Keeping Your barrels clean

[Mr-Sheen]

Hi all,

 

in light of the recent bad weather, the problem of keeping dirt/snow out of the barrel and then removing it once it has got there has become a real problem for me on the foreshore. So i was wondering, how do you guys keep the gun clean in the first place and if it does become blocked how do you remove it on the marsh? Obviously this is not such a problem using a s/s or o/u but on a semi it seems harder to check if the barrel is clean and if it isnt, its harder to remove it.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Albert 888]

An external ported choke helps. Also found using a sling stops having to put the auto down in the mud. I just empty mag and chamber and pull the bolt back and look down the barrel from the chamber end and point towards the light,0nly have a short barrel though. You could carry a cleaning rod in your slip. Been lucky and not yet plugged mine.

[big bad lindz]

I keep a bore snake with me when on the shore and I have only used it once and like Albert 888 empty the gun and use a small torch or if there is enough ambiant light to check down and if in any doubt run a bore snake through it

 

BBL

[Redgum]

You could put a piece of insulation tape over the end of the barrel. not sure if you can get it wide enough for a shotgun but I do it on my rifles if the weather is bad. Checked it out while zeroing and makes no differance to POI, the tape gets blown off as soon as the bullet starts moving up the barrel.

[plank06]

The finger off a rubber marigold stretched over the barrel while getting from and too the area your shooting? A rubber wotsit that goes on your male member?

[Penelope]

A gun slip whilst in transit on the marsh, muzzle awareness and a pair of forked sticks to use as a gun rest when on the saltings.

In the event of a blockage, a 3 piece cleaning rod and wool mop (Different for the auto users I appreciate) as a pull through may not go past the blockage.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Penelope

[jamesneale89]

May sound daft but I do this for snow only, how many of us carry a hot drink in your bag to marsh? Pour tea down your barrel n clean it when youget home

[Essex Keeper]

random i know but didnt the britsh use comdoms in the gulf war to stop sand going down the barrels

[artschool]

May sound daft but I do this for snow only, how many of us carry a hot drink in your bag to marsh? Pour tea down your barrel n clean it when youget home

[kent]

I carry a bore snake and also tend to carry the gun about in a slip generally I find the shots I cannot take are compensated for by safer carriage on marsh were it aint uncommon to fall or slip. My wading stick or finger can clear a blockage before the snake- if its ever required. Recently I have taken to resting the gun barrel in my forked wading stick in gutters etc. previously I laid it out on slip- Prevention is far better than cure! In fairness insulating tape aint great as you don't want to keep making a gun safe and clear to apply more every darn time you fire it. I don't think I have ever fired 20+ shots conventionally stalking but have done so on the marsh, sometimes in say 20 mins

[jamesneale89]

Yeah art school I'm serious' it's hit liquid will melt snow if ku ain't got a rod or stick, you just gonna miss the rest of the flight or sacrifice a bit of brew? It melts instantly its sounds ridiculous but I've done it a few times only for snow mind especially when it's as deep as it is now

[Big Mat]

I keep a pull through in the bag just incase! If i'm sat in a creek i usually have my stick laying across the creek with the gun resting on it!

[Redgum]

I carry a bore snake and also tend to carry the gun about in a slip generally I find the shots I cannot take are compensated for by safer carriage on marsh were it aint uncommon to fall or slip. My wading stick or finger can clear a blockage before the snake- if its ever required. Recently I have taken to resting the gun barrel in my forked wading stick in gutters etc. previously I laid it out on slip- Prevention is far better than cure! In fairness insulating tape aint great as you don't want to keep making a gun safe and clear to apply more every darn time you fire it. I don't think I have ever fired 20+ shots conventionally stalking but have done so on the marsh, sometimes in say 20 mins

 

Ok, maybe stalking ideas may not work on the marsh, just have to do alittle lateral thinking, how about a couple of corks and a bit of string.

[Mr-Sheen]

I dont own a bore snake, so bare with the inevitable stupid question thats coming....

surely if the barrel is properly blocked, a limp piece of string wont be able to get past the blockage from either way will it?

[Penelope]

I dont own a bore snake, so bare with the inevitable stupid question thats coming....

surely if the barrel is properly blocked, a limp piece of string wont be able to get past the blockage from either way will it?

 

Hence why I carry a 3 piece cleaning rod and wool mop, it will remove anything from snow and mud to a stuck cartridge case (breech loading O/U & S/S).

[Big Mat]

I dont own a bore snake, so bare with the inevitable stupid question thats coming....

surely if the barrel is properly blocked, a limp piece of string wont be able to get past the blockage from either way will it?

 

Put a weigh on the end of and it throw it down the barrel! Or clear the worst of the mud with your finger first!

[barrold]

I once jammed a fair wedge of mud in my pump jumping a creek with it. Managed to find some marsh grass with a strong stalk that poked it out. After that experience i carry a three piece rod with one of them spirally brass brushes

[utectok]

I carry a rod in my gunslip also useful if a cart gets jammed in the ejectors which seems to happen occasionally in my old battered 686.

[Mr-Sheen]

cheers for the advice guys

[mudpatten]

I use the older fowlers trick of carrying 3x1ft lengths of 6mm wooden dowel in my game bag.

 

6mm is a loose fit in a 12 bore barrel but tight enough that the rods will only ever push against each other without over riding when inserted into the bore.

 

Push out the worst of the blockage with the dowel and clean finally with some rolled up bog roll, also carried in the game bag.

 

I used to carry a weighted pull through until I fell over once in soft mud and blocked the barrel to the point that nothing but a rod would remove it.

 

This simple push through has no moving parts, costs about 90p new, can`t break and will float if you drop it in water.

[gedney]

Do you mean 16mm ?

I use the older fowlers trick of carrying 3x1ft lengths of 6mm wooden dowel in my game bag.

 

6mm is a loose fit in a 12 bore barrel but tight enough that the rods will only ever push against each other without over riding when inserted into the bore.

 

Push out the worst of the blockage with the dowel and clean finally with some rolled up bog roll, also carried in the game bag.

 

I used to carry a weighted pull through until I fell over once in soft mud and blocked the barrel to the point that nothing but a rod would remove it.

 

This simple push through has no moving parts, costs about 90p new, can`t break and will float if you drop it in water.

Surely 6mm rods are to small,wont they go alongside each other and block the barrels? Edited January 25, 2013 by gedney