Shotgun cleaning help.

[Andy_B]

Hi all, My fSGC should be with me next week ...eagerly awaited as i have already put a deposit on a berreta 687 silver pigeon...and cant wait to practise on some clays before going for live quarry...my question is however, cleaning after my day on the clays...wife has bought me a stunning cleaniing kit from william powell...and have been informed its the best money can by and will see me, and my shotgun out..used to watch dad and grandad cleaning guns usually involved a can of WD40 and a dirty rag ...(paps gun was a Purdy and bro still has it) Bro cant come with me for my first shoot with my own gun unfortunatly..so was looking for some advice on best practise of gun cleaning so when wee bro trys to take me by the hand..big bro will already have his pride and joy spotless !!

[landrover]

hi and welcome to the site andy,get some proper gun cleaning spray such as napier gun cleaner,the wd 40 as been known to take the blueing off barrels over time,spray guncleaner into barrels and let it run down, then use the brush when clean use the mop oil lightly,also spray the action with the gun cleaner

[njc110381]

Welcome to the site Andy. You've made a good choice with the Silver Pigeon, in my opinion they're very good value for money and should last you a lifetime. Reading about cleaning a Purdey with WD40 will probably have some of us crying on our keyboards (me included), but we'll do out best to sort that out for the future!

 

First up you need a good cleaning kit (which you have), and a small tooth brush. Then some various cleaners and lubricants. My personal choice is the Napier spray too, and also some Hoppes 9 dri lube. You'll also want a roll of kitchen towels (and like on the advert I use that bounty stuff, real strong and wont get bits all over the gun!).

 

To start off, remove the fore end and open the barrels. Swing them down until they come off the action. Spray a good dose of Napier down both barrels and put them to one side.

 

Then start on the action. Give the toothbrush a quick squirt of Napier and scrub around the barrel hinge pins. Don't fire spray at the action as you don't want too much (if any) of it to get down the firing pin holes. Then get a sheet of paper towel and get all the grime off (sometimes I use a toothpick inside the towel to get into the corners). Take your Hoppes 9 and give the pins and the little brass rods at the bottom of the action a quick blast.

 

Now for the fore end. Give it a brush with some napier too (the metal bits inside) and then dry it off. Give the moving parts a little squirt of dri lube too.

 

Now back to the barrels. They've had five minutes to soak by now so all the muck should be a bit softer. Run the bronze brush up and down half a dozen times, letting it leave the barrels at both ends before sending it in the other direction. Then take your sheet of kitchen roll and rip it in half. Fold a half lengthways so it's a third of it's original width and slip one end into the jag. Roll the full length around the jag and it should be somewhere near perfect 12g size. Run the jag up and down the barrel a couple of times making sure it doesn't come out of the end of the barrel (it will unroll!). Then remove it and roll it in the other direction so you get a clean side for the other barrel. After half a dozen runs through each barrel they should be fairly clean. Give them another quick squirt of Napier and run another clean towel up and down each tube to remove it again.

 

If you have a fixed choke gun they're now clean, but if it's a multi remove the tubes. Screw the bronze brush in so it cleans in the threads, and screw it out again. Then put the toothbrush handle in a double layer of towel and run it around the inside. Repeat until clean, adding more napier to the towel if it gets dry. Clean the outside of the choke tubes and give them a short blast on the threads with Dri lube, then re fit them. Now give another towel a light blast of napier and run over the outside. If the gun has got wet pay attention to the rib with the toothbrush and a little napier spray

 

If the stock/fore end is dirty use a second toothbrush (or clean the oil off the first with soapy water) to get any dirt out of the chequering. Rub it over with polish if you need to.

 

Now re-assembe the gun. Make sure there isn't any surface oil on the barrels (inside or out) and put it away. Reason for removing the oil is that excess oil can run down the barrels in time and get into the action if you don't dry it off. This gets into the wood and over the years will weaken it.

 

Napier spray has something called VP90 in it. It's some kind of vapour releasing thing that bonds to your gun and stops rust, even in the bits you can't get to or see. As long as you haven't got it really soaking wet (dropped it in a pond) that cleaning routine should keep it as new for as long as you last

[Andy_B]

Thanks very much for the advice....lisence came through yesterday and was no sooner out the envelope than it was on the countertop of the gun dealer geting the beretta added to it....didnt even have time to shoot it...had to pick the rugrats up from school....so i have just followed your instructions using Legia spray which was included in the sale....not much left right enough so will try source some of that napier gear...and asda for new toothbrushes for the family....kiddys one very small look like they will be ideal for nooks and crannies....off clay shooting tomorrow....see how many i can break !!..

[steveb]

Now i have found all your post i will be have to go over this gun with a magnifying glass and will pick up on any little bits i find.

[ferretman]

i have always used wd40 and the blueing has always been ok on my guns.all the best.

[Gordon R]

I have used WD40 for the last 30 years on shotguns and have never seen blueing affected. I have seen some views elsewhere that it can harm solder, but no scientific facts - merely rumour. If someone knows better - holler now and save my guns.

 

I've also used it to clean the barrels. Quick squirt down the barrel - one pull thorugh with a Boresnake. Clean as a whistle. Every month I use Brownings own barrel cleaner and make sure nothing is building up.

[Ice]

If the barrels are not cleared of oil properly, can this result in something called barrel bulge?

 

Someone told me this a week or so ago and im just trying to verify it.

 

Apparantly its where the shot when fired it pushes the oil down the barrel building it up, then overtakes it in the barrel causing the barrel to basically bulge ??

[Cushat]

If the barrels are not cleared of oil properly, can this result in something called barrel bulge?

 

Someone told me this a week or so ago and im just trying to verify it.

 

Apparantly its where the shot when fired it pushes the oil down the barrel building it up, then overtakes it in the barrel causing the barrel to basically bulge ??

 

 

RUBBISH!

 

Some debate over oiling mulit-choke tubes - perhaps this is what was being referred to?

 

Shouldn't leave gun with too much oil in barrels anyway as it will soak into wood and soften the stock if left stock down. Store it barrels down and any excess will run out into the bottom of the cabinet.

[browning525shooter]

i have always used wd40 and the blueing has always been ok on my guns.all the best.

 

sorry to sound simple, but could someone tell me what exactly the blueing in a shotgun is?

[Peter De La Mare]

It's the process that makes the barrels the colour they are.

 

They can be re-blued, so it's not the end of the world, but still not at all desirable.