It’s definitely recommended to clean and keep your bolt-action rifle working properly. This will ensure that you can shoot accurately when the time comes to use it. As a matter of fact, maintaining your bolt-action rifle always should be done before storing it for a period of time.
Maintenance steps
Once the bolt is removed, inspect it to ensure that it’s in good working order. Oil the bolt and wipe it down well with a cloth and then re-apply oil before putting it back in the receiver.
To clean the barrel, wire-brush it to remove the loose powder and residue. Make sure to run the brush all the way through the barrel into the action. Repeat until nothing comes out of the barrel.
Now you can swap the wire brush for a soft tip. Wet it with a bit of oil until it’s damp. Then run it through the barrel to wet the barrel with the oil so as to collect the loose residue. Now switch to a plastic tip and run cloths through until it comes out clean.
The last step is to ensure that the bolt and action are clean. Oil them both and put the bolt back into the gun and cycle it a couple of times to distribute the oil. Finally, oil the outside of the barrel and all metal parts. Give them a good coat, then wipe lightly with a cloth so that some oil remains on the gun for storage.
That’s how simple maintaining your bolt-action rifle is. Now, you’re all set for storage!