After Season Weapon Maintenance from Oak Creek

The season is over for us. It may not be over for you. (We hope not.) When it is though, there’s work to be done.

After Season Weapon Maintenance is a must. Hard hunting means gear will require a little attention. Most often, we concentrate on rifle maintenance. A thorough cleaning may be in order, but more likely than not, your shooting iron just needs a good wipe down before it goes into the safe for hibernation.

Shooting a rifle does not ruin a barrel… but running a cleaning rod through it too many times sure can. Today’s powders are non-corrosive. That means you can minimize the number of times you run a brush and patches through it.

For most rifles, the end of the season really means that wiping down the external finish with an all-purpose oil will suffice, Rem Oil, Tetra Gun, etc. The only caveat to this is if you have hunting in extremely humid or rainy conditions, or if you have put a significant number of rounds downrange. In that case, running a few patches through the barrel is advisable.

Sure, there are new foams, brushes, rods, and all of the “experts” will tell you to pull the bolt out of a rifle and “do it right”… I agree. Do it right, but don’t do it every time you shoot the darn thing.

Here at Oak Creek, we look to take care of hunters weapons. Let us know if there are other topics you would like to see us talk about in the future.