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Originally posted by Hot Core:

... curious about "Gun Cleaning on Safari".

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My wife has been practicing with a 7mm-08 that has had around 100 rounds fired with no loss of accuracy.

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- Bore Snake (to remove dust debris from the day's events)

- Small bottle of Hoppe's oil and small tube of light grease (I use Krieghoff Gun-glide)

- Silicone gun rags (2)

- Large cloth (for wiping off dust before using the silicone treated rag)

- Snap caps.

- Small Brownell's screwdriver tool kit

JW

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Originally posted by MacD37:
you must be reading a different part of this forum than I! The only place I've seen where a rifle took 15 rounds to settle down was with break-in of a new barrel. I think you are simply looking for a fight,

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However, starting with a clean barrel at the bench, shots 2,3 &4 always print a tighter group than 1,2 & 3.

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Originally posted by JAL:

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Originally posted by MacD37:
you must be reading a different part of this forum than I! The only place I've seen where a rifle took 15 rounds to settle down was with break-in of a new barrel. I think you are simply looking for a fight,

Well I did say on AR, not just this forum, and anytime I argue, I'm looking for some truths rather than myths, or habits whatever.
Now you have stated you have about 80% was it? trouble with PF's, last night I got up to where Boddington states in his book where he has NEVER seen a PF fail. (only a CRF)

But then he is a pro.

And constantly, and as late as yesterday, I wiped out a rifle I hadn't shot for about a month.
One patch got some green out, the second got all the Hoppies out, the first shot at 100 yards was ON. The second was 7/16 to the left, the third (getting warm and dirty) bugger me if it didn't go in the same hole as the first.

So I don't care if I go hunting with it clean or dirty. I have only shot this rifle 10 times without cleaning but it was still on the money.

All over OTHER forums on AR there are shooters not game to clean their rifle at all, and by memory some of THEM claim some number, whether 15 or more was by my memory, who cares?

But if you look around with your eyes open you will see quite a few OTHER shooters stating their rifles don't change zero between clean and fouled.

However, where once I thought it was a myth, if you and RIP say you can't shoot straight with a clean bore, I'll believe you. See,I'm learning as I go. Now mellow up you old coot.

....Mac >>>===(x)===> MacD37, ...and DUGABOY1
DRSS Charter member
"If I die today, I've had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"~ME 1982

Hands of Old Elmer Keith

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Originally posted by LDHunter:

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However, starting with a clean barrel at the bench, shots 2,3 &4 always print a tighter group than 1,2 & 3.

Huh?

$bob$

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Until very recently I had never experienced an Accidental Discharge in over 40 years of an active shooting career. I had experienced one hangfire (of less than 4 seconds) 30-odd years ago in the Marines. I have hunted extensively, and shot competively with rifles and pistols. At a loose estimate I have fired 50,000 rounds over the years, not counting 22s.

I have spent most of my shooting/hunting carreer in the arid regions of the West - mostly Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. Out there I learned to use a dry bolt, since oil or grease simply gathers dust and makes a grinding paste, or thickens in the cold and slows the firing pin. So years of experience taught me to clean the bolt inside and out and apply a film of moly as a dry lubricant. I cleaned and dry-lubed my bolt inside and out in early August after I purchased and fitted a spare firing pin for my M70. To fit the pin you must completely dismantle the bolt, removing the pin, cocking piece and spring from the shroud. There was no sign of rust or corrosion on the cocking piece or the shroud, although the bluing was worn away on large areas where the cocking piece and shroud had been wearing against each other over the 8 years and approximately 3500 rounds I have fired through that action.

This practice of only using dry lube resulted in an AD on my recent hunt in LA1 of the Selous.

The Selous is a region of fairly high humidity throughout the hunting season, so the rust may have started as soon as I arrived. The rifle fired normally during the sight-in after we arrived. I then spent three days attempting to video tape Chris's buffalo hunt, while my rifle stayed in its bag. One evening we got caught in a rain storm. I held my poncho over the rifle rack and thought I had kept them dry. That night in the tent I wiped down the outside of the rifle and bolt with an oily patch and saw no sign of water or rust. My rifle spent two more nights and days in that bag - and it turned out to be damp. Apparently the rain had come through the zipper right onto the bolt shroud and dripped into the interior of the bolt.

On the third day of my buffalo hunting (sixth day of the hunt) I finally got a shot opportunity. The rifle did not fire, and I told the PH (Pete) " I didn't hear the firing pin drop."

Pete ignored me, moved the sticks and said "shoot again, take the safety off". I said " I had the safety off, it didn't fire." Pete said "keep shooting, it will go off". I knew that I had a definite problem, but he moved the sticks again, and yet again - and I went with him. That time the rifle fired as I tried to re-engage the safety - a very frightening AD. Pete said, "keep that bloody thing pointed away from me!", and kept me busy pointing the rifle and futilely pulling the trigger for the next few minutes until the herd ran off.

An hour later I got a shot opportunity on one of two lone bulls - and this time the rifle fired after a perceptible delay. (That bull is a different story.)

That night at camp I demonstrated the "hanging pin" to Alan and Roy Vincent and Pete. The pin would stay to the rear until the safety or bolt handle was moved, then it would sometimes drop and somtimes continue to hang. Pete admitted that up until that time he'd just assumed I didn't know my rifle, or had buck fever. He said he'd recently had a spate of clients who failed to properly operate their rifles.

I did not fail to properly operate my rifle - I failed to properly maintain it for the conditions in which I was hunting. The AD was definitely my fault. I claim that the AD was more dangerous - and made more likely to occur because the PH would not listen to me. My instinct was to stop, wait a few seconds, then unload the rifle while keeping it pointed in a safe direction. If I had been hunting alone I would have stopped hunting until the cause of the malfunction was located and fixed. I let the PH bully me into continuing to "hunt", even though I knew better. The result was an AD. Because the rifle was pointed in a safe direction the only casualties of the AD were my ears and my pride.

Here's a photo of the cocking piece upon removing it from the shroud.



I scrubbed it in an oily paste to grind it smooth, then cleaned and oiled it. It operated properly for the remaining ten days of hunting.

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Originally posted by Atkinson:
Yor are expected to clean your own rifle on Safari...

Daily inspection is recommended as the humidity can be a factor, particularly on river camps. I have seen guns and other equipment rust overnight.

Normally I use a bore snake that has the brushes lightly oiled and then the remainder of the snake takes most of the oil out but apparantly leaves enough residue that it does not change the impact yet protects the chamber and bores from rust...
(clipped)