Cleaning my shotgun

I thought I might pop this section in here as it might help some newbies get up and running cleaning their guns as I’ve learnt a few things already. The first couple of times I cleaned the gun it took far too long… so now I have managed to condense the clean down to about 30 minutes in total. Here is my step-by-step approach for cleaning a typical Over and Under shotgun:

1) Disassemble your shotgun.
2) Remove any chokes if you have them.
3) Using some spray solvent (I use Napier Gun Cleaner), spray the solvent down the barrels from both ends and then the choke tubes.
4) Set them aside to soak for quite some time (I usually leave them for an hour or so, turning them over every 10 – 15 mins or whenever I happen to walk past)
5) Spray some solvent into the shotgun’s action and using an old toothbrush, give the insides a good scrub. By action, I mean the cavity into which the barrel chambers sit when the gun is closed.
6) Mop up the solvent and mess with some kitchen towel. Repeat 5 and 6 if there are some stubborn powder marks.
7) With an oil DAMP (not soaked) cloth (I use one of those yellow duster cloths) give the metal parts of the action and forend a quick wipe down. The secret here is “less is more!!”. Make sure the cloth is literally only just barely oiled. I have some Napier Gun Oil and about once every third clean I lightly mist a little oil over the cloth.
8) I also give the wood a quick wipe down with the oiled cloth but then give it all another wipe with a clean, lint free cloth. Too much oil can be damaging.
9) At this point the action and forend are clean so I put them in my safe and lock them away.
10) After about an hour or two, I go back to my barrels and push some kitchen towel through them a few times with the rod and jag that came in my cleaning kit. What this does is remove the solvent and debris loosened by the solvent.
11) Do the same for the choke tubes.
12) I then spray the barrels and chokes again and leave them for another hour or two, turning the barrel and chokes over occasionally.
13) Now take your bronze wire brush and push this through the barrels about 10 times for each barrel. Remember to push the brush ALL the way through and out of the barrels before pulling it back towards you. This stops the bristles getting damaged. Always start from the chamber end NOT the choke end.
14) Do the same for the choke tubes.
15) Mop out the barrels and chokes with kitchen cloth pushed through with the rod and jag. Repeat this until the cloth comes out clean.
16) If you look through the barrels they should be sparkling!!! If there is ANY residue, spray and leave again. One time I had to leave the barrels for 24 hours overnight to get rid of some stubborn melted plastic wad residue, but it DID come out so don’t panic.
17) Wipe down the barrels with the oily cloth trying not to leave any finger marks on the metal.
18) Assemble the gun and put the chokes back in and give the whole thing a quick wipe with the oil cloth, then another wipe with a lint free cloth.
19) Gun clean is finished.

The important thing to remember now is BEFORE you go for your next shoot, put a couple of small drops of oil (literally one tiny single drop at a time) on the ejectors at the front and back. What this does is while the gun is in transit the oil slowly seeps down into the action and lubricates the moving parts of the gun. By the time you get to your shoot, the gun should open and close smoothly and the ejectors will function properly.

Now it might seem that the routine actually takes AGES. However cleaning the action and forend should not take more than 10 minutes before you lock them away, and the actual effort put into cleaning the barrels is only about 15 to 20 minutes. The rest of the time they sit on your cleaning mat with the insides soaking in solvent.

I have found this to be a very effective cleaning routine and the least amount of effort. Some people I know who actually shoot at County level only clean their guns once a month. I cannot do that as I am too anal about stuff like this and I need to now that the gun is put away SPARKLING….

Also, a good piece of advice. If your gun is very NEW you probably have chrome lined barrels therefore you do not need to oil the insides unless the gun is to be stored for several months before the next shoot. If your gun is quite old, then chances are you do need to oil them regularly so run the mop (should come with any reasonably decent cleaning kit) LIGHTLY sprayed with gun oil through the clean barrels, then make sure you mop as much of it out again with a kitchen cloth pushed through with the rod and jag. If you do oil the insides of the barrels, it might be better to store your gun barrels DOWN in the safe to stop oil seeping back into the action through the firing pin holes. Over time this can cause the wood behind the action to become damaged.