The best time to make sure a rifle is ready for the next hunting season is immediately after the last hunt of the present season. Nonetheless, it's a very important task, regardless of when it is done.

A good place to start is a thorough scrubbing of the bore with solvents that dissolve buildup of powder residue. If Old Betsy seems to have lost a bit of her accuracy, it could be due to bullet-jacket deposits in the barrel; a solvent formulated to dissolve copper takes care of that. Allowing some copper solvents to remain in the bore for a very long time may damage a barrel, so remove all traces with a powder solvent. If the barrel is carbon steel rather than stainless, its bore should receive a light coat of rust inhibitor before the rifle is put away. And don't forget to check the rifle's zero before your next hunt as it can be affected by the complete removal of fouling from its bore.

Finish up the bore-cleaning job by rotating an oversized cotton swab in the chamber. If the chamber is especially dirty, use a swab wet with powder solvent first and then finish with a dry swab. In a pinch, cotton patches wrapped around a brass bore brush will also work. A short rod made for cleaning the barrels of handguns is a handy thing to have on hand for cleaning the chamber of a bolt-action and some lever-actions. Properly cleaning the chamber of some guns, such as the Remington 760, Savage 99, and Winchester 94, requires a special brush with an offset shank.

Most of my serious hunting rifles wear several turns of plastic electrical tape wrapped around their barrels a few inches back of the muzzle. Placing a small strip over the muzzle--not in it--prevents the entry of rain, snow, dust, and field debris. Shooting a bullet through the tape has no effect on its accuracy since propellant gas escaping around the bullet before it travels far enough from the cartridge case to seal off the bore has blown the tape away before the bullet arrives at the muzzle. After firing a shot in the field, I simply remove a fresh strip of tape from the supply wrapped around the barrel and use it to cover the muzzle.

The Receiver
All sorts of things, including grime and bristle fragments from bore cleaning brushes, tend to accumulate in the locking-lug recesses of a front-locking bolt-action rifle. Allow enough odds and ends to collect there, and they can prevent the bolt from rotating to full lockup, regardless of how much muscle you put behind its handle as that trophy buck bounds away.

The easiest way to remove the gunk is with a special rod with a receptacle on its business end that holds one of the cotton swabs your dentist fills your mouth with just prior to asking you questions about your favorite rifle and the biggest buck you ever shot. Simply insert the rod into the receiver so the swab is aligned with its locking-lug recesses and rotate the handle. Especially dirty recesses may require first cleaning with a swab dipped in powder solvent and then finishing up with a couple of dry swabs.