Lastnight at around 5:00pm I became the proud owner of a Marlin 1895 45/70. I have many other firearms and take good care of them. This is however my first Big Bore! and my first lever action. So I do have a few questions, if you guys don't mind giving me your two cents...

1. How far should you strip the rifle when cleaning? (I go as far as removing the lever and bolt)

2. Is there any speical way I should take care of the bore? (currently all I use is CLP on everything)

3. Is it hard to remove the spring in the mag, in order to clean and oil in there?

I know there will be more questions in the future, thanks to all who reply...

1/ Removing the lever, bolt and ejector is all that's necessary 19 times out of twenty. Complete disassembly shouldn't be necessary unless you've got dirt in the action. I posted disassembly instructions here.
http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=2168

Don't forget to replace the ejector when you're done cleaning.

2/ I haven't used CLP, but most gun cleaning products work. Be sure to clean the barrel before you shot it the first time. You never know what's in there. There's lots of ideas about barrel break in. I wouldn't shoot more than 20 rounds before the first good cleaning, and more frequent cleaning won't hurt.

3/ Just take out the screw that holds the magazine tube plug in. Don't let the plug get away on you, or it will fly into the most inaccessible place in the room. You may have to remove a front band screw to get the follower out. Tension on this screw does affect accuracy in some rifles, so note how tight it is.

Bye
Jack

Thank you for the input! That is pretty much what I was going to do anyway. I thought it would be good to error on the side of caution, and ask.

As for CLP, i was first introducted to it while I was in the Canadian Infantary. Works great as a lube, fair as a cleaner and protects very well if storing firearms. Now I am sure there are some people who are going to disagree with this. I have had several people tell me not to use CLP if storing your firearms for long periods of time, because it will cause pitting. Well I have been using CLP for about 16 years and I have never seen it happen. Also I thought if the Canadian Military can use it well god **** I can too...lol

I would like to hear about a few different products that you guys use to clean the bore, because CLP is not the best, and does not rmove copper that well.

I don't like the fast ammonia copper cleaners like Sweet's. If something goes wrong, it will rust a barrel. Hoppes Benchrest will get the copper out if you give it time and I never had rust with overnight applications. Wipe-Out foam is faster and that's what I use now.

I went back to plain old Hoppes #9 after trying half a dozen others. Buy the little 2 oz. bottle. When it's empty, buy a big bottle, refill the little bottle and cap the big bottle tight.

Bye
Jack

I am a firm believer JB bore paste and kroil cleaner. Brownells sells as a kit or you can always buy seperate. Own two 444P's, and I believe that has a great deal to do with the guns shooting so true. If I miss my target, it's definitly operators error.

Stu

Lastnight at around 5:00pm I became the proud owner of a Marlin 1895 45/70. I have many other firearms and take good care of them. This is however my first Big Bore! and my first lever action. So I do have a few questions, if you guys don't mind giving me your two cents...

1. How far should you strip the rifle when cleaning? (I go as far as removing the lever and bolt)

2. Is there any speical way I should take care of the bore? (currently all I use is CLP on everything)

3. Is it hard to remove the spring in the mag, in order to clean and oil in there?

I know there will be more questions in the future, thanks to all who reply...



I am a coward , I am not going to take the bolt and lever off , to clean .

I have not used it , but a lot of people write about initally using arisol spray brake cleaner ( auto parts store or Walley World ) . This is suspose to be cheap ? This flushes the action and probably dissolves some stuff .

I go directly to the next step . Flush with your favorite spray penetrating oil .

Then use a few judicious drops of gun oil in the critical spots .

Since I shoot cast lead in lever guns , I mostly use Hoppies # 9 . With a brush , if I have leading , followed by patches . If no leading , just Hoppies & patches .

Then gun oil on a few patches .

Light oiley rag on the rest of the metal surfaces .

God bless
Wyr

Thanks for all the info guys, I never thought I would get that much feed back that quick.

What do you guys use for bore cleaning... Hoppes No.9 Elite for me...

I like to use Wipe Out. The foaming agent they use keeps the cleaning compounds in contact with the barrel and allows it to work efficiently. One application usually does the trick. I also use a bore snake frequently when at the range. I think it helps a great deal in extending the time between good scrubbings.

Be sure to clean the barrel before you shot it the first time. You never know what's in there. Bye
Jack

Sage advice here....I ran into a guy at the range who had purchased a Guide Gun from a local gun shop. It was supposed to be lightly used. He ran a cleaning rod down the barrel and hit a clear rubber plug about a half inch long that was stuck in the center of the barrel. If you looked down the barrel with the action open every thing looked normal but what a possibility for a disaster.

He informed the police and they investigated the gun shop owner. I don't know the outcome of the investigation but it sure opened my eyes.

Montana Extreme works very well, just don't decide to sniff the contents as I did, It'll knock you out of your chair!
Now I read the lable to find out what's in there; lol

i use shooters choice bore solvent as well as there lead fowling solvent and i use sweets copper solvent and ive tried about all of them but these are what works easiest and fastes for me. if i clean the bore of my guns with hopes no. 9 til the patches come out clean. then try the shooters choice it comes out black again the hopes leaves alot in there. i run a bore snake through all my new guns after every shot for the first 50 use bore solvent every 3 and copper solvent every 10 lots of work but better safe than sorry.(besides good excuse to be at the range )

I clean my rifle's bores lightly once a year right after hunting season is over. Hoppes #9 and Break-Free CLP are pretty much all I use. Sometimes I'll patch a barrel with WD-40 just to knock the cob webs out. I use WD-40 because it's an excellent solvent that evaporates quickly. I don't want an oily bore. WD-40 is not a protective lube though. IMO more guns are ruined by cleaning than neglect.

I do wipe the outside metal parts down using a patch with Break-Free on it after each outing. No rust or problems so far. Remember modern ammo isn't corrosive.

Consider a Bore Snake if you don't have one. Frequent disassembly is hard on your gun and unnecessary.