Clean a blr from breach?

[ammohead]

My girlfriend Jane is the proud owner of a Browning model 81 blr in 257 Robts. Of course I offered to work up proper loads for such a unique firearm. Can it be cleaned from the breach end easily? Marlins can, Winchesters...not so much, and savage 99s...forget about it! It is in great shape for it's years and I don't want to wash the muzzle out if breach cleaning is possible.

[MT Gianni]

Not that I know of Ammohead, and I own two of them. I use a bore guide religiously with mine. The Bob would be a sweet shooter in a blr. Mine are in 308 & 358. I would bite hard if I found the right deal on a 284, I am afraid.

[Boerrancher]

There is no big deal about cleaning from the muzzle, just don't use a steal rod and beat the **** out of the crown. I heard for years, "don't clean a gun from the muzzle you will wash out the riflings. I only have one thing to say..."Bull" I use to believe it, until I got to thinking about my muzzle loaders. Every thing goes in the muzzle, powder, patch, bullet or ball, and then you have to clean it from the muzzle as well. On some of the Antique ones the crown has been reworked, but there are several reasons for that. First is corrosion from not being cleaned properly, and secondly many had steel ram rods which were hard on the muzzle because they beat it up. There are muzzle loaders out there that have thousands of rounds through them and they are not worn out. Use an aluminum or brass rod and plastic patch holders and clean it from the muzzle and forget it.

Best wishes,

Joe

[Hurricane]

There are cleaning kits that drop a line through the barrel and then you pull a cleaning patch throught the barrel.

[ammohead]

MTG,

I picked up a savage 99 in 284 a couple of years ago. I am hoping to have a cast load worthy of NCBS for it this year. I looked for 15 years at gun shows and found it at Cabelas in Reno for $399.

[twotoescharlie]

use a boresnake or an otis.

TTC

[rond]

You do not want to pull the bolt on a BLR,

[405]

Open action. Turn upside down in gun vise or cleaning cradle. Use a muzzle guard/guide. Clean from muzzle. All the junk falls out and not into the action. Works so well that I not only use that method on lever guns but most of my single shots and some bolts like the Krag and others like the Garand. Really a no brainer once you try it.

[MT Gianni]

MTG,

I picked up a savage 99 in 284 a couple of years ago. I am hoping to have a cast load worthy of NCBS for it this year. I looked for 15 years at gun shows and found it at Cabelas in Reno for $399.

I'd be doing backflips if I saw one for that price. Nice find.

[Gtek]

One piece rod and a proper sized tapered brass guide and jag easy going in. I run in a crowd that has become religous about Wipe-Out foam and Bore Snake in the semi's, I get to hear the projectile goes what way stuff. Gtek

[Dirty30]

A bore snake should do you just fine.

[scb]

This works for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7x-vy4bWeM

http://www.otisgun.com/

[Mooseman]

I went to Boresnakes and they work ...1 pull is equal to 112 or more patches and the bore comes out like a mirror. Put em in a sock tied up and wash it in a washing machine when dirty. The spiral brush really cleans the bore.
I wont use cleaning rods that aren't plastic coated or fiberglass, because steel and aluminum rods both will damage the rifling and crown if you dont use a bore guide.
Aluminum has oxides on the outside and thats what they make sandpaper out of. I can sharpen a Knife to razor sharp on an aluminum rod...

[largom]

Kit and Caboodle cleaning kit. This kit contains a plastic coated cable with ends for cleaning tips. Comes with plastic tips for different calibers. Slides down the bore from the receiver, then just pull it through. Use it on my Sav. 99 300. I will made a muzzle gaurd so I can use a cleaning rod also.

This little kit is contained in a small tin about the size of a shoe polish can. Handy to take to gun shows so you can inspect a clean bore.

Larry

[Four Fingers of Death]

Bore Snakes do a good job. If you want to use a rod, get one like the Kleen Bore that has a tapered bore guide which centers the rod in the rifle's bore. Carefully push the jag/brush whatever into the bore, move the tapered guide until it is centred in the bore and away you go. No chance of the rod run=bbing the bore then.

As to coated or uncoated rods, some will tell you to use plastic / etc coated rods to protect the bores, others will tell you not to use anything othe than steel rods because the softer rod coatings or metals will retain bits of carbon (stuff diamonds are made of), etc and damage the bore.

The guys with the expensive guns and barrels, benchrest shooters are in the steel rod camp and if anyone knows about barrel performance, etc it is them, so I defer to that side of the argument.

If you have to use a rod without a guide, you can hold your thumb against the rod, just near the muzzle and keep it off the sides of the bore.

With a muzzle cleaning lever or pump gun, I put them upside down in the cradle so that any spilt/excess cleaning fluids spill into the top strap where they are easily wiped up and not into the action.

Even if you are doing it wrong, it is going to take a longgggggggggggggggg time to make a difference.

With my bore snakes, I have an old plastic tray, I run hot water into it, liquid soap and swirl it around. I then rinse them off under the tap, squeeze excess moisture out of them, then hang them on the line to drip into the sink. If I have been shooting black powder, I do a cold water with vinegar bath first, swirl them around leave to soak for an hour or so, then wash with soap. The sock idea sounds pretty good.

[mud lake]

I am by no means an expert but in over 60 plus years of cleaning guns I have never damaged a crown by cleaning with a rod of any material. I do not rout it around but keep the rod centered as close as possible to the bore. Steel barrels are usually harder than steel cleaning rods and have been used throughout history by the armed forces. Yes, I've seen M1 Garands brought back from Korea with the first inch or so of the barrel free of rifling, but that was due to improper cleaning. When I was in the service we were taught to keep the rod parallel with the bore. I have yet to try the snakes and I dont go out of my way to clean rifles from the breech. Just my experiences and humble opinion...

[pricedo]

My girlfriend Jane is the proud owner of a Browning model 81 blr in 257 Robts. Of course I offered to work up proper loads for such a unique firearm. Can it be cleaned from the breach end easily? Marlins can, Winchesters...not so much, and savage 99s...forget about it! It is in great shape for it's years and I don't want to wash the muzzle out if breach cleaning is possible.

I have the same model 81 in the "Takedown" version so it's a simple matter to pop the barrel off and clean it from the breach end.
The main reason I got the gun in the "Takedown" version was to facilitate proper cleaning.
The second reason was obviously portability.
I can pack the gun away inconspicuously in my luggage in a pack-sack or duffel bag without drawing any attention to the fact that I have a gun and the inevitable "Whuddya got a gun for?"
Outta sight, outta mind.

[Ed in North Texas]

I'd be doing backflips if I saw one for that price. Nice find.

You betcha. I've been insulted with being "offered" .308 99s which were obviously truck guns @ $600.00, never saw any 99s in the past decade or so at that price.

Ed

[felix]

There is a lot of emotion in cleaning a BR gun. It's all overkill for the most part because the chamber is blown forward too long by round 750-1000 rounds. The barrel is then placed on a light varmint or sporter class gun provided the barrel is (had been) a screamer and made shorter to make weight using the same reamer and crowning operation. If the barrel is not competitive after the mods for any reason, it is placed on a back yard gun, and perhaps made into a larger case for longer boolits. If the barrel is/was a sorta' competitive barrel it prolly will be made into a varmint barrel immediately or re-bored. ... felix