What have you guys found works best to clean the chamber face and lug recesses on a bolt action rifle? With my big hands and fat fingers, I'm having a really hard time cleaning that area of the gun. As a result, a lot of crude and sometime rust accumulates there. I've tried several things, including Q-Tips, but they cause more work than they are worth. I see Midsouth sells an action cleaning tool for $21, but do I really need this? Any homemade contraptions out there that work well? I'll buy the tool from Midsouth if I have to, but just checking on other options.

Chamber face--you mean the shoulder of the chamber? I use a NYLON brush one of the approriate size. You can reverse it and back it out without damage to your chamber. I wrap the nylon brush with a patch, generally.

For bolt lugs, and bolt face/extractor, etc. I use old dental picks. You can pick 'em up from:

-Some gun stores
-Some gun shows
-Some old dentists.

Use softly.

I think you are talking of the lug recesses. If not, forget my suggestion.

In the days when I still read gun rags (haven't for several years now, except for Handloader and Precision Shooting,) some gunwriter finally came up with a good suggestion, but I don't remember who he was. Take a �" wood dowel rod about 18" long. Drill a �" hole perpendicular to the length about �" from one end. Buy some cotton packing at the drugstore. The stuff dentists use when they do a root canal. Forgot what they call it but they'll know. Stick that in the �" hole. You can run that down the lug ways and into the lug recess area. Rotate the rod several times and you're clean. You might have trim the cotton packing with a knife or scissors to conform more closely to the width of the recess. Works great. I've been using that for years and at a fraction of the cost of the tools sold by Sinclair, Brownell, etc.

Don't forget to lube your lugs.

When I say chamber face, I'm talking about the flat area that the bolt butts up against on the front of the chamber. Much of the dirt gets caught in the outside crevice, which I am unable to reach and clean properly.

Break Free "POWDER BLAST" gun cleaner. Blasts away oil and gum, firing residue. After the action dryies, put a drop of break free CLP on each lug.

I know you are thinking something home made that will do the job, and Bobs suggestion is about as good as you can do that way. But I have to say that having a good set of tools for this job is nice. You only have to pay for it once, and they clean all your bolt guns. I think I gave $20 for my Sinclair tools and they are still nice to use many years later. I think it was money well spent. ...ol blue

[ 09-14-2003, 18:57: Message edited by: ol blue ]

I use an action cleaning tool I purchased from Sinclair. It seems to do a good job. I only clean the action every third cleaning or so to cut down on the costs of the attachmrnt pads. I'm prety satisfied with it. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

The idea was posted somewhere about drilling a dowel just after I ordered the stuff from Sinclair. I would rather have the wooden dowel! The metal part that holds the round dental wad bangs around inside the action. And of course $20+ is gone.

Well Jethro, there you go... just send Savage a dowel with a hole in it, and he can send you his Sinclair tools, and everyone will be happy! Seriously though, if you are banging it around you should probably slow down and be a little more deliberate. I don't use the dental wads. I use the the felts, and lay a patch over the top. The patch comes out dirty but the felt stays basically clean. I then run the felt back in to pick up any threads that may have come off the patch, and I'm done. The felt is stiffer than the wads, so I think it keeps the tool centered better. Maybe that is why I don't have a problem with it banging around. There are tools on the market that use a bushing to keep it centered for those who can't seem to keep their tools going straight in the hole. ...ol blue

I have to agree with the sinclair tool. I've used mine for years with no complaints. Like anything you have to be smarter than the tool and you shouldn't have any trouble. It was designed to complete the very task you are inquiring about and as the man who sells it says "it's a wonderful tool".

For a quick chamber clean, I simply use my shotgun cleaning rod with a wool bore mop that is a little larger than the chamber. I spray the mop with a little brake cleaner and swab out the chamber. It seems to work pretty well. I normally do this after cleaning the bore to insure that there is no oil on the chamber walls.