I have always taken some form of bore cleaning gear when I go hunting in Africa, but in fact I don't really use it or need it. Hence my questions.

Question:
When you travel to Africa to hunt, do you take bore cleaning gear and solvents and how often do you use it?

Choices:
I don't take bore cleaning tools and never undertake bore cleaning on safari.
I always take bore cleaning tools and use them frequently on safari.
I take bore cleaning tools and solvents but rarely use them.

 

I take some Hoppe's #9, oil and bolt grease with a few patches.

I also take a long rod.

But, I never clean my rifles while on safari, except if they get rained on.

After the last day of our hunt, I run a couple of patches with Hoppe's, clean, then oil the bore.

Once I get home I take the stock off and give my rifles a thorough cleaning.

At the end of every hunting day I give my rifles a wipe down with a gun cloth soaked in Young's .303 - just love the smell of that oil

"BALLISTOL" for anti rust and Stock and leather rejuvenation.
Also a pull trough for the dust build up in the barrel.

I really don't worry about cleaning the rifle but I will always use a silicone cleaning cloth to wipe down the metal. Have a long ram if a bore gets blocked.

Mike

I always have a cleaning kit on hand for clients to use, but may not have bore brushes of the right size. Having once had to tie boot laces together to clean a clients rifle after the muzzel got filled with mud and had a clients rifle completely disabled with a case stuck in the chamber...I ALLWAYS have a Pull through in my pack and a cleaning rod in the truck.
You seldom need to 'clean' a rifle during a hunt, but there are plety of times you need to dry a bore or clean the dust/mud/water/wasps nest etc out,

An OTIS 'flexi rod' is a great compromise.

Bore snake and oily rag, just in case.

I bring a rod,cleaning patches,a little solvent,JB and a few bushes.I never like more than 10 or so rds down my bore without a cleaning.After cleaning I fire a single round to foul.

quote:

Originally posted by BEGNO:
Bore snake and oily rag, just in case.

+1, a bore snake and silicone rag. At the end of each day I pull the bore snake through wipe off the rifle with the silicone rag and good to go for the next day.

Always a bore snake in the gear somewhere. Also a roll of electrical tape for the muzzle. Excellent way of stopping mud, snow, dirt, small mammals etc from getting in the bore.

While I didn't bring any bore cleaner, I brought some "Rem-Wipes" to wipe my rifle down. Rust would show up overnight if I didn't wipe it down each day.

Haven't been to Africa yet (so I didn't vote on this poll). But on my trip to Alaska as well as on elk hunting trips here in Colorado, I always bring a cleaning rod, a brush, some patches, solvent and Rem wipes. The rod fits in the rifle case and the rest take up no room. Better safe than sorry.

quote:

Originally posted by Wink:
I have always taken some form of bore cleaning gear when I go hunting in Africa, but in fact I don't really use it or need it. Hence my questions.

When I go to hunt any place where I’m away from a gun store I take a sectional cleaning rod, a jag that is large enough to grab the inside of a case to remove the cartridge body of a case separation, some patches, and a small amount of Hoppe’s #9 and a silicone rag.. All this will fit quite well in a small pouch for the belt of day pack.

A bore snake is useless if the barrel get plugged, or a case head separation! Each night, if the rifle has been fired more than a couple times I run a slightly damp with Hoppe’s patch followed by a dry one through the bore, and wipe down the steel with the silicone rag to get rid of finger prints on the steel.

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If flying to Africa, solvents and gun oil are prohibited on aircraft, so TSA will confiscate them. I'll take a cleaning rod, brushes and patches, and buy solvents/oil in Africa and leave the leftovers for the PH.

I've always got a break down rod, brushes and some patches in my gear. And have learned from experience that some sort of gun oil is also pretty darned handy. Woke up on the second day of a 10 day hunt in Moz with my hand prints on the barrel of my double IN ORANGE! Fortunately, it was just light surface rust and easy to treat and deal with.

Usually just a wipe down but have been caught in a downpour after which I removed the stock and did a thorough cleaning. So a takedown rod and appropriate screw drivers as well as patches, etc are always in my kit.

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
If flying to Africa, solvents and gun oil are prohibited on aircraft, so TSA will confiscate them.

Is that new or have I just never been caught?

I take a cleaning rod and patches in case I get a bore obstruction from dropping the rifle or some other mishap. I wipe the outside with an oily rag at night.

I would never deliberately clean the bore during a hunt. A few days before I leave, once practicing is over, I clean the bore thoroughly and then recheck its zero. It has been my experience that a perfectly clean bore throws the the first bullets to a different point of impact than a fouled bore.

I take a cleaning rod and patches in case I get a bore obstruction from dropping the rifle or some other mishap

+1

I do wipe the gun - bolt, mounts, etc. down with oil or some lube every night as soon as I take off my boots. I just had my gun weather coated - so that might be less frequent...

quote:

Originally posted by Bud Meadows:
If flying to Africa, solvents and gun oil are prohibited on aircraft, so TSA will confiscate them. I'll take a cleaning rod, brushes and patches, and buy solvents/oil in Africa and leave the leftovers for the PH.

I use a small plastic bottle that originally contained a product called "STING-EZE" that is used to take the sting out of mosquito bites. It is very small bottle less than an ounce, labeled on the outside for sting-EZE. I put a small amount of Hoppe's #9 in the washed out bottle with a syringe and it could be put in with your meds, and insect repellent. However, the pre-wetted patches may be a better choice with the airline/ TSA problems! I used the little bottle before the TSA insanity began. My reason was so it was not in a glass bottle, and could be carried in the little belt pouch.

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A bore snake won't remove a stuck case or some other bore obstruction, so I bring a long rod. I pretty much do what Saeed does.

My Safaris bave been 21,30,and 35 Hunting days.
On my last two trips I was in country several days longer.

I take a complete cleaning kit. I wipe down my guns every evening after the hunt and some times if we came back to camp to eat lunch.

I always use a boresnake every night if I had shot the rifle durring the day.

If the barrel gets wet from rain I clean it with Prolix, and then dry it out. Prolix has not caused any changes in point of impact after using it in my experience.

When I repack the rifles for the return trip home, I wipe them dwon real well, and I clean the barrels and leave a heavy coat of oil in the barrels, just in case my riflecase gets lost/misplaced for a few days or weeks.

That way, IF I do get the guns back maybe they will not be rusty.

I prep the rifles the same way for the trip over, for the same reason.

The standard radio antenna on the safari vehicle makes a wonderful rigid rod for removing stuck cartridges and cases. The round ball on the end protects your bore and action. A small patch cut from your bandana makes a great patch for removing mud and dirt.

Yes, I have used all of these recipes on other peoples rifles; luckily never had to on my own!!!!!!

quote:

A bore snake is useless if the barrel gets plugged, or a case head separation!

Exactly! OR when a creepy crawly takes up residence in the bore. It happens. Tape over the muzzle helps with this.

Personal I take:

Rigid rod
Appropriate jag
A few patches
Synthatic lube
Silicone cloth

I never clean the bore during safari unless I know there is debris but I do keep the action lightly lubed and I wipe down occasionally with the silicone cloth.

Mark

I always take a collapsible Rapid Rod in the event of an obstruction, a container of BreakFree CLP saturated patches, which don't seem to raise objections from TSA, and a package of finger cots for the muzzle. I also have a multi-tool and a Swiss Army knife. Last year I bought an Avid gun tool as well.

I never clean rifle bores but do wipe down every night. Sweaty hands will even damage SS finishes. I have needed my field equipment and tools more for use on others rifles than on my own. I have been in more than one camp where even gun oil was not available!

quote:

Originally posted by Blank:
The standard radio antenna on the safari vehicle makes a wonderful rigid rod for removing stuck cartridges and cases. The round ball on the end protects your bore and action. A small patch cut from your bandana makes a great patch for removing mud and dirt.

Great tip. I will keep that one in my bag of tricks.

Never clean on safari unless I end up in mud and water somehow. Will wipe down with a little oil or atf whatever is available if needed. Most rifles I own do not like a clean barrel anyway. You do not need gun oil. Even cooking oil can be used in a pinch, but most anything you run in a vehicle does fine. I have even used axle and u-joint type grease. Never tried straight lard but no reason it would not do well either for rust prevention. We get too caught up in all the latest doo-dads and gadgets when there are dozens of things available that can be improvised with.

Lense wipes for my optics. For the rifles it a silicone cloth and dry patches for the bore to remove dust & mud. That's it.

I do what MJines does.

Never been to Africa.

On all my hunts including BC, I take my Otis field kit - the little tin with a small bottle of Break free, a cable pull through, patches and jag. this come in handy in NZ where one trips, slips etc a few times on a trip and it is not uncommon to get debris in the gun action of bore.

+1 for the Otis kit.

Carry it everywhere if I travel to hunt. Even took it to Africa last month. Never needed it, but it was there in the event I did.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Smith:
Never clean on safari unless I end up in mud and water somehow. Will wipe down with a little oil or atf whatever is available if needed. Most rifles I own do not like a clean barrel anyway. You do not need gun oil. Even cooking oil can be used in a pinch, but most anything you run in a vehicle does fine. I have even used axle and u-joint type grease. Never tried straight lard but no reason it would not do well either for rust prevention. We get too caught up in all the latest doo-dads and gadgets when there are dozens of things available that can be improvised with.

I sort of like my bacon smell in my breakfast plate,and my motor oil in my motor not on a $20K double rifle!

I have always taken bore snakes, and a collapsible rod, some patches and the rem oil wipes.

I usually run the bore snake through at night to get dust out if the rifle came out of the case at all, and wipe it down with the rem oil.

I will tear up the rem oil patch and run part through the bore if it rained or the gun got wet.

I have never had to use the cleaning kit, but PH's seem to like them as an add on for tipping.

Mac, I understand. My point was simply we all haul all this crap around then almost never use it. Everybody has to have "this" brand because it makes you the worlds best shot, 10 ft tall and bulletproof. Etc etc etc... We really don't need the majority of it. Wouldn't want to smell like bacon grease unless of course you wanted to be the bait as well as the hunter. Now as to it being a 20k or 1k rifle I also get your point. However I buy all my pieces to use them so if its a piece of art that I am afraid of putting a scratch on it wouldn't be in the safe. You can make do with a lot less than most of us are led to believe these days. That is all.

Just take a bore-snake and a wipe down rag pretreated with "Strike Hold" and some Ziese lens wipes. Just a quick wipe at the end of the day and lenses in the morning before heading out.

The metal on the rifles and scopes are already treated with Strike Hold so very little to no dust accumulation and the bore snake gets one pass through the barrel if it was shot that day or if something gets in the bore. We both shoot big bores so if something were to get in the barrel or a stuck case there are lots of things that can be improvised in the bush to push it out an then a pass or two with the bore snake.

I haven't been to Africa yet but I go nowhere without my Otis cleaning kit.I live in a cold damp climate and will have a kit just in case when i go to Africa

Dan

quote:

Originally posted by Mike Smith:
Now as to it being a 20k or 1k rifle I also get your point. However I buy all my pieces to use them so if its a piece of art that I am afraid of putting a scratch on it wouldn't be in the safe.

I'm sure you are aware of the fact that double rifle doesn’t have to be a fine work of art (in the sense of being decorated) to cost $20K. That is an average price for a good, made to fit, boxlock double rifle chambered for dangerous game cartridges with all it's monetary value being in hand fitting! That price being in the bottom one third in price, and is a basic quality working rifle, but I sure am not going to pour motor oil on it!

Like you, I buy my guns to use and I use them hard, but do not abuse them, and I have some very good bolt rifles and shotguns in my vault that I paid less than $100 dollars for,have hunted with them for fifty years and they look just like they did the day I bought them. If, however, they work the way they are supposed to, they have a place in my vault.

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Have traveled around the world a number of times, but only once been on Safari. For that trip, I took a jointed rod (case removal), several wraps of electrical tape for muzzle protection, and some Rem-Oil wipes. Did the job well.

On Alaskan trips, due to salt water, I take the whole kit to prevent rust.

Yea Mac we both know the cost of some of our toys. Nowhere did I suggest pouring motor oil on them. Nor would I. I also would not use any oil that had been used unless it was an absolute emergency. A little clean oil of any type on a rag though will work wonders when needed. Besides, the majority of the camps I have been in have all kinds of this crap. Why? Because every group that came through prior usually left gun oil and cleaning kits etc as gifts.