How Often Should You Clean Your Smallbore Rifle?

by
posted on December 11, 2019
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
rimfire-cleaning1.jpg

From the vault: Smallbore rifle cleaning advice plus an anecdote from the late, great Lones Wigger. As transcribed from a 1984 NRA Silhouette Championship seminar where Mr. Wigger was a panelist.


Cleaning Your Rifle
By Lones Wigger

I feel very strongly about cleaning a smallbore rifle. I have, on several different occasions, had it proven to me that when a barrel fouls and started to lead, it will lose accuracy. After you have cleaned that barrel with a brush, solvent and patches, you can lie back down, shoot a couple of fouling rounds and immediately shoot the small groups you should be shooting.

How often should you clean your rifle?
I think you should clean the gun after you shoot a box of ammunition. It probably doesn't need to be cleaned any more often than that. Some barrels seem to take longer to lead than others, and you can get by for a longer time before you lose accuracy. I prefer not to take chances so I clean regularly.

The lesson was once again proven to me at a small match I shot in preparation for Camp Perry. When I started shooting unacceptable groups at 100 yards, I got up, cleaned the rifle, and returned to shoot two tight 10-X groups, about a third of the size of the groups I had been shooting. That's pretty convincing evidence that barrels need to be cleaned.

Do you use a brass or nylon brush?
A bronze or brass brush is fine, but do not use steel. For a period of time, I thought you shouldn't use a brush because it might damage the barrel. Pat McMillan, the barrel maker, told me that benchrest shooters used a brass brush and that you can brush a barrel all day long without hurting it. At that point, I began to use a brush again.

This Anschutz cleaning kit (#011604) includes a brass brush and cleaning rod with PVC handle.


Lead photo courtesy of Anschutz North America.


See more: How Often Should You Clean Your Air Gun?

Latest

AG Prsbag 1
AG Prsbag 1

Armageddon Gear’s Precision Rifle Case For Competition Shooters

A rifle case that transports suppressed bolt action rifles without disassembly, using 1/2 inch mil spec foam, heavy zippers and US made materials

SIG Sauer P322-COMP: Built to Dominate Steel Challenge

SIG Sauer’s P322-COMP is a factory race gun built for Steel Challenge

Lanny Barnes Defends High Lady Title at 2025 NRA World Shooting Championship

Lanny Barnes wins High Lady at NRA World Shooting Championship for second year, finishing 14th overall

Results: 2025 NRA National High Power Rifle OTC Championship in Wisconsin

Kenny Lankford wins big at the 2025 NRA High Power OTC Championship with a Remington 700 bolt-action rifle chambered in .223 Wylde

What’s In Your Range Bag, Joey Sauerland?

Joey Sauerland shares what’s in his range bag and how he became a USPSA National Champion just 3½ years after first picking up a gun

Monsters and BB Guns: Daisy’s Smart Target System is Backyard Fun Reimagined

The Daisy Smart Target System fuses real BB gun shooting with augmented reality monster battles in your backyard. Welcome to the future of marksmanship

Interests



Get the best of Shooting Sports USA delivered to your inbox.