How do y’all clean yer lever guns

[Ru4real]

Cleaning from the muzzle on any firearm can put a burr on the crown which can and quite often does adversely affect accuracy.

How does this burr happen, exactly? Have you experienced it?

I have not experienced a loss in accuracy, is all I’m saying. But I only have two old guns with years and years of cleaning from the muzzle end, which I can’t really draw a conclusion from on their own. However, I’ve never seen an example of this, either. Messed up crowns, from dropping on muzzle, yes, a few. But I have no examples of a burr on the crown due to a cleaning rod.

 

[Dibbs]

Drop the lever, clean from the breech. Every so often, pop open the mag, clean the tube and spring.

 

[Bfh_auto]

How does this burr happen, exactly? Have you experienced it?

I have not experienced a loss in accuracy, is all I’m saying. But I only have two old guns with years and years of cleaning from the muzzle end, which I can’t really draw a conclusion from on their own. However, I’ve never seen an example of this, either. Messed up crowns, from dropping on muzzle, yes, a few. But I have no examples of a burr on the crown due to a cleaning rod.

Most sighting systems and triggers on lever guns aren't good enough for a person to notice a loss in accuracy from muzzle cleaning.
I've seen mil-surp muzzles that looked egg shaped from muzzle cleaning. Obviously this is an extreme example. But it does happen.

 

[GBExpat]

do ya remove the lever and bolt on your Marlins.

That is how I clean my 2 Marlin 1894Ss.

Seems to me to be a worthwhile & slight effort-investment to get the job done well.

 

[cdb1]

How does this burr happen, exactly? Have you experienced it?

I have not experienced a loss in accuracy, is all I’m saying. But I only have two old guns with years and years of cleaning from the muzzle end, which I can’t really draw a conclusion from on their own. However, I’ve never seen an example of this, either. Messed up crowns, from dropping on muzzle, yes, a few. But I have no examples of a burr on the crown due to a cleaning rod.

I have had a bad crown on a rifle barrel. I have no idea how it happened, it could have been due to cleaning, maybe not.

 

[SwampWolf]

Muzzle cleaning equals bad accuracy is pure BS. I subscribe to cleaning from the breech if I can, and if I can’t, not a big deal to clean from them muzzle.

Agreed. The only way cleaning from the muzzle might compromise accuracy is by damaging the crown with the injudicious use of a cleaning rod. If you take care to keep the rod from contacting the crown (not that difficult, even without a bore guide) while using it, no harm to the barrel will happen.

 

[ColoradoMinuteMan]

Until the internet told me I was "destroying my gun" by cleaning it too much and by cleaning the barrel from the muzzle I never knew it. Growing up I was taught to clean my firearm after every use and to clean from the crown side. I've always taken care and used aluminum rods until I discovered carbon fiber. I don't know how it's possible to ruin hardened steel with the soft material of cleaning rods unless you're grossly negligent. I haven't had experienced this at all and personally I find the claims silly that "over-cleaning" or cleaning from the crown side are systemically damaging firearms. Though I now prefer to clean from the breach when possible and use a bore guide, it's a lot more because it helps reduce the labor to clean the action due to not making as much of a mess.

 

[kidneyboy]

I clean the barrel with Patchworm kits. When the gun needs to be really cleaned I pay the nice lady at the gun shop to do it. For some reason I can't seem to disassemble and properly reassemble a lever gun so I have someone else do it.

 

[herrwalther]

Marlin 336 is my only lever gun. Pull off the lever, remove bolt and ejector. Clean those. Use a cleaning rod to run brushes and patches down the barrel going to the muzzle. Use a light to look around the rest for carbon or rust and clean what I find.

 

[JFrank]

It’s probably tough to mess up a steel crown with a brass brush screwed onto a soft aluminum or carbon rod.
At least IMO

 

[blahpony]

I clean my Henry Big Boy .357 with a boresnake. I've also found that a Yugo AK cleaning rod is the perfect length to push a CLP soaked patch through the magazine.

 

[Nature Boy]

Removing the bolt on a BLR is akin to performing brain surgery, or at least too complicated a task to undertake for the purpose of cleaning the bore.

 

[3Crows]

I have seen damaged muzzle rifling though I am of the mind that cleaning from the muzzle can be done with a good rod and a bore protector and a little bit of care exercised. Is it the aluminum rods, aluminum oxide forms on the surface, which is an abrasive that is often the culprit? I just do not see a smooth stainless steel rod and a brass or similar bore protector causing damage. But advantage Marlin when it comes to a quick field strip and clean.

 

[792mauser]

2 Big 5 turk 1903 mausers were minute of target backing at 50yds. The bores were fine, the muzzle not so fine. Worn into an oval @ around 2-8 o'clock from the cleaning rod over the years. Sold those 2 at a profit to someone looking to build a rifle on a mauser action and they tossed the barrels.

1 7mm rolling block troubled rifle a friend sold me. Mostly same story. Worn muzzle destroying accuracy. Counter bored a bit and it now behaves itself.


It can and does happen. If you are careful and use a bore guide I don't see a problem.

 

[JohnB-40]

I use 2 methods on my 357 1873. A coated Dewey rod with a muzzle crown guide,from muzzle to breech,or an Otis coated cable if I go in the other direction. Both are just as effective as the other. I use a brush with a copper Chore Boy strands to remove lead when necessary.

 

[chicharrones]

I’m just wondering if y’all clean from the muzzle or the breach, do ya remove the lever and bolt on your Marlins.

I only own two Marlins. A takedown 39AS and a 1894. Both get cleaned from the breech.

If I had a lever gun that made this difficult, I would clean from the muzzle.

 

[JFrank]

Thank you Gentlemen I truly appreciate everyone chiming in as you have. Also great to have archive threads such as this to bring up on a search function for those like me that are new to a particular weapon or task.

J

 

[chicharrones]

I simply asked you some questions, giving you a chance to rethink your assertion about Browning. Instead, you doubled down and revealed you are logged in on your Dad’s account. Go to bed, son.

I shake my head every time someone responds with that sort of insult.

 

[Offfhand]

What works best if the rifle really needs cleaning is dunk it in sheep dip and swish it around a time or two, then swish it in water tank to get the dip off and lay it in sun to dry. Re-oil the bolt and lever with drippings from pickup truck dip-stick, then back to saddle scabbard and it's ready to go. I do it about this time every year because life is too short to hunt with a dirty gun.

 

[JFrank]

What works best if the rifle really needs cleaning is dunk it in sheep dip and swish it around a time or two, then swish it in water tank to get the dip off and lay it in sun to dry. Re-oil the bolt and lever with drippings from pickup truck dip-stick, then back to saddle scabbard and it's ready to go.

Thanks that’s a real fine idea

 

[entropy]

How does this burr happen, exactly? Have you experienced it?

I have not experienced a loss in accuracy, is all I’m saying. But I only have two old guns with years and years of cleaning from the muzzle end, which I can’t really draw a conclusion from on their own. However, I’ve never seen an example of this, either. Messed up crowns, from dropping on muzzle, yes, a few. But I have no examples of a burr on the crown due to a cleaning rod.

Don't have any milsurps, then? It's real common with them-they are often issued with steel cleaning rods. Just because something is outside of your experience, doesn't mean it's never happened.

 

[Ru4real]

Don't have any milsurps, then? It's real common with them-they are often issued with steel cleaning rods. Just because something is outside of your experience, doesn't mean it's never happened.

No, I don’t have any milsurps, just some old lever guns. And I agree with you about my experience being limited. But I also believe people with milsurps ASSUME the leverguns are susceptible without any real evidence.

 

[Ru4real]

I shake my head every time someone responds with that sort of insult.

Not one of my finer moments, I admit. And I guess being drunk at the time makes it worse.

 

[entropy]

No, I don’t have any milsurps, just some old lever guns. And I agree with you about my experience being limited. But I also believe people with milsurps ASSUME the leverguns are susceptible without any real evidence.

As a gunsmith, I've seen just about every type of muzzle damaged by steel cleaning rods, to include the odd lever or two. People have used issue steel cleaning rods on their own guns because that's all they had. (.22's and GI M16 rods do not mix well!) We agree it's not common to find on levers, except Russian-issued M1895's.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

Howdy

I have lost count of how many lever guns I own.

Marlins, Winchesters, Uberti replicas of Winchesters. Most of them get shot with Black Powder. Marlins are easy to clean from the breech because the lever, bolt, and internal bolt block are easy to remove. Not so much with Winchesters and replicas of Winchesters. I used to use a bore snake to clean them from the breech, but with a lot of fouling in there it is tough to pull a bore snake through.

Yes, I clean most of my lever guns from the muzzle.

When I clean a lever gun that has been fired with Black Powder I place a spent case in the chamber and close the lever. Then I soak a patch in my favorite water based BP solvent and place it in the slotted end of a standard steel cleaning rod. Holding the rifle vertically I twirl the rod down the barrel to soak the fouling with the cleaning solution. Then I pull the rod out and inspect the patch and repeat. The first few patches will be crusty with fouling. After a few patches they come out dirty gray without any crusty fouling on them. At this point the bore is essentially clean, all the fouling has been washed down into the empty case in the chamber. I turn the rifle upside down and eject the empty case onto the ground. A spray of dirty solvent comes out too, so I make sure I am standing to the side so I don't get any on me.

Then I soak a fresh patch with Ballistol and twirl it down the bore to oil the bore. I follow up with one more clean patch to mop up most of the Ballistol and leave a fine coating behind to prevent rust.

Most of my cleaning rods have a red paint coating which should protect the rifling from the steel rod. In truth, the coating has worn off of most of them, but frankly I don't worry about it too much.

Been doing it this way for a long time, accuracy seems to be fine.