How to make a sniper rifle. Part 3: Cleaning a Mosin Nagant.
To properly clean a rifle, any rifle, you need the following tools:
1) A coated single-piece cleaning rod. Avoid rods with exposed metal surface, and
especially multi-segment aluminum rods that need to be screwed together: they
can damage the rifling in the bore. You need a .270 caliber and up, at least
36". For example, "Bore Tech V-Stix 1-Piece Cleaning Rod 270 Caliber 36" Coated
Steel" can be had from http://www.midwayusa.com/ for ~$25 as
of this writing.
2) A nylon brush and a nylon or coated patch puller. Do
not use brass, it does not work well with the cleaning solution I will recommend
below! ~$2 per accessory. Also, http://www.midwayusa.com/.
3) A bore guide. This implement inserts into the rifle
chamber and guides the rod so that it goes into the bore parallel to the
symmetry axis and does not damage the rifling near the entry point. ~$20-25.
Note: I have not found the bore guide that fits Mosin Nagant perfectly. I reuse
mine from other .308 rifles that I have, but to fit it in I have to remove the
handle. Consider buying it from a local gun shop so you could bring the rifle in
and ensure that it does fit.
4) .30 caliber cleaning patches. You can either buy
them or make them yourself from an old bed sheet.
5) Cleaning fluid. Of all I've used, the BoreTech
Eliminator and BoreTech C4 Carbon Remover are by far - by far! the best. Buy the
biggest bottles you can find. $22 and $18, http://www.midwayusa.com/.
6) Oil. Break Free CLP is the best. Buy a 16 oz bottle.
Overall, the cleaning supplies will set you back just
around $100. Amazingly expensive for a $100 rifle, but you can reuse them for a
different gun as well.
To clean the gun:
1) Turn the bolt up...
2) ...then move it back all the way. When it stops moving, depress the trigger and,
continuing moving it, pull it out of the rifle.
3) Put the bore guide into the
chamber. The handle on a bore guide imitates the bolt handle, and can be screwed
in or out a little bit making the body slide along the tube. You will need to
find exactly the right position so that the tube is inserted all the way, and
the handle of the bore guide is locked in just like the bolt of the gun would
be. Depending on the bore guide, the handle may have to be removed for the tube
to fit.
4) First use the C4 remover. Follow instructions on the bottle,
you may have to go through 5-6 cycles before the patch is coming out relatively
clean.
5) Dry the bore out with 3-4 clean patches.
6) Switch to the Eliminator and do another 5-6 cycles with that until the blue hue (mostly)
disappears.
7) Dry the bore out with 3-4 more clean patches.
8) Cover a patch with the liberal amount of Break Free CLP and run it through the
bore.
9) Remove the bore guide.
10) Using a clean patch in a patch
holder, push it into the chamber and rotate the rod back in forth so the leaks
of the Bore Tech products are cleaned out. Repeat with the patch covered in
Break Free CLP.
11) Using a patch covered in Break Free CLP, wipe the
metal parts of the gun. The metal should be slightly oily, but not wet with oil.
Excessive amount of oil will damage the stock and make the gun less accurate
because of lessening the contact between the stock and the receiver.
Contents
- Introduction
- Buying
- Cleaning
- Disassembly
- Accurizing
- Selecting a scope mount
- Mounting a side rail
- At the range