Two Minute Shotgun Cleaning

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After the thrill of wingshooting, comes the drudgery of cleaning the shotgun. For this purpose most shooters acquire a traditional cleaning kit.  Cleaning kits typically include a three section aluminum cleaning rod and brush of appropriate diameter for the caliber purchased, two tips to hold patches, cloth cleaning patches, a bottle of liquid powder solvent, and a bottle of gun oil. Some kits include a small tube of gun grease, and if it is a shotgun cleaning kit it usually includes a bore swab. To use one of these kits, merely follow the directions that come with the cleaning kit.  It takes about 20 minutes to clean a gun this way and the brush is useful a couple of times a year for deep cleaning.

Shotgun cleaning is not the onerous task it once was, as it can be reduced from 20 minutes to under 2 minutes.  For regular cleaning, you need only make a small kit of your own consisting of: a silicone cloth kept in a small plastic baggie, silicone spray from NAPA auto parts, spray Rem-Oil from Wal-Mart, and a Tico Tool for the bore of your gun.

The Tico Tool looks like a very long, very skinny feather duster. The Tico Tool is merely pushed back and forth through the shotgun’s bore, a few times, exactly like a cleaning rod.  After pushing back and forth a few times, leaving the rod in the barrel, remove the accessory tip (supplied with the Tico Tool) and spray it lightly with the Rem-Oil.  Hook the tip onto the end of the rod.  Pull back through the gun.  Now you have inside of the barrel cleaned and lightly oiled.

Spray all of the outside of the gun with the silicone spray and use the rag to wipe clean.  Particularly scrub the working parts and you can use a toothbrush as needed.  The rag is stored in the baggie, so as to remain wet enough to be used to wipe fingerprints off the gun after handling and replaces the traditional oily rag. Silicon cloths are excellent protection against “rust prints.”

[Excerpted from Chapter 1, subscribe at the book.]

Apply a couple of drops of Tetra-gun grease to prevent excessive wear on the chopper lumps and the receiver.  The firing pins should receive a very light coat as well.

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