apart so you have strips of copper mesh that are at least six inches long and as wide as your swab is long. Wrap a strip around your swab. To clean, forget the first dry patch and run a patch damp with cleaning solvent down the bore. Take your copper-wrapped swab and use it as a bore brush. You may have to compress the swab and wrap the mesh tightly in order to get it to fit into the bore. Stan the swab from the chamber end. Scrub back and forth, paying particular attention to the forcing cone and the bore a couple of inches in front of the forcing cone. Plastic builds up in the forcing cone as the wad first slams into the bore, exiting the shell. As for the ring in front of the forcing cone, I can only figure that it is the location in the bore where the heat, friction and pressure are at their maximum. Either that, or it is the location where some sort of rebound of the wad happens after its first compression by the forcing cone.
Pull the swab out and swab your bore with a dry patch. The patch will come out a disgusting black mess. That's a good sign. The swab will probably have strips of plastic and chunks of lead in it. Unwrap the mess. Clean the swab and mesh. Re-wrap the swab, wet-patch the bore again and then re-scrub with the mesh/swab. Two or three applications of this method and your bore will be clean. If you want to, you can do it to a bore you think is already clean, and see how much stuff you pull out. To clean the choke, take the cleaning rod without the last segment and handle on it. Install your swab/mesh cleaner and start the handle end of the rod through the chamber. Pull the rod through the bore until the scrubber reaches the choke. If you try to swab the scrubber back and forth it will expand as it passes out of the muzzle. You won't be able to force it back in. Instead, rotate the rod. If you have screw-in chokes, turn the rod in the direction that will tighten the choke. Once you have turned the scrubber three or four rotations, pull it out and run your dry patch through. Inspect the choke and if there is any more lead or plastic left, scrub again.
The copper mesh is softer than the steel of your barrel, so you can't harm the bore with it. As a bonus, it also works on rifled shotgun barrels, cleaning lead and plastic out of the grooves of the rifling.
For the chamber, choke up on the cleaning rod and hold it 6 or 8 inches from the swab. Insert from the chamber end, and press the swab against the sides of the chamber as you scrub back and forth. If you try to clean a chamber this way with a regular brush you'll destroy the brush in short order. The swab doesn't care, and you will quickly scrub the plastic and powder residue out of your chamber.
With the rod, brushes and patches handy, you can scrub a bore sparkling clean in a few minutes.
Single-Shots
The single-shot is an easy shotgun to maintain. While some will have exposed hammers and others internal ones, they will all have a lever or something to open the action. Single-shots open by pressing the lever and allowing the action to pivot open on its hinge. The single-shot exists for safety and economy. A single-shot shotgun that is broken open cannot fire. It can easily be unloaded. Those with an external hammer cannot be fired until after the hammer is cocked. With a single barrel to fit, the shotgun does not require the elaborate regulating that a double does. By slightly bending the barrel, the manufacturer (or gunsmith) can move the pattern center up or down, left or right. The low cost to manufacture a single makes it attractive to shooters and hunters wanting a starter gun for a new shooter or hunter.
Open the shotgun to make sure it isn't loaded. Close the action and remove the forearm. On some inexpensive singles, the forearm is held in place by a screw that attaches to the stud under the barrel. On others, the forearm has to be pried down from the barrel. Look for a single screw, If present, remove it. If there is no screw, or two, pry the forearm down with your fingertips. Expensive singles may have a small lever inlet into the forearm that unlatches it from the barrel.
Here is a typical example of a single-shot shotgun.
A single-shot shotgun has only one barrel, and usually hinges open to expose the chamber.
On singles and double, the forearm protects you from the mechanism and vice versa. The dismounting method is not always apparent.
With the forearm off, open the action and the barrel will hinge down far enough that you can lift it out of the receiver. Scrub the bore. A basic cleaning of the receiver does not require removal of the buttstock. Scrub the breechface, water table (the flat or curved area of the receiver where the chamber rests) and the hingepin. If you use a water-based cleaning solvent, use a heat gun or blow dryer to evaporate the water. One advantage to the single- and double-barreled shotgun is that the receiver is well-sealed against the elements. Unless you are out in the rain, or take a spill into the water, there will be no need to get inside the receiver. If you have, the easiest way to clean singles is to remove the receiver from the stock and dunk it in solvent. Most inexpensive singles (which is most singles) have their buttstock attached to the receiver by a throughbolt. Remove the buttplate. In a hole bored through the stock you will see a bolt. The bolt is either a slot-head or hex-head. If it is a slot, use a long screwdriver with a heavy shaft to loosen and remove it. If it is a hex-head, you'll need an extension rod for your wrench.
With the stock off, immerse the receiver in cleaning solvent and let it soak for an hour. Again, scrub and blow dry. Wipe the exterior with an oily cloth. Spray lubricant into the receiver and let it drip out onto a paper towel. Use a high-pressure grease on the hinge pin. Reassemble.
The fastest way to reload a firearm is to grab another loaded one. Faster still is to have another loaded one attached to the first one. When every shotgun was a single-shot shotgun, the fastest way to get a second shot was to have a second barrel. Popular today, the double is deceptively difficult to manufacture, even as it is so easy to use.
Double-Barrels
The double shotgun follows the same pattern as the single, with a lever to open and a hinge pin that lets it pivot open. For most of this century, doubles have had internal hammers. Necessary when shotguns were flintlocks or percussion muzzleloaders, and popular as a safety device when shotguns were cartridge breechloaders, the external hammer faded from use when the double shotgun was passed over as a fighting tool. When internal hammers and their safeties become completely reliable, the external hammer had no advantage. However, with the increase in popularity of Cowboy Action shooting, external-hammer doubles have made a comeback.
The standing breech is the face where the firing pin holes are. The water table is the flat section in front of the breech.
Press the lever and open the shotgun. Make sure it isn't loaded. Close it. Look underneath the forearm. You'll find an inlet bar on the centerline. If the bar has a little lever in it, then press the lever and remove the forearm. If the bar does not, it is the anchor for the spring lock. If you see screw heads but no lever, leave them alone. Work your fingertips between the tip of the forearm and the barrel, and pry the forearm down off the barrel. Open the action and hinge the barrels forward off the action. Scrub the bores.
The top lever opens singles and doubles. (And the much rarer drilling, the triple.)
The action should be brushed clean, the breechface and walertables wiped with an oily cloth, and the hinge pin greased. Like singles,
