Your hunting season over? Time for some spring cleaning…

By David LaPell

Pitting inside the barrel of a Traditions Panther .50 caliber, bought used. A dirty barrel like this can spell failure on your next hunt. (Photo: David LaPell)
With hunting seasons mostly over, it may be time to think about putting your treasured game-getters away until their moment comes again this fall. Keeping these guns clean is essential — no different than keeping any other tools in fine shape. Why? Because of something I see happen every year: guns come out of the cabinet with a pitted barrel, rusty or with much worse surprises in store.
Muzzeloaders
The first gun (besides your squirrel guns) you may likely be using this fall is a muzzleloader. Here in New York we have both early and late seasons so if you tag out early you can sleep in during that last cold week after the regular season ends. Out and about with other hunters, I have noticed that muzzleloaders are usually the guns I find to be the dirtiest, not just because that’s their nature, but because some people seem to have never learned to take care of them. This is especially true of the newer inline guns.
I believe what often happens with these guns is that

Source: Guns.com