Manual of Military Training / Second, Revised Edition

by James A. Moss

The proper care of the bore requires conscientious, careful work, but it pays well in reduced labor of cleaning and in prolonged accuracy life of the rifle, and better results in target practice.

[1323]. How to clean the bore. With the cleaning rod the bore must always be cleaned from the breech—never from the muzzle. Cleaning from the muzzle is liable to wear and otherwise injure the mouth of the barrel, which is easily injured and thus the piece rendered inaccurate.

First, remove the bolt from the rifle, place the muzzle on the floor, a board, or piece of canvas, and do not remove it therefrom while the cleaning rod is in the bore. Never place the muzzle on the bare ground, lest dirt should get into it. (Note. Of course, if a rack is provided for cleaning rifles, it should be used instead of placing the muzzle on the floor.)

To clean the bore use patches of rag, preferably canton flannel, cutting them into squares of such size that they may easily run through the barrel.

[1324]. What care of the bore consists of. Briefly stated, the care of the bore consists of removing the fouling resulting from firing to obtain a chemically clean surface, and then coating this surface with a film of oil to prevent rusting.

[1325]. Kinds of fouling. The fouling which results from firing is of two kinds—the powder fouling, from the burning of the powder; and the metal fouling, from the nickel scraped off the bullet as it passes through the bore.

The powder fouling is highly corrosive, that is, it causes rust and eats into the metal, and it must, therefore, be removed as soon as possible.

The metal fouling itself will not cause rust, but it may cover the powder fouling and thus prevent the cleaning material from getting at the powder fouling, which, as stated before, will eat into the metal. When metal fouling accumulates in noticeable quantities it reduces the accuracy of the rifle.

[1326]. How to remove powder fouling. Powder fouling may be readily removed by scrubbing the bore with the soda solution (hot) furnished by the Ordnance Department, but this solution has no effect on the metal fouling.

It is, therefore, necessary to remove all metal fouling before we are sure that all powder fouling has been removed and that the bore may be safely oiled.