Lever action cleaning

[bigted]

Have loaded for models 92, 86 and 85 Winchester as well as Marlin model 1895, 336 and 1893.

In Marlin rifles I like the straight forward strip for a deep clean but the Winchesters leave me in doubt as to how clean they get as I have never disassembled a 1886 to do what I consider a deep clean. Have done so with the 92 as well as the 73 and 85 however the thought keeps buggin me about the 1886 rifles ... of which I have none now.

Wonder if the ODG's tore the complicated 86 to parade rest for a deep clean when shooting Black Powder.

You 86 shooters ... do you worry about the bit of fouling getting into the action?

My cleaning iin the 86 while I had it consisted of using a bore snake two or 3 tomes from breech to muzzle followed by scrubbing from the muzzle with a fired cartridge chambered and using moose milk to scrub till it were spitting clean patch's. BUT never tackled the 86 action for a deep clean.

Thanks fellers

[kootne]

Hi Ted, I have shot a Winchester 1876, 45/75 for over 30 years. Always used straight black powder. Went through a lot of processes early and this is where I pretty quickly ended up.
Materials;
1. patches, must be damp only, unable to extrude moisture, use water based cleaner (I use spray window cleaner because I can dampen the patch evenly and not over dampen). If the patch will extrude moisture you will have it running into places you do not want it.
2. A cleaning rod with a proper sized jag. I have a 3/8 hardwood dowel and filed some grooves in one end for the jag. It works as good as any thing commercially available. OAL = barrel +2".
3. A fired case (with the primer still in).

Procedure;
1. open breech and blow several breaths through from muzzle. (pre softens fouling)
2. put the fired case in, close the breech.
3. Now, it is basically a barrel like a muzzle loader, clean till patches are clean.
4. Then withdraw your empty case, there will probably be damp fouling a 1/4" or so down the neck.
5. Push another patch through till it shows up in the breech. Remove it and then withdraw the wiping rod, repeat til patches are clean. (this way, you are not dragging the bit of fouling in the neck back up the clean barrel.
6. Oil bore with whatever suits you.

If you are getting fouling comming back further than the case neck your patches are too wet.
I carry the damp patches in an empty pellet tin, it's a little bigger than a percussion cap tin but smaller than a shoe polish tin.
I filed a few extra grooves in my cleaning rod so I can wrap a patch around the rod in the area of the throat, then I can transport with the rod in the barrel and patch friction holds it in place. Just for the lawyers benefit, Transport only, must remove rod before shooting!

I packed that rifle in the woods for years hunting and as a guide for elk hunters. (Not to shoot their elk, but as "bear spray") It is reliable, accurate and powerful. It takes a little more work to clean than smokeless but this process is the best I found.

[Texas by God]

I set my Winchester 94 upside down in the cleaning cradle so that whatever nastiness gets pushed out doesn’t fall back into the action.


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[Shawlerbrook]

I do the same as Texas . ^^^^

[Larry Gibson]

I set my Winchester 94 upside down in the cleaning cradle so that whatever nastiness gets pushed out doesn’t fall back into the action.


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Me too.

And I use a cleaning rod cone (brass) to keep the rod centered at the muzzle.

[HWooldridge]

Kootne's fired case is a good idea...

I have always stuck a wadded shop towel behind the chamber to catch the liquid and BP trash. I normally use "moose milk" solution on a swab tip then straight Ballistol in the bore afterwards.

I also do a complete strip down on my Remington humpback shotguns once a year to get all the junk that accumulates in the action from smokeless powder - so an annual armory level strip for a BP rifle might be warranted. However, I bet most shooters in the old days didn't spend much time on the innards. Get the bore clean and don't worry about the rest of it.

[veeman]

Hi Ted, I have shot a Winchester 1876, 45/75 for over 30 years.

I'd like to see that rifle. Are you a member at CAS 1876 group? sorry for off topic, I just love the 76's.

[indian joe]

i shoot blackpowder
use a cleaning cradle with the gun upside down and also a flush bottle with a plastic tube fits the chamber =squirt water down with the gun held at about 45 degree then back in the cradle - couple strokes with a damp patch from the muzzle then another flush - repeat - and again --patch it dry - then a wet WD40 patch

If you keep the gun upside down water cant go anyplace it dont belong ---water is the best solvent for the salts created by blackpowder .

[gc45]

You now have some very sound info on cleaning Winchester Levers. Concerning take down,, the 1886 rifles are not easily taken apart nor put back together. I say this having done them many, many times for repairs etc..Once figured out things become easier, however still they take about 30 min or so both ways at best. I would expect several folks here have also done this.

Being an 86 shooter, here is my method for cleaning:
with gun in a gun vise and lever down, I put an oiled rag inside the action to cover everything including the sides of the action and to catch debrie. I then clean from the muzzle using a a rod having a brass muzzle guide and to protect the muzzle. As an owner of several old rifles that came my way loaded with lead, it takes lots of cleaning to get the lead out so have found my method works well, even once the bores are cleaned of old lead and back to shooting them.

[kootne]

I'd like to see that rifle. Are you a member at CAS 1876 group? sorry for off topic, I just love the 76's.

Veeman,
Not a member anywhere but here, ASSRA & Gun boards
Here is your picture; fall '99, NW Mont.
Most of it's time in actual use was a death march and/or a killer horseback ride from a cleaning bench or vise.

[bigted]

Thanks fellers. Guess Im not too far off in my methods afterall.

Have a modern 73 in 45 Colt and my favorite a vintage octagon barreled 1873 chambered in 38-40. Both will eat shotgun clay birdies at 50 yds most every time.

Every time I clean, I do so with a fired case in the chamber and the greese in the toggle area remains pure.

[Jack Stanley]

Me too.

And I use a cleaning rod cone (brass) to keep the rod centered at the muzzle.

I thought everybody did it this way .

Jack

[rintinglen]

mine is plastic

[openbook]

This thread is exactly the info I was looking for, just recently took the plunge to using black in the 1886. The cleaning and concerns about corrosion in the action put me off it for a long time.

Can I ask if anyone removes their stock for routine cleaning? Seen lots of holy black shooters who recommend running the whole barrel in hot water...soaking the action with ballistol...etc. But the 1886's tang screw goes into the wood, and I'd be concerned about loosening if the stock was removed every cleaning with regular shooting.

You now have some very sound info on cleaning Winchester Levers. Concerning take down,, the 1886 rifles are not easily taken apart nor put back together. I say this having done them many, many times for repairs etc..Once figured out things become easier, however still they take about 30 min or so both ways at best. I would expect several folks here have also done this.

gc45, you've got that right. As a military-trained guy who was taught to field strip and clean until there wasn't a speck of gray, a number of years ago as the proud new owner of a Browning 1886, I took it down and only after cleaning realized what a mistake I had made. I won't say how many hours it took me to get the 1886 back together, just that it required brass punches and a lot more force than I was comfortable using on that blued finish. I've never taken it all the way down again. Can I ask how you worked it out? My 1886 does not have a pin-hole to retain the mainspring. The specific issue I ran into is that with no way to retain the mainspring, there is so much force that it's nearly impossible to get the hammer pin back in.

However, I bet most shooters in the old days didn't spend much time on the innards. Get the bore clean and don't worry about the rest of it.

Then again, this route has always had a certain appeal to it, as well.

[Bazoo]

I don't have to clean BP fouling from any of my leverguns, but what I do for smokeless is similar to everyone else. I stuff a rag in the action. I cover the guts as much as possible so no crud gets in the action or on the bolt rails. And I make sure I have a decent amount of rag protecting the bolt face. I either clean in a cradle, or with the forearm on my leg if I'm in the field. I sometimes clean my guns outside for the fresh air and the fun of changing up the routine, but carefulness is of the utmost importance doing that, as it's easy to get careless.

[GregLaROCHE]

I use a cable system that pulls everything out the muzzle end when I shoot BP.. It’s a Marlin so I can easily take it down from time to time.

[pworley1]

I set my Winchester 94 upside down in the cleaning cradle so that whatever nastiness gets pushed out doesn’t fall back into the action.


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+1 on this.

[pietro]

Winchesters leave me in doubt as to how clean they get as I have never disassembled a 1886 to do what I consider a deep clean.

Have done so with the 92 as well as the 73 and 85 however the thought keeps buggin me about the 1886 rifles

FWIW, if you've done a Model 92, the 1886/86 is just about the same, only bigger.


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[Bazoo]

FWIW, if you've done a Model 92, the 1886/86 is just about the same, only bigger.


.

Correct me if I’m wrong, as I don’t have experience with an 1886, only articles and videos online. The 1886s I have seen all have to be driven apart with a punch, whereas the 1892s are a modification of the design and come apart like a model 1894, without hard drifting pins.

[Froogal]

I don't shoot black powder, but my Rossi R92 responds quite well by spraying Ballistol into the barrel from the breach end, letting it soak for a few minutes and then flushing it out with HOT water, followed by 2 or 3 passes of a bore snake. Always comes out shiny clean.