Eric Davis

Sun Outdoor Columnist

Regular firearms season has ended and the muzzleloader season ends this upcoming Tuesday (the 18th).

With these closures, it’s time to put things away until next year. Of all your gear, your firearm is likely the most expensive tool you have so it makes the most sense to take good care of it. After a season of use, it needs a good cleaning, inside and out, before it is put into storage for the next few months.

The first thing to do is to make sure you have all the right supplies to get the job done. You will need a rod, a bronze brush, and a slotted or pointed jag. Most basic gun cleaning kits will have these. Get the brush and jag ends so that they match the caliber/gauge of your firearm. Next, get some cleaning patches. These will be labelled with a caliber range they are good for.

Either get the ones that fits your firearm or go bigger and you can trim them down. This works well if you have multiple firearms to deal with. Finally, you will want bore-cleaner and an anti-rust oil. If you are cleaning a black powder gun, you will want bore-cleaner that is designed for cleaning muzzleloaders as it will better clean out powder residue.

Make sure your firearm is unloaded before starting to work on it. I like to start with a dry patch first to get as much loose stuff from inside of the barrel as I can. Next, send the brush down to break loose crud and soot. Follow this with a patch saturated in bore cleaner. Take your time with this so that is has time to get the entire inside of the barrel.