Hey campfire gang,Hope everyones doing fine.I just wanted to run this by the experts to see what you guys think.I have a friend thats retired from the us army.He has a nice collection of deer rifles.He told me he allways takes his rifles out of the stock to clean them .Do you guys recommend this?Is it ok to take them apart and do you recommend lite grease or oil under the barrel?
Also when you buy a new or used rifle is this the first thing you do , take apart and check for rust and cracks or bedding?Or if the rifle is shooting good groups-just leave alone?My friend talked like it was nothing to tear down a rifle and put back together.Of course it would have to be checked for zero afterwards before taking in the field for game.Would the screws have to be torqued or just good and tight afterwards?Anyone ever use lok tite on the action screws?
one last question,is it common to take all your gun collection out every month and oil down and clean?How ofton is gun care recommened year round?Are silicon sack-up cloth socks ok for storeage?I know they help protect safe rash a little...
Thanks in advance.

On blued/wood guns a lot may depend on your climate and storage details. Here in the Northeast USA I enjoy the luxury of returning to a heated house or camp in the evening where I dry the gun out and wipe it with a silicone rag or oil. I never take them apart unless something unusual happened.

However if I hunted out of an unheated tent then I would be scrambling to keep the guns from getting damaged. You have to do something or it will just be worse.

From what I gather about your friend I see an over reaction to the military take it apart in the dark routine.

As a 'smith I have no aversion to taking a rifle apart. We are talking a bolt gun here I guess. I blue and have seen a lot more metal damage (pitting and corrosion" under the wood that outside the wood.

The problem is that any moisture will get trapped under the wood or whatever and it doesn't take very long for that to start the corrosion process. Also what I call bellybutton lint, dust etc. gets trapped in there too and needs to be cleaned or that too will contribute to the retension of moisture.By moisture I mean that it doesn't have to be raining, just a higher moisture content in the atmosphere.

What you put on the metal depends on if you are going to store it or use it. For plain old upkeep I use a CLP like Breakfree or Firepower FP10. If it's longer storage like a year or so I've found that RIG works OK. You can make your own witch's brew too making sure that there is no H2o in whatever you are using.

Putting it back together make sure the screws and threads are clean and assemble so the screws are weak finger tight. Then I hold the firearm vertically and rap the butt on the bench. That should set the action into the stock. Then tighten them alternatly making the front screw tight, that's the one that does all the work and the rear not so tight snugging this one last. Use good driver tips BTW.

This will work fine in most instances. A lot depends on how the rifle is bedded etc.

I have seen more damage done to dirty firearms than those that have been cared for.

No loktite

Just my $.02

Don