there are 4 spots i clean on my bolt.

the first one is the bolt face. hit it with an old tooth brush to knock off any brass shavings or anything else that could effect head space.

then i clean the front side and back side of the locking lugs. again, with a soft brush like an old tooth brush.

I hit the cocking cam with a brush,

and then the sear engagement surface of the cocking piece that should be brushed clean.

then i run over all the nicks and cranys of the bolt with compressed air.

wipe off the whole bolt with a clean rag, and oil lightly. then lubricate the back side of the locking lugs with just a tad of lube, the cocking cam, and the sear engagement surface of the cocking piece, again, just a little bit of lube, not much at all.



I dont know of any benefit of switching out the pin. If what you have is reliable, and makes good consistent strikes, i would leave well enough alone.

I reload, so i inspect all my spent brass out of my 308 and always check the primers before removing them for piercing or light strikes.

 

The following is for working rifles only; rifles that only see a box of work a year from a clean bench need not receive this much treatment. Adjust schedule frequency upward according to your environment if you have a lot of blowing dust or other harsh conditions...like if you often find yourself swimming with your rifle.

Weekly:

Remove bolt from rifle, use compressed air to blow off all grit and grime you can, wipedown all exterior surfaces with a clean rag. Lightly oil or wax bolt surfaces to prevent rust, and after inspecting the rear locking surfaces for any sign of galling, relubricate with GREASE the BACK of the locking lugs (front doesn't need lube, and only acts as a dirt magnet), the cocking cam, maybe a touch on the extraction cam surface. Basically, as stated above. Set aside.

Use the best tools you have to clean out the action of the rifle and remove all the grit and residue you can, including the chamber...may as well do this at the same time. Clean the action BEFORE you insert a boreguide to clean the bore, because a good tight-fitting bore guide will shove all the grungy grease and oil to the front of the action into the bolt recess where it is much harder to get out. If you have a locking lug and recess cleaning tool set, now is the time to use it; if you don't have one, get one.

Last: flush out the trigger group from above with butane lighter fluid. Hardware store.


Biannually or annually:

Do all of the above first, but do not relube the bolt. Then, dissassemble the bolt down to the individual firing pin, mainspring, shroud level. You will need tools for this, if you don't have them already. Clean, inspect, and lightly lightly reoil (with a rust preventative) every component, and reassemble. Wrap a single or double loop of PTFE pipe-thread tape around the shroud's threads before reinstalling in the bolt.

If applicable, punch out the ejector retaining pin and remove the ejector and spring. Use compressed air and/or sovent to clean out the recess. Clean, inspect, reoil, and reinstall the ejector. If you have a fixed pin ejector, good for you...you have a better system, and it doesn't need cleaning or lubing.

If you have a stock Remington, do not mess with the extractor (obviously, since it is staked in!). If you have Sako or M16 extract, feel free to remove if you please, and clean and relube with oil. If you have a Winchester/Mauser or similar claw assembly, remove, clean, oil, and reinstall.

After complete bolt reassembly, repeat all weekly/monthly critical lube points and action cleaning as above.


Every barrel replacement or 2: (assuming ~10,000 total cycles including dryfiring.)

Replace mainspring in action. Gre-tan.



Store your rifle with the bolt decocked.

-Nate

 

So, for an average shooter like me, dust and clean as needed and add a spot of lube to the rear of the lugs. Sounds like I've been doing it right.

 

I reckon if you think of yourself as average, you'll be just what you think.

-Nate

 

I reckon if you think of yourself as average, you'll be just what you think.

Point taken