Well, another deer season has come and gone. Now’s the time to clean your rifle properly.

Your rifle bore is critical for accuracy and needs special attention. Let’s take a second to think about what takes place every time you pull the trigger.

Almost instantly, the firing pin falls, striking the primer. The primer explodes into the powder which burns almost instantly, creating high-temperature gas and pressures up 50,000 psi. The high-pressure gas drives the bullet down the rifling at approximately 3,000 feet per second depending on the caliber.

The heat and friction generated during that brief millisecond between pulling the trigger and the bullet exiting the barrel is tremendous. The bullet’s violently driven into the rifling and accelerates down the barrel.

Some of the copper jacket is stripped off by the lands and grooves along with red hot powder gas. Every additional shot adds to these deposits.

Any tiny irregularities or rough spots in the barrel will strip off more of the copper jacket than the smoother areas, and fouling will continue to build up faster on these areas, affecting the uniformity of your barrel.

Soon, accuracy will begin to drop off. Luckily, a wire brush and a good powder/copper solvent will help remove this fouling.

However, shooting is only one of the ways we dirty our rifles. Snow, rain, miscellaneous dirt and moisture lie in wait everywhere.

Even simply bringing your firearm inside from the cold into your home or camp will cause water vaper to condense on both the inside and outside of your firearm. This is potentially as dangerous as being outside in the rain; the end result’s your firearm is exposed to moisture.

Even our fingerprints contain tiny deposits of salt — never good. Always wipe your firearm down with an oily cloth after handling.

Unfortunately, I’ve even seen rifles rust in cool gun safes where moisture can collect. Check often to be sure your gun safe remains dry.

The basic steps to cleaning your rifle are: First, remove the bolt and inspect it. Clean the bolt face with a toothbrush and wipe the entire bolt body clean with an oily cloth.

Do not squirt oil down the firing pin hole or anywhere it can make its way inside the bolt. Oil build-up inside the bolt and around the firing pin spring could cause your rifle to misfire during very cold temperatures, the excess oil thickening to sludge over time.

This is a more common occurrence than you might think, and has cost more than one person a nice buck.

If you fear this may be the case, disassemble, dry and very lightly oil the bolt body and spring. Use a Teflon type; very light lubricant to ensure extreme cold will not cause a misfire.

If you have an older firearm from your youth or dad’s old rifle and suddenly decide to use it for old time’s sake, you’d be wise to pull the bolt apart and clean it. I can almost guarantee there will be sludge inside.

Once the bolt’s in shape, move to the barrel. I begin by dipping the proper caliber brush in copper and powder solvent and wire brushing the barrel thoroughly. Next, run cloth patches saturated with solvent through the bore to remove the loosened fouling.

A badly fouled barrel may need to be wire brushed multiple times and require multiple patches to return it to a clean state. Occasionally, you may have to purchase a stronger solvent specially designed for stubborn fouling and copper build up. Next, run an oiled patch through the barrel.

I seldom remove the barreled action from the stock. However, if your rifle has been soaked in rain or immersed in water, it may be necessary to do so.

Water may collect around the recoil lug, under or around the action, in the trigger assembly and other areas. Water dries very slowly in such tight spaces and severe rusting, even pitting, can occur.

Composite stocks can simply be dried off and set aside in a warm area to dry before oiling your barreled action and reassembling. Wooden stocks may need to sit for several days if soaked.

Examine your wooden stocks very carefully once it’s been removed. You may discover the wood hasn’t been sealed with stock finish around the barrel, action or magazine well. This is very common with older guns.

I highly recommend sealing any untreated wood with two coats of varnish or stock finish. It’s also important to remove the recoil pad and seal the end grain with two coats of finish if needed.

The end grain of the stock is very absorbent and might even require a third coat if the wood is light and porous. When fully dry, replace the pad. Once the stock is sealed it’s much more stable, and is far more likely to hold its zero from one year to another.

Don’t forget to oil your rifle sling swivels, as well. They can get very squeaky if you don’t keep them lubricated.

Once you have finished cleaning and oiling your firearm, you can safely place it in the gun cabinet until next year. When fall rolls around you’ll be able to remove it without any nasty surprises and in great working condition.

That, I may add, is a good thing.