Taking Care of Your Firearms

"How do I take care of my new firearm?"

This is something we are asked on a daily basis and I can relate. Anytime I invest in a premium product, I take any and all precautions to keep it in "like new" condition. At the same time, like most of you, if I purchase something it's going to get used.

Your time is valuable and we know you don't want to spend anymore time than necessary maintaining your firearms. We keep this in mind as we build all of our firearms. They're built to require as little cleaning and maintenance as possible. This is achieved by utilizing premium finishes and materials during the manufacturing process.

We are going to look at some general guidelines that apply to all of our firearms. If you are interested in cleaning a particular caliber or model stay tuned to our newsletter as we will be addressing those in detail in upcoming weeks.

Break-in: This one always seems to be hotly debated online, but for our barrels there is no real break-in required. We typically recommend you shoot 50-100 rounds through the barrel, clean it, and then start testing. One thing to keep in mind before testing a particular ammo for accuracy is to be sure and fire 5-10 rounds downrange with that particular round. This fouls the barrel to match the ammunition, and can save you a lot of aggravation and money as you try and determine the best ammo for your application.

Touch-up: No matter how small the scratch might be, once you know it's there it will stand out every time you pick it up. This is bound to happen as our guns are built to be shot and shot often. Our stainless steel models can be polished up easily enough, but anything that features a black anodized finish is a little tougher. Aluminum Black from Birchwood Casey makes this touch up. We have been testing this in the shop and are very pleased with the results. Please note, this only works on aluminum products and not matte black coated stainless steel.

Barrel Cleaning: Cleaning frequency will vary by caliber, but regardless of caliber we always recommend cleaning breech to muzzle using a pull through cleaning kit. There are several brands available and all seem to get the job done. We prefer the pull through method as it is quick and easy, but doesn't cause any harm to the barrel. The Ripcord from Otis is what we use both in the shop and on the range. We recommend to pull once through with fresh solvent and then a couple times dry and you should be good to go.

Compensator cleaning: This is one area that more is better when shooting rimfire. You will notice that the more often you clean your compensator, the easier it is to clean. Don't wait until the comp has so much build up that it requires power tools to clean. You laugh, but we have seen this far too often. We have tried a lot of different products but still get our best results cleaning build up using a 50-50 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and vinegar. We usually let it soak for 15-30 minutes and then inspect it, but dirty compensators may need a couple hours total soak time to get all the way clean. This cleaning method is safe to use on all finishes used on our compensators.

Lubrication: Unlike compensator cleaning, less is more when it comes to lubricating a rimfire. More lubrication only gives all that residue from shooting a rimfire round something to adhere too. We do not recommend any lubrication on our internal parts such as our hammer, sear, or disconnector. You can apply a small about of lubrication to the bolt area, however a couple of drops is more than enough. Any good lubricant such as Rand CLP will work.

Let us know if you have any other questions or if you would like to receive more emails similar to this.

Always moving forward,