You have to clean more than the bore and wipe your gun down

26 March 2019, 07:09

I'm getting ready for a trip to Namibia next month and after shooting this weekend, I decided to pull the action from my stock on the Model 70 and give it a real good cleaning. I went to drop the floor plate and the button wouldn't push in. I had to take a plastic punch and tap it in with a hammer and then it wouldn't push back out under spring pressure.

I used a roll pin punch and pushed out the roll pin that holds the button in and it still wouldn't budge. I had to take a heavy paper clip and bend it and insert it into the spring hole and then force the button out the hole in the floorplate/ trigger guard. It was gunked up with a brown sludge of solidified oil.

I think that the last time I used the floor plate release was in 2016, unloading the gun every day hunting in Kwa Zulu Natal. At the range, I typically single load or load three through the top and shoot a three shot group.

I scrubbed everything out and used the "action blaster" to flush the action really well, checked the spring loaded ejector, pulled the extractor and disassembled and scrubbed out the bolt, etc. It's a hell of a lot easier disassembling the Winchester bolt than a Remington or Mauser bolt even without knowing that the left hand bolt has left handed threads.

26 March 2019, 08:08

Beretta682E

Yup

It one reason a gun simpleton like me likes the Blaser platform so much.

I can disassemble and clean majority of the rifle.

Mike

26 March 2019, 23:41

ZekeShikar

Proper maintenance is a beautiful thing.

Congratulations!

Zeke

25 April 2019, 18:37

Todd Williams

quote:
Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Yup

It one reason a gun simpleton like me likes the Blaser platform so much.

I can disassemble and clean majority of the rifle.

Mike

Woooop! There it is!!!!

26 April 2019, 06:37

Beretta682E

quote:
Originally posted by Todd Williams:
quote:
Originally posted by Beretta682E:
Yup

It one reason a gun simpleton like me likes the Blaser platform so much.

I can disassemble and clean majority of the rifle.

Mike

Woooop! There it is!!!!

Nothing but the truth. I don’t claim to be some rifle expert. But with my r8 I will shoot like one

Mike

16 July 2019, 11:56

Edmond

16 July 2019, 19:05

Opus1

quote:
Originally posted by Fjold:
I'm getting ready for a trip to Namibia next month and after shooting this weekend, I decided to pull the action from my stock on the Model 70 and give it a real good cleaning. I went to drop the floor plate and the button wouldn't push in. I had to take a plastic punch and tap it in with a hammer and then it wouldn't push back out under spring pressure.

I used a roll pin punch and pushed out the roll pin that holds the button in and it still wouldn't budge. I had to take a heavy paper clip and bend it and insert it into the spring hole and then force the button out the hole in the floorplate/ trigger guard. It was gunked up with a brown sludge of solidified oil.

I think that the last time I used the floor plate release was in 2016, unloading the gun every day hunting in Kwa Zulu Natal. At the range, I typically single load or load three through the top and shoot a three shot group.

I scrubbed everything out and used the "action blaster" to flush the action really well, checked the spring loaded ejector, pulled the extractor and disassembled and scrubbed out the bolt, etc. It's a hell of a lot easier disassembling the Winchester bolt than a Remington or Mauser bolt even without knowing that the left hand bolt has left handed threads.

Frank it is very common to find crud and corrosion under the magazine follower and inside the bolt. The problem comes from storing the rifle after cleaning. Most folks over-oil the bore and then stand the rifle vertical with muzzle up. All that wonderful oil and leftover solvents eventually find their way into the magazine and bolt - areas that most ignore during routine cleaning.

Best practice is to store your rifle muzzle down for a few days after cleaning. The other bonus is - If your safe is overcrowded, you will find you can store more rifles with a few muzzle down.

24 July 2019, 22:42

john c.

quote:
I scrubbed everything out and used the "action blaster" to flush the action really well,

carb cleaner?

30 July 2019, 08:28

NormanConquest

I have a brother in law that when he was in the Guard + they went on field maneuvers he never shot his rifle, just grouped with others + acted as if he did. He hates to clean a rifle.

13 August 2019, 00:25

Atkinson

Well over cleaning can be destructive, especially by guess and by gosh..

A rifle of any make should have the action cleaned one way or another at least once a year, maybe less and depending on where you live and the humidity or wet, that's the killer..

A rifle in West Texas or Arizona can go a lifetime or two with little maintence has been my experience in that every rancher, guide, and Ph I know and that's been a bunch have pretty rough guns that function fine.

I think we tend to over clean bores and cleaning rods are death on rifle throats is used improperly and most do that..I like a bore snake after a shooting session, with a rod cleaning about every six months and its worked for me..but to each his own..