shotgun cleaning

[DDustin]

I'm new to semiauto shotguns. While I've run an 870 pretty heavily for about 10 years, it wasn't a match gun and I beat the hell out of it in various classes and outings. My Versamax is only my second shotgun and my first match shotgun. I used to clean all of my guns after every outing but I just found out I likely hurt my rifle barrel by over cleaning it. So because of that I'm paranoid about my Versamax and I have yet to scrub out the barrel on it. So how often and how should I clean my match shotgun? Is it as sensitive as my rifle barrel, or should I just scrub away after every outing like I did with my 870? Any specific do's or don'ts worth mentioning?

Thanks in advance

Dustin

Edited January 21, 2014 by DDustin

[R107H]

Tell us about your cleaning technique on your rifle. To my knowledge, if done properly, there isn't anything done during regular cleaning of a barrel that should damage it.

Edited January 21, 2014 by R107H

[iswope]

Tell us about your cleaning technique on rifle. To my knowledge, if done properly, there isn't anything done during regular cleaning of a barrel that should damage it.

I second this one. I clean my rifle barrel after every outing and know of no way to damage a barrel from "over cleaning" outside of improper technique.

[DDustin]

I was taught to clean to the "white glove test" in the army. So I scrubbed the crap out of my barrel with copper brushes, carbon solvent and foam copper solvent, sometimes for over an hour just on the bore, until the chamber and barrel were spotless. I would also change directions in the barrel in an attempt to get every bit of dirt or build up that I could see with a bore light. I was way too aggressive and my barrel went from 1moa to about 3moa in 2000 rounds. I've spoken to several barrel manufactures and everyone said the same thing; that my cleaning regimen caused my loss of accuracy. You're supposed to break it in my initially firing 1 round then clean gently and repeat 5-10 times. After that only clean the bore every 200-500 rounds, never over scrub and never change directions in the bore. I also used my old brass, screw together, issued cleaning rod set and no bore guide. Now I use a carbon fiber rod and a guide and follow the guidelines given to me by the experts.

Conversely I had another rifle that I only used a bore snake and chamber brush on and it held 1moa for 15,000 rounds.

So what is the proper procedure and interval for match shotguns?

[iswope]

I was taught to clean to the "white glove test" in the army. So I scrubbed the crap out of my barrel with copper brushes, carbon solvent and foam copper solvent, sometimes for over an hour just on the bore, until the chamber and barrel were spotless. I would also change directions in the barrel in an attempt to get every bit of dirt or build up that I could see with a bore light.

All I can say is, wow! Yeah, I stand corrected. Cleaning this way would probably scrub your barrel away.

[GreenDragon64]

For my bores, I like the bore snake with the front end with the copper bristles having some Hoppe's or other bore solvent applied to it. Usually run it through two or three times.

Edited January 21, 2014 by GreenDragon64

[openclassterror]

I clean my shotgun barrel when I can see streaks of plastic in the bore, and chunks of crap blow out of my ports when I fire. Then I use solvent and steel wool wrapped on a brush with a cordless drill. I will admit this is borderline abuse, but with a chrome bore inertia gun, why worry? You will have to worry about the keeping the pistons from carboning up more so than the barrel, but Versas are pretty low maintenance as far as that goes. I shoot enough that if I cleaned every gun every time I shot, I wouldn't have time left for work! Your shotgun will tell you what its needs are when it gets cranky

[R107H]

I was taught to clean to the "white glove test" in the army. So I scrubbed the crap out of my barrel with copper brushes, carbon solvent and foam copper solvent, sometimes for over an hour just on the bore, until the chamber and barrel were spotless. I would also change directions in the barrel in an attempt to get every bit of dirt or build up that I could see with a bore light. I was way too aggressive and my barrel went from 1moa to about 3moa in 2000 rounds. I've spoken to several barrel manufactures and everyone said the same thing; that my cleaning regimen caused my loss of accuracy. You're supposed to break it in my initially firing 1 round then clean gently and repeat 5-10 times. After that only clean the bore every 200-500 rounds, never over scrub and never change directions in the bore. I also used my old brass, screw together, issued cleaning rod set and no bore guide. Now I use a carbon fiber rod and a guide and follow the guidelines given to me by the experts.

Conversely I had another rifle that I only used a bore snake and chamber brush on and it held 1moa for 15,000 rounds.

So what is the proper procedure and interval for match shotguns?

Sounds like you learned your lesson and cut back on the OCD cleaning. Your new plan sounds a lot better!

[R107H]

I clean my shotgun barrel when I can see streaks of plastic in the bore, and chunks of crap blow out of my ports when I fire. Then I use solvent and steel wool wrapped on a brush with a cordless drill. I will admit this is borderline abuse, but with a chrome bore inertia gun, why worry? You will have to worry about the keeping the pistons from carboning up more so than the barrel, but Versas are pretty low maintenance as far as that goes. I shoot enough that if I cleaned every gun every time I shot, I wouldn't have time left for work! Your shotgun will tell you what its needs are when it gets cranky

Steel wool, cordless drills...these are NOT words to be associated with regular bore cleaning!

[DDustin]

I clean my shotgun barrel when I can see streaks of plastic in the bore, and chunks of crap blow out of my ports when I fire. Then I use solvent and steel wool wrapped on a brush with a cordless drill. I will admit this is borderline abuse, but with a chrome bore inertia gun, why worry? You will have to worry about the keeping the pistons from carboning up more so than the barrel, but Versas are pretty low maintenance as far as that goes. I shoot enough that if I cleaned every gun every time I shot, I wouldn't have time left for work! Your shotgun will tell you what its needs are when it gets cranky

I always see streaks. With the pistons how often and how do you clean those. I was scrubbing those and oiling them after each match, but then I had a couple failure to fires so I decided to try not oiling them thinking maybe the oil was freezing. The Remington guy wasn't too helpful and said he didn't know how often to clean them or whether to oil them. He also couldn't explain my failure to fire malfunctions. It was around 18 degrees and it was the first stage of the day so I'm hoping it was cold weather related.

I was taught to clean to the "white glove test" in the army. So I scrubbed the crap out of my barrel with copper brushes, carbon solvent and foam copper solvent, sometimes for over an hour just on the bore, until the chamber and barrel were spotless. I would also change directions in the barrel in an attempt to get every bit of dirt or build up that I could see with a bore light. I was way too aggressive and my barrel went from 1moa to about 3moa in 2000 rounds. I've spoken to several barrel manufactures and everyone said the same thing; that my cleaning regimen caused my loss of accuracy. You're supposed to break it in my initially firing 1 round then clean gently and repeat 5-10 times. After that only clean the bore every 200-500 rounds, never over scrub and never change directions in the bore. I also used my old brass, screw together, issued cleaning rod set and no bore guide. Now I use a carbon fiber rod and a guide and follow the guidelines given to me by the experts.

Conversely I had another rifle that I only used a bore snake and chamber brush on and it held 1moa for 15,000 rounds.

So what is the proper procedure and interval for match shotguns?

Sounds like you learned your lesson and cut back on the OCD cleaning. Your new plan sounds a lot better!

Yep and an expensive lesson at that. It's still hard honestly. I've kind of learned to be embarrassed with a dirty gun, so I just try not to look at it.

Also any do's and don'ts like with the rifle barrels so I don't screw myself. I know it's a smooth bore but the drill seems to be more than I want to do on an almost $2000 shotgun.

[R107H]

Re: the VM pistons. You don't need to lube. Clean the carbon off and wipe with oil; that's enough. I always put a light dab of grease on the plug threads and o-rings.

[bigbrowndog]

keeping the gun lubed will make it run far better than keeping it clean, way too many guns are under lubricated. keeping your gun running all the time will put you 5-10 places higher in the final standings, so keeping the gun lubed is vitally important compared to keeping it clean. lube keeps all the foul stuff inside soft which allows the gun to run better, or until you can clean it properly and lube it.

trapr

[openclassterror]

I clean my shotgun barrel when I can see streaks of plastic in the bore, and chunks of crap blow out of my ports when I fire. Then I use solvent and steel wool wrapped on a brush with a cordless drill. I will admit this is borderline abuse, but with a chrome bore inertia gun, why worry? You will have to worry about the keeping the pistons from carboning up more so than the barrel, but Versas are pretty low maintenance as far as that goes. I shoot enough that if I cleaned every gun every time I shot, I wouldn't have time left for work! Your shotgun will tell you what its needs are when it gets cranky

Steel wool, cordless drills...these are NOT words to be associated with regular bore cleaning!

In case you missed the part about chunks coming out of my ports, I was insinuating that I DON'T regularly clean my bore! I generally end up running about 1,000+ rounds through it between cleanings, so it needs a MAJOR scrubbing at that point. I also mentioned that this is borderline abuse, and that it has a chrome plated bore. With a Versamax, cleaning the carbon off the pistons at regular intervals is the biggest thing. Oil the bolt and other parts well, but just a light wipe on the piston surfaces is all the oil it wants there. Over-oiling there makes a sticky, gummy mess once it gets fouling mixed with it. Also, many gun oils turn gummy at low temps (rem-oil probably the worst.) CLP is what I use when it is cold, though I keep hearing that frog-lube works too.

[Pat Miles]

.

Conversely I had another rifle that I only used a bore snake and chamber brush on and it held 1moa for 15,000 rounds.

I run a bore snake through my trap guns after every round. My cleaning interval was stretched quite a bit. I'll do the same with my 1301 but not as long a period as it is a semi auto.

Pat

[anthonyjhallen]

I am a turkey hunter...Polishing the barrel was all the rage several years ago.

It does make cleaning the barrel much easier.

Check it out.

http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,182.0.html

[DDustin]

I clean my shotgun barrel when I can see streaks of plastic in the bore, and chunks of crap blow out of my ports when I fire. Then I use solvent and steel wool wrapped on a brush with a cordless drill. I will admit this is borderline abuse, but with a chrome bore inertia gun, why worry? You will have to worry about the keeping the pistons from carboning up more so than the barrel, but Versas are pretty low maintenance as far as that goes. I shoot enough that if I cleaned every gun every time I shot, I wouldn't have time left for work! Your shotgun will tell you what its needs are when it gets cranky

Steel wool, cordless drills...these are NOT words to be associated with regular bore cleaning!

In case you missed the part about chunks coming out of my ports, I was insinuating that I DON'T regularly clean my bore! I generally end up running about 1,000+ rounds through it between cleanings, so it needs a MAJOR scrubbing at that point. I also mentioned that this is borderline abuse, and that it has a chrome plated bore. With a Versamax, cleaning the carbon off the pistons at regular intervals is the biggest thing. Oil the bolt and other parts well, but just a light wipe on the piston surfaces is all the oil it wants there. Over-oiling there makes a sticky, gummy mess once it gets fouling mixed with it. Also, many gun oils turn gummy at low temps (rem-oil probably the worst.) CLP is what I use when it is cold, though I keep hearing that frog-lube works too.

I was actually using Frog Lube which I notice gets hard in cold temps. Their site mentions needing a cold weather lube during low temps. On the other hand my pistol and rifle ran just fine and those use Frog Lube too.

[snertley]

I did clean my 870 after 10yrs of shooting 3gun with it. Didn't really need it. YMMV

[Steve RA]

Try using a synthetic motor oil, I use Shell Rotella - T but a lot of people like Mobil 1. It won't "gum" up in any temp you can live with.

[RPatton]

I rarely clean my Versa Max and I keep FireClean in the action.

I had the bore honed shortly after I bought it because it looked rough and after shooting 20 slugs through it I had to work on it for an hour to get the plastic cleaned out. The hone job fixed that problem but it still put slugs 18" to the right of the point of aim and 16" high at 50 yards. Remington sent me a new barrel.