Monday, December 10, 2007

Gun Maintenance Tips - How to Maintain Your Hunting Gun


This is going to be the first post of series of posts that talk about guns (The .50 BMG- For Hunting? and Guide to Buying a Used Gun). Every hunter’s most important tool is his gun. If the gun goes bad so does the hunter. There are simple steps that one can take to prevent your gun from rusting, misfiring, or becoming inaccurate.

Scrub the Barrel:
Cleaning you gun after shooting isn’t just running an oily patch through it. You need to get a phosphor-bronze brush and scrub the entire bore thoroughly. Next, you need to run some patches with powder solvent through the barrel. Repeat those steps until the gun is clean (you can tell the difference). Then run an oily patch through the bore for storage.

Remove Rust:
Rust can ruin a gun if it gets out of hand. To prevent this, scrub the rust with some 0000 steel wool and a little oil. If it is the trigger that is rusted; I would advise you to go to a gunsmith.

Replace Burred Screws:
Burred Screws can make adjustments to the gun more difficult than they need to be. Most burred screws can be removed before they are too burred to remove (If you can’t remove them, you will have to go to a gunsmith.). To get replacement screws, go to a gunsmith or you can most likely order them online at from the manufacturer.

Reblue Unblue Areas:
You might consider those unblue spots to be the times you and your gun have been together, but those spots are the most likely to become rusted. To fix it, get some gun blue from either a hunting retailer or online.

Clean Your Scope:
You might have paid just as much for your scope as you did for you gun. So why would you not pay the same attention to it. Make sure that you clean the lenses regularly with camera lens or glasses cleaner. Clean the body with a dry cloth.

Gun maintenance is often forgotten about, but it is just as important as any other part of your hunting regime. So remember to clean and your gun should last you for a while.

Other gun related posts:
The Perfect Turkey Gun
Recoil Reduction
Tips on How to Buy a Used Gun

3 comments:

Big Pappa said...

Your exactly right. Gun maintenance is forgotten about. Having been a gunsmith for about 15 years now, I can't tell you how many times I have seen wet guns put away in a wet gun case and 9 months later the owner pulls it out to discover...(dramatic pause) RUST! Great post!

P.S. I found you via Entrecard.

Anonymous said...

Great to have an experienced gunsmith here.

MA Firearms School said...

The most dangerous thing for a firearm is the rust. It can ruin a gun and makes it useless. It is suggested to visit a gunsmith if you have any problem with your firearms.

Regards,
Jacky