etc.
Clean the parts. You should start off with the barrel. You need to clean it by using a dry bore brush in order to get rid of the excessive dust. Then, drench a fuzz-free patch in bore solvent and put it on a rod. Push it from the start to the end of the area and you will be required to repeat this process until you see there’s no grime coming out on the patch.
Now, you need to clean the action as well. You need to use a copper or nylon brush to scrub off any debris or particulates and then spray it with an action cleaner solvent. Let it settle down for a few minutes, and you’re done.
Lubricate after cleaning. Lubricate the parts where movement or friction occurs such as slide assembly and action. Use only one drop as too much lubrication may attract more dust and grime.
Wipe the exterior. Use a lint-free cloth treated with silicone lubricant all over the exterior of your gun, as this will get rid of any oil or dust leftovers and will also form a protective layer. Store it properly. If you use your gun every single day, you should put it in a holster to protect it from dust and dirt. For guns that you use once in a blue moon, you should keep them in a gun safe with silica gel beads inside of them to protect them from moisture.