SCOTT DEPOT, W.Va. — West Virginia hunters tend to be protective of their firearms. Deer rifles are among the most prized possessions of many in the Mountain State. It’s amazing however, as much pride as we have in our rifles, how few know the proper way to maintain them.
“Poor maintenance is what keeps me in business,” said Gunsmith Steve Cale of Timberline Outfitters on a recent edition of Ram Trucks West Virginia Outdoors. “If you don’t clean your gun, it’s not going to perform. We can see from shot to shot if you don’t clean a gun it will increase velocity and change the point of impact. Cleaning and maintenance is an important thing.”
Although most gun owners realize the need for rust prevention, there is more to cleaning your rifle than simply swabbing the barrel until the patch has no more black residue.
“You clean a gun for powder and carbon build up, but you also have to clean the bore for copper because all the bullets are copper jacketed,” Cale said.”All of those materials leave deposits and if you don’t clean out those deposits, it’s going to wreck your accuracy.”
Cleaning for copper requires a proper chemical treatment. Cale said at one time using ammonia based products was the best way to loosen the copper, but over time technology has progressed and new products are available. The chemical needs to soak in the barrel for a brief period of time and then be swabbed. You’ll see the copper when the patch comes out in a blue-green color.
Once the copper is removed, it’s time for removal of carbon deposits left by burning powder. Cale said there are solvents used for that task as well. He stressed following directions carefully in using the chemical cleaners, otherwise you risk damage to your rifle permanently.
“I start with wet patches of general bore solvent and clean out any residue, dry patch it, then go in with chemicals, and then I go with brushes,” he said. “Once I have all of that cleaned out I go through the copper process.”
Chances are most hunters in West Virginia cleaned their rifle after last year’s deer season and placed it back into the gun cabinet with a coating of oil in the barrel as a rust inhibitor. Be sure to clean it before you shoot it this fall.
“You’ve got to clean that out before you fire it,” he said. “Burned oil in your barrel is going to cause scaling and that’s going to cause you problems. You need to clean it out.”
Cale is a school trained gunsmith with more than 20 years of experience. Much like a mechanic can get more performance out of a stock car off the lot, he takes pride in getting maximum performance out of a firearm off the shelf.
“I think everybody should have the privilege of owning an extremely accurate rifle.” Cale said. “Being able to hit a three or five shot group in a dime sized diameter and having the confidence to do it at an extended range is just an honor and a privilege.”
Cale said his “accurazation” process involved glass bedding the barrel. The process involves coating the interior of the stock with an epoxy to negate the automatic twist associated with the recoil of each shot. Tightening trigger action can also pay big dividends in the quest for extreme accuracy. He suggested leaving the mounting of a scope to somebody with the expertise and tools to properly lock it into place where there will be no problems developing in the long term.
“Anybody who’s going to spend 3 to 5,000 dollars on a western hunt, I’d hate to think they’re just taking a gun off the shelf at Wal-Mart,” he said. “You’ve got to have some experience, make sure the scope is mounted properly. Make sure you’re shooting the right loads for your game. You need to spend some time getting to know the gun and shooting it.”