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I am not quite as cheap as he is, i plug the chamber with a rubber stopper and use the shrink tubing cut in 1 inch lengths along the rod about every 4-6 inches to isolate it from the barrel. Instead of batteries I used an old cell phone charger. After its done, I have cleaned it traditionally or used the old black powder method of hot soapy water (aint no school like old school) afterwards spraying it down with wd40 (after all, that's what it was made for, wd=water displacement).
 
After using Lasercast (Silver alloy) bullets in my wife's .357 SS, I soak the barrel in a strong vinegar solution and it melts the deposits away... no amount of brushing/scrubbing will take them out.
 
I recently ordered a 3 pack of Ballistol to use around the house and on automobiles. I read some articles about how well it cleans firearms so I figured I would try it out on my Tikka 30-06 that I thought was clean because I had used a copper remover in the barrel and a clp for the rest of it.
I ran a soaked patch of Ballistol down the barrel, waited 15 minutes then stroked it with a brush. I pushed a dry patch through and it was filthy. I was amazed because I am really good about cleaning my guns. If you don't use Ballistol maybe give it a try, I am glad I did.
 
I've discovered that synthetic oil this time of year is all you need. Rails, exterior, springs and pins, barrel. Gun functions better than with grease and cleans easily. That being said I do clean after nearly outing. Sometimes a bit of grease on the hammer where it rubs on the slide. Works for AR's, auto pistols and revolvers.
 
I've discovered that synthetic oil this time of year is all you need. Rails, exterior, springs and pins, barrel. Gun functions better than with grease and cleans easily. That being said I do clean after nearly outing. Sometimes a bit of grease on the hammer where it rubs on the slide. Works for AR's, auto pistols and revolvers.
Mobil one A quart will last forever. Best lube I have found. It does not dry out like most other lubes and is very temperature tolerant.
 
I recently ordered a 3 pack of Ballistol to use around the house and on automobiles. I read some articles about how well it cleans firearms so I figured I would try it out on my Tikka 30-06 that I thought was clean because I had used a copper remover in the barrel and a clp for the rest of it.
I ran a soaked patch of Ballistol down the barrel, waited 15 minutes then stroked it with a brush. I pushed a dry patch through and it was filthy. I was amazed because I am really good about cleaning my guns. If you don't use Ballistol maybe give it a try, I am glad I did.
Based on a post from @tac many moons ago, I started using Ballistol extensively.
I still have Hoppes, CLP, MPro7, Mobil-1, kerosene, vinegar, ammonia, and a host of other cleaners, but find that I use Ballistol the most for both carbon cleaning and lube.
 
#9 still works for me. I'm never in a rush, so before the rifle / handgun gets put away for any length of time, I swab the bore generously with #9 and let it sit and work overnight. Fouling comes out easier if the solvent is left to do it's work. I had a whole bunch of different concoctions cluttered under my bench at one time, but decided to simplify. Ballistol works great, but I don't want the gun room smelling like an old wet dog.

Regards,
Bill
 
Yeah Ballistol does smell like swamp a$$, I still use #9 to clean my brushes and such. I also have various foaming bore cleaners that work well.
 
Yeah, I brought home a can of Ballistol and decided to lube the garage door rollers with it. Boy, the wife was P!#%@d off. The garage stunk for days. My two Labs didn't even want to go out there.
Strange labs you have. Every lab I have owned would be out there looking to roll in whatever was creating that intoxicating smell.o_O
 
There are a gazillion products on the market to help you keep ol' Betsy bright and sparkly, so I'm not going to add to the already huge catalog[ue] of what is good and what is not.

What I WILL do, however, is mention what those canny Swiss do with THEIR long arms, and have done since they adopted their first bold-action rifle back in 1879 - the Vetterli-Vittali.

With no shortage of sheep, they decided to use a cunning mix of lanolin, tallow and other assorted gloop to come up with a general purpose grease that would not only lubricate the working parts, but clean the bore and waterproof the woodwork - all in one can.

With typical Swiss flair and imagination, they called this all-purpose gun-grease, 'gun-grease' or, in German 'waffenfett'.

This served the Swiss military in the successive range of long arms from the Model of 1889 - the first straight-pull designed by Messrs Schmidt and ammunition by Rubin, through to the end of the manually-operated long arms - the incredible K31, a drastic re-design by Colonal Adolf Furrer and team at the Eidgenossische Waffen Fabriken in Bern.

Adopting a new self-loader in 1957 - the StG57 - meant that they had to add a gloopy high-temperature black stuff to the innocent Waffenfett, to make it more suitable for a rapid-firing and VERY busy war scenario. Please note that ALL Swiss machine guns, crew-served or co-axial on armoured vehicles, were already using this stuff. Again, the Swiss, with their by-now traditional flair for the obvious, and mainlining this stuff for use in automatic weapons of all kinds, gave it the catchy name of 'automatenfett' - grease for automatic weapons.

How to use either could not possibly be easier.

1. Shoot your gun - whatever it is.

2. As soon as you can, while the barrel is still warm, run a greasy patch up and down the bore at least ten times, leaving a residue of grease behind.

3. With more grease, wipe over the outside, exposed metal parts, an apply a small amount to the bearing surfaces of the moving parts of the action, particularly the underneath of the operating rod and the cam-shaped cut-out in which it moves.

4. Wipe over the woodwork a couple of times a year.

Just before you shoot next time, run a few patches up the bore to clean out the old grease - it will leave the bore like new - trust me here, folks, my two rifles date from 1914 and 1944, and the bores are like new from end to end.

THIS is the reason why most Swiss service rifles, in good condition, still shoot like a well-sorted match rifle, especially with the near-match quality service ammunition, GP11.

Here are a couple of targets I shot over the last few weeks - five shots @100m with 1944 K31 -
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Twenty shots @100 with 1914 K11.
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All they get is greased.
 
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