I've Heard It Was Bad?

Question

I heard it was bad to clean your gun from the muzzle to the reciever. I was told that you had to clean it from the chamber until it comes out of the muzzle otherwise (if you do it muzzle first) it could damage your rifling. Is this true?

Answer 1

Either way is acceptable, but with Match grade Rifles especially Bolt Actions. cleaning from the chamber is the only intelligent choice that will NOT cause damage. There is actually an inexpensive solution though..You simply buy yourself a "Dewey" coated cleaning rod, which is a "one piece rod " that is coated with a polymer coating that will not come off and is solvent resistant. These rods prevent any CROWN rifling damage or ANY scratching of your rifles, or pistols barrel and/or chamber. Semi automatic and Pump action guns that aren't disassembled completely can only be cleaned from the muzzle end to begin with. Buying a Dewey Rod prevents any damage from happening in the first place. The Dewey rod is the answer to all of the questions and doubts here.....They are available at better parts distributors or Brownells.com and com in many popular sizes to clean ANY firearm.......

Answer 2

what you will/can damage from cleaning from the muzzle end is the crown (rifling at the very end of the muzzle). To prevent this they make bore guides that will center you rod in the bore and not allow it to touch the muzzle. Also using a coated rod will help prevent this metal on metal wear

Answer 3

actually, the damage occurs to the "crown" area at the end of the muzzle. This area is critical for accuracy. Damaging this area can cause the bullet to actually deviate in flight or even start to destabilize and tumble. Yes, it is very important to clean from the breech, or chamber end of the barrel. Never from the muzzle. The only exception is if you have one of those inserts for your cleaning rod that goes into the muzzle and protects the crown area. But it is still better to clean it the proper way. I have seen competition rifles ruined by in experienced people cleaning them the wrong way. As for the riffling, always make sure you use a brass cleaning brush, not stainless steel, and make sure you push the brush all the way thru and out of the barrel before reversing direction. going part way and reversing, especially with a SS brush WILL cause damage to your barrel at the point where you reverse the brush. It will cause scratching, Gouges, or even pitting. This will affect accuracy and the life of the barrel.

Answer 4

It's a little hard to clean a revolver barrel from any end BUT the muzzle end, especially the long ones.
The Corps taught us to clean weapon barrels from BOTH ends.
In 40+ odd years of cleaning firearms, the only way I've ever known or have been warned would damage a steel weapon barrel would be to use a steel cleaning rod without some kind of rod guide to protect the inner barrel surfaces.

Answer 5

Cleaning from the muzzle end of a rifle would have dumped the bits and pieces from the bore into the action but in modern firearms there usually isn't such pieces. It is possible to damage the crown of the bore if you are using an older steel rod cleaner. You can abrade the edges and if a constant rubbing on one point occurred this can lead to gas bypass at that point as the bullet exits the barrel.
All that said, this is mostly old school teaching and with modern weapons and modern equipment there isn't that much to worry about, but I still like to stuff my rod in the breech end when I can.

Answer 6

While it is possible to cause damage to the crown (Barrel end) of the barrel with a steel cleaning rod, generally with modest care when inserting the brush and rod in the barrel you can avoid any damage. In many weapons, without detail stripping a weapon, or in the case of a revolver for instance it is virtually impossible to clean from the breech end of the weapon.

One way to be sure to avoid this is to use a rope type barrel cleaner found at any good sporting good store to attach your brush to, which you then drop the rope down your barrel and pull through, thus eliminating the possibility of doing any damage with a cleaning rod.

Again however, with some care inserting the cleaning rod you should not compromise the crown of the rifling. Happy Shooting.

Answer 7

Yes, this is absolutely true. Any wear to the crown will effect the accuracy of your rifle. If you have one that is difficult or impossible to clean from the chamber end, they make a plastic device to go onto your cleaning rod called a muzzle protector. It slips onto your cleaning rod and is inserted into the muzzle where it keeps the rod from touching the muzzle.

Answer 8

That's simply not true. You can clean your firearm from either the muzzle or the breech - unless yours is a smokepole, in which case you can't access the bore from the breech end. The folks who say that cleaning from the muzzle end is wrong don't have an impressive amount of experience, I'd say. They'd prolly look aghast on my pouring boiling water down the muzzle of my smokepoles in order to clean them. Little do they know that's the most effective solvent there is for black powder residue. Of course, as with a modern firearm, when your bore is clean and dry, you run an oiled patch down to the breech to help avoid corrosion in there...

Answer 9

It is not true that the rifling would be damaged, but the reason it is advised is all the gunk you swab from the bore ends up in the action.
If you are worried about damaging the rifling, there is a plastic sleeve you can get to go around the rod that centers it in the barrel.

Answer 10

It is true that damaging of the crown will affect accuracy, but with today's guns and cleaning rods, the chance of doing so is small (if you know what your doing).

The only way I clean ANY firearm is with the OTIS Cleaning System. It uses a coated cable, special brush, and oil to clean the barrel without any damage. This is by far the most effective way to clean a firearm in my opinion.